I continue with my tribute to PMB by repeating those things I told him when he was in a position to defend himself. This article was published in The Guardian on 14/1/19.
Everybody, or almost everybody, reading this piece ought to know His Excellency, Sir, Chief, Dr. Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, CON, CFR, LLD, D.Litt., GCKB, the Hon. Chancellor, Chairman of the Board of Regents, and proprietor of Igbinedion University, and the Esama of Benin. I hope I succeeded in assembling all his titles, and I apologise if his appellation has taken 10 percent of this article. He is a flamboyant entrepreneur, known in those days for Okada Air (from which commercial motorcycles got their alias), Canada Dry soft drinks, Igbinedion Hospital, etc. However, beyond all this, very few people still remember the Esama Hypothesis, which is where my interest is today.
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Lucky Igbinedion had the singular dishonour of being the first member of the Class of ’99 to be convicted for corruption. Never mind that the sentence was laughable as he got 6 months imprisonment for laundering N25bn and plea-bargained it to a HUGE fine of N3.5m! Back to the main issue, his chances for a second term were bleak because of his woeful performance. When Chief Igbinedion was campaigning for his son’s re-election in 2003, Edo people told him that his son performed woefully in office, but he responded that ‘Pickin wey no do well for class must repeat that class’ (a child that fails a class must repeat that class). In effect, he admitted that his son failed spectacularly but used the ‘fail-repeat’ analogy to plead for his re-election. The people agreed with him, or their votes were manipulated, and the lucky Lucky spent two terms and ‘left the state in ruins.’
“That is the ‘Esama hypothesis,’ which states that a failure should be rewarded with a second chance. That was what Esama knew or what was convenient for him then.”
That is the ‘Esama hypothesis,’ which states that a failure should be rewarded with a second chance. That was what Esama knew or what was convenient for him then. I don’t think he will support that hypothesis today because as the proprietor of Igbinedion University, he knows that when a student fails woefully serially, he is ‘advised’ to withdraw or to ‘park and go,’ as one village fellow once said. That is why his declaration could not be elevated to a theory because it is not true in all circumstances.
On 12/12/18, PMB met with the 36 governors, admitted that the economy was still in bad shape, and urged Nigerians to prepare for tougher times ahead! This is PMB’s self-assessment. We all know that PMB and APC made 1001 promises, which the great LAI eventually reduced to three, with the economy as NUMBER 1. It is obvious that our economy is still in bad shape, and interestingly, the President admitted so. He doesn’t have many options. An economy that was growing at 7 percent in 2015 is now struggling at 1.8 percent, as against the APC promise of 10-12 percent; it has become the poverty capital of the world (91 million in extreme poverty as of 31/12/18, as against 87 million 6 months earlier, and that was while the global poverty level was declining), has the 5th highest level of unemployment across the globe (22.7%, as against 8.5% in 2015, and 43% when underemployment is included), and has a misery index of 35% (17% in 2015). So, PMB scored himself an ‘F’ in economic management. And there is not much hope because 2019 promises a cocktail of fear and uncertainty.
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The matter would have rested there, but the president reawakened the Esama hypothesis. As he marked his 76th birthday on 17/2/18, he requested Nigerians to ‘pray for me, understand my intentions, and give me more time!’ The president, who admitted without prodding that he had failed on the economic front, turned around a few days later to ask for more time, based on his intentions! He based this on the Esama hypothesis, forgetting that the hypothesis could not be elevated to a theory because it is not universally applicable. In the universities, serial failure is rewarded with expulsion. In any case, Tony Momoh had asked us to stone PMB and the APC if they failed to perform within two years, and we are almost 4 years gone. So, what do we do to somebody who promises heaven on earth, admits that he has failed, and asks us to give him more time?
Ik Muo, PhD, Dept of Bus Admin, Olabisi Onabanjo University, 08033026625
