[caption id="attachment_54318" align="alignright" width="609"] Ayodele Fayose[/caption] By Bolanle Bolawole “Recently, the government restructured the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and almost everyone on the board are from the North. This would fuel agitations” – Ann Kio-Briggs, Environmental rights’ activist. There is a ding-dong in Ekiti; it reminds me of the days of Ido-Osi when a single local government held an entire state to ransom over a bitterly-contested election. Re-run after re-run got the INEC further enmeshed in the miry clay until, finally and mercifully, Dr. Kayode Fayode of the then Action Congress, now a legacy party of the All Progressives Congress, which controls power at the Centre, regained his mandate. But not before Ido-Osi had become a metaphor for election shenanigans and the bad blood it generated ran so deep that for four good years, Fayemi as governor could not find the stomach to forgive the man who purportedly stole his mandate - Engr. Segun Oni, then of the PDP. Fayemi decreed that no one should refer to Oni as one-time governor of Ekiti. To demonstrate his seriousness, he removed Oni’s photograph from all public spaces; likewise, the photo of Oni’s Chief Press Secretary, life-loving and vivacious Wale Ojo-Lanre, was stepped down in the office of the Chief Press Secretary to Fayemi, amiable and self-effacing Yinka Oyebode. It took the second coming into office of the incumbent governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose, to re-instate Oni’s photo, his famous or infamous place in history, and other entitlements; thereby negating, by one stroke of the pen, Fayemi’s efforts to arrest or re-write history! No one can undo what has been done, not even Babangida or Sani Abacha’s (loathsome?) place in history can be so whimsically erased! History is dynamic; such that, today, the same Fayemi and Oni, erstwhile inveterate foes, nestle and hobnob in the same party. They are not likely to be the best of friends but necessity compels them, today, to be pursuers of a common cause. On the other hand, Fayose, who at one time or another was a valuable ally of both men, is today a sworn political enemy they would do anything to annihilate. I do not put anything beyond our politicians; therefore, I will not be surprised if circumstances and situations change tomorrow for their political drums to exude different tunes. Today’s political gladiators in Ekiti are not radically different from those of the days of Ido-Osi; only that we have had a realignment of forces. Few people outside of Ekiti had given Fayose any decent chance to return to power; I must confess that I was one of them. Even when friends who are “sons of the soil” and regular readers of this column kept telling me that the situation on ground in Ekiti was different from what we “Lagos and Abuja critics and commentators” were dishing out, I stuck to my wish list. I attended Fayemi’s rally in Ado-Ekiti and prayed many nights for him to win. When he lost – doing so woefully and “losing his deposit” in First Republic political lexicon – I felt sad and bitter. I bought into arguments that the election was massively rigged. How on earth could an incumbent lose in all the local governments, including his own? Talking sincerely, I still believe that, that election was helped; as is often the case with elections in this country. I heard true-life stories of the military intimidating AC leaders on the eve of voting especially. The margin of winning and losing was also surreal. The shenanigans apart, Fayose could still have won, though, possibly with a thinner margin, because when my bitterness waned and I dispassionately interrogated events, I had to admit that, head-to-head, Fayose was far more popular that Fayemi with Ekiti people. As I monitored the election, I saw Fayemi the elitist\philosopher-king and Fayose the populist\man-of-the people. An ardent reader of this column had warned me repeatedly that Fayemi, articulate, urbane, and well-travelled, executed for Ekiti what he felt Ekiti needed and not what Ekiti told him they needed. Every politics, as they say, is local; therefore, any politician that fails to connect with the grassroots cannot but have himself to blame. We learn from our mistakes – especially if there is a second chance waiting, and we are humble enough, that is. Three reasons have been adduced for the present dog-fight in Ekiti. One: The anti-graft war into which vortex opponents of Fayose are trying desperately to entrap the governor while Fayose on the other hand is fighting tooth and nail to extricate himself. I will not tire to raise my voice against the approach and modus operandi of the Buhari anti-corruption war. It is selective; it is inquisitorial; and it is hyped\media lynching. For the avoidance of doubt, I support the shaming and jailing of the corrupt – all of them, and not just a section. If you are seizing the property of Air Force chiefs Amosun, Agbaje, Gbadebo, seize the Dubai property of Army chief, Gen. Tukur Buratai, as well. If you are detaining Femi Fani-Kayode, Iyiola Omisore, etc before searching for evidence to nail them, treat similarly the Ministers and presidential aides against who are damning allegations of corruption. A dangerous dimension that has also been introduced into it is that the EFCC has now found an ingenious, back-door approach to undermine the Constitutional provision that says a citizen cannot be detained for more than 48 hours before being taken before the court. They have cashed-in on our collective angst against the monumental corruption in the land to abridge this very important fundamental human right. Arrests are made before investigations, instead of the other way round; after which the EFCC gets holding charge from the court, which can be renewed to keep anyone incarcerated for as long as it catches their fancy. When I speak against such methods, it is because history teaches that those are the same insidious methods of ruthless dictators. Fascists Adolf Hitler (Germany) and Benito Mussolini (Italy) both used seemingly legal means to entrap and bring Europe on its knees. Let Buhari\EFCC stop the ambush; follow due process; adopt a level-playing ground; be fair and even-handed to all; and stop portraying Nigerians as corrupt people before the international community. The negative effects are already bouncing back on all of us. When you sell your own people cheap in the local market; how can they appreciate in value in the international market? Two is the unofficial “Leader of Opposition” tag that Fayose has taken upon himself. I had cause to lampoon Fayose when, during the presidential campaign, he over-reached himself to portray Buhari as medically unfit for office. I was at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos press briefing by PDP governors where Fayose compared Candidate Buhari, 73, to his (Fayose’s) mother, 74, who, after waking up in the morning, would take a long time to “boot” like an obsolete Pentium computer. I said that was in bad taste. There is no denying the fact that Buhari and, lately his wife Aishat, have suffered scathing criticisms from Fayose. Fayose’s current travails are thus seen by many as pay-back time from Buhari who is (?) unleashing EFCC\Federal might on the governor. I have consistently objected to any attempt to muzzle the opposition – beginning from when PDP was the ruling party - and I dare to restate that again. Had APC\Buhari been so ruthlessly muzzled by PDP\Jonathan, we would never have had a rancour-free change of government. Without vibrant opposition, democracy becomes just a sham; a mere shell without its substance. Opposition must be preserved at all costs. That is one good point no one can take away from Jonathan. He allowed free speech; even Buhari enjoyed free speech under Jonathan. Buhari made volatile, incendiary speeches under Jonathan and lived to tell the story. I demand no less accommodation from Buhari of his own political opponents. There is nothing that Buhari has been subjected to by Fayose that Lai Mohammed did not inflict on Jonathan 10 times more. Yet, Jonathan kept his cool and did not unleash “mad dogs” on anyone. Tell me, what has Aishat suffered that Mama Patience did not suffer a million times more? She was consistently the butt of cruel jokes; yet, she not only kept her cool but regaled us even more! I demand no less from Buhari and his wife Aishat. LAST WORD: I am humbled by the effusive show of love, support, and encouragement from my teeming readers over last week’s “When silence is not golden...” Thank you especially for your prayers! But have you heard the news? Buhari’s leopard is yet to change its spots. Last week, he appointed a new MD for the Nigeria Ports Authority; she is from Kaduna state! You must also have heard the news that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, our own eyes and ears (?) in the Buhari administration, has opposed restructuring, which the South, especially so his own South-west, has vociferously promoted. In a “clarification” later, Osinbajo was said to only oppose restructuring “based on ethnic lines or returning the country to regional structures” Can someone please ask the VP whether he is also opposed to a country run on ethnic\regional basis; with one section dominating the others? Esther (Hadassah), woman, erstwhile girl-slave in a foreign land, stood up and spoke for her embattled people in their hour of need: Need not Osinbajo, a man, free-born, and Number Two in the hierarchy, do likewise or even more? “If I perish, I perish” are the immortal words of Queen Esther that keeps reverberating to this day. Challenged by her uncle, Mordecai, Esther rose to the occasion; because of space constraint, kindly reach out for the Holy Bible and read Esther 4: 13 & 14. There is also this quote common in those days amongst the Marxists at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife); to wit: “Every generation out of relative obscurity discovers its mission – to fulfil or betray it”. Has God divinely-ordained Osinbajo to come to the Presidency for a time such as this? Has he discovered his mission? Will he fulfil or betray it? [caption id="attachment_54318" align="alignright" width="609"] Ayodele Fayose[/caption] “We have relied essentially on natural gas for the generation of electricity. This has created a lot of problems for the nation, particularly when gas supply is disrupted...Virtually all the developed and emerging countries...rely heavily on coal for electricity generation, and our own coal is better than theirs” – Dr. Ogonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology. The next governorship election in Ekiti is not due until 2018; yet, the state is already agog as combatants prime themselves up for vantage positions ahead of time. For Ekiti PDP, perpetuating itself “is a task that must be done”, to borrow the words of erstwhile military Head of Head Yakubu Gowon. The name of the game everywhere is installing someone to watch over one’s back and cover one’s tracks; witness on-going shenanigans in Edo state, with Ondo threatening to follow suit. My grandmother said no matter how smart or careful you are, your head must shake on your neck when you walk. Chief Alex Akinyele once put it differently: If a finger is dipped deep down enough into anyone’s anus, it will contact faeces. In other words, no one is perfect. Hence, the pre-occupation by leaders to plant surrogates; but, in reality, it seldom works. Godsons and god-fathers have stripped each other naked before our very eyes. In places where it appeared to have worked – like Lagos and Kano – there were scares recently but they quickly firmed the lid on the can of worms before much damage was done! Conversely, APC is bent on regaining power in Ekiti. Since they believe “Federal might” railroaded Fayose into office under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, you can also expect full “Federal might” against Fayose. One thing we cannot say for now is whether APC, too, will leverage on its own “ONSA money” to aid the party’s electoral conquest of Ekiti! Ekiti politicians are a conglomeration of strange bedfellows; cats and dogs, so to say. Plotting the graph of shifting alliances in Ekiti is herculean: The leaders are friends today but enemies tomorrow; enemies today but friends tomorrow. “Ekiti Kete”; “Kete Ekiti”: They are sophists and masters of subterfuge. And like a sheep led to the slaughter, they lead the simple-minded astray. One time, it was Segun Oni + Fayose against Fayemi; then it shifted to Fayemi + Fayose against Segun Oni. Once upon a time, Opeyemi Bamidele, Babafemi Ojudu and Dele Alake fought a fight-to-finish over the Ekiti Central senatorial ticket. The battle was so fierce that their common godfather, the Jagaban Borgu, took cover. Eventually, the ticket was given to Ojudu while Opeyemi reluctantly cooled his heels in the House of Representatives. That “war” gave rise to what seemed like an eternal enmity between Ojudu and Opeyemi. It is said that Fayemi as governor sided with Ojudu; so it was Opeyemi versus Ojudu+ Fayemi. The battle led to the madness that ripped the then Ekiti ACN in two, with Opeyemi eventually pulling out to join Labour Party. Rumours had it that Opeyemi agreed working relationship with Fayose to teach Fayemi a lesson; so, it was Opeyemi +Fayose versus Fayemi. Opeyemi eventually played the role of a spoiler. “If the rat will not eat the beans...” and Fayemi lost the election to Fayose. But today, Opeyemi is back in APC and the equation is Fayemi + Segun Oni + Ojudu + Opeyemi versus Fayose. What new-found love and joyful camaraderie! Ekiti’s political permutation is a maze or labyrinth sort of. If you are not a master at Crosswords Puzzle, you will likely get lost trying to understand the delicate but deadly Ekiti political game of intrigues, baloney, deceit, and treachery. The people’s needs are not what the leaders attend to. Ekiti has important sons in high places; let them synergise to bring development to Ekiti. Fayose must rise above partisan politics to seize the initiative. He is governor of all Ekiti, not only of PDP. He must provide the enabling environment for Ekiti’s development. I sent text messages to Fayemi when he became Minister that he should not forget to help develop the mineral resources in the South-west in general but Ekiti’s in particular. Let it not be said that the list of his achievements after he leaves office will be of the resources he helped to develop elsewhere to the chagrin of his own place and people. The above quote from Ogbonnaya Onu, Fayemi’s Cabinet colleague in the Buhari administration, should be food-for-thought for the Isan-Ekiti-born Minister of Solid Minerals Resources. Where is Onu from? And where is coal found? “Omo eni o se’di bebere...” My wish for a recalibrated Fayemi – which he knew – is that after his stint as Minister, he will, like Fayose, return for his second term as governor of Ekiti. But he must show something tangible to Ekiti to justify his stint as Minister. We Yoruba are fond of neglecting our own people and getting wiser after the act! Witness Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure as president and compare it with the other presidents’ after him; the incumbent’s especially. As Presidential Adviser, Ojudu, one of the quartets of senior journalists at “The News” magazine, is highly placed and Ekiti should benefit from that in terms of the development projects he can attract to the state. Truth, be told! Ojudu and the others at “The News” magazine suffered for this democracy. They were hounded, harassed, tortured, incarcerated, and driven into exile. The other members of the quartets are Bayo Onanuga, Dapo Olorunyomi and Kunle Ajibade. God has “settled” Dapo (O Dapsy! BJ!! ) with Premium Times and Bayo recently got appointed MD of the News Agency of Nigeria. Bayo deserves applause not necessarily because of this appointment which, sincerely speaking, adds nothing to him but which I expect him to bring his wealth of experience and intimidating journalistic prowess to bear upon; his heroics when “The News” and the entire nation were under dictatorial siege will honour him for all times. Congrats, Bayo! Of Kunle Ajibade, “the last man standing”, someone said “Kunle is okay once he has books, and lots of them, to read”! As with Ekiti, so it is with the South-west generally! We Yoruba delude ourselves thinking we are still front-runners amongst the various ethnic groups in the country. But the naked truth is that we have lost ground all-round. We cannot feed ourselves any more as virtually all foodstuffs and fruits come from elsewhere: Tomatoes; peppers, onions, millet, carrot, potatoes, yams, beans, oranges, palm oil, beef; even garri! But go round the South-west and see kilometres after kilometres of arable land lying fallow! Fruits and crops grow wild in the wild! Much of the little that is harvested rot away by the roadside! The economy of our cities and villages is in the hands of Igbos and others. A number of landed properties that I knew were sold in Lagos recently were all bought by non-Yoruba people. The security of our homes is in the hands of mai guards. The “meruwa” are the ones who fetch us water. Most of the “Okada” riders are from elsewhere. Our house-helps are from where? In the professions, our grip has waned seriously. Even in Sports, we are down the pecking order. When last did we even have players of note in the national team after the exit of the likes of Segun Odegbami, Muda Lawal, Peter Rufai, Mutiu Adepoju, and Felix Owolabi? In education, we are no longer the high-flyers we used to be. Who will bell the cat for us? Who will stop the rot? Who will turn the tide? The urgent task at hand is not the fight-to-finish going on over Ekiti but to take back the South-west and begin to re-position and return it to the egalitarian society that our fore-fathers laboured so hard for – and which they succeeded to a large measure in attaining and handing over unto us. LAST WORD: Immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, is alleged by his successor, Ibrahim Idris, to have carted away 24 exotic cars while retired DIGs and AIGs also allegedly went away with between seven and eight cars each. Arase has replied, saying this was not so. He made a very important point, though, which should set every right-thinking person wondering, to wit: why the new IGP should hastily go public with such a damaging story without first calling his erstwhile boss on phone or sending him text message. It speaks volumes; especially about the new IGP and or his brief. The way Idris handled this matter is far more damaging to himself and the Force than to Arase and the others so alleged. And have you heard the news? The EFCC is said to be after a Dubai-based property firm that allegedly fleeced unsuspecting Nigerians of 200 billion US dollars; not 200 million dollars or 200 billion Naira but 200 billion dollars! That is more than seven-and-half times our entire foreign reserves! How manage! You mean such money could be missing from this country and the country is still standing? It must mean, then, that it is not only our economy that “defies logic”; to quote ex-military dictator Ibrahim Babangida, the whole country itself defies logic! Consider the foreign reserves of the United Kingdom (164b US$); United States (121b US$); Canada (84b US$); Nigeria’s is up-and-down around or less than 30b US$; and South Africa (47b US$). Source: Wikipedia. It defies logic that we have 200b US$ to run after and we dissipate energy on “petty thieves”. Imagine if just a quarter of this heist is recovered and injected into this comatose economy! My reservations about EFFC’s current Gestapo style notwithstanding, I volunteer to help pursue this 200 billion US dollars! Exaggerations, hypes, media-lynching should have respectable limit. Finally, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state has been appointed chairman of the APC Edo governorship campaign; this appointment “smells Gulder”, as journalists would say. Do they really need Ambode or Lagos state’s well-known deep pockets? Ambode should ask Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state of his experience when he accepted a similar appointment during the last Ondo governorship polls. Shine your eyes... Eko o ni baje o! TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK! Bolawole's parts 1 and 2 are combined in this one piece. He can be reached on turnpot@gmail.com 0705 263 1058