Obama, Oshiomhole’s Victories Excite Ex-Guber Aspirant

By Chidiebere Iwuoha, Owerri
The electoral victories of US Democratic candidate, Barrack Obama and Edo State Action Congress (AC) candidate in the 2007 Gubernatorial elections, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole have continued to excite Imo people, up to the extent that a law maker in the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon Ray Emeana sponsored a motion that a street in the state be named after Barrack Obama for being the first Afro-American to occupy the American White House, which before now appeared the exclusive preserve of the white Americans.
In a chat with Newsday recently, a former gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of People's Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Chief Stanford Onyirimba (Ikeoha) described Obama's victory as a dream that lasted forty five years, but which eventually came to fruition.
He further described it as a development that is likely to change the world order, saying it is an election that actually brought out a black man that is no longer an inferior person but a man who is equal in academics, government and in everything with every other race in the world.
“It is not only the victory of America but the victory of the black man. It is a victory for the minority. It is a victory for all those who feel oppressed. Today, the world has come to realize that even in the midst of those minorities, there are still people who are very intelligent and who can actually deliver the dividends of democracy. For me today, I am a very fulfilled man. I feel so happy that any time I am going out, whether in the country or outside the country, I will stamp my feet and say “yes” I am as equal as any other race in this world, because Obama is the first citizen of the whole world. And he is a black man. Obama is a black man whose father is from Kenya . It is a very welcome development. And every body is happy about it. And if you look at the pattern of voting, he beat the American record, winning in all the five states where the Republican used to win. He was able to win very convincingly. And it is a victory that tells everybody in the world, including Nigerians that there is time for us to think about giving honour to the man that won the election”.
Talking about the Edo state Governor elect, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (thanks to Appeal Court decision) Onyirimba who is one time Majority Leader in the Imo State House of Assembly said Oshiomhole's mantle of leadership is good for democracy and judiciary. And that the fact that people were happy, jubilating over the verdict is a clear indication that he won the election. And that what the Appeal Tribunal did was exactly what the Tribunal (lower court) had done.
On the lessons to learn from the two elections, the Mbano born politician and philanthropist was full of hope that Obama's election would change a lot of things in the country. “Our policy makers or executors should be able to use what happened in America as a lesson, by making sure that elections are conducted in a free and fair manner. Get the man who is more popular to win the election. You can see in less than three minutes after the voting the results were announced. You can on your own see how the voting pattern is going and at the close of balloting the result is already out. There is no rigging. And in the first five, ten or fifteen minutes, the man who lost election congratulated the man who won. And not 18 months after the election there is protest and litigation.
“The INEC should be able to learn a lot of lessons from what happened in America . And all Nigerians should also be able to learn a lesson from what has happened in Edo state, where not only what was written is going to actually count, but the actual votes of the people. Indeed! it is a lesson that we should be able to work on to achieve a balanced democracy in the country. We have the technology, man power and resources to do that. It depends on the political will of the people in government to do the right thing at the right time. The world is a global village. If we can achieve that in banking, where you can access your account anywhere in the country, we can do it in election. As you are voting the result will be collated and anybody who wins will know he has won and vice versa. We hope that with the Federal Government electoral reform, and the lessons we have gathered, we will have an electoral process that will be enduring, with less bickering. If you are sure that if you win you will be declared winner and if you lose you lose, the issue of thuggery and all that will be a thing of the past. Everybody will now go and convince the people on why they should vote him.”