Okphebolo and His Figure challenge

By Dr jarlath Uche Opara

Walked into an exam hall for my final exam on MBA program years ago. It was one exam so well prepared, nothing less than “A grade” was anticipated. Flipped over the questions sheet my mind went blank .

Nothing I read could be remembered again . It took me 10mins to reboot, recollect before I could begin to answer those questions.

Intermittently I would be stuck, struggling how to spell is, was or words that seemed simply but suddenly became a nightmare for my brain to remember. It was so funny and at the same time very embrassing and frustrating.

Each time I had such a black out, I would drop my pen, began to think through how such words are spelt by repeatedly vocalising the words before it could make sense to me again.

I am not the only person this mental glitch had happened to, we all have had our fair share or embarrassing moments of such seizure of brain coordination. The Internet since the Executive Governor of Edo State Sen. Okphebolo had such a mental seizure, trying to read the 2025 budget has been buzzing with a lot of uncomplementry things said about him. Some were from a place of genuine criticisms, others from a place of pent up anger from the result of the election which didnt go to their favour while others came from a place to castigate him and bring him down to the mud of ineffective, incapable and figure phobia governor.

For me it is not new , why would anyone be surprised over such a mental glitch. Why would one be struck with bemusement when overtime members of APC have shown such traces of having mental or memory glitches once in a while . Who remembers Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu during his campaigns? Who remembers “bala blue, bula ba”? What about former President Buhari? What about the Senate President Akpabio who before a camera in the red Chambers struggled with figures. What about the SA to the Senate President who equally congratulated the governor of Akwa Ibom on the demise of his wife. The list is unending. It is their signature tune, I am meant to believe either to be on the news always or whatever.

What happened to Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu pre-election recurrent goofing, glitches and slipping of tongues in an embrassing manner? Was it a deliberate ploy deployed masterfully for whatever reason? The difference between Ahmed pre- election and Ahmed post- election is huge. The improvement very impressive and his composure and confidence before the camera a patch on what it was during his campaigns. May be his excellency the Executive Governor of Edo State would probably toe the line of the President.

Not trying to hold brief for the Governor, however stage fright is a cancer nobody outgrows. It has no cure, however confidence and mastery one is in any particular area it creeps once in a while when no one expects it. Pray it doesn’t become too stubborn to breed embrassing moment like the way it robbed mud on the face of the Governor, giving his detractors oxygen to fuel their propaganda and hate against him.

Once beaten twice shy, let him and his handlers be a bit circumspect, careful and more professional in handling his speeches and media presence. We all make mistakes, nobody is perfect in human skin. Pray you don’t get naked the day your enemies are armed with high resolution camera with data and uninterrupted network.

Let us wish him well to deliver good governance to the good people of Edo State. Fanning the ember of hatred to pull him down wouldn’t benefit any Edo person. He may have grabbed, snatched and ran with the mandate of the people. The reality is, he has come to stay as the governor of Edo State for four years except the court rules against it.

This single unanticipated slip wouldn’t be a defining moment for his tenure. A lot are before him, the journey is still far. Making ammendments and coming back with the mastery and confidence never seen isn’t far flung. 2026 budget presentation would be a lot better. We make mistakes, we learn and we become better in that area that we made mistakes on. Remove mistakes in the equation of human activities we become automated beings, a possibility that isn’t possible.

One thing about Nigerians is their penchant for media hyping on frivolities, if only they would develop same penchant in media hyping the non performance and lacklustre stewardship of these political office holders who have turned themselves to “acha- acha- agaga” political neophyte, they would be better for it.

Dr. Jarlath Uche Opara Jarlathuche@gmail.com