It is now history that Change has come to take its roots in Nigeria with the victory of General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the March 28 General elections.
Since then, there have been alignments and realignments by the political class with quick defections akin to the speed of light, or should I say, Usain Bolt, with many quickly dumping the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to embrace the APC. In Edo, the gale of defections saw to the jumping ship of former Governor of the State, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor; governorship candidate of the PDP in the 2012 election in the state, Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (rtd), one-time Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula, three-time member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ehioge West-Idahosa, renowned hotelier, Mr. Sunny Aguebor, one-time die-hard PDP member Mr. Sunny Erengbo and Edo North PDP stalwart, Mr. Richard Lamai among many others.
While many of the decampees gave several unintelligible reasons for dumping the PDP just days after the loss of the party in the March 28 election, others have rather chosen to, while still bona fide members of the PDP, regale the world with their larger-than-life roles and their anti-PDP activities in the elections. In this class is a certain businessman, a renowned pilot of Bini extraction who prefers to see himself as a politician, rather than the businessman he is, even as it is doubtful if he know where his polling unit is or the number of wards in Edo south.
It is amusing that lately, many different syndicated articles have been published in virtually all the newspapers praising Captain Hosa Okunbor, or Kapi, as he is known by his hangers-on and praise-singers, of his political sagacity and wizardry; of how he virtually “single-handedly” won Edo South for the PDP in the March 28 general elections. There is no doubt that Kapi played a role in the March 28 election, with the way he rolled out the war chest, dishing out mouth-watering funds through his agents in the PDP to subvert the will of the people as the peoples’ conscience and votes were allegedly bought in a cash-for-votes strategy.
Of course, Captain Hosa as a businessman had to roll out the cash in his futile bid to ensure the return of President Goodluck Jonathan to to Aso Rock, knowing full well that only that would ensure the sustenance of his business patronage from Abuja and possibly avoid Buhari’s anti-corruption probe. However, it must be pointed out that not one chieftain of the PDP in Edo State can claim to have worked hard for the votes recorded for President Jonathan in the March 28 election. This is because many Edo people, like in the South-South generally, voted on the basis of ethnic affiliation. Captain Hosa knows that the slogan “he is our brother’’ became popular a few days to the election and President Jonathan would still have made a good showing without his money.
The meat of Captain’s syndicated articles is to the effect that he is Bini and he is standing in the gap for the Binis in Abuja. He also said his new-found love is to support another Bini man, national Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and ensure his success. Really? All the effusive praises heaped on Captain Hosa in the write-ups are so ingenious as to obfuscate his real intentions. Now there are a few posers for him. How is Captain standing in the gap for the Binis in Abuja? What have the Binis gained throughout his ‘standing in the gap’ period? How many ministerial posts or other positions has Captain attracted to the Binis? Is Kapi just becoming aware that Chief Odigie-Oyegun, his brother, a former governor of Edo State and a fellow Bini man is the National Chairman of the APC? Why did he work against his brother’s interest through the deployment of resources to buy the conscience of the people in the March 28 election?
How has he helped his brother, the APC National Chairman, since he was so elected last year? If he wanted to really support his brother, what role did he play in the loss of Chief Oyegun’s ward to the PDP on March 28? Is it not true that Kapi did all he could to humiliate and embarrass the APC National Chairman in the eyes of the world in the March 28 election? Is it also not true that Kapi, having realised that the tap from Abuja has been shut, had to find a way to warm himself into the hearts of the APC leaders to remain afloat, having realised that APC controls both the Federal and Edo State? It is curious that Captain Hosa attributed and arrogated the marginal gain of the PDP in the March 28 election to himself alone. He forgot that others made heavy financial contributions to the election; he forgot that the PDP has never, ever, won any election in Edo state since Comrade Adams Oshiomhole became Governor in 2008.
Captain’s case is akin to what Ola Rotimi called “a butterfly thinking himself a bird”, in his classic book, The gods are not to blame. He thinks he is a master of the political game, whereas he and the PDP have been roundly beaten over and again in Edo State. His hatchet writers allege that if he had wanted to go the whole hog, Kapi would have won the April 11 House of Assembly election for the PDP. Really, Captain? How would you have done that when your party is not on ground in Edo State? How would you have won a seat for the PDP in Edo South when the people do not want your party? As a matter of fact, Captain Hosa is being economical with the truth on the April 11 election.
The people of Edo South are aware of the role he played surreptitiously through one of his cronies to ensure that one of his former loyalists, Hon. Chris Okaeben lost his Oredo West House of Assembly election, all because Okaeben dared to severe the cancerous umbilical cord linking them, but in spite of his efforts, the electorate did the right thing by voting for the Chris and the APC. In his desperation to align with the APC in Abuja and continue to breathe the oxygen provided therefrom, Captain Hosa said he is standing in the gap for the Binis. This is a fallacy of the highest order.
Does Captain really have the interest of the Binis at heart or his personal insatiable interests? If Kapi really had the interest of the Binis at heart, this is the time to tell the Bini people how many industries, even if it is a pure water factory he set up anywhere in Benin land or in Edo State, or how many students of Bini extraction are on his scholarship. The Binis are tired of people who think their personal business and primitive acquisitive interests are one and the same with the interest of the entire Bini people. Captain knows that he is not the leader of the PDP in Edo South, he hardly makes any meaningful contribution to the life of the average Bini man and he definitely is not the leader of the Binis either in the state or in Abuja or even the diaspora. He should stop arrogating to himself what he is not.