Sad things happen in our country. And there are days I simply turn my attention away from the sad happenstance either as President, Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL) or as a private citizen. But not the sad thing that happened in Benin-city yesterday: the public humiliation and the show-trial of the poor teacher who couldn’t read an affidavit.
The Comrade Governor went beyond the bounds of decency and the dictates of his office when he superintended over the humiliation of a teacher who herself is a victim of Edo state’s failing education system. For making such shameful inquisition, with his obsequious aides guffawing at the background and before television cameras, shows the character of the circus which governance has taken in Edo state.
As a citizen of that state, I am worried that humiliation of hapless citizens has become the show-piece policy of Oshiomhole’s administration. Lest we forget, almost two years ago now, Oshiomhole publicly humiliated a certain ex-major of the Nigerian Army and had him handcuffed before he was bundled into a pickup Hilux for performing his public duty well.
There are doubts over Gov Oshiomhole’s academic qualification; doubts that were not wholly resolved by the Supreme Court, and the Comrade Governor can serve public justice well if he does the proper thing by making a public presentation of his academic qualification for verification by Edo citizens. A Comrade Governor who possesses puny academic qualification cannot harass poor teachers of Edo state who are daily kidnapped and forced to pay ransoms by kidnappers everywhere.
Abdul Mahmud is the President of the Public Interest Lawyers League
