By Sola Ajisafe, Esq
Eiye o dede ba l’orule o. Oro leye ngbo oo. Koi ye won, yio ye won l’ola”. – ( A dirge popularised by Pa. Adebayo Faleti in the play Saworoide).
If one is to look at the motley crowd of endorsers queuing behind Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa, one would think this election as to who becomes the candidate of the APC in April is a settled matter in his closet. But to those who can read between the lines, they would see a deluge of liars, pretenders, scammers and opportunists.
Rather than moving forward, the campaign is just swimming in a pool of deceit and a facade of confused Nollywood pretenders and Baba Suwe performances.
To those who do not know, it is a truism that not every Adeyemi ends up a King and not every Goodluck gets lucky to be President. It is not every one with a good omen that will end up getting the required obelisk trapping. What is clear is that by the time the dust of this election moment settles, the greatest loser will be Mr Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa. He would have made a record of being the first Governor in Ondo State to lose the primary election of his party.
The reason for this is not farfetched. He has built his political fortune on a quicksand of betrayers, opportunists, crass imbecilic political marauders and petty local political champions.
For a more profound appreciation, a quick study of those rushing after Mr Governor can be stratified into five organic sets.
The first set are the pure anti-Aketists. They hide under their previous political contests or whatever type of encounter to make enemy of him and they try hard to retain that nomenclature.
It does not matter whether he is dead or alive. What matters is that the fight continues. The most appropriate destination is Lucky’s political corner. It also does not matter if he has anything to offer the people of Ondo State or not.
Even if Aketi wakes up from the dead like Lazarus today, and decided to donate all the money in his bank account, they will never see him as a friend. What makes them tick is that they are established Aketi haters. They are not too many but they are rich, influencial and experienced.
The other set is the aggrieved politicians. They are the most vociferous and always ready to unleash their venom on anything Aketi. What is their grouse?
Some lost tickets for re-election, some said Aketi made a promise to them and ended up giving it to another person. Some were denied contracts, some said they worked for Aketi and the party and were not compensated.
Some were dismissed or sacked from their jobs or their appointments withdrawn by Aketi. Even though we have many of them who ordinarily deserve to be aggrieved, many are unworthy of their claims. Most of these are political mercenaries, political journey-men or political wanderers. They have traversed every political party or political leader searching for relevance.
They are bold, loud-mouthed, pretentious and extremely vain-valued. They owe no one their loyalty except themselves.
They are always looking for attention and ready to pick a fight on very flimsy opportunity so they can proceed on their political journey.
The third set are those who have something they are doing like they have appointments given to them by Akeredolu. Many of those in this basket are hostages to themselves. They lack the courage, discipline and will power to do the right thing.
They prefer to be a slave in a big compound than to be a King in a small village. They are bereft of shame or that revolutionary capacity to call the bluff of a man they see as their saviour. Even when it is starring them in the face that the game is up, some of them are like ants to a sugar. They prefer to die with the sugar rather than leave when they have the opportunity to do so. Many of those in this category are without shame or self worth.
There are those who are prayerfully waiting for the Governor to look their side and are not ready to jeopardize their opportunity for a none existent one or for a man that is dead and buried. They are the one who are singing Naira Marley’s song ”epo wa lowo yin, e je ka ba yin la, Owo wa lowo yin, e je ka ba yin na”.
There are the real hawks, vultures and and political man eaters. They care for no one and subscribe to no ideology. All they care about is where is the pendulum or where can they profit. They are political merchants and political speculators. Their modus operandi is to carry aloft their vaunted ego and paycheck as a bargaining chip for anyone ready to play ball.
There are those who belong to no one but belongs to everybody. They are the honest and hard working party men and women whose allegiance is to the party. What they see is the emblem of the party and their leaders. To them they do not see any difference between Aketi and Lucky. All they know is that the two of them emanated from Awolowo, Ajasin, Adefarati, Akeredolu and now Lucky.
These are the suffering mases in the party. They are not interested in anything that will dislocate or dislodge the system. Unfortunately and very regrettably they are the least in terms of number.
Any political contest established on this type of foundation is bound to fail and will fail. The truth which they all know but will deny is that they are like vultures waiting to share in a denying flesh.
Soon and very soon, asiri a tu.
