Date Published: 07/18/09
Ekiti: The Pains of Voodoo Politics
By Lere Olayinka
I was going through some write-ups on the Internet when I came across a report credited to the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. The twice defeated governorship candidate had said while vowing not to relent in his struggle to reclaim his “mandate” that; “ I could walk away, I could chicken out. Many politicians have chickened out in this kind of situation. I could be bought over. I could accept the post of a commissioner, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) or even take a big contract and becomes a fat cat in the system and be called a big boy, but what does that really mean to me? What does it do to those people who have been fighting? It is for them that I am still in the race. It is for them that I have not resulted to self-help by going to court."
But just immediately the report was posted, one Wale Adeoshun fired back saying; “You can fool people once but you cannot fool people all the time. Believe me, I was starting to like the content of this statement until I remembered that if the above statement were to be true then why bring out naked women some of them grandmothers to parade the streets of Ado Ekiti? Why take advantage of them if you knew that being Governor is something you could have walked away from? Even if Kayode Fayemi were to win tomorrow, it will be on record that Governor Kayode Fayemi became governor through parading naked women on the Streets of Ado Ekiti. After parading naked women to appease one god, then he will go to Church for thanksgiving to appease another God?”
Wale Adeoshun, like others who responded to the report aptly said my mind.
Ekiti State today is clawed by voodoo politicians and they are not willing to let the State go. They have a section of the media. They have most of the pro-democracy, human rights, professional and religious organisations on their payroll. They have the required resources with which they believed they can buy anyone to their side. To them therefore, Ekiti must be added to their dictionary of colonised States in Nigeria. And to achieve this, everything; including the most ridiculous must be done. This explained why Fayemi’s AC had to provide funds specifically for the procurement of all sorts of juju during the rerun election in Ekiti State.
Information has it that several millions of naira was spent to procure juju rings, cream and vests. All these were allegedly distributed to AC polling agents through the ward executives. The juju red coloured vest was what the AC polling agents wore during the election.
The voodooism in the AC was later taken to the peak when some women were paid to parade the streets of Ado Ekiti half-naked. Incredulously, behind the naked women were Fayemi’s Deputy, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka, AC Women Leader, Mrs. Ronke Okusanya, Fayemi’s wife, and other leaders of the AC. All of them were fully clothed. With that incident alone, sane minds cannot no longer be deceived that Fayemi is in this unending legal battle for the sake of Ekiti people. It is simply that Fayemi wants to be Governor at all costs because he does not believe that there are other ways through which he can serve the people of Ekiti.
Therefore, now that Fayemi is embarking on yet another legal voyage, some salient questions must again be asked. Does he have good grounds to challenge Governor Oni’s election at the tribunal, having failed in the past to prove his wanton allegations of rigging, violence, ballot stuffing and others made against Oni and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? This is bearing in mind that if not for the issue of use of colours of biro not specified by the Electoral Manual for voters’ accreditation, the Court of Appeal, Ilorin would have upheld the judgment of the Justice Bukar Bwala-led Tribunal, which dismissed Fayemi’s petition. Allegations of rigging, violence and ballot stuffing on which Fayemi premised his petition were dismissed both by the Tribunal and the Appellate Court.
Even at the Court of Appeal then, Fayemi was unable to give any explanation on his forensic expert, Mr. Adrian Forty, who reportedly deposed to an affidavit at Ado Ekiti, the same day he was transacting a business in London. He could not provide any plausible reason as to why the evidence of Forty, on whose several millions of dollars was expended should be admitted. Also, the war expert was unable to say anything on his Prosecution Witness (1), Mr. Michael Inubile who claimed that he was disenfranchised but had no voters’ card.
So if Fayemi, who boasted that he captured incidents of rigging during the April 14, 2009 election with the aid of satellite camera could not present a single pictorial evidence (still or motion) throughout the several months that he spent presenting his case before the Justice Bwala-led tribunal is now boasting that he would “reclaim his stolen mandate,” there must be scores of reasons for this hard-to-take decision.
Fayemi may have boasted to his supporters that ultimately he would be victorious. Therefore, as he had declared, the struggle must continue, at least; to save his face. Again Fayemi’s counsel would not give up as they would for some reasons want to pursue the matter to the end. First, to boost their legal profile and secondly for economic gains. Also, sponsors of the litigation may want to continue the case, believing that eventually they would recoup their money. The sole financier, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu boasted recently that he would not cease fire on his Ekiti agenda.
Most importantly, it is also not out of place for Fayemi to want to continue the case, not because he is not tired of litigation but just to keep his veritable source of revenue. Some elements masquerading as activists are also looking forward to profiting from the legal adventure. Already, they are soliciting for donations from unsuspecting Nigerians under the guise of Kayode Fayemi Legal Defence Fund. Therefore, discontinuing the case means terminating the free flow of money for Fayemi and his men, and that may be catastrophic.
It was in that desperate bid to sustain their free flow of income and maintain political relevance that several ridiculous stories have been invented. For instance, a story was orchestrated a few months after Governor Oni assumed office. One Mrs. Jeje Onigele was said to have been attacked at Ifaki and sent packing from the town for voting for the AC during the governorship election. The said “Onigele” was not known to anyone and nothing was heard about her after the story was published. The intention of those who promoted the Onigele story, as ridiculous as it sounded was to be able to prove that AC members were also attacked at Ifaki, the same way 16 houses belonging to PDP members were destroyed at Isan Ekiti, Fayemi’s hometown.
The voodoo politicians who fabricated the Onigele story are not relenting. They are the ones who daily castigate Ekiti and present its people as bunch of irresponsible trouble makers, who are never satisfied with anything.
Because they have deep pocket, they have been able to buy into every facet of our national life and promote their personal interests, pretending to have the interests of Ekiti people at heart. Through the ill-gotten wealth of their leader, they control a section of the media, professional, religious, human rights and pro-democracy organisations. Individuals in these groups are always willing to carry out the devil ’ s assignment. They were all over Ekiti during the rerun election, masquerading as “ independent elections observers ” .
However, with that abysmal defeat of Fayemi and his congregation of war-mongers, Ekiti people have realised that their realenemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men who live on free funds from unsuspecting donors and political empire seeking characters. It was with these free funds that they invaded Ekiti like locusts hoping to devour its resources, but God humbled them.
But having corrupted our society with their voodoo politics, so much that Ekiti, the land once acclaimed as that of honour and pride now bleeds in pains. The burden of healing this pain is what has been placed on the shoulders of Engr. Olusegun Adebayo Oni, a man who many believe would have been more appreciated in civilised society where responsible people play opposition politics constructively and with civility rather than Ekiti where some supposedly educated people place much premium on juju in their budget for electioneering campaigns.
Olayinka lives in Ado Ekiti.
