How Obaseki’s children celebrated the printers’ devils

Yesterday, badly behaved children set the social media agog over a trivial and baseless issue of a clear case of printer’s devil, where a banner originally meant to read “workshop” was mistakenly printed as “worshop”. This minor error, which would ordinarily be overlooked by any reasonable person, was suddenly elevated to political discourse by loyalists of our modern-day Sanballats, Tobiahs, and Geshems in Edo political space. 

For the record, the stakeholders’ sensitization workshop was aimed at exposing the commendable programs and projects of governor  Monday Okpebholo and this was held in May. Again, and for the records, the event was not only well-attended, but also very impactful and widely praised by academic eggheads who attended the successful workshop. 

However, mischief makers and enemies of progress blurred the date on the banner they exhumed from the archives for want of nothing against the governor and circulated the outdated image by latching on the typographical error of “worshop” instead of “workshop” just to disparage the handlers and organizers. 

This is how petty critics can get after losing an election. But let me shock them. Here is a blunder in a Church bulletin which reads: “Join us for our weekly worship and sinning practice.” Whereas, this is supposed to read: “...worship and singing practice.” What about a newspaper headline with a printers’ devil such as: "Man Helps Dog Bite Victim", whereas, it was supposed to read: "Man Helps Dog-Bite Victim". 

Wait. Have you not seen the error in a restaurant in downtown Manhattan? See it in their menu list here: “Grilled Children with Vegetables” but this was intended to read: “Grilled Chicken with Vegetables”. Is that all? Even schools make such errors. See this in a school program: “Parents’ Indecent Meeting” which is supposed to be: “Parents’ Induction Meeting”. I can go on and on. 

I have read academic textbooks even in the United States and the United Kingdom with typographical errors and whenever I stumble on them, I check the publisher or editors, not the head of state, Governor or the President but despite those errors, students have passed exams, scholars have been built, and no one burnt down the printing press too. 

And so, to err, as they say, is human. But in Edo state, we seem to have a new breed of emergency critics whom I call digital scavengers, fault-finders, and hired social media vultures who would do anything to trend or to please their political godfathers. This is what I call destructive opposition. 

Otherwise, how do you explain a group of badly behaved children who ignore the substance of a successful workshop, but went ahead to exhibit their bad manners to amplify a minor spelling error, as though the government distributed it as a policy document? 

Well, at this rate, I fear we may soon hear them blaming governor Okpebholo because they added too much salt in their soup, or that the governor caused someone to stumble on a stone and worse still, that when they overfeed and get constipated, it is somehow the governor’s fault. 

I must commend the role of the opposition and its necessity in our democracy but when it degenerates to this level of ridiculous fault-finding, it becomes childish and also dangerously unpatriotic. We must be guided because if we deliberately close our eyes to good news, may we not be forced to open them in the face of avoidable regret.

By John Mayaki