By Dr. Adekunle Folayan
There’s a major governorship election ahead of Ekiti State in less than one month from here. Barring any major scandal, as if scandals have any meaning in Nigeria, from either side, it’s well known to the general public by now which party/individual is most likely to VERY CLEARLY win the election.
The CONTEST this time around is going to be a CONTEST OF NOVELTY. It will be a contest of the PEOPLE versus all other individual candidates together with their parties put together.
Nobody is stopping any moneybag from lavishing his money. After all, the monies are the people’s monies that are stolen from the people. By the same token, while we may not encourage the honest voters to indicate interest in the circulating political looted wealth, one needs not be too harsh on those being innocently wooed with such monies. They are monies being inadvertently made to recirculate to their natural owners that must refuse to sell their conscience.
We know the candidates of the major parties together with their antecedents.
Next to the issue of Candidature is the issue of Surrogacy. Each of the candidates is surrogated or sponsored by another individual with an agreement of COMPLETE CONTROL now and till the end of his ‘reigndom’ known as tenure. During such period of governance, the masses will be forced to be contented with their sufferings.
Without having to go into detail, BIRDS OF THE SAME FEATHERS are known to flock together. Bad candidates are powered or sponsored by bad sponsors or moneybags.
Thirdly, after the issues of the Candidature and Sponsorship, will be that of the Party.
Our analysis, using the three parameters above, will be limited to three candidates at this stage.
The three parties will be the APC, PDP and the SDP. The antecedents of the PDP and the APC are well known.
Except for less than four years since the creation of the state, the two parties above had misgoverned and maladministered the state all along. Hence, the poverty of the state and her citizens. There’s no difference between the records of the two parties and their present two gubernatorial candidates.
As for the SDP, it’s a very old party with a wonderful antecedent but unknown to many. It’s the party that produced M.K.O. Abiola of blessed memory.
Whether or not the SDP has any antecedent or that its record is unknown will not constitute any impenetrable problem. Since the antecedent of Chief Segun Oni is known to be good, the tendency will be for the party of his choice to be equally good. This conclusion is premised on the reasoning that birds of the same feathers are known to flock together.
As if the above facts are not enough, out private opinion poll was conducted. The findings showed ADC candidate with 12%, PDP with 15%, APC with 19% and SDP with 54%.
Considering the above statistics, the June 18th election will be a contest of the APC plus the PDP versus the masses that had done everything within their capabilities to successfully draft Chief Segun Oni to PLEASE COME OVER TO EKITI STATE TO BAIL THE PEOPLE OUT OF OPPRESSION AND STARVATION. (The ADC and her candidate are being deliberately excluded here because we have no basis for the evaluation of either the party or the candidate). Under the circumstances, anything having to do with the CONTEST OF HOOLIGANISM WILL BE RULED OUT.
The matters that will be left to contend with will therefore be the contest of records, ideas, patriotism, compassion, etc., and of all that is or will be good and productive enough for Ekiti State. This will enable the citizens of the state to rank very high in the comity of the communities of progressive and humane living beings.
The institutions of the other political associations in the fake nomenclature of parties will be planning for a contest of hooliganism known as thuggery. They will be thinking of a contest of outright falsification known as rigging together with Administrative and Executive endorsement of such along the line.
Such evil planners will equally be thinking of the price tags or the financial worth of individuals and grounds that they would want to buy over or simply make use of and dump thereafter. Such people will include the electorate, election and security officials, polling agents, etc. They would be thinking along these their traditional methods of winning (rigging) elections.
Well, rigging is an alternative method of winning elections. If the Trump America could suffer or be dazed with rigging, rigging cannot be ruled out anywhere in the present world. This is not to talk of Nigeria that was the core root of Trump’s rigging idea and practice. Rigging is, unfortunately, a generally accepted practice in Nigerian politics. Rigging is an extension of CORRUPTION WHICH HAS BECOME A MUCH-CHERISHED NIGERIAN WAY OF LIFE.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed as the saying generally goes. But for our present case, the saying will take a different dimension to read: To be FOREWARNED is to be FORECONSTRAINED.
When people think, talk or plan of thuggery, the only direction of their thoughts will be focused on MONEY. This is talking of money to hire and equip the hooligans known as thugs. This is talking of money to buy off the security apparatus including the election officials. The bad guys will need money for equipment.
To top all of the above will be the Executive Might by the group in possession of such, to back up the wrongdoings from the beginning of the practical operations to the end of such. With the above planned evil machinations, the expected end will be believed to take care and justify the means.
That will not be believed to be the end of the engagement of the executive might. The planning along the line would have to sail through the Judicial Power Pipeline. The riggers will wait for the rigged to seek for legal redress by heading for the court of law with every evidence within their disposal.
The law courts, to the Supreme Court level, will be prepared to endorse the illegalities of the INEC officials. QED will be their expected theoretical conclusion.
Unfortunately, the matter will never practically go the expected route of the riggers. From the beginning to the end, they will be faulted and frustrated.
Why?
Because, the majority of the membership cum supporters of the SDP will be so intimidating that the hired thugs will be afraid of getting lynched should they attempt anything funny or unholy in the midst of the teaming supporters of the SDP.
There will however be some drunk or drugged suicide missioners that will volunteer to be used as scapegoats. Such scapegoating missions of the bad boys of the opponents will be effectively repulsed and quenched by the good boys cum the overwhelming supporters of the SDP. After the failures of a few such attempts, with numerous casualties of the minority aggressors littered all over the place, such crazy attempts of unprovoked aggressions would naturally stop for SANITY TO PREVAIL.
Fair play would resume and take its normal course.
One might want to ask as to WHO ARE THESE OVERWHELMING SUPPORTERS OF ENGR. SEGUN ONI?
All progressive sons and daughters of Ekiti State, both at home and in the diaspora, are behind this former governor of the state simply because of his unbeaten track record which he has promised to come back and beat. It is the believe of a large majority of the state that he alone can achieve the feat.
By the way of a little breakdown into some details, these supporters are made up of various groups, classes and professions.
They include the Ekiti State Government workers for prevailing obvious reasons.
Private investors that need a buoyant economy to be able to perform are dying to have Engr. Segun Oni back.
The market women want Segun Oni back so that money will start circulating again to enable them to sell their wares.
Without the success of the market women, the farmers will revert back to the practice of the medieval times, laboring in vain. So, the farmers want no one else but Chief Segun Oni back.
Students are no students with paupers as parents. No wonder all the students are solidly behind SOCO as the only institution they believe in.
The retirees were all pretty much alive during the first term of this Man of The People called Asiwaju Segun Oni. After him was a governor that publicly described the RETIREES AS DEAD PEOPLE that he had no time for. This is a living truth that is known to everyone in the state. It was in the news. The retirees have no other choice than to want this Man of God back.
The senior citizens, particularly those with too little or no support from any source are not ready to be sent to untimely grave. Segun Oni has plans for them now more than ever before. With them being closest to the Almighty God, they are always praying most fervently for the return of Segun Oni back to power.
Those who decamped from the various parties are full of stories of the failures of their former parties. They are now all routing for the SDP.
Those in the diaspora will never forget their home of origin. They all want a better Ekiti State. They know the resources are abundantly there. Only a concerned and capable intellectual like Engr. Segun Oni can accomplish this feat. They constituted a vital part of the original pressure group to get Chief Segun Oni drafted. Segun Oni remains their only choice.
Ladies and gentlemen, I could continue to go on and on. But I am compelled to have a break for now.
A concerned friend once asked me as to where Engr. Segun Oni will get the type of money to execute a gigantic project such as this? The more reason for this question, he continued, is the fact that he just went through a contest too recently. And again, my friend continued further, that man is too honest to be rich. How then would you expect him to get money to continue with this type of a humongous project?
Well, the answer is very simple. There is more than the amount needed available to do the needful. It’s not for me here to disclose the details of the present and the expected sources of funding.
The needless will definitely not be engaged in and will therefore not be budgeted for, not to talk of being embarked upon.
The reality as stated above is that the overwhelming majority of the Ekiti State electorate is behind Engr. Segun Oni in the forthcoming June 18th gubernatorial election. The reality is equally appreciated that this will not automatically translate to electoral victory. There is the need for very serious planning and thorough execution of such from now till the election day. The leadership had been doing and are most seriously continuing to do exactly that.
Let nobody disregard or underrate his or her personal vote including those of the family members and friends. Every single vote counts. To win or lose an election takes no more than a single vote. Everybody must be on the neck of everybody else trying to urge him or her to GO OUT THERE AND VOTE.
Nobody must feel lackadaisical about what we have before us which is NOTHING SHORT OF A SERIOUS STRUGGLE.
Everything must be done by every supporter of Segun Oni not only to vote, but to reduce the number of carefree supporters to as close to zero as possible.
Although Engr. Segun Oni is well equipped and prepared to match every other candidate everything for everything, the electorate must be generally educated and cautioned against the enjoyment of only one day or thereabouts versus the sufferings of four years that in reality lasts much longer than that.
God bless Ekiti State.
God bless Engr. Segun Oni.