–Blank NEWS Online ( NIGERIA) –By Austen AKHAGBEME:
Without offence to modesty, Adams Oshiomhole can be aptly described as a quintessential character; a public performer, a motivational orator with a unique gift of the garb. He’s an exemplary leader of men. He is, sometimes, caustic and corrosive with his tongue, depending on the magnitude of the matter and the size of his prey.
The above description quite encapsulates and explains the many twists and turns that has become the chequered life of the erstwhile Indefatigable unionist.
He’s a Passionate believer of his ideas and goals such that when he takes side with you, he goes all out, using methods and ways that bothers on both the conventional and the unconventional, the esoteric and the familiar, all in a bid to protect, preserve and project you to the consternation of your adversaries.
Oshiomhole loves to the extreme and probably hates to the extreme too. The very reason why it is not difficult to locate where his loyalty lies in any matter that he’s involved with. With a sharp response to frayed stimuli, he knows how to make a fight and how to recruit others to do the same.
This character combination of the good and the grotesque has earned him ovation, applause, followership, loyalty among his teeming admirers over the years. It has equally brought to his doorstep, unimaginable pains, hate and betrayal in his journey to stardom and out of stardom. But such is life: a potpourri of the good, the bad and the ugly.
Adams Oshiomhole, no doubt, has paid his dues and has contributed a large quota to the growth of labour relations in Nigeria in particular and to governance and partisan politics in general.
A time was, in Nigeria, when Oshiomhole was the vociferous voice and the masked face of the working class against the exploitation of Labour by Capital. He was lampooned by the establishment as unnecessarily confrontational and fixated in his demands for a fair deal from the government on the part of the workers. But this was not without pains, frustration and even harassment from the powers that be.
Nevertheless, all these formed the foundation for his rise to political stardom as he went on to contest, lost, fought and won the governorship elections in Edo state through the courts. He went on to win a second term in office after a remarkable performance that has left indelible marks in the annals of history in Edo state till tomorrow. Oshiomhole practically turned remote villages to mini-cities, accessible to governmental presence and improved social and economic life such as never witnessed before.
His love and preferences for mentorship became his albatross, which culminated into the ugly events of the recent past and puts him on the spotlight. Those who wants to play politics with his predicament has quickly and painfully forgotten so soon how he stake his life for the emergence of his belligerent foes but has quickly sewn for him to wear, the toga of a desperate Godfather.
To say that what they did is unfair is to be simplistic: it is truly evil and malicious. But life itself doesn’t play fairly; the reason why Oshiomhole should take whatever comes to him with philosophical calmness as he tries to re-enact himself in the hearts of those who loved him and wished him well. In this race called Life, there are pains and there are gains. Oshiomhole’s good records cannot be wished away.
- Austen AKHAGBEME is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online
