[Opinion] Omatseye: The attack dog with a broom by Terver Akase

Sam Omatseye is an employee of the All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is the Chairman, Editorial Board of Tinubu’s ‘The Nation’ newspaper. He also anchors some programmes on Tinubu’s ‘TVC News’.

It is glaring that Omatseye has been handed a poisoned chalice by his employer – to take down whoever stands on the rail. He, like an undertaker, is embattled to ensure the realization of the lifelong presidential ambition of his benefactor. He is in the ring, throwing punches at imaginary opponents.

Omatseye writes to disparage his principal’s rivals more than he does to promote him. He gets paid and commended after each of his vilipends goes to the press. He is like a warrior who gets a handshake from his commander after every battle. Like a player of the talking drum, Omatseye misses no beat to lure his boss to the dance floor.

Similar to a political warmonger, Omatseye is under sustained pressure to cast bile on his party’s opponents. He either does so or simply finds another job. He is incensed by chants of conceit and fear of the unknown to a ridiculous level that he launches unprovoked attacks on opponents of his principal, even when such adversaries do not notice his mischief.

Curiously however, Sam does not have a thick skin. He convulses when criticized. He doesn’t stand an issue-based discourse away from his familiar terrain on which foundation is vitriol. He is an attack dog wielding a broom. His attempt to demarket Labour Party Presidential candidate Peter Obi the other day suffered a devastating backlash when thousands of ‘Obi-dient’ followers of the former Anambra State Governor descended viciously on him.

Funnily enough, Omatseye raised the alarm that he was being threatened by Obi’s supporters, and after that, disappeared like a ghost in a Nigerian movie. Such a gutless/chicken-hearted fellow who delights in deprecating others but can’t withstand a single shove. As a merchandiser of disaffection and asperity who often pens infertile articles, his pay cheque is primal.

Omatseye’s latest article titled ‘The grudge match’ published in the August 8, 2022 edition of The Nation was a piece propelled by the desperation of a man who is out of ideas to promote his candidate. In the said column, he trash-talked Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike over the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP presidential primaries, and dragged Wike’s ally, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State into his blither. He faulted Governor Ortom’s dogged defense of Wike, describing it as “opportunistic”.

Anyone who read Omatseye’s piece on Wike, Ortom and others must have noticed a man who was struggling to make sense. The article did not only lack substance but also smacked of envy. Omatseye is an age mate of Governor Ortom, with both men born in 1961 and only separated by two months (Ortom April and Omatseye June).

To reiterate the apparent, Samuel Ortom is a two-term Governor of a state. If Omatseye thinks that governing a state is the same as preparing a cup of coffee, he should have contested for the governorship of Delta State where he hails from. Ifeanyi Okowa who is the Governor of that state and is today the PDP Vice Presidential candidate, is barely two years older than Omatseye. His peers are in the arena performing while he is in the commentary box babbling and casting venomous tirades on them.

Unfortunately, Omatseye’s tiresome harangue against Governors Ortom and Wike has not assuaged the anxiety within the APC camp over what awaits them in 2023. No amount of diatribes can change the minds of Nigerians about the APC and its government which has failed the leadership test.

Lastly, Omatseye needs to know that Governor Ortom is a man of honour who doesn’t betray friendship. He stood with Wike before the PDP primary election; has stood with him after it, and will continue to stand by his Rivers State counterpart and political ally.

Omatseye’s shamelessness stinks but since he lacks any modicum of shame, he has continued to slope down the abyss in his already failed mission and it is manifest that he is irredeemable.