In Edo, where the cap fits

Hardball

There are often sacred grounds in politics. Especially in Nigeria. In political campaigns, the candidate is not allowed to campaign in houses of worship. There are no laws. It is out of respect for God.

But Nigeria does not like boundaries. We like to breach, to test the borders and see if we can, somehow, reap the rewards of daring. We have in recent years seen some candidates go to worship grounds and have been accused of dropping mouth-watering offerings. The overseers and heads of the centres often bless the august visitors for their glad and fruitful hands.

But there are a few places that balk such presences. One of such is the palace of the Oba of Benin, one of the most revered thrones in the country. We know that in most of the palaces, mortals do not walk in with their shoes. So even if we have the best-financed footwear in the world, even the sort that our own vainglorious Hushpuppi dazzled the world with on social media, you will have to calm down and let the shoe wait outside. You can return to your showy life after you depart his royal presence.

Well, in the heat of the Edo governorship elections, something else happened. The Governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki received a punch from his predecessor and fellow slugger on the ring, Adams Oshiomhole. Adams charged that His Excellency did not take off his hat in the presence of the His Royal Highness.

“You call yourself a Bini man, yet you came to Bini palace wearing a cap in company of other PDP governors,” said Oshiomhole of Obaseki who hails from Oredo Council in Benin City.

In the tradition, no one, no matter how highly placed, should cover their head before the king. It is a royal act of disloyalty, and even abomination. Adams was insistent that the governor did not seem to show that he understood tradition. It was a way of saying the man did not understand the tradition of the people to whom he belonged.

Up to the time of this writing, Hardball has not seen any rebuttal either from the usual reflex of response from Obaseki’s spokesmen or from the grand throne of the royal. It was, it seems, a matter too sacred for Governor Obaseki to tread into again. He does not want to stumble twice.

Or else he would be launching an onslaught on the royal palace. After all, his men  unleashed guns and shot them outside the palace when there was a fight between his men and those of his APC counterpart Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, although some accounts say it was just the people who had come to witness a ceremony at the palace who booed their displeasure with their chief executive and not necessarily organised by his pastor opponent.

Obaseki should know better than trying to pit the Excellency against the Royalty, the siren against the crown. Excellency is temporal, the crown is spiritual; votes come and go, royals are forever. No wonder, in this matter, it is all quiet on the governor’s front. He should also know where the cap fits.