By Paul Ibe
In stagecraft, ventriloquism stands out as one of the most entertaining and yet peculiar types of comedic performances. A lifeless puppet or dummy is placed on the thigh of a ventriloquist who inserts his hand into the body of the puppet. The ventriloquist mumbles words and creates a false illusion that the lifeless dummy is the one talking while it is, in fact, the ventriloquist that is secretly moving the lips of the dummy.
In his book titled ‘The Art of Ventriloquism: How to Throw Your Voice’ George Callahan teaches how to misdirect. The dummy has no mind of its own. It is an inanimate object incapable of imagination, speech, or motion but is still able to entertain an audience.
Enter Sam Oritsetimeyin Omatseye, the chairman of the editorial board of The Nation Newspaper owned by Bola A. Tinubu. To the undiscerning, Omatseye is a columnist who uses flowery language to express his opinion on topical issues. But a closer look would reveal to the discerning mind that this so-called writer is nothing but a puppet of his ventriloquist, Bola Tinubu.
In Omatseye, Tinubu has emerged the perfect puppet master pulling the strings and diverting attention from himself. This 63-year-old who ought to be a role model to the younger generation of journalists has sadly left his body and soul to the control of Tinubu, his master.
The sad part is that no one is spared from his vitriol. In June 2011, he penned a libellous article titled, ‘Awo Family Without an Awo,’ where he launched an attack against the revered family of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his wife, HID.
“This woman whom Awo once described as the jewel of inestimable value has lost value to his cause. If he came back to life, he would have committed the extraordinary act of divorce after death. Even his newspaper, The Tribune, has so stumbled and fallen that it swims in Awo’s vomit,” he infamously wrote.
The baleful article was crafted to diminish the legacy of Chief Awolowo just because many believed that Tinubu – the man who forfeited $460,000 to US authorities for alleged drug trafficking – was not worthy enough to tie Awolowo’s shoe laces yet alone compare to his matchless legacy.
During the last election, this same cantankerous writer described the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, as ‘Obituary’ because Obi dared to contest against his master.
His latest tirades are now directed towards former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-Governor Nasir el-Rufai. Omatseye attacks Atiku weekly just because he seeks to run for office, which is his constitutional right.
Omatseye also pours invectives on El-Rufai and his children just because Tinubu suspects that he, the former Kaduna governor, still harbours a grudge since his controversial removal from his (Tinubu’s) ministerial list.
This unscrupulous writer is not bothered about the latest report by the United Nations that 82 million Nigerians will go hungry by 2030. He is unnerved by the fact that in Kaduna, Katsina, and Kano, bakeries are shutting down because food has been priced beyond the reach of the poor.
Omatseye is not bothered by the fact that over 20 million Nigerian children are out of school. He has no qualms about the exit of multinationals and the resulting job losses. He is unperturbed by the insecurity that claims hundreds of lives on a monthly basis, which has forced farmers to flee and contributed to the 40% spike in food inflation.
This agent of distraction sees no evil in the fact that a woman who was denied a fresh term in the Lagos State House of Assembly after hoarding COVID-19 palliatives meant for the poor has been smuggled back as one of the managers of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSTIF) which holds billions of naira on behalf of workers.
Omatseye’s only assignment, like the puppet he is, is to distract the public. His duty is to attack Tinubu’s opponents merely because they dare to exist. But Tinubu needs to put an end to the charade. Even the feeble minded are aware that Sam Omatseye is only a weapon, an attack dog at best who takes a cue from the whistle of his master.
Unfortunately for Omatseye, once the stage play is over and the curtain is drawn, the ventriloquist will throw the dummy into the attic where it gathers dust. Were Tinubu proud of Omatseye, he would have treated him the way a mentor treats his protégé. He would have appointed him information minister or presidential spokesman or he would have put him in charge of the National Orientation Agency or the News Agency of Nigeria but even Tinubu knows that a puppet can never be fit to become a ventriloquist’s apprentice hence Omatseye has remained stagnant as chairman of The Nation’s editorial board since 2006.
Paul Ibe is the Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar, Vice President of Nigeria (1999-2007) and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (2023).