The video clip of the interview granted by the
Chief of Staff to the Edo State Governor, Mr. Patrick Obahiagbon, to multiple
award winning Nigerian television station, Channels Television, has generated a
debate on social media.
Nigerians who had watched
the video on YouTube and on a a Saturday breakfast programme, Sunrise, said
“they could not comprehend the analysis the former member of the House of
Representatives gave during the interview”.
According to them,
Obahiagbon’s ‘’high sounding grammar’’ is incomprehensible as many sought to
know what languages he was mixing up with English.
Besides, many of them who
had employed the YouTube’s ‘Transcript’ feature to get an approximate text
version of all of the words spoken in the video proved abortive as it could not
make “head or tail of his analysis”.
For instance, when one of
the presenters, Kayode Akintemi, asked about his thought on the happenings in
Rivers State, as a Nigerian, Obahiagbon replied, “Let me say as quickly as possible,
the political “crinkum crankum”, if you like, the political “higi haga” that
has enveloped the politics of Rivers State for a period of time now has all the
trappings of an odoriferous saga cum ‘’gagantuagaga.’’ And I am bewildered that
this situation is of no serious concern to the commander-in-chief of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria…”
Asked if the crisis was
getting messier because of the 2015 general election, he said, “Oh it is very
crystal clear like the biblical ‘teke teke menoyafasin.’ It is audible to the
deaf and visible to the blind.”
He added, “If you look at
the totality of the crisis in Rivers State just now, it leaves me with two
conclusions that 2015 is inherently laden with a political and democratic
‘talidomine.’ Two, some social scientists like myself have gone to town for
donkey years, saying that what we have is not democracy but civilian rule.
“But with recent events, I
say no. Nigeria is neither witnessing civilian rule nor democracy but what we
have at best is a form of government I call ‘kakitomoboplutocracy’
and that is bad for us as a nation.’’
However, Akintemi bewildered
by Obahiagbon’s statements, quizzed him on what he meant by “talidomine”,
asking, “Talidomine could mean…?” Obahiagbon replied, “I mean it (2015) may be
still born.’’
Shortly after watching the
video on YouTube, one Fola Durowoju laments, “Please, can someone kindly
subtitle this video.’’
A YouTube user, Ovie
Simon-Efe, says he wonders how Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole,
manages to comprehend his words whenever they have cause to interact.
One Olayinka Awofodu says,
“He’s speaking ‘personalised English.’ Even the YouTube transcript feature is
confused.’’
Meanwhile, Some Nigerians
say Obahiagbon will not find it difficult to speak in tongues if he decides to
venture into church ministry, when he leaves politics.
They say they cannot fathom
whether Obahiagbon featured on the programme as an analyst or for a
comic relief.
“Does this man care that it
takes clear communication to encourage listening? Does he really care to talk
to be understood? I’d see differently, were it a comedy show or a medical
appointment,” a YouTube user, Samuel Abiodun, notes.
He says, “As far as I am
concerned, I can see the ship of the Nigerian state hovering around the
political Bermuda Triangle, and if we do not take urgent and responsible steps…
My critical history and historiography of the study shows that the war of
attrition in Rivers State did not commence with the Obio/Okpor political
tendency. It commenced, strictly speaking, from the suspicion that Governor
Rotimi Amaechi nurses an ambition for the Vice-Presidency of this country.’’
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