Date Published: 05/20/09
REBRANDING ANOTHER JUNE 12TH?
BY ARINZE ALINNOR A.
I followed an African legend religiously for many years before his demise. That legend is Baba Fela Anikulapo Kuti (Abami Eda). Not many people understood him and his philosophy while he was alive. But some of the things he said many years back are beginning to make sense to some people with some strange happenings in the polity in the recent past. Abami Eda believed that to fight and win, you must know what you are up against; you must be able to look beyond the obvious and see the actual. Fela said that Africans and Nigerians had not won because they did not actually know what they were up against, and that informed their attitude towards leadership.
Fela said that democracy meant crazy demonstration or demonstration of ‘craze’. In one of his shows, he said that democracy makes guns powerless. He said that in democracy pen is more powerful than guns. I have been digesting the situation of things in the polity since the demise of Fela, and I would submit therefore that the legend was our prophet that we did not recognize while he was here with us. Many are just beginning to come to terms with all his prophetic sayings now. Back then many thought he was just making noise and not making sense; but now all his prophecies are starring us in the face and we cannot afford to overlook or claim ignorance.
Like Abami Eda would say, the title of my song is ‘coffin for head of state’ or ‘confusion break bone’, I would title my own song rebranding another June 12th. Fela would title his songs after some strange happenings in the polity, in Africa, or any part of the world. My own song is coming because rebranding is the talk of the moment and something similar to June 12th happened recently again in our country. Before I release my song, I will tell you what a close friend told me recently. My friend said that whenever an actor or actress received money from a producer and failed to show up to act out his or her script, that the producer usually use the police to compel the actor or actress to come and act out the script even against her or his conscience. He said that was the situation in Ekiti in their governorship rerun election recently. Like Fela would say “na secret oh, don’t tell anyone”.
Not too long ego, Prof. Humphery Nwosu in his book released the withheld results of the June 12th 1993 elections. Going through his book you just have to say summarily that the powers that be then stopped the announcement of the full results of the elections. Though many had criticized him for speaking out late but the fact and figures are now known and the personalities behind the annulment are also known. This time around it was not the Vagabonds In Power (V. I. P.) as Fela would describe them that cancelled the elections in some local governments but the court. The court ordered a rerun in some areas. The rerun would have been described by Abami Eda as “stalemate” in Ekiti. Like the June 12th 1993 election, the Ekiti rerun was between the electorate and Vagabonds In Power.
I do not know whether our movie script writers have not considered doing a movie on the Ekiti story line. May be this piece might help our movie script writers and producers work on one movie. The tension in the state, the huge presence of law enforcement agents, the unbiased and biased observers, the determined electorate, the determined and unbiased electoral officers, the media presence, the national attention, the violence in some areas, the thugs, the casting and collation of votes, announcing of partial results, the sudden but unclear disappearance of the Resident electoral commission, the tension after her disappearance, the surprise resignation of the electoral commissioner, the rejection of her resignation, press briefings of the commission chairman and that of the information minister, declaring her wanted, nude protest march, her reappearance, her going back to act out the script, the supplementary elections, declaration of the winner and all the intrigues must be in the script of any movie producer that wants to picture Ekiti in clear perspective.
Before I conclude my song, I would want to say that June 12th is to Nigeria what April 25th is to Ekiti State. Let us ask a few questions. Why would the people under the big umbrella meet with Fayose and conditions given before the rerun? Why would the woman (electoral commissioner) disappear? Who gave the pressure? Why were the votes in Ido-Osi collated at a Police station? Why was her purported resignation rejected? How did Prof. Maurice Iwu get to know that the two candidates were running head to head when the woman disappeared? Why the woman was declared wanted? If the candidates were running head to head then, what happened to the votes upheld by the tribunal? Let’s not ask too many questions until the allegation against the electoral officials for bribery is substantiated. It is time to rebrand June 12th; it is time to rebrand all that happened in the last rerun in Ekiti. It is certainly not a good omen for the brand Nigeria with good people without discipline. If the legal provision empowering the President to appoint INEC chairman and electoral Commissioners is not touched, then we know that the words of the National chairman under the big umbrella must be taken seriously and they may go ahead to ‘select’ who stay in the Villa for sixty years and beyond in spite of their lack of credibility.
ARINZE ALINNOR A.
P. O. BOX 17985, IKEJA - LAGOS.
08033001782, 01-8964893
arinze198@gmail.com
www.arinze198.wordpress.com
