2019 was the year of Nigeria’s general elections and some politicians had just too much to say–a little too much for their own and everyone’s good.
There were a couple of politicians we so badly wanted to mute in 2019 if we could.
So, here they are…the politicians we really don’t want to hear from in 2020 (But seriously, who are we kidding?):
1..Dino Melaye
Until he lost the Kogi West senatorial rerun election to Smart Adeyemi on November 30, Melaye just couldn’t stop talking–whether it was through dance videos, his error strewn tweets and Instagram posts, or on the floor of the red chamber. And he mostly said the darndest things, pointing the finger at everyone else but himself.
Melaye loves the drama and attention so much. Scratch that. He is the drama and would make a darn good actor (he’s already starred in a movie).
Maybe it’s a good thing the senate won’t see anymore of him–at least for a while. And the less we hear from Melaye in 2020, the better for the polity and the ecosystem.
2..Adams Oshiomhole
Whether it was taking on his State Governor Godwin Obaseki, telling us that President Buhari can bloody well govern Nigeria from anywhere in the world or throwing subliminals at opposition politicians during APC meetings, APC Chairman Oshiomhole just couldn’t stop talking and gloating.
We do understand that Oshiomhole is a born talker and fancies himself an orator, but the world will be a lot better place in 2020 if he speaks only when it really matters.
3..Babatunde Fashola
Guardian Nigeria
There were times in 2019 when we really wanted to roll on the floor and plead with Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, to give it a rest and just get the job done or get with the programme.
In 2019, Fashola couldn’t stop telling us about his incremental and steady power plans, he told us that a couple of states enjoy 24hrs of electricity, he made excuses for why Nigeria’s roads are perpetually in a state of disrepair, he told us that some communities in the Southeast are asking for billions of Naira as a precondition for contractors commencing road works in their region, Fashola told us that budget deficit and delays in disbursement affect his work, he told us that we have to start tolling federal roads to fund maintenance of some of the worst road surfaces in the world, he complained about Nigerians not loving their own country enough, he told us that not all roads are bad and returned to say he was misquoted and taken out of context on that last one.
Excuses. Excuses. Fashola was the man with the bag of excuses all year long.
And on and on he went as Nigeria’s road infrastructure continues to rot and collapse across the country on his watch. Pace of work is slow and federal roads linking states are the worse for it. Fashola has offered more excuses as minister than he has done actual work.
In 2020, we want the reverse. A Fashola who speaks less but who gets the job done no less. Rotimi Amaechi doesn’t have two heads.
4..Femi Fani-Kayode
It is not for nothing that Nigeria’s former Aviation Minister, Fani-Kayode, makes this list every year. He talks and writes a good game of fluff.
His endless carping of the president and the governing APC riles to no end only because he would sing the praises of the same people he criticizes today if he pitches tent with them tomorrow. His ‘anywhere-belle-face’ brand of politics has become the stuff of legends.
In 2019, Fani-Kayode stirred hate and bigotry aplenty, told everyone that only Christians are being convicted in the president’s anti-corruption war and threw in all kinds of ethnic extrapolations to the non-renewal of Babatunde Fowler’s tenure as boss of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Fani-Kayode is the kind of man who carries a pair of ethnic tinted glasses to every story he reads. And it is for this reason we don’t want to hear from him in 2020. Nigeria could do with one less tribalistic politician in the new year.
5..Omoyele Sowore
Journalist turned politician, Omoyele Sowore, has had a 2019 to forget and he’s got to blame a descent into blabbermouth territory for most of his troubles.
No one boasted more than any other presidential candidate about winning an election they knew they had no outside chance of winning. And when he lost the vote like everyone knew he was going to, Sowore adorned the garb of an activist, threatened to bring down an entire country and erect another anew, promised that the Department of State Security (DSS) would cease to exist and chanted revolutionary war songs on the streets of Lagos with a ragtag army.
We call for due process and the rule of law as Sowore faces trial for alleged money laundering, treasonable felony, hate speech and raining insults on a democratically elected president. The DSS and the Buhari-led federal government should also be chastised for disobeying court orders, high handedness and vendetta with regards to Sowore’s trial.
Like everyone else, Sowore deserves a fair trial and is innocent until a court of competent jurisdiction pronounces him otherwise.
However, Sowore makes our list of politicians we really are not keen on hearing from in 2020 because he just couldn’t stop talking in 2019, even during his trial. Sometimes, it’s wiser to just shut it and let others do the talking for you.
BONUS
6..Babatunde Gbadamosi
The Action Democratic Party (ADP) Lagos governorship candidate in the 2019 elections, Gbadamosi is cerebral, he’s a smooth talker and he can well…talk too darn much.
Gbadamosi confuses petty politicking for playing the opposition and has railed against everything on earth since he lost the Lagos election in March.
We sure as hell don’t want to hear from him in 2020.
