Sunday Igboho

By Olawoyin Oladeinde

Beyond the crude theatrics, I actually do not expect any solution to the Ibarapaland crisis from Sunday Igboho and his ilks. Of course anyone who knows his antecedent, both as a political mercenary and perennial conflict entrepreneur, wouldn’t too.
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And so, many of us aren’t under any illusion that Igboho’s media circus show would indeed bring the lasting peace we all desire to that region. No. That he has jumped from Ibarapaland to Ogun state, with paparazzi in tow, is a subtle confirmation of the anyhow-ness that is the core of his ‘activism’.
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With regards to his loquacious gymnastics in the media, anyone with even a faint understanding of his modus operandi—-from his perennial, if laughable, interventions in Islamic jurisprudence, to his ‘struggle’ for the ’emancipation of the Yoruba race’—–would not be surprised that he has kept on talking and talking, basking in the euphoria of his newly found messiah status.
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But what’s not contestable is that Sunday Igboho has done what many of us would NEVER, EVER, EVER be able to do with our pacifist stance and fine grammar: draw the attention of a do-nothing behemoth, both at the centre and in the state, to a problem they have pretended they didn’t see all along.
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I watched Governor Seyi Makinde on TV last night and I saw the face of a troubled man—-a man lost in the wind of uncertainties, not accustomed to being in the eye of the storm, having perpetually enjoyed both deserved and undue eulogies from folks on and off Twitter. I was a tad satisfied. No one, not even the much-praised Governor Makinde, should be governing a troubled state like Oyo at this moment and go about with his trademark insouciance. He seems to be feeling the heat and stamping his feet on the ground at the moment, ostensibly as a means of tackling the security challenges, all thanks to Igboho’s!
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In the light of this, we may need to look past Igboho’s motive, which, if appraised within the context of his antecedent, remains suspect. We may need to look past the naivety of our helpless people, who, having been butchered and battered as a result of the un-governance at the state and centre, now make a hero of Igboho. We may need to look past the double standards of partisan elements who chastise Igboho yet eulogise Mc Oluomo—-another monster created by their favourite political leaders.
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For one, a few of us have embraced Igboho’s intervention with practiced caution all along; his was one intevention you can’t entirely dismiss (because of the killings, created by the irresponsibility of the state) nor fully embrace (because of its dangerous implication). How do you handle a fly that perches on the scrotum, pray? Caution.
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But having served its/his purpose, just like the proverbial Yoruba Omo Buruku that has his own day of usefulness, we can only hope that the authorities (at all levels) would genuinely approach the concerns with the sincerity it deserves, and, by implication, swing the attention off the man (and his crude theatrics).
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Igboho was thrown up by the uselessness of the state, and as dangerously worrisome as his theatrics are, he can ONLY fade into the background if and when the state rise and take responsibility.
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Igboho’s was never the problem—-and his was not going to be the solution.

-Olawoyin Oladeinde is a public affairs analyst