The restless spirit of Obaseki — By John Mayaki

In Benin culture, it is believed that when a person dies, their spirit begins a journey toward Erinmwin, the realm of the ancestors. Only those who lived with integrity and fairness are received there. They become part of the ancestral line that blesses and protects the living. But those who ruled with cruelty, deceit, or arrogance are turned away. Their spirits wander, rejected by both the living and the dead, unable to find peace.

That image feels painfully familiar when one considers the restlessness of Godwin Obaseki. Although he remains alive and well, his spirit seems to roam, uneasy and unanchored. He led a government that began with hope but quickly sank into pride and vindictiveness. Homes were demolished under questionable orders, market women were imprisoned over trivial disputes, and friends who helped him rise were discarded and publicly ridiculed. Where there should have been empathy, there was ego. Where unity was needed, he sowed division.

Now, after leaving office, he drifts through Europe, sharing polished photos and giving soft interviews. It feels like an attempt to rewrite the past, to appear calm while carrying the weight of a bruised conscience. But the people have not forgotten. They remember the fear, the waste, and the betrayals that marked his years in power. The more he tries to recast himself abroad, the clearer it becomes that he is searching for validation he can no longer find at home.

In Edo belief, rejection by the ancestors is the ultimate disgrace. For a living man, the closest thing to that fate is to be rejected by his people. It means that the land has turned its face away in an act of spiritual and social banishment that no camera lens can disguise. The land remembers. The people remember.

Obaseki abused power to settle personal scores and destroy livelihoods. He fled abroad, hoping to escape legal reckoning now that his immunity has been stripped away. But a fate worse than courtroom conviction has found him. He has been sentenced by the people themselves, condemned to live as a political ghost, wandering about without purpose or peace. The name has died before the man, as A.E. Housman wrote in ‘To an Athlete Dying Young’ about runners whom renown outran.

It is true that a few hangers-on still chant his name, circling what remains of his fading relevance, hoping to scrape together whatever crumbs of influence he once held. But even they will tire soon enough.

The imperial Obaseki who once ruled with fury and vengeance now cuts a pitiful figure, shining teeth in foreign corridors where no one remembers his name. His torment is not in what others say about him, but in what he knows of himself. Nothing could be more fitting for a man who built his throne on betrayal and now sits alone in its ruins. The restless spirit of Obaseki.

John Mayaki is a notable Nigerian journalist and political figure with a distinguished career, particularly in Edo State politics. He served as Chief Press Secretary to Governor Godwin Obaseki and previously to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, and has held various influential roles within government and political campaigns