Written by;
Ochoga E. Ochoga,PhD
Since 2007 I have kept what I call an ideological silence on matters relating to Ado politics. Not because I lacked the courage to write, but because sometimes silence is more dignified than responding to noise with noise. But alas, temptation has paid me a visit and I have answered the door. For I have seen a video that could make the ancestors of Ado rise from their graves to ask, Is this what we fought for? A video so tragically comical that it would have made Shakespeare rewrite Julius Caesar and add a character called The Honourable of Double Cross.
Yes, I watched it. The trending video. That video where my dear representative, an honourable member no less, sat inside her vehicle as it was used in the most cinematic display of power play since the days of Nollywood’s Battle of the Throne. Only that this was not acting. This was raw, live, unfiltered abuse of power, where the rule of law was double crossed, reversed, and thrown into the bush, all in broad daylight.
I felt ashamed. Not because politics is strange to acts of desperation, but because the actors in this theatre of shame are the same ones we gave the title honourable. What a heavy irony. The ones we elected to make laws are now the ones breaking both laws and bones of decency. If we continue like this, should we now replace their title with Unhonourable? Or better still Hooligislators?
And I ask, with a heavy heart, are we now in that Hobbesian state where the strong oppress and the weak must either run or be run over? Where political disagreement is no longer a matter for dialogue but a scene fit for a Netflix thriller? Have we thrown away civility in politics the same way one throws away a banana peel after licking the last drop of power?
I do not know the actors personally. I have never dined nor debated with them. And I do not intend to join the cast in this long-running drama that is now making Ado the capital of political absurdity. But I do have questions, and questions demand answers.
First, if all this tragicomedy is about who gets the APC ticket for 2027, then let the fight continue, and may the best wrestler win. Let them continue with their petitions, their counter-petitions, and their fabulous letter-writing rituals that have now become the most performed political sacrament in Ado. Let every councillor and supervisor hire a lawyer and write one hundred petitions each. Let them post it on Facebook and print it on banners, for that is now the fastest path to fame in the political ecosystem of Ado.
But dear Lord, if this madness is about sharing national cake, then may Nigeria’s oil dry up. Yes, may it evaporate and leave only dust, so that these cake-fighting gladiators can retire from politics and go back to being tailors, farmers, and phone dealers. Maybe then, we can return to a politics of reason.
As for the Ado LG chairman, if there are genuine allegations against him, then let the honourable petitioner prove her case. Let the state assembly, if it still remembers its oath, act with fairness and justice. But if the petition is as empty as an expired sachet of pure water, then let it be known that what we are witnessing is not governance but gladiatorship.
And yet I trust the Ado people. They are too enlightened to accept hooliganism as the new creed of governance. The Ado man can argue with you about Shakespeare and slap you with the Constitution in one breath. The Ado woman knows the difference between leadership and showmanship. They may be quiet now, but they are watching. And when the time comes to decide, they will remember the double crossing, the petitions, the name-calling, and the law-breaking done in the name of service.
As for me, I shall return to my ideological cave, dust off my conscience, and sip my water in peace. I am not a politician. And God forbid, I do not wish to be. For if this is what politics has become in Ado, where honourables now chase each other like market thugs and petitions now grow faster than cassava, then may I remain a civilian in this war of political absurdity.
In closing, I leave a simple question for my beloved honourable member: When next you look in the mirror, do you still see an honourable, or just another actor in the theatre of disgrace?
And to the Ado people, may your eyes remain open and your memories long. The video may fade from the internet, but the shame it brought should remain a warning that politics without honour is like a masquerade that forgets its costume naked and ridiculous.
@
2/8/25
