Ekiti: The End Of The Beginning
By Reuben Abati

"The world today is ruled by harassed politicians absorbed in getting into office or turning out the other man so that not much room is left for debating great issues on their merits...Politics are almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics many times" - Winston Churchill, 1920.

Winston Churchill, the legendary British Prime Minister (1940-45, 1951- 55), orator, and self-conscious wit was right. The situation in Nigeria today is no less different; Nigerian politics is war; it is dominated by harassed politicians who are either trying to get into office, or are being pushed out or are on the run, in order to avoid being killed "many times". In Ekiti, we have just witnessed the end of one such war, which now marks a new beginning in the lives of the people, with the declaration of a state of emergency in that state, and the effective dissolution of democratic governance. The present situation in Ekiti was foreseeable: tension had risen beyond record levels on account of (a) the impeachment of the former Governor, Ayo Fayose, (b) the emergence of an illegal successor, and what seemed like two parallel governments in the state, (c) the brazen advertisement of the law as an ass, and (d) the uncertainty that was imposed on the people's lives. It is democracy that has suffered a major setback.

Ekiti now goes into the record books as a state where democracy has failed, another illustration of the tentative, inchoate nature of Nigerian democracy. Each time a state implodes and a state of emergency is declared as in Plateau before now, the impression is further burnished that civilians are unable to govern themselves, they lack the discipline to organise their own affairs. It does not help that in both Plateau and Ekiti states, retired military officers had to be called in to rescue the situation. President Obasanjo may have been faced with an inevitable course of action in Ekiti, but his choice of a retired Army General, a former commander of ECOMOG, as sole administrator, sends a message that further reduces the value of Nigerian politics.

The issue is about signaling and public perception, not about the qualities of the persons that have been so selected for emergency service. What stops an average soldier still in service, from thinking that the military is in charge and that civilians are useless people? What we are running in terms of style and symbols is a military-styled democracy, with the military now in civilian garb calling the shots. Whenever civilian rule is discredited, soldiers will be encouraged to assume that they are best suited for political leadership. This is the danger that we face.

But I don't want to cry over split milk. General Tunji Olurin has been drafted to clear the Ekiti war zone and hold the peace after the storm. If there is any Ekiti man who is not happy about this, let him hold his unhappiness to himself or herself. The Ekiti people have earned what they deserve, precisely what they asked for. The anti-Fayose group has lost something in winning. The Fayose group has also won something in losing. What is important is for all affected stakeholders to learn their lessons. The people of Ekiti must now begin to prepare for the next elections. They must put their house in order by ensuring that whoever shows up as a candidate for the next elections is interested only in the common good. The electorate in Ekiti must be re-educated about democracy: to use the power of the vote wisely, to select leaders not because they have privileged backgrounds, not because they are willing to distribute money and bags of rice, but because they have something to offer.

Since 1999, the impression had been created in Ekiti that the people are more interested in choosing their leaders on the grounds of mere sentiments. Ekiti politics is driven by too much emotion, rather than reason. Fayose is in retrospect the people's nemesis. His presence and exploits exposed the shortcomings of Ekiti politics. In 1999, the people voted for Otunba Niyi Adebayo because he had been selected by the elders of the Alliance for Democracy. At the time, any one the ruling elite of Afenifere anointed as a candidate was bound to win an election on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the South West. Niyi Adebayo had the added luck of being the son of Major-General Adeyinka Adebayo who is very well-loved among the Yoruba people.

In 2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo needed to win the elections in the South West to prove that he had a political constituency, and to discredit the likes of Vice President Atiku who were already boasting then that without their support, Obasanjo could never have been President. Obasanjo's credibility as a political figure was at stake. He moved from one state in the South West to the other, and launched a coup against the Afenifere and the Alliance for Democracy. In Ekiti, he raised Fayose's hands. Fayose followed this up by identifying with the people. He offered the people the common touch that Niyi Adebayo lacked.

He danced with the people, ate with them and gave them gifts. He spoke their language; their dialect. He visited them in their homes. He was not the son of a big man; but a commoner like the majority of the people. If anyone had any doubts about him, that was eliminated by the announcement that Baba had anointed him. So, he won, and nobody protested. The Ekiti situation is a loud comment on the risk of politics by anointment or what the Yorubas call "Baba so pe", that is the politics of Godfatherism, politics by negotiated arrangement. For Nigerian politics to grow, for the population of harassed politicians to be reduced, for us to move from the politics of personalities to the politics of ideas, this syndrome must end. There lies the lesson for the rest of us.

Ekiti is incidentally a state of educated and enlightened persons; that enlightenment must now be allowed to reflect in the politics of that state. Fayose infuriated the educated Ekiti elite so much that they were forced as individuals and as a collective to take an interest in how their state was run. They can legitimately claim victory for the present turn of events even if they did not imagine that it would lead to the declaration of a state of emergency. But Fayose's exit must become an opportunity for ensuring that the quality of leadership candidates in Ekiti politics is upgraded. Fayose is gone. The lawmakers are out. Ekiti must move on...However, the Ekiti elite must guard against the evil of individual ambitions. Fayose provided a rallying point for their collective anger. The elite must now find another source of common unity. If they do not share the spoils of war carefully, they could end up turning against each other, and thus, unwittingly, work against the interests of the state.

No one should be surprised that the Olurin administration in Ekiti state is already putting its hands to the plough. General Olurin is promising better salaries. He is asking the Permanent Secretaries to take charge of their ministries. And the Head of Service speaking on behalf of all civil servants in the state, has betrayed a feeling of relief. He sounded at a reported meeting with the Sole Administrator as if he is truly glad that the politicians have been sent away with their troubles. Human nature is interesting. Civil servants are particularly good at adapting to all weather and seasons. But General Olurin should not under-estimate the nature and depth of his assignment. The first task before him is to call all the warring factions in Ekiti to the negotiating table including the traditional rulers who during Fayose's rule, spewed forth curses with the speed of saliva. They must be made to realise that the war is over. It is not impossible that certain groups in the state would have also acquired arms and ammunition in readiness for the outbreak of an imagined confrontation with the Fayose forces. If such groups exist, they must be identified and disarmed.

The second task for the sole administrator is to carry out a full audit of the Fayose era. There have been allegations of corrupt practices. Olurin is an outsider; he is a Yewa man, from Ogun state, so he has the benefit of emotional distance, and he must use that to carry out a detailed probe which will unmask all persons who may have mismanaged the resources of the state. That probe must cover civil servants, the displaced lawmakers and the Executive. Now is the appropriate time to subject Fayose and everyone involved in his government to intense scrutiny and to ensure that the law takes its course where guilt can be proven. Both the police and the EFCC must move to Ekiti to go through the files and all corners of the state: the police to investigate unresolved cases afresh, the EFCC to seek, now that there is less partisanship in the air, true evidence to support its old claims.

Olurin must maintain his neutrality. He must refuse all attempts to drag him into the politics of sentiments. And he must not be carried away by the title, "sole administrator". Let him put a team together that can provide whatever assistance he may need. General Olurin is said to be a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. His name has been mentioned in the politics of Ogun state, as someone who in years to come, may be in a position to help redress years of political injustice against the people of the Yewa division. Olurin's assignment in Ekiti, is thus for him also a test. I hope he knows.

Okonjo-Iweala: Not Bitter
I ran into former Minister of Foreign Affairs, former Minister of Finance, former Head of the Nigerian Economic Team, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the other day at an International Business Leaders Conference in London, organised by the Foreign Investment Network. She looked relaxed, unruffled. For her, life has continued happily after public office. She was clad in her trade mark Ankara flowing gown and head-tie, looking confident, carrying a lady's bag.

I walked up to her: "Hi Madam, good to see you again." I believe she was pleased to see me too. Pleasantries exchanged, I fired from the hips: "Madam, I looked for your name on the National Honours list, it was conspicuously missing. I thought you deserve a National Honour more than most people. Your name should have been on that list". Her response: "No please. I don't bother myself about things like that. What you must know is that the only honour that no one can do anything about is the one that comes from God. It is God that honours people." Well, I don't think she succeeded in changing my opinion.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala was Chairman of the Conference, attended by participants from across Africa and Europe, and a host of private sector executives. In an interactive session with participants which came up twice in the course of the conference, Nigerians at the event insisted on asking her questions about Nigeria, and she offered answers until she finally ruled that "this is not a Nigerian conference, let us respect the fact there are participants from other countries here." "You must be bitter", someone had suggested. "I am not bitter at all", she insisted. "I was the one that stepped aside remember?. I was given an assignment. I made my own contributions and moved on. There are things that we have achieved in Nigeria that nobody can change. The reform programme cannot be tampered with. And it is beginning to yield fruits. The people are impatient. But they will be grateful to the Obasanjo government in the long run. We were at the stage where we wanted to start focusing more on the issues of electricity, water supply roads...by the time all that is in place, the people would then understand. Which is why I am worried about some of the things now happening at home. They are distractions. We don't need some of those distractions at all..."

Here was Mrs Okonjo-Iweala still acting as an ambassador for Nigeria, promoting the country. One of the themes of the conference was "Investment Opportunities in Africa" and it was obvious that Okonjo-Iweala was trying to position her country for positive consideration at an international forum. Her popularity among Nigerian participants must have disturbed other participants a bit. For when she then asked for permission to leave, almost every Nigerian in the hall chose to see her off. At the lobby of the Conference Hall, the Nigerians started another mini-conference until the organizers came to remind them that their attention was needed in the Hall! This was God's Honour at work surely. There are persons who are currently in government or who have been there before who may never find any one paying attention to them when they are out of office....

Robot  # 1 | 22.10.2006 09:52

Ekiti: The End Of The Beginning ...Read the full article.

Auspicious  # 2 | 22.10.2006 12:25

"The Ekiti situation is a loud comment on the risk of politics by anointment or what the Yorubas call "Baba so pe", that is the politics of Godfatherism, politics by negotiated arrangement. For Nigerian politics to grow, for the population of harassed politicians to be reduced, for us to move from the politics of personalities to the politics of ideas, this syndrome must end." "The electorate in Ekiti must be re-educated about democracy: to use the power of the vote wisely, to select leaders not because they have privileged backgrounds, not because they are willing to distribute money and bags of rice, but because they have something to offer." Preach on, Preacherman! Eni ba l'eti, ko t'eti le! (Pesin wey get ear, make e take am hia word!) Auspicious.

Abraxas  # 3 | 22.10.2006 12:59

Hi, folks! I am wondering aloud where all the official sycophants, Government House praise singers, and Fayose (and Olujinmi) arsehole hair lickers of Ekiti State have gone to, in this season of emergency in that state. It will also be nice to place the traditional rulers or so-called "royal fathers" of Ekiti State under close watch, and to observe their unrelenting sugar-coated gambits at the corridors of power, between Government House, Ado Ekiti , where a retired ECOMOG commander is solely in charge, and Aso Rock Villa, Asokoro, were a mere Balogun is in charge! Let us si'do'n look. Is this truly the end of "Baba-so-pe" politics, or is it the beginning of "Olurin-so-pe" politics? Muchas gracias. Don Juan Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

SBI  # 4 | 22.10.2006 13:20

The issue is about signaling and public perception, not about the qualities of the persons that have been so selected for emergency service. What stops an average soldier still in service, from thinking that the military is in charge and that civilians are useless people? What we are running in terms of style and symbols is a military-styled democracy, with the military now in civilian garb calling the shots. Whenever civilian rule is discredited, soldiers will be encouraged to assume that they are best suited for political leadership. This is the danger that we face. But I don't want to cry over split milk. General Tunji Olurin has been drafted to clear the Ekiti war zone and hold the peace after the storm. If there is any Ekiti man who is not happy about this, let him hold his unhappiness to himself or herself. Dr Abati, it is never difficult to criticize your opinions. Perhaps I have been naive, but I'd assumed that undrelying all your cynic wit was the heart of a true democrat concerned primarily with the upliftment of the the Nigerian society, the emancipation of her people and the realisation of our true individual and collective potential. I should ask you as a Nigerian, not just Ekiti men, are you happy about this? Are you happy that the military are drafted in to 'clear the Ektit war zone'? does it delight you? Should we all get ready for more dawn broadcasts and suspension of all democratic institutions? Is this the new Nigerian thing, should retired Generals start dusting up their old jackboots and horse whips? Nigeria has no hope if people like you continue to rule out our options. Its a pretty reckless statement coming from the Chairman of the Guardian Editorial board. You upstaged General Olurin. "If there is any Ekiti man who is not happy about this, let him hold his unhappiness to himself or herself." This even beats CJN Belgore's justification of military rule. I wonder what people like Chief Ibru will have to say about that. Well, I will not hold my unhappiness to myself, since I'm not affected by your gag order, not being an Ekiti man. Nigerians must take full advantage of the democratic opportunity to confine all tendencies of military governance to where it belongs, the mess hall. The simple thing that needs to be done in Ekiti is for the National Assembly to immediately rise to their constitutional responsiblity as the true custodian of the power of the people. People should mobilise and persuade the legislators urgently to invalidate this state of emergency crap, and restore the status quo antebellum, (i.e as things where before the crisis). They have the power to do this under Section 305 (6) (b) of the Constitution. And thereafter request Fayose's resignation, failing which a new impeachment process can be quickly executed on new grounds of 'gross misconduct'. The National Assembly must be encourgaged and supported to instill this constitutional democratic ethos in our national pyche if we are to have any hope of purging Nigeria of the dregs of these foragers that devour the liver and the marrow of our nation. These miitary men who hold up looting and impunity as virtues of leadership. The arrangement in Ekiti is an anomaly, there is no accountability to the people which makes it more dangerous than politics. The National Asssembly has the power to restore accountability to the people and we, including you Dr Abati should lobby them to do this. For all our sakes. Kevin33 can you do something here? SBI

DaBishop  # 5 | 22.10.2006 18:28

There is also another dimension to all this which majority of the people are loathe to mention. That of repentance! Not sorry I got caught or I did not talk to all or 'settle all', but sorry, I sinned against God and against the people. The political class, do not know the magnitude of the responsibility given them. Each poor person dying of malnutrition or accident as a result of repairable pothole... his blood would be on the head of the leader... to he whom much is given... Their preachers rather than use doctrine to correct them are rather enamoured by proximity to power. not when you persist in unrighteousness. Persons no doubt leave the bosom of their concubines to go cite scriptures to Nigerians and expect to have stability. A preacher who prays for the leaders, also has the responsibility to inform them... And you too, except you repent.... na hell fire here on earth first 2 Chronicles 7:14 should be read to Fayose, OBJ and all the one time 'born-again' and others who spew scriptures to defend themselves. We need RRRepentance! Big time or else...:redface: :redface: :redface: :twisted: :o

MrOneNaija  # 6 | 22.10.2006 20:36

DÉFAITISME: WHEN NOT CRYING OVER SPILLED MILK IS AN INVITATION TO INACTION, OR WORSE, AN ACCEPTANCE OF TYRANNY =SBI;135363>Dr Abati, it is never difficult to criticize your opinions. Perhaps I have been naive, but I'd assumed that undrelying all your cynic wit was the heart of a true democrat concerned primarily with the upliftment of the the Nigerian society, the emancipation of her people and the realisation of our true individual and collective potential. I should ask you as a Nigerian, not just Ekiti men, are you happy about this? Are you happy that the military are drafted in to 'clear the Ektit war zone'? does it delight you? Should we all get ready for more dawn broadcasts and suspension of all democratic institutions? Is this the new Nigerian thing, should retired Generals start dusting up their old jackboots and horse whips? Nigeria has no hope if people like you continue to rule out our options. Its a pretty reckless statement coming from the Chairman of the Guardian Editorial board. You upstaged General Olurin. "If there is any Ekiti man who is not happy about this, let him hold his unhappiness to himself or herself." This even beats CJN Belgore's justification of military rule. I wonder what people like Chief Ibru will have to say about that. Well, I will not hold my unhappiness to myself, since I'm not affected by your gag order, not being an Ekiti man. Nigerians must take full advantage of the democratic opportunity to confine all tendencies of military governance to where it belongs, the mess hall. The simple thing that needs to be done in Ekiti is for the National Assembly to immediately rise to their constitutional responsiblity as the true custodian of the power of the people. People should mobilise and persuade the legislators urgently to invalidate this state of emergency crap, and restore the status quo antebellum, (i.e as things where before the crisis). They have the power to do this under Section 305 (6) (b) of the Constitution. And thereafter request Fayose's resignation, failing which a new impeachment process can be quickly executed on new grounds of 'gross misconduct'. The National Assembly must be encourgaged and supported to instill this constitutional democratic ethos in our national pyche if we are to have any hope of purging Nigeria of the dregs of these foragers that devour the liver and the marrow of our nation. These miitary men who hold up looting and impunity as virtues of leadership. The arrangement in Ekiti is an anomaly, there is no accountability to the people which makes it more dangerous than politics. The National Asssembly has the power to restore accountability to the people and we, including you Dr Abati should lobby them to do this. For all our sakes. Kevin33 can you do something here? SBI SBI has asked very pertinent questions in his reaction in the above quote. I must say that I was taken aback by what Abati had to say regarding the coup d'état in Ekiti. In his admonition not to cry over spilled milk, Abati comes across as preaching a form of defeatist acquiescence in the face of the Obasanjo/EFCC-instigated brigandage in Ekiti. And, who knows, in other parts of the country. What Abati seems to be telling the people of Ekiti and Nigerians in general is that Obasanjo's criminality may be inflicting damage on the constitutional order in the country but that there is nothing we can do about it. We have to accept it and move on! This is very dangerous coming from, I presume, a democrat. In my reaction to Abati's last article on the Anambra crisis, I opined that I found it curious that the chairman of the editorial board of the Guardian did shy away from calling on the National Assembly, not to talk of the citizenry in general, to sanction Obasanjo - through an impeachment notice- on account of the latter's serial transgressions or crimes against the Constitution. As a matter of fact, Abati's article on the military occupation of Ekiti has further heightened one's suspicion regarding his inability to forcefully call for the repudiation by the National Assembly of Obasanjo's illegal and wayward ways. This is quite scary. Now, when Abati goes on to call on the Obasanjo regime to undertake - through the garrison commander who, it must be said, has told the whole world that he is going to do the bidding of his political master in Ekiti - a probe of the overthrown government of Governor Fasoye, without as much as mentioning that the very Obasanjo regime and the corrupt state outfits it has used to perpetrate its illegalities in Ekiti and elsewhere deserve to be also investigated and sanctions imposed on those found to have commited crimes against the Nigerian constitution, one has to be doubly scared. As has been mentioned elsewhere, instruments of state like the EFCC, the police, the army, and the SSS have been used and abused in a most partisan, if reckless manner by the Obasanjo regime in Ekiti, Plateau, Oyo, Bayelsa, Anambra, etc. How then does Abati expect the same corrupt outfits and the those behind their mischief-making deployment to help bring sanity to Ekiti, especially after the fact that the same sinister forces have been part and parcel of the sad situation in the state? Abati should call a spade a spade by unequivocally asking Nigerians to rise and put a stop to the unprecedented desecration of the constituion by the sadistic and profligate tin-god called Obasanjo and his acolytes. He should join those imploring the National Assembly to reject the odious and unnecessary "state of emergency" - euphemism for military occupation - in Ekiti. This should serve as a clear warning against a similar occupation being contemplated in Plateau and possibly other states.

Auspicious  # 7 | 22.10.2006 21:43

SBI, MrOneNaija: In retrospect, I must admit that you both have a few good points up there regarding Abati's position reflecting as an acqueisance to the fallout of President Obasanjo's meddlesomness in the affairs of Ekiti - as with other places like Oyo and Anambra. Truth be told; without the Presidency's backing, those legislators would not have been so power drunk to flout the Constitution as they so blatantly did. The Presidency egged them on, on the premise that, haven unconstitutionally gotten rid of the thug of a Governor (Fayose), his Deputy will step in. Alas, the legislators had an ace up their sleeve and they played it at the last minute; they kicked both Fayose and his Deputy out of power! Unfortunately for the duo, they were both held in contempt by the people of Ekiti, so there was no one to fight their cause - to fight the illegaliy that cost them their 'mandate'. Then the Federal Government suddenly got cured of its selective amnesia and remembered the "unconstitutionality" of the procedure adopted in removing Fayose and Olujimi from power - that same procedure they had hoped will result in the Deputy ascending to power. "Revert to the status-quo ante", they said, "or face the consequences". And when the lawmakers dared them, voila, Ekiti the emergency rule of Tunji Olurin came into force. All the above point to the source of the problem: The Presidency. First they annointed Fayose and installed him. Secondly, they encouraged his unconstitutional removal. So the Ekiti people got f***ed both ways eventually. One, they had an evil Gomina and two, they lost their democracy - as "demoCRAZY" as it was. But before we chastise Abati and Ekitikete for appearing to acquiesce to Obasanjo's disgraceful double-standards, we must put ourselves in their (Ekiti folks) shoes and try to imagine the relief they feel now that they don't have to deal with the embarassment of having to explain to anyone how a state full of illustrious sons and daughters ended up with someone like Fayose as Governor. Or the relief that for now, they don't have to be in the news again for the wrong reasons. The bottom line: Now they have new lease..another opportunity...to go to the polls and discard of all emotional influences..and choose a new leader with their heads and their hearts - not just the latter. I have a strong feeling that this time around, provided the next elections are not hijacked midway or programmed to fail as suspected in many quaters, they will get it right. And should anyone try to cheat his way to power, they are going to beat and chase that person out of town. Ekiti folks are usually gentle..but they can be fiery and wild if provoked. I have a feeling they are ready to uncoil. Auspicious.

Abraxas  # 8 | 23.10.2006 01:34

Hi, folks! I am just wondering: With all those “unemployed” members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly back in the unemployment queue for the next six (6) months, and with the messiah of Ekiti State, “Dr” Ayo FAYOSE (HND, Ibadan Polytechnic), away on VOLUTARY self-exile in Germany, one hopes that the crime rate in that state would not sky-rocket in direct proportion to the desperation of the “misled” unemployed “representatives” of the people. By the way, why is it that whenever there is a slight perturbation in the Nigerian political terrain, Nigeria’s so-called “political elite” flee their country? Alhaji Umaru DIKKO fled to England. Dr. Chris NGIGE ran away to the USA. And now, Otunba “Dr” Ayo FAYOSE (HND), has absconded to Germany. Funny enough, the UK, USA, and Germany are all supposedly very zero-tolerant about CORRUPTION, particularly in Nigeria. We hope Madam (former) Deputy Gomina, Chief (Mrs.) Abiodun OLUJIMI is not going to run away too, maybe, to North Korea! Moreover, if I may ask, First of all, how much money has disappeared, both from the Ekiti State treasury, and the "Security Vote", in the past two (2) weeks? Most importantly, how did all the massive retinue of well-fed security operatives, including the state's so-called chief security officer (CSO) and his SSS spies, and police orderlies of Government House, Ado Ekiti, supposedly on the former governor’s security detail, part ways with Ayo FAYOSE, and actually eased him off to flee Nigeria, under the dire security climate that prevailed in Ekiti and the country as a whole, barely a week ago? Maybe, the Director General of the SSS, the National Secrity Advicer, the Inspector General, and the Comptroller General of Immigrations have reasonable explanations. I believe, Nigerians need to know those reasons. Security my nyash! SSS my blokos! Anyway, sha, GOD dey for heaven: One day go be one day. (I beg, jo-o-o second bass, o’jare). I hope that now that both the former Deputy Gomina, and the suddenly unemployed (and probably unemployable) former honourables are STILL IN NIGERIA, the EFCC, the ICPC, the courts, and the maximum security prisons are agile enough to conclude what they started in the first place: the apprehension and imprisonment of some of Nigeria’s high-calibre economic and financial criminals. The declaration of a state of emergency cannot be a convenient distraction, or cover for annuling the DUE PROCESSES of apprehebding hardened criminals, posing as politicians! Muchas gracias. Don Juan Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

Ugochukwu  # 9 | 23.10.2006 11:41

Hello Villagers, Is OBJ really the problem of Nigeria? I think time has come for us to begin to see that he is probably NOT. Our problem is that we do NOT have a National Assembly. Forget the gaggle of jokers that Ken Nnamani and his brother Aminu Masari, heads at Abuja. If we had a National Assembly, OBJ would have since become history, and his successor, would be compelled by the fate of his predecessor to behave like a human being! I have argued this point in the essay below: http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/articles/753/1/Where-Is-Nigerias-Senate-President.html Is it beyond us Villagers to do all within our power to ensure Nigeria gets a National Assembly in 2007? Perhaps, some Villagers may do more than post comments here. Let some of us jump into the ring, and become lawmakers. Assuming the N/A resumes now and nullifies OBJ's emergency rule in Ekiti, won't that go a long way to make him tame? Won't he think twice before he rolls out his tanks to invade another state. I think I agree with the person who said that the emergency rule should be voided by the N/A (if we have one); Gen Olurin should be asked to return to his home and the PDP; and then Fayose could be impeached properly and decently; and the state returned to democratic rule through some feasible democratic options, like by-elections There were no riots or break down of law and order in Ekiti, why militarize the place? Nigeria has become Emperor OBJ's conquered territory. Everybody worships at his shrine. You either follow suit or face the music Now imagine what has happened to our Federalism under OBJ: Fayose says he is OBJ's boy; that he is 100% loyal to him; that is federalism! Gbenga Daniel says Obj is next to God in Nigeria's democracy. OBJ is the one who seeks to decide who replaces impeached governors, and when his choice is spurned, he moves in with emergency rule; Obj once told Gov Attah, that he will soon walk him out of a meeting in Nigeria --i think it is a forum on Niger Delta-- Let Bush say that to a Gov in the US and let's see if the roof won't fall over him! Ngige knew no peace because he refused to surrender Anambra purse to glorified thugs anointed by Aso Rock; Ladoja fell b/c he refused to settle the OBJ "strong man" in Molete as Obj counselled him to.. The list is endless. We are merely practicing Babacrazy and if you fail to genuflect, OBJ will roll his tanks into your state. What a helpless nation!!!!!!!!!!!

bakoso2000  # 10 | 23.10.2006 15:56

The escape of Fayose out of Nigeria was orchestrated by the presidency and his partymen. The only thing Baba wanted he got and that is for Fayose to go. As a matter of fact, he did not want the SSS to catch him. You may ask why? Because baba does not want him to start singing like Atiku about the beneficiaries of government corruption thus embarrassing the party further. Ekiti has already been conquered for 2007. Even if Ekiti people vote against PDP in 2007, with rigging, Baba’s will will prevail. It is part of the grand design for tenure elongation. People sit here and continued to talk about separation of power and all democratic principles and ideals. Whereas “baba ti se kanna mo won lowo”. Ati ki oje bo olosha lowo, o ku baba eni ti yio bo”. Translation – “we have empowered the medicine man, let see who will unseat him.” Obasanjo has perfected plans for his continuation in power. Baba will stay beyond 2007. As a matter of fact, he is dying in office and it will take brute force to get him out of Aso Rock. The Gov. of Ogun State knew what he was saying when he described baba as next in command to God. He was being sarcastic and he is telling us to prepare for OBJ surprises. I still don’t know what gave anybody the impression that OBJ is leaving in 2007. It is the biggest scam against Nigerian People!

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