By Austin Ogwuda
*Can Shaibu fight the City Hall?
There is this age-long American idiom, which says, YOU CANNOT FIGHT THE CITY HALL.
That resonated when I read in the news that the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has tactically kept his deputy, Philip Shaibu, now regarded as a strange bedfellow, at arms length.
Simply put, what is the import of this idiomatic expression. It means that it is a haculean task engaging a bureaucratic institution headlong.
It doesn’t imply they shouldn’t be challenged if the need arises but the explanation here is that when embarking on such ‘suicidal’ journey just be ready for bloodied nose or turned into an orphan when the chips are down eventually.
According to research, this expression may refer to a city government, a national government, or a regulatory agency. The phrase you can’t fight city hall became popular in the twentieth century, but it was in use in the latter-1800s and may be related to the New York politics of the time.
Tammany Hall was a political organization in New York that was founded in the 1700s. By the mid-to-late 1800s, Tammany Hall controlled the Democratic party, and therefore, all of politics in the region. Tammany Hall was extremely powerful, so it that case, it was indeed impossible to fight the City Hall.
Deputy governor Shaibu of Edo State should and must get this reality right into his skull.
Can he ask the former governor of Rivers State, Nysom Nwike why he ate his vomit by finally settling to work with the APC government he single handedly took to the cleaners especially during the Buhari administration.
What is he and his other co-travellers are chasing to have abandoned the umbrella and took the broom and started sweeping outside when, it is indeed, ‘raining’?
Now that the Governor Obaseki, his boss has sent him away from the precinct of the Government House Benin City located at the Government Reserved Area (GRA) otherwise known as ‘Osadabay House’, can he resist?
Although I don’t subscribe to wanton abuse of power ever whether within the political sphere, religious circle or even within the small family unit. Not at all.
However is it not wise to be circumspect in embarking on a collision cause with authorities.
Should they (authorities) be challenged when derailing exercising abuse of power?
But a wise old man will tell you that there are many ways to kill a rat.
*The protocol breach
Prior to the ejection from Government House to what was reported to be an uncompleted building another muscle flexing took place during the celebration of the creation of Midwest.
Going by the video clips it was clear that Obaseki has clearly drawn the battle line, otherwise what could have given the Department of State Service, DSS that gut (even though some of them are overzealous) to bounce back a serving deputy governor. Definitely, they are working on orders.
Again without sounding to be bias since I wasn’t at the scene directly, still quoting from the videos, the members of the deputy governor’s Press crew also had a push back from the security men, who knew these Journalists each by name.
Both that of the governor’s press crew and the deputy governor’s press crew including the security details of the two “ogas” now at daggers drawn are usually familiar.
They frequently meet at events on one mission – to provide security and to give press coverage to be syndicated to other media houses, thereafter.
So, what went wrong?
That is already put behind as the Governor bared his claws, disbanding the Shaibu press crew.
That was Shaibu down Round One, followed by
Shaibu chased out of Government House complex to ‘uncompleted’ building, call it Shaibu kissed the carpet, Round Two.
*Activation of impeachment process
With benefit of hindsight, watch out this unfolding drama, the next step is to use the instrumentality of the House of Assembly, constitutionally vested with the power to impeach, to get Shaibu completely out of the way and maybe hang one phantom accusation or the other to keep him busy in the court. Put him out of circulation agenda!
Trust the Edo Assembly where Constitutionally required number to okay such an impeachment, already in the incubator, doesn’t really matter.
Have you forgotten easily what happened during the last Assembly when ‘minority’ turned into ‘majority’, shutting out legislators loyal to Comrade Adams Oshiomole.
*Edo 2024 pendulum
It is certain except by miracle that Shaibu is getting caged by the day because of his burning desire to become the next governor of Edo State.
And the unfortunate thing is that since the governor refused to anoint me, daring all odds he has chosen deliberately and has chested out.
On governor Obaseki complaining about Shaibu’s disloyalty.
Was he (Obaseki) not the one that brazenly humiliated his former oga, Oshiomole?
While we are waiting for the drama to play out completely, Obaseki seems to be having the upper hand since he is welding his incumbency power on his deputy who is regarded as “spare tyre” without clear cut constitutional role as he is at the mercy of his principal.
But is it fair, you may ask.
But why pondering on the question, don’t you think that the chicken has come to roost?