Who Wants Oghiadomhe Out?

By LAMAI CASSIUS

Personal Assistant (PA), what is happening in your area Fugar, they said they have sacked Chief Oghiadomhe as the Chief of Staff to the President, why, I asked, I will find out when I get home, I said. That was my conversation with a lecturer in Auchi Polytechnic Mr. Ugbome who wanted to find out from me. The following day I traveled to Fugar to actually find out what was happening as I was no longer comfortable with the news. On getting home, I discovered that the news was mixed reactions depending on the camp one belong. The question I am asking is whoever wants chief Oghiadomhe out as the Chief of Staff to the President is doing so simply because of selfish interest and dirty politics that cannot lead us anywhere. It is high time we left those dirty politics and be our brother’s keeper. I am quite sure president Goodluck Jonathan did not consult anybody before appointing Chief Oghiadomhe for the position and I also believe he will not consult or listen to anybody either before removing/sacking Chief Oghiadomhe if the President wants to. Chief Oghiadomhe’s appointment as chief of staff is supposed to be a plus to Edo State in general and Fugar in particular for one of their illustrious sons occupy such position, as such opportunity is not easy to come by. We should all therefore rally round and give him all the necessary support he needs to make him succeed in that position instead of the other attitude of “Pull Him Down” (PHD) syndrome. It was also rumoured that he was placed under house arrest by the State Security Service (SSS) over the bomb blast in Abuja on October 1st during the golden jubilee celebration of Nigeria’s Independence. But according to The Examiner newspaper report posted in internet denied the story of house arrest of chief Oghiadomhe saying he has never been placed under house arrest by the SSS, that he chief Oghiadomhe reported to the office the following day. It would be recalled that shortly after the attack, the arrested leader of Movement for the Emancipation of Niger-Delta (MEND), Henry Okah had in an interview with the Aljazeeratelevision said that MEND was not only responsible for the attack but was actually contacted by a top presidency personnel to implicate Northern politicians as the brain behind the attack. The MEND leader, Henry Okah had never at any point in time in his interview mentioned chief Oghiadomhe as involved in the plan or execution of the attack that will now warrant the call for his removal or sack. Do we have anything to benefit from his sack? Will President Jonathan appoint another Edo state or Fugar person in that position again, if chief Oghiadomhe is sacked? Instead of encouraging him to see how he can help young graduates to secure jobs or influence better thing to his area, we are busy looking for a way to sack him. According to reaction over the rumour sack, one Bayo from Abuja said, it is painful that the attention has been shifted to who said what over the bomb blast while the bombers are having their rest. We should allow the security operatives to do their job. However, whoever are the masterminds should be brought to book no matter how highly placed. Nigeria is greater than any one individual. Those who are politicizing it should learn to be more patriotic. If somebody that is not from Fugar can make such comment about the issue, I wondered then why we are jubilating over our brother’s down fall. When Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe was the Chief of General Staff, both old and young people from Edo State in general and Fugar in particular were jubilating and identified with him as his/her brother and sister, we should also try as much as possible to give Oghiadomhe such identification irrespective of political party affiliation. Whoever God has elevated should be celebrated, if you didn’t celebrate the person nobody will celebrate you tomorrow when you are elevated. Fugar, a small place in Edo state has always had opportunity of producing prominent sons and daughters in high positions, such as late C.N. Udochi, the first Attorney General in the Mid-West state and first Nigeria Ambassador to United Kingdom, late chief (Sen) E.A Lamai, the first Senator in the Afenmai Division in the first Republic, the former Chief of General Staff (CGS),Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe and the former deputy governor of Edo state and now the chief of staff to the president, chief Mike Oghiadomhe, we see Fugar is always lucky to produce these men of high repute. Even though, I have never benefited anything from him, I am very happy that he is from my state, town and quarter and he is my brother, I will not take or regard another person from different place as my brother and sister, we should not allow politics to divide us as our forefather did not divide themselves. It is high time the Highness, chiefs and prominent sons and daughters of Fugar to come together to put a stop to this politics of bitterness that is trying to exist in Fugar, so that Fugar will come back to what it used to be and known for. We all know loyalty is chief Oghiadomhe’s watchword this he displayed when he was the deputy governor of Edo State for 8 years which earned him award as the best deputy governor in Nigeria then. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t think he would therefore be involved in anything that will bring his name and the nation in general to the mud now that he is the chief of staff to the president. It is my fervent prayers therefore that those who claimed responsible for the bomb blast should be courageous enough to name those involved in the attack so that innocent people will be left alone.