“A ku oriire” refrain and Aiyedatiwa’s unlucky moment of celebration, by Sola Ajisafe

Whatever may be going through the mind of Hon. Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa during his swearing in ceremony as the Governor of Ondo State some few days ago, was not one to be taken out of the ordinary or out of context. It was a deliberate act at play.
What could however be sad is that peradventure he lacked the discipline and presence of mind to control his emotions on big occasions.

Also, one could say, it is also a pointer to what we already knew as his game plan all along. That is, to see the end of Akeredolu before the end of their tenure and become the Governor of Ondo State by any means possible.

So, if the brand new Governor or new ” Sheriff ” in Alagbaka (as he is being referred to) “unluckily” gave himself away at the event as a cold hearted maniac only those who have not been following events since it started will show any modicum of surprise. I was not for any reason surprised.

Although, I was not physically present at the event but I watched it live on TVC and like every one who monitored the event, I heard him loud and clear when he said ” …a ku ORIRE OO…”. If anything were to be denied not an event that was carried live by many media organisations like TVC and Adaba 88.9 FM. But thank God he has not denied it and may never have the opportunity to deny it. Like the Yoruba proverb would say, ” aso o bo Omoye mo, Omoye ti rin ihoho w’oja.

Before the whole wide world, Mr. Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa threw caution into the wind and celebrated his victory of becoming the Governor of Ondo State at the expense of his benefactor and boss. To him, I reasoned that Aketi’s tribulation and eventual death was not a thing to be sorrowful about or a sacrifice for the elation of his destined elevation to the position of the first citizen of Ondo State. My question is what is the ” a ku ORIRE” essence? Is it that finally, our enemy is gone or they planned and prayed for Aketi to die? Even though, on numerous occasions people fingered the new Governor of been complacent of puting pressure on Aketi over his health condition, I never imagined he will take it to this sadistic extent of open celebration of his death.

I guess to him and his minders, “anything is fair in war”. The issue of rules of engagement in war is morality and a scorched earth that cannot grow weeds, so why waste the best opportunity to show that truly his name is Orimisan. His “Chi” has answered him. There is no doubt that no man that is placed on a horse whose head will not lshake, ( Ko si eni ti a le gbe gun esin ti ko ni so ipako wuyewuye”. This means, everyone would always have a day of celebration. But there are limits to ones actions. Even in football matches, only few players do celebrate when they score against their former clubs. There is no rule against it. However, it is a moral limitation placed on themselves in terms of past shared values and relationships.

Unfortunately, Ayedatiwa broke this pot by his sadistic and immoral celebration of being sworn in some few hours after the death of his principal. That event for whatever it is worth was supposed to be a sombre and highly emotional event. What did we see, we saw a man who threw all cautions to the wind, beaming loud smiles and grinning from ear to ear and could not control himself. He was been cheered on by his ” cheer troupes” as if it was an American basketball competition.

Present in that arena that day were known anti- Aketi “activists” from within and outside Ondo State. I guess it was in an attempt to convince them and prove to them that they have actually won the war and it is time to celebrate their victory. Many of those who sat in vantage positions in that arena were men who were beneficiaries of Aketi’s benevolence as the Governor of Ondo State. They kept mute or sat on the fence when he was been pummeled left right and centre until he died. These people have now found a place with Lucky. He must impress them and compensate them for their duplicity and treachery.

As if that was not enough, I have read the inaugural speech of Governor Ayedatiwa over and over again and could see the absence of empathy, solidarity and support in the speech. It was dry in humane essence and bereft of the type of sober mood that the occasion deserved. Aside from the general traverse that a known opponent could vomit, no special attention can be deduced to honour Akeredolu neither was any specific intention was made to those he left behind. It was just a flat, colourless message after a highly disgraceful mis-salutation.

If I were Governor Ayedatiwa, I would have pretended for that day and hold my peace before I unleash my anger on the “fallen” man whose time is now in the past. Before delivering his acceptance speech at the occasion Mr Governor did not consider it necessary for the traditional ” one minute silence” in honour of the past ” hero” who has fallen. Also, in less than few hours after that a number of appointments were quickly rolled out as if life is coming to an end. This does not in anyway mean anything unusual but only in the spirit of humanity, sombriety, respect and comradeship. Any reasonable leader should know and do this. But we were so unlucky to witness such unacceptable behaviour.

All the above point to the fact that the betrayal level of Ayedatiwa and his group is not rocket science. The loath to which he holds Aketi was massive and the desire to take his place having been convinced that the man would die in office was grave. Under the above circumstances, we expect the new Governor to show restraint and respect to his boss. Because he was determined to prove a point, he never bothered to take note of the deep meaning of his actions. He followed the crowd of cheer leaders many of them that converged from Abuja and Lagos to celebrate a vaunted victory.

Aketi the man whom Ayedatiwa coveted and inherited his office would have done differently. Aketi may not be your best man but he is not a stone hearted pervert like Lucky. He was not an ingrate, a betrayer and never a coward. Aketi may be miserly ( I use to call him ” baba Ijebu from Ijebu Owo) he was not emotionally dead. Aketi may look hard but he was friendly, reasonable, unpretentious and a loyal man.

For me, despite Aketi’s weaknesses which include his abrasive nature, his failure to properly reward my community for all the support we gave to him at critical times, the inappropriate reward system of his administration to supporters and party members to the advantage of “aliens” and “strangers”. Whatever happened, taken deeper, Aketi was a fair minded man whose decisions may be hard but not without a strong reason.

Despite all his human frailties, inspite of his promise to empower me for all I did for him politically since 2012, Aketi still remains my hero and I will defend and uphold his legacy till I breath my last.

More than the vanity if becoming a Governor if Ondo State and the attendant loads attached to it, the cross of failure to do the right thing is now on Orimisan’s shoulder and the guilt is now on Lucky’s conscience (if he has one). Let him deal with it as Aketi will forever remain undiminished.