What’s with who becomes Ekiti governor after Fayemi?

What makes a people what they are? Sometimes, one often wonders if the answer to this rather abstract but obtrusive question is not found wrapped in Frederick Douglas’s contention when he contemplated the deeds (and misdeeds) of man in his first book: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas. Douglas in what strikes as a gasp of determination said: “You have seen how man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made man.” This aspect of his thoughts, an obvious response to a plethora of human challenges, ignites contemplation on what could spur a man to the desires of his heart and the yearnings of his soul.

‘On the march again! On the march again! Looking for Mr. President…’ was a popular mantra in the 1990s. It was made trendy by the campaign organisation of the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) fame, in 1993. It was a song that could not be missed by Nigerians and all who know that era… the era of Abiola’s SDP and the National Republican Convention (NRC) represented by Alhaji Bashir Tofa, whose death occurred on Monday. If ‘on the march again’ was the pull towards the election of a president, it is not out of place if the same song serves as a pull towards Ekiti State as the state too is “on the march again, looking for Mr. Governor.”

The people of Ekiti State are expected to elect a new governor on June 18 this year. The person so elected would succeed Dr Kayode Fayemi, whose second term ends on October 16, 2022. The process of enthroning a new governor is not easy, and this is what we have come to know of politics generally in Nigeria. The politics and (of course inherent shenanigans) involved; the emotions, the fight – physical and otherwise- enthroned in the quest for success in the race, are all indicators of the fact that it is obviously a serious matter. Reminiscences of Dr Kayode Fayemi and Engineer Segun Oni political war bring this contention to life. One of the things that make the coming election in the state interesting is that, apart from the inexplicably volatile nature of successive polls there, it gives a sample of what the general election it he country would be. Some believe it is like the laboratory where the plan for the larger election in the country is incubated.

The people of the state are grouped in the two main political parties reigning in the country. For any contender to the governorship position to be taken seriously by the electorate, he is expected to either be in the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, the people are quick to highlight their homogeneity. Obviously, Ekiti is a unique statement in homogeneity; but even at that, electing a new governor highlights some of the facile differences among the people of the state. On this, it’s natural that people exemplified as individuals, would want their community or affiliates to attain a high positions meritoriously.

This can serve as the basis for the usual tension and eventual physical violence that accompany nearly every election in the state. Of course, Ekiti has had a share of electoral violence. Some would be quick to submit that the average Ekiti cannot condone plain cheating let alone elaborate thievery. A ‘common’ by-election has been stalled in the state for a number of months now. The by-election was meant to fill the vacant Ekiti East seat in the state’s House of Assembly. The attempts made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the election failed owing to violence. It was so bad that a policeman, who was there to maintain orderliness, and a voter were murdered on the occasion. Ekiti East Constituency 1 of the state has no representative in the Ekiti State House of Assembly since the death of the member occupying that seat, in late 2020. These are pointers to what might come in the months ahead.

In many considerations, Ekiti State (elections or otherwise) presents an interesting scenario, as always. It is one state with similarities and differences all rolled into one unique package. Since its creation in 1996 by the late General Sani Abacha, only four men have ruled the state as governor. When Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999, Otunba Niyi Adebayo became the first democratically elected governor of the state. The second was Ayodele Fayose. Third person was Chief Segun Oni and the incumbent Dr. Kayode Fayemi. The politics of the state is such that none of the governors enjoyed the luxury of successive terms. They came, governed, got sent packing, left, returned and had their second terms. Chief Segun Oni has not had this privilege though.

Oni is in the race for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket to run as governor. Oni’s current aspiration thus presents a scenario that is familiar to the Ekiti State electorate. Is the state going to step out of the circle of these four political giants of the state? This may be a mirage, because they are the current issues in their respective political camps and political parties.

Meanwhile, the currently smouldering politics is expected to erupt into life with the conclusion of primary elections of the political parties. Primary elections, many believe, would signal more elaborate political activities and liven up the state and rouse it from its cool mien of now. The primaries would be one bubbly affair as it is claimed in many quarters that while the APC has 7 aspirants, while the PDP is said to have seventeen aspirants.

For the state to still be there for all the citizens after this round of elections and for posterity, there must be that contentment by all the political actors. “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it” states British statesman, Winston Churchill. That should be a kind of watchword for the gladiators, at all levels, for the sake of the state, its citizens and, especially its children.