Aiyedatiwa’s Third Term Agenda: Real or imaginary? – By Bola Bolawole

“Are you no longer from Ondo State? You used to advertise that place as your dear native land!”

“Don’t mind him! Despite all the earth-shaking events taking place there, he has kept mute. Kidnappings, killings, protests…”

“The state celebrated its 50th anniversary; yet, nothing was heard from him. Is it because you knew your people had nothing to celebrate?”

“I was not invited! Grandma taught me never to go near such places…”

“I understand money flowed like water; money they could not spend on better things was wasted on a celebration that celebrated nothing…”

“If that money had been committed to security…”

“You twosome should stop putting down my state! Birthdays are celebrated not because of achievements but because we are still alive!”

“In a sense, that is true! When there is life, there is hope! There is still hope that e go better for your state…”

“Wishful thinking! Despite being an oil-producing state earning 13% derivation, you have nothing to show for it, except cries of ‘we dey here dey suffer’ from your people …”

“Are you saying you don’t know that much of those cries is politics and bad belle?”

“The daily kidnapping is politics, abi?

“And the unending killing of Kabiyesis? Admit the truth if only for this once…”

“No, don’t say that! He has always spoken the truth, and that is why I love him, but why he is not doing so this time around is what surprises me…”

“He must have been bought!”

“I beg your pardon! If I have nothing, I have my name and integrity, which I will defend with the last drop of my blood…”

“Then, why have you kept silent in the face of tyranny? Wole Soyinka said in ‘The Man Died’ that…”

“Oh-ooo! In all those that keep silent in the face of tyranny, the man dies…”

“E ku a-i-gbagbe! Respond to that!”

“Of course, I will! Politics is around the corner, so I take everything that I hear with a pinch of salt and never on their face value. Some of the complaints I have heard are from political partisans who are only vending their personal interests…”

“Even when it is said that there is nothing on ground to justify the humongous amount the state collects monthly from Abuja?”

“And that the governor is vindictive? Busy fighting petty wars! And aides are deserting him in droves…”

“He is also plotting to subvert the constitution of the Federal Republic?”

“So you, too, have heard? He plans to play in Ondo state the same Obasanjo card that failed in Abuja…”

“What is the Obasanjo card? This is the problem I have with people like you who cannot talk straight but employ innuendoes as camouflage…”

“Let’s not unnecessarily drag this matter. Ondo state is not smiling – and you know it. Your dear homeland is having the worst of times. Is this how you will fold your hands and watch?”

“Cry, the beloved state! In case you didn’t know, my maternal great-grandfather hailed from Ondo state…”

“And my son married from the state! If you see the way his in-laws bombard him with requests! Ebi n pa wa! Cries of ‘we are hungry’ all the time! Only God knows how many times he has also contributed money to pay ransom to kidnappers or bury the victims of kidnapping.”

“I will answer you both if you care to listen. Insecurity is a national issue…”

“But that of Ondo state is getting past be careful! What is the governor doing with his security votes? Why is Amotekun moribond in the state? Where are the Forest Guards that Mr. President approved for all the governors…”

“And how far with state police? It does not seem as if security is rated highly on their priority list in that state…”

“I hate the way you people keep referring to my state as ‘that state’; it is derogatory”

“Sorry about that, but it is your yam that dipped your fingers inside oil…”

“And you, too, have not helped matters the way you have been tongue-tied over matters that affect the well-being of your state. Anyone who reads the way you usually advertise yourself as an indigene of the state would think you love the state…”

“So, in your reckoning, I don’t love the state…”

“Na for mouth?

“Jumping on the bandwagon of abusers is not the right way to go. Criticism must be constructive; even justified anger must be tempered. That is when whatever advice you give can be listened to and progress can be made. Abusing just for abuse sake solves no problem. That is not to say, however, that I have not heard the cries of my people, even beyond what you twosome have highlighted. A group of 7th – 9th Ondo State House of Assembly members ceaselessly prod me that they have not been paid their entitlements. I belong to groups that spend hours discussing how to lift up our communities in particular and the state in general – but it has not been easy at all…”

“And why has it not been easy?”

“Because, often, we fight symptoms instead of attacking the disease itself. We chase shadows instead of confronting the monster…”

“You have relapsed into the usual speaking in parables again…”

“Speaking in tongues, you mean to say! Don’t forget he is born-again…”

“That is beside the point. Now, tell me, the man you are complaining about, how did he emerge as governor? Was he the best qualified and most competent or was it just by the whims of one man acting despotically like an emperor? That is the starting point! Why are we all ‘yes-men’ and ‘yes-women’ fawningly gesticulating and currying favour in the court of tin-gods for the crumbs that fall from their table?”

“We should ask you the question why people around leaders don’t tell them the truth?”

“Wait until you get there yourself! Governments everywhere – secular, religious, traditional, democratic, autocratic, revolutionary, name it – are structured in a way that makes speaking truth to power difficult…”

“And why is that so?”

“Human nature! The nature of the man who holds the knife and also holds the yam, and the nature of those struggling to get a piece of the action. It takes men and women of extraordinary courage and talent to break loose from the norms and behave otherwise. And such leaders are rare…”

“And they seldom are allowed to rule…”

“Oh-ooo! So you can see that the shoe is on the legs of both the leaders and the led. Why do people ignore electing good leaders but turn around to complain about the bad choices they make?”

“Ol’boy, you have fallen quiet! Is anything the matter?”

“Not really! Trying to flow with the philosophy of our friend again…

“If I may continue, people deserve the kind of leaders they get! Most times our people themselves are willing tools in the hands of bad leaders. Governors don’t sign cheques; how, then, do they manage to embezzle billions? Those who help them are not spirits…”

“And now that this governor is preparing for an illegal third term in office?”

“That is another four NYSC years for your people!”

“Ol’boy, what has NYSC got to do with what we are discussing here?”

“Now Your Suffering Continues – NYSC – for another four years!”

“I see!”

“But has the man told any of you that he wants a third term?”

“The rumours are all over the place. Don’t you think this Lucky of a man is carrying his luck too far? He is carrying his sacrifice beyond the mosque! Must Aiyedatiwa also become Ondo-da-tiwa!”

“As a veteran journalist, one with a nose for news, you cannot claim not to have heard the rumour”

“Even if I did, I will follow the advice of Grandma on the matter…”

“Grandma, again!”

“Yes! She said what is rumbling in the bush is coming to the main road. So, wait for it there”

“I see! So, if truly Aiyedatiwa is baying for Ondo-da-tiwa, he will come into the open sooner than later”

“Exactly! It is a project you hatch in secret but must execute in the open.”

“It was after Obasanjo came into the open with his own third term agenda that the National Assembly hammered him on the head!”

“Are you saying the same hammer awaits Aiyedatiwa?”

“Time will tell!”

“And your parting shot on Aiyedatiwa’s performance?”

“Whether or not Gov. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa has performed is debatable. Those who wear the shoe in Ondo State are in a better position to say. I am an ‘Ondo state abroad’ person, as they say. But are there security issues? Yes! Is there an infrastructure deficit? Yes! Do the people expect more from their governor? Yes! Are the resources accruing to the state now better than in times past? Yes! Has the fortunes of the people improved with improved resources? Not really! Does the governor have good plans for the state? I think so; what with signature projects like the deep sea port and petrochemical fertilizer projects? But the age-old problem of governments in my dear state remains…”

“I am eager to hear that…”

“…Their provincialism; their small-man mind and a mentality that constrains them from effectively telling their own story. Such that those with far less achievements than theirs appear to be doing even far more.”

“And what solution do you offer?”

“Let that be a topic for another day!”

• Former editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-chief of The Westerner news magazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.