By
Coker Onita
Last week, Senator Adams Aliu Oshiomhole, former national chairman, All Progressive Congress (APC) and former executive governor of Edo State, caused a small quake in the Red Chamber of Nigeria’s National Assembly. It was during the screening of the two nominees for senior regulatory positions in our petroleum industry.
The nominees were Mr.Saidu Mohammed, managing director and chief executive officer of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) and Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, also a thoroughbred professional who was nominated for upstream regulatory agency. They were recently chosen by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to replace Mr. Farouk Ahmed and Mr. Gbenga Komolafe who resigned their appointments under controversial circumstances.
Mr. Farouk Ahmed resigned his appointment consequent upon the grave corruption allegations leveled against him by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and group of companies.
At the screening session, Mr. Oshiomhole openly praised the president for his decision to disengage Farouk, hinging his acceptance on Tinubu’s patriotism. To Oshiomhole, Farouk has contributed immensely to the discomfort and agony of Nigerians from the oil industry. This he did by what Oshiomhole called “wrong policy choices”, discouraging local production and thereby encouraging loss of jobs and frittering away foreign exchange earnings. To Oshiomhole, the man should be “hanged before he hangs Nigeria”. Well said, you’ll say.
In addition to his contribution, indeed, to emphasize his favourable disposition to Farouk’s removal, Mr. Oshiomhole did not hesitate to confess that he had been drinking since he heard the news. To cap his submission, he promised he was going to continue drinking as if it was going out of fashion. A colleague senator of Oshiomhole at the plenary also promised to join him in the drinking expedition.
Drink ke? l quipped. Nigerians are used to seeing “Dancing Senators”. Two names readily come to mind: Senator Ademola Adeleke, now governor of Osun State and Senator Dino Melaye from Kogi State and a few more. There are equally dancing governors with some competing to outdo each other at campaign rallies and social engagements. Now, with Oshiomhole’s vituperations, we are poised to add “Drinking Senators” to our Lexicon.
Unlike dancing with little or no psycho-physiological implications, drinking may not yield any good dividend at the end of the day. If Oshiomhole takes to this trajectory at his age, he may be heading for Golgotha. Good luck to him and his fellow compatriot on that screening panel who has promised to join him on the drinking spree.
But seriously, Oshiomhole must be joking to saying he would now take to drinking. He must have used the scenario metaphorically to point at a major malaise plaguing our society: That the likes of Farouk are hardly wanted in any sane society. lt takes the calibre of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, a phenomenon himself, to remove and disgrace him from the system.
Oshiomhole will do well to continue to acquit himself along the golden path of probity, transparency and boldness that he has chosen for himself in the 10th Senate. No drinking spree should be allowed to distract him. Ditto for some of his co-travellers in the Senate.
Mr. Coker Onita, former Publisher and Editor-in-chief, Today’s Choice Magazine, was Editorial Consultant and Columnist at Independent Newspapers Limited.
