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.
culled from GUARDIAN, October 23,
2006
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.
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