OFONIME UMANAH
Those who were in Port Harcourt in the early 90s will know the late Boma Erekosima, that broadcaster who introduced pidgin English into broadcasting in Nigeria. He used to work with the Radio Rivers. He was very good with proverbs.
As he reads the news, he would lace the lines with proverbs, thought-provoking proverbs, that is. One of his popular proverbs was: “If a dog bites you once, the dog is a fool, but if the same dog bites you twice, then you are a fool.”
In other words, if you do something wrong the first time, it can be termed a mistake. But if you make the same mistake a second time, then you are a fool.
Last week, when I listened to Mr John Gaul Lebo, a former speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, as he addressed his new-found followers, I remembered Erokosima and his proverb.
John Gaul, now candidate of the APC for the Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency of Cross River State, is a lawyer and does not waste time in telling people that he has passed through the four walls of Havard University.
In fact, in the recent past, he has been in the forefront of the battle to retrieve oil wells from neigbouring Akwa Ibom State, even though neither he nor his governor, Prince Bassey Otu, could achieve that feat during their time as speaker of the state assembly or as senator respectively.
The man who dreams to become the next House of Reps member, in 2027, has even said it by himself, that those who are pushing him into the race are doing so because of the oil well recovery agenda. So, apparently, he knows so much about the number of oil wells that are supposed to belong to Cross River, but which are currently credited to Akwa Ibom. One commentator on social media had, however, said he must have crammed everything he used to say about the oil wells. Maybe, maybe not.
Otherwise, how do you explain his public show of ignorance on the number of federal constituency seats in the House of Reps where he now desires to belong? In addressing some of his fans, in an attempt to explain why he wants to go to the House of Reps, he told the people that there were 368 seats in the lower chamber of the National Assembly. Yes, 368 seats. He said it the first time, and in less than a minute after the first gaffe, he said the same thing again, ostensibly for the purpose of emphasis.
If the first was a mistake, the second was not. Certainly so. And till the end of the long speech that he delivered, which has since gone viral, John Gaul did not show that he did not know that there are 360 seats in the House of Reps, not 368.
What a former speaker! What a House of Reps candidate! I have watched that video more than 20 times as at today. Anytime I watch it, I would remember Boma Erekosima and his proverb- if the same dog bites you twice, you are a fool.
