Putatively, Ayo Fayose, Ekiti Government House two-timer, is an enfant terrible of Nigerian politics. He revels in it, or better still, in its positives, as an avante garde. Well, his mantra of stomach infrastructure is crudely innovative, though not new and that contentious political register will be in discourse for as long as his kind control Nigeria’s political space and base.
His nemesis, Abiodun Olujimi, the slapping senator, is a heavenly fit for him, either as an associate or a dissociate. In political bliss, they were an eyeful. In their bilisi (strife), you can’t ignore their cacophony. Their affair is mutually-destructive and since the impeachment saga of 2006 when Yariyan attempted dislodging the Eze, they have been doing cat and mouse, nibbling away the umbrella, under which both have enjoyed better comfort than anyone else in the party. They are at it again, tugging the shade provider.
Draco’s story should interest them. The 7th-Century Greek, was the first recorded legislator of Athens, entrusted with providing the people with laws, though they knew, he would be harsh. Well, he didn’t disappoint and draconian laws became a global phenomenon. But that wasn’t the whole story. He was killed at 50, by his own “admirers” in the Aeginetan theatre. In “appreciation”, they suffocated him by throwing their hats, shirts and cloaks on his head, after being driven out of Athens to the Island of Aegina. What a way to appreciate a leader. The feuding Ekiti lords will soon receive their appreciation in Spanish, “jadios y buen viaje”, before they become the gold standard.
Ede Poly: Where are the saints?
There is a saying about an average man not having it all and not bereft of all. Monkey is bald, but got tail. Innocent (wey no dey zip up) Idibia is truly a two-face. He no go school but has ingenuity for flawless street lyrics. If the on-going saga at Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State is presented before him, he won’t be able to engage in boring syntax, in capturing the underlying criminality, but his usual classic “omo something dey happen” should be enough wake-up call to those who should fix the simmering lava. Here is the story; the Rector, Dr. Adekolawole Johnson-Edaogbogun (what a name!), lent his hand to the suspension of a lecturer, Mr. Matthew Omolade for plagiarism, a criminal offence, if established. The accused, expectedly, is fighting back. His lawyer, Soji Oyetayo claimed his client is a victim of some sorts of unnamed conspiracy and threatened jurisprudential combat, but not without throwing something in the mix; the controversial appointment of Goodness, Rector’s son, as a lecturer at the ivory tower, without the approval of the governing council. Oh, my goodness!.
Essentially, the approval of the governing council is required for both the appointment and the punishment, but the Deputy Rector (Administration) claimed coronavirus hadn’t allowed the council to sit, so management decided to act, by usurping the central function of the governing council, to fire omolomo (someone’s pikin) and employ omo Rector. How bad can a case get.
One, since ‘coro’ is keeping everyone at home, why the hurry in approving Mr. Omolade’s suspension? If it is about the fear of getting him paid for months, only to discover he should not have the appointment in the first place, who says a court of law, prosecuting him for criminal conduct, can’t recommend a refund of all the salaries paid him. There are precedents all over the place. In fact, the rounded justice has been extended to the almighty political class, that prides itself as untouchable for the beggarly arm of government.
The DR Admin says a committee recommended Omolade’s suspension. Great. But didn’t the rule book say only the governing council could act on such recommendation. If a right cause followed a wrong course, how do you justify the rightness of the destination. If Ede Poly leadership was hellbent of ridding the campus of the lecturer, why not spend extra cash on Zoom or Skpe and convey an emergency virtual meeting to discuss the earth-shaking discovery. The truth is, the leadership of Edaogbogun, was desperate and it had driven itself into a bind. Even without the backdoor appointment of Mr. Goodness as an extra to his case, Omolade, will still get a Yes in court.
But aren’t men funny. Despite being a cliche, coming to equity with a corona-free hands, rarely speaks to those seeking vengeance. Now, the Rector’s fowl bum-bum is exposed and what is oozing is putrid. A wangle, may explain the appointment, has herding the students ASAP, to the wisdom fountain of Goodness’s Master’s Degree, celebrated by Rector Edaogbogun’s deputy. Which students, the ones sent home by coro? Please, someone should spare further excuses and do the needful. The two actions, taken, outside of the approving authority, should be reversed with immediate effect, if the authorities still have a sense of shame. To be certain, the leadership will still have its way, since governing councils are now lickspittles of public corporations they are to superintend. Only nose-thumping impunity can explain not pretending at all, to be procedural. Does anyone remember ‘probe for dismissal’ scandal in the same Osun State between 1999 and 2003.
The Rector’s son, for the sake of the Edaogbogun’s clan, should be patient enough, not to further rub potopoto (gutter-stuff) on the name , if he is the one breathing down the father’s neck, for immediate salaried-engagement. Considering where Nigerian youth are today, he is lucky to have a father pulling the strings for him; a worrying, but normal practice in Naija. The fact that his Master’s degree isn’t of Omolade’s kind, should attenuate his father’s crass nepotism. If he is qualified, he should, by a semblance of due process, have his job. If Omolade’s papers are of doubtful originality and a crime has been established, he should, through due process, be tossed, where his kind, always end and his bragging lawyer, should read the provision of the Copyright Act (Section 20), to him. But wait, hope this firing/hiring scandal has nothing to do with the 2018 multi-million scandal, heralding Edaogbogun’s appointment? It better not be.
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