To the man’s utter amazement, his wife stood up and stepped forward too! Infuriated he called out “Woman, are you not my wife? Come and sit down. Didn’t you hear the blessing is for widows?” Without hesitation his wife replied “You call yourself a husband? Look at them and look at me. Am I better than a widow?” She then turned round to explain to everyone her husband was not poor but he was in fact a rich man who habitually squandered his money instead of facing his responsibilities. The congregation looked at her expensively attired husband and looked at her shabby demeanour then urged her to join the widows for blessings! The wife in the story represents the Nigerian masses and the husband is the Federal Government. In Nigeria there is no constant electricity or running water, streets are awash with rubbish, roads are full of potholes, and crime is rampant.
There is little or no difference between us and a country with no government we have become “widows” with husbands. Generally speaking widows are amongst the less privileged in society, but this doesn’t mean all of them are poor. There is one in particular who feels so well off that she rejected a cash gift of 250,000 naira. Her name is Mrs Joy Ifijeh, and she was involved in an incident with the Governor of Edo State Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
He caught her street hawking and breaking environmental laws, and despite her pleas personally ordered her wares to be confiscated. Wailing and begging for forgiveness she pleaded she was a jobless widow and the Governor replied “you are a widow go and die”. Uncouth language or behaviour in any context by an occupier of elevated office is a desecration of that office and fortunately for her but unfortunately for Oshiomhole the incident was filmed and went viral on the Internet.
The nauseating film clip shows him standing majestically upright with hand in pocket looking down on the woman grovelling on her knees. This disconcerting behaviour by a “progressive” governor who apparently “means well” illustrates how the pomp and circumstance of elevated office can get into the head of even those who grew up from humble beginnings. Politicians and public servants must never allow citizens however underprivileged to beg them on their knees.
The governor’s behaviour was remarkably callous and his statement insensitive and uncalled for. Every life deserves a certain amount of dignity no matter how poor or underprivileged the person is. Street hawkers however lowly their estate in life, don’t deserve to be cruelly mocked or have their dignity assailed. As expected condemnation came swiftly from all over the world and the Edo State government was forced into damage limitation mode. They located the widow and hastily arranged a televised apology together with a job offer, two million naira cash gift, and scholarship for her children.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while claiming responsibility for placing the video on the Internet offered the widow a 250,000 naira cash gift. Declining the much needed money Mrs Ifijeh said they should give it to other widows because incredibly she didn’t want to “politicize the issue”. The opposition PDP said the Governor didn’t insult the woman on behalf of Edo State citizens so he shouldn’t use State money to appease his conscience, and that the incident showed his true character as callous and lacking in compassion. The APC said the apology shows Oshiomhole is sincere and can admit his mistakes. In all this hullabaloo three things should be very clear.
Firstly, it isn’t proper for an executive governor to patrol the streets enforcing anti-street trading or any other law as it represents the worst form of micro-managing. After constituting a body to do work, and paying them from the public purse, Governors should not then proceed to do the job for them. Secondly, being a widow, or in any way disadvantaged or less privileged, does not exempt anyone from obeying the law nor from suffering the consequences of breaking it. Citizens cannot hide under their varied disadvantaged conditions to gain immunity from the consequences of lawbreaking. Thirdly it isn’t proper for public servants who are supposed to serve the citizen’s best interests to make spiteful statements and openly display a lack of compassion. Unfortunately Nigerian political leaders rather than being paragons of decorous and civil conduct have become personifications of crude and barbaric dispositions.
The nation must evolve into a law abiding society without impunity or exhibitions of executive arrogance. Although we need leaders who will enforce laws irrespective of whose ox maybe gored, we need people who are resolute yet compassionate and wear a human face, not godlike figures who think they are all knowing and infallible. Mrs Ifijeh widow should thank the immense power of Social Media. No one should be in any doubt that if not for YouTube she would still be poor, unemployed and most likely looking for money to “bail” her seized goods from the environmental agents! Although the matter is closed no matter the provocation Oshiomhole should be very wary of his utterances in future otherwise the ghost of this foul-mouthed outburst may come back to haunt him.
In more advanced nations where respect for human dignity is paramount he would have faced dire consequences and ruined his political career, apology or no apology. The lesson for him and all other political leaders is that it is imperative they create an enabling environment to uplift the masses and assist them rise above the struggle for daily subsistence. Governors are banning street hawking and destroying kiosks making no provision for how the affected are supposed to survive. They must jettison this fire brigade approach of looking to change society overnight through bullying, intimidation and spreading misery.
