Following the ongoing media altercation between supporters of the Edo State Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu, and civil rights campaigner, Chief Patrick Eholor, aka Ultimate Equal, over allegations of the anti-people dispensation of fuel above then government pump price by a particular petrol station controversially said to be owned by the state’s number two citizen, a public affairs commentator, Comrade Alexander Oshoramen, has condemned what he called the “nepotistic double-speak against the common interests of the people by those who rode to political power through the collective will of the people.”
Comrade Oshoramen, while speaking with newsmen yesterday, commended Chief Eholor “for the many battles he has fought on behalf of the people,” emphasizing “the disgraceful excesses of those who have commandeered the coercive powers of the state government to dubiously pursue selfish interests and self-aggrandizement must be halted and cut short for Edo State to enjoy the much-desired true growth and development.”
In his words, he further said, “According to Chief Eholor, one of the Deputy Governor’s Petrol stations on Airport Road, Benin City, was invaded by the state’s petrol monitoring team for dispensing fuel above the then government approved pump price a day before the NNPC’s new price regime. This, to me, is a criminal, vindictive, shylock, and atrociously devilish gang-up against the overall interest of the people of Edo State, by a supposedly high-ranking government official exploiting the privilege of having a pre-knowledge of the NNPC’s move, deciding to rip off the poor masses.”
Comrade Oshoramen maintained that he was more piqued, “especially against the backdrop of a recent development in which the same Deputy Governor was seen in a viral video haranguing and sanctimoniously lashing out at the recently-relieved LGA Liaison officers on how he would invite the EFCC to investigate their books in the councils, find them culpable and clamp then in jail for corruption, when his own clique and business stooges, with his connivance, are fleecing the public in these perilous times.”
While insisting that “political leaders should lead by example and act in consonance with the interest of the people,” Comrade Oshoramen further raised another allegation of “selfish interference by the same Deputy Governor in the traditional processes leading to the emergence of the new Okuokpelagbe of Okpella kingdom.
“Traditionally, 90 days after the completion of the burial rites of the departed Okuokpelagbe, a new one should be installed. This has been done by the informed elders and the people, and the new choice has been crowned and presented to the people. But selfish political interference and intrigues are stalling further progress. Now, we hear from the grapevine that the traditional choice and the elders have gone to court to challenge the stalling of the process. This interference must stop.
“We have continued to appeal to the state governor to intervene on the side of the people and ward off these selfish political scheming of a meddlesome interloper of a non-indigene, who arrogantly sees himself as the political lord in Edo North Senatorial District. The emergence of the new Okuokpelagbe is not a political affair. He should allow the elders and good people of Okpella to do their thing their way.”
Comrade Oshoramen reminded political leaders and those in government that “political power is transient, ephemeral and short-lived,” and advised them “to judiciously use their stint in public offices to build bridges and raise social capital and goodwill that would uplift the poor masses and enhance greater affinity among the people.”