OPINION | 31. 05. 2022
“Reality is complicated. There is no justification for all of the hasty conclusions.” – Hideki Yukawa
I grew up disliking him a lot – not because I knew him personally, but due to so many false and laughable things I heard about him from not a few of his staunch political opponents; there’s really nothing they’ve not said about him.
From comically false cultism allegations, to puerile cries about his supposed overlord tendencies, and archaic bickerings related to an unseen vengefulness in his character, etc.
These misconceptions imprisoned my mind for so many years, until I was set free by the strong hands of time, and deliberate enlightenment. I started looking at him closely, and I began to see the errors in my rumour-laden judgment.
Since my freedom from the prison of gross misinformation, I have come to realise that bias and prejudices are the two main reasons why most people jump into hasty conclusions, and that, the saying “You can’t shave a man in his absence”, is an eternal truth.
Take for instance, the case of Hon. Chidi Loyd, the present Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area. Who would have ever imagined that H.E Nyesom Wike would have ever looked beyond their past political differences, even to the point of supporting him to contest and win an election in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after the very visible roles he played in the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the PDP. So where’s the vengeance?
In today’s Nigeria, only very few politicians can stand on the altar of God to boldly declare that they aren’t involved in any secret cult, in one way or another. Recently, during a thanksgiving service in honour of the return of seventeen oil wells to Rivers State, H.E Wike unequivocally stated that he does not belong to any cult.
He went further to challenge anyone to present any evidence to the contrary, while attributing his protection and political successes to God.
Since then, his accusers have gone to sleep – no more noise about his affiliation to any cult group has been heard. The son of a pastor has finally been vindicated!
No overlord would stick to a political party since 1998 till date, in spite of encountering myriads of challenges like backstabbings, assassination attempts, and political loses for so long a time.
How can an overlord accept the outcome of a political contest that clearly pitched him against an entire group of people?
Barely forty eight hours after the PDP presidential primary, he has fulfilled his vow of working with anybody that emerges as the candidate of the party, and he has fully thrown his weight behind Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s candidature. What an overlord!
I’m not in any way fantasising about a utopian society where cyclical sentiments are inexistent, but I’m calling on all and sundry, to look closely at H.E Nyesom Wike’s life, and learn how to live above bias, prejudice, and hasty conclusions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Solomon Nmam Okocha writes from Rumuigbo, Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State
