Kwara Social media Oloyinbo and their wahala, they are at it again. They have started preparing hot water of travails to boil the incoming governor of ‘ inefficiency’. So they put it . They can’t afford to have a failed and inept governor. My people, are ever ready, to vent their spleens and frustrations on anything, whether worthwhile or not. That seems to be the case now, after the distastesful and dismal outing of the outgoing adminstration. I don’t blame them. Once bitten, twice shy.
However, it’s too early. Particularly, to start dissipating energy on nothingness. Because if you ask me, nothingness- outright one there ever is, is to start criticising the inaugurated Governor-elect. It’s like wanting to bury someone before he died.
May I, at this stage, burst the bubbles of our Social media Oloyinbos, nothing is going to be smooth and perfect. This transition, to put it right- from Kwara’s announced kakistocracy system of government to a possible Democratic system, might be chaotic and largely uneasy.
The people’s hope are placed so high, close to high Heavens. That’s how bad we want Change, Development, and Progress. Kwarans are like a group of people promised freedom and enjoyment after several years of hardship, you can’t expect them not to be expectant and somewhat hasty. This, exactly, is what we should eshew! We shouldn’t expect magic overnight. We would exercise patience and endurance to enjoy the gains of this hard- earned victory. Peace. Patience. And Postivity. These are the remaining ingredients to cook the moth of success by the incoming government for Kwarans to lick.
So what’s this talk about failure?
Alhaji Abdulrazak Abdulrahman has not even started!
You have started drumming the beats of failure! So who will dance along with you?
I wonder if some people truly knew the import of the Kwara Revolution 2019. Perhaps they thought it was birthed only for political change and gains. I would maintain, without no hesitations, that such believers of that conviction must be naive to a fault or deluded into underestimating the powers and passion of the people before, during after this period. And I wonder if an extra efforts should be made reminding each other the reasons for the people’s resolve and commitment for a Change viz: wanton corruption, missapropriation and embezzlement of funds, nepotism, inordinate growth and underdevelopment among other disheartening reasons. So what were these talks of Change when the ideals, principles and ideology seem the same? This is why, I found it incredibly unfathomable, that some people are already thinking of failure when the administration had not yet began!
So what should be the people’s gains? What in actual sense, is even the agents of negativity’s profits?
Sometimes I wonder if the advocates of failure somehow forgets that the existence of their own family largely depends on the sanity, cohesion, unity and progress of this state. And that there’s hardly how their Baba, Mama, aburos and pikins would live right off a bad society.
It’s even much more grandiloquently insane for anybody to start weighing and priotizing who gets what, when and why. While I am aware of the fact that the politicians are an unofficial bunch of businessmen, I don’t want to believe that these set of new leaders would be starting on a rancorous and indecorous path of nepotism, tribalism, favouritism which, if not curtailed could snowballed into mediocrity in no time.
Meanwhile, I would equally be insincere to disregard the practices of ‘ compensation’ in Nigeria politics. This, no matter how covert, has always remained the fallback motive of every politician. Perhaps this Yoruba word, ibi a ti n se ni a ti n je captures the ideology of politics in this part of the World. But quite particularly, and most importantly, there’s a large section of Kwarans believing ‘outsider’ are much politically than them ‘ in their own land’. Toh , why don’t we call a madman the hubby so we can pass? The desire to be accorded sense of belonging and favours should be extended to all and sundry, of course, without undermining the ethos of meritocracy.
No matter what style or method the Kwara’s incoming government adopts in sharing portfolios and appointments, something should remain sacrosanct and unnegotiable, and that’s meritocracy and competency. Anything else should be ‘ aya ba’ ( by the way) like my Yoruba people would put It.
I have little doubts God will not punish in a glaringly unedifying way, whoever wishes to suverts Kwara’s plans and dreams to progress as a result of politics, sentiments, and needless negativity.
Kwarans have suffered enough for this time and there sweats should normally yield them sweetness of democracy, not disguised activism and criticism premised on vested interest!
So dear Social media Oloyinbos, find sometime to develop yourself more. Let AA be for now, or take him on at least, on something. Let the Governor- elect dies before you bury him.
Ibraheem Abdullateef, a political analyst and social commentator writes from Ilorin. He can be reached via email eggheadibra@gmail.com or Phone no. 08148443002.