Some people suggested that the write up smirked of
belicosity if not out right hyperbolism. Indeed, the effluents imbued in that
piece, according to one of his rabid supporters, was laced with evidence that I
was paid by the Kogi State Government, to do a dirty job on the embattled
Senator.
The article, entitled, “At Last, Dino Melaye Meets His
Nemesis” has turned out to be prophetic. I could as well be called a marabout
with uncommon gift of clairvoyance. Indeed, events of the last one or two weeks
have confirmed that I was spot on in my description and prediction of the man.
No, I don’t want anyone to surmise that this follow-up piece
is about gloating over the misfortunes of Dino, as the senator is better known.
On the contrary, this is about reminding us that I saw the events of the past
one or two weeks coming and tried, albeit failingly, to warn that he could meet
his waterloo if he did not check his excesses and the predilection of always
seeking to play to the gallery.
Unfortunately, Dino, like a dog destined for abyss failed to
hearken to the hunter’s whistle and suddenly found himself encircled in a
trajectory beyond his wildest imagination.
Today, he is fighting the battle of his life, caged like a
common rat. He suddenly finds that the law is no respecter of persons and that
once you have become a fugitive on the run, you put yourself up to be treated
like a common criminal.
Definitely, I am not one of those in sympathy with the Kogi
West Senator for what has become his lot. After all, when a man decides to
stand in front of a moving train, you can only imagine that he would eventually
be crushed. Likewise, a man who dips his fingers in a pond of snakes should not
be surprised that the poisonous venom of the reptile would soon takeover the
blood in his veins.
Truth is, I never believed that the embattled Senator would
try to play “Rambo” by allegedly jumping out of a moving police pickup van.
Neither could anyone have convinced me that he would employ alleged thugs to
help shield him from the police. But that’s what the man reportedly did to the
consternation of all.
Thrice, he was reportedly accosted by security agencies and
on all accounts, he had hirelings who blocked his arrest. I stand to be
corrected if it was just a coincidence that the thugs did what they did without
being induced to do so. Neither would anyone convince me that it was the first
time Dino was employing them to do a dirty job. But that is a debate for another
day.
Ordinarily I would have questioned the propriety of his
trial in a magistrate court while on a stretcher by the police instead of
waiting for him to get well but I am constrained because, Dino was NEVER ill at
the time of his invitation by the police. Even after he was declared wanted by
the police, he repeatedly refused to turn himself in for prosecution, on the
ground that it was a plot to kill him, resulting in last weekends face off with
men of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).
My pain is that, Dino Melaye as a lawmaker ought to have
known that he was fugitive before the law. He ought to also have known that
Lokoja, is the city where the alleged crimes or charges against him were
pending. The only way to clear his name was to challenge the prosecution in the
court in Lokoja like younger activists like Austine Okai and Johnson Musa.
Infact, the former Governor, His Excellency Prince Abubakar
Audu, arguably one of the fathers of Kogi State turned himself in for
prosecution in 2009 when the EFCC charged him to court. Although the case was
still pending when he died, it is remarkable that he respected the law until
his death. Dino Melaye is not bigger than Abubakar Audu.
As for his trial on a stretcher, his lawyers and other
public commentators should be patient enough to answer these salient questions:
Did Dino jump from a moving police van ? If the answer is in the affirmative,
then does that action amount to an offense in the eyes of the law?
Isn’t the reported action of ‘jumping from a moving police
van’ suicidal? If the answer is also in the affirmative,then I ask again if
‘attempted suicide’ is an offense? Then the viral video where Dino Melaye
openly threatened to kill himself and put the Police in trouble. ..so, who will
treat a Rambo with kids gloves ?
Anyway, while he cools his head on the hospital bed and or
police custody or the prison , he may use this moment to reflect on what has
become of the life of a Senator; a youth who was supposed to be a role model,
now a fugitive from the law. He should reminisce on how high he has tried to
climb on the political ladder of Nigeria only to use his hand to pull down the
lever.
Irrespective of whether the recall process initiated by his
so called constituents or ‘sponsors’ succeeded or not, Dino by now should be
thinking of the puppeteer behind the high wire intrigue surrounding the entire
process.
Most definitely, his thoughts must also revolve round how he
became a fugitive, with policemen guarding him round the clock even on the
hospital bed. Could this be real or a virtual fantasy created by a puppet
master trained to conjure world class tragi-comedies?
But, as I pointed out in the earlier article, the Okun
politician brought the many troubles on himself. After all, if a man goes to
the market and buys faeces, he can only expect flies to perch. Dino has
directly or indirectly bought trouble on many fronts and he should live with
the consequences.
Above, he must tell himself some hard truths about lifestyle
change. Because he must know by now that living like a thug does not pay. And
that every small alec has his day, just like the medicine man who finds out to
his chagrin that sometimes, charms against gunshot fails.
But, a chameleon does not change its spots. A thug will
always be a thug. Likewise, Dino will always be Dino. So, I do not expect any
significant change. Instead, Nigerians should be prepared to see a brasher and
brazen personality.
When he fought and his clothes were torn in the House of
Representatives, did he learn anything? Did he become a better person? Compare
that with jumping from a moving police van to evade arrest. Which is worse?
That is why as I wake up every morning, I thank God that the
embattled Senator does not represent me in the upper legislative chamber,
notwithstanding that we are both from Kogi State and I have a sleeping Senator
from my own constituency.
A man with no sense of decency,has no scruples fighting in
public, who abuses his elders without any remorse, who can jump from a moving
van like a tout on the streets of Egbe cannot be my representative. The Senate
is not made for brigands. And the earlier we exorcise such characters from our
body politic, the saner our society, nay, Kogi State would be.
A stich in time saves nine.
Phrank Shaibu ,a Public Communication Expert writes from
Abuja .
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