By By Ugochukwu Ugwuanyi
Ever heard of the word “comeuppance”? The Cambridge English Dictionary defines it as “a punishment or some bad luck that is considered to be fair and deserved punishment for something bad that someone has done.” It is karma in action – a situation where what goes around comes around. We are referring to the precursor of the eternal punishment that awaits public office holders who appropriate power for aggrandisement, as recently pointed out by Mr Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State from 2016 to 2024.
In his words:
“Power is given by God for a purpose. If you are in politics just to get power, and when you get that power, it is only for you, your friends and those close to you, then God will punish you.”
That is not entirely how it works. Bogus sanctions like this make it seem as if those who abuse public trust are getting away with blue murder. Of course, Obaseki’s words will be cathartic for vast swaths of Nigerians who believe that politicians are cornering the country’s commonwealth for themselves and cronies. There is always that emotionally purging collective consolation when the pauperised masses are convinced that the day of reckoning will come for corrupt public officials.
Although Nigerians may not readily cite any official who suffered a drastic misfortune of supernatural proportion for abusing public office, they still have to accept Obaseki’s hypothesis, given that he is a politically exposed person. He must be speaking from experience – if not his own, then that of his colleagues. The pervasive disillusionment is understandable given the blissful exit of former President Muhammadu Buhari, about whose government Bishop Matthew Kukah of Catholic Sokoto Diocese said:
“We saw the ugliest face of corruption, whether in moral terms, financial terms, and other terms.”
Someone may ask: if nothing untoward happened to such an incumbent accused of nepotism and parochialism, what is Obaseki talking about? One cannot be sure, especially given a Premium Times analysis from August 4, 2021, detailing that “for every ten days Mr Buhari has been in office as Nigeria’s president, he has spent one day in London for health treatment.” Let’s cede the benefit of doubt to Obaseki, as an insider, he should know politicians who directly suffered divine punishment for abusing public trust. While the public only heard their misfortunes, the ex-governor is in a better position to tie their downward spiral to the choices made while in office.
Ironically, Obaseki’s membership of the privileged political class calls to question whether he isn’t liable for the very behavior that attracts God’s wrath. Cheekily responding to the story on Instagram, @woletade posted:
“Sir, you dey front row for this matter ooo.”
A widely endorsed retort from @iamdejesus went:
“Once them leave office, sense go full their head… hiss.”
Obaseki disagreed with such notions, insisting:
“Everything I did was planned. All the actions I took were for the benefit of the people, not for myself.”
Even if Edo residents’ loud lamentations couldn’t counter him, motorists and passengers know how horrendous it is to travel through Benin roads. If critical public infrastructure in the state capital can be so deplorable, imagine what the state government could have delivered elsewhere. Apparently scandalised by Obaseki’s priggish posturing, @adebayo.rilb wrote:
“The way our politicians use God’s name sometimes makes me wonder if God is even real.”
God’s existence is undeniable and manifest. Such despondency and doubts stem from expectations that the punishment of those who profane the name of the Lord or use Him as a crutch should be decisive and brutal. It is the same reason why some Nigerians are angling for African Traditional Oath-Swearing over the current ritual of emergent public office holders swearing by the Holy Books at their inauguration.
The Almighty doesn’t need to punish egocentric political office holders other than the general damnation awaiting whoever sins without being born again. Ahead of that eternal judgment, government functionaries who only cater to themselves and loved ones have retributive justice to reckon with. They cannot escape comeuppance. The populace may not know, but the wickedness of those in government eventually turns around to hunt them. Their fate is so terrible that at their height comes the blight. In other words, their plight is apparent when they are in dire need of privileges and protection hitherto taken for granted.
Case in point: can you think of any official more powerful than Abubakar Malami SAN during Buhari’s administration? He was perceived in some quarters to head the cabal that called the shots. Today, he is crying witch-hunt following moves against him by the EFCC over alleged high-profile corruption. Headlines read:
“EFCC Seals Malami’s Residence, Housing Buhari’s Daughter and Third Wife.”
This is happening while the once-formidable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) is gearing up to contest the 2027 governorship election in Kebbi State. On Thursday, an FCT High Court rejected his bail application, affirming that EFCC’s detention since December 8 is backed by court order. Rights activist Deji Adeyanju said:
“Public office is a trust, and all past and present public officials must be prepared to give a full account of how that trust was exercised. Malami showed no restraint while in government and wielded state power against everyone including members of the opposition. Having subjected others to prosecution, he cannot now escape from the same process.”
Indeed, at the height begins the plight.
Back to Obaseki, who should purportedly sit in the front row of divine punishment recipients for his commissions and omissions while occupying the Dennis Osadebay House! Karma for him may be the failure to install a successor and the triumph of his nemesis at the polls. In Nigeria’s realpolitik, nothing is as important to a chief executive wrapping up two terms as determining who succeeds him. Obaseki’s bid to become a godfather failed even in his Oredo Local Government Area, where APC’s Monday Okpebholo garnered 30,780 votes against 24,938 for his candidate – Asue Ighodalo of the PDP. Humiliating for an incumbent!
Where elections are credible, the electorate casting their ballot elsewhere is an appraisal of a politician’s stewardship. What Moses said in Numbers 32:23 applies here:
“You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
This precedes God’s judgment, where accounting is required for the rare opportunity and talent granted to everyone. Since accountability was central in the Parables of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21), government officials must start doing right by the people in their enlightened self-interest.
Politicians who exploit the privilege bestowed on them can only save themselves from eternal damnation by accepting and confessing Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior. Then:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
Afterwards, the repentant official must resist self-absorption to avoid the “chickens coming home to roost.”
VIS Ugochukwu, a sage, poet, and essayist, tweets @sylvesugwuanyi
