Apart from the very sad death of Ifeanyi, the three-year old son of my dear friend and younger colleague, Davido, much of the news during the week came from the campaign of the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At a time that the motley crowd of the PDP presidential campaign team led by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, decided to embark on a nebulous trip to the United States of America, the ground was left for the Jagaban to do as he pleases. And he did.
I understand that one of the big achievements of Atiku on the U.S. trip was that he got interviewed on Voice of America in Washington DC! I have been interviewed on Voice of America in Washington DC, several times. So, have so many other Nigerians. It is no big deal. Nobody in America listens to Voice of America which is part of the propaganda arm of the United States State Department, a station that broadcasts essentially to the "third world".
By the way, how many people in Nigeria know that there is a broadcast station transmitting from Abuja funded by the Nigerian government, called Voice of Nigeria? Who listens to it? In this day and age, with the unlimited platforms for news ready and available on our cell phones, how many people listen to or watch any station owned by any government?
And so, while Atiku was away, Tinubu with his own motley crowd of 'ex this, ex that' and the ubiquitous video cameras, stormed the Ondo State home of Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the immediate former leader of Afanifere, the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political group. And it is reported that Tinubu presented his 80 page 'action plan' to the 96-year-old Pa Fasoranti who prayed for or "endorsed" Tinubu for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The people who organized the Tinubu trip to Ondo state knew what they were doing. The intent is to clip the wings of Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the current leader of Afanifere who is also in his 90s and who had the "effrontery" to announce that Afenifere was endorsing the presidential ambition of Peter Obi, an Igbo man from Anambra State flying the flag of the until recently unheralded Labour Party. The reactions and controversy have been massive and immediate. Arguments are raging as to who the current leader of Afenifere is, arguments that are mostly self-serving and turning reason upside down.
The war over the heart and soul of Afenifere is revealing on many fronts. It is clear that nothing is sacred in this battle to get to Aso Rock; not the survival of a proud institution of a very proud people; not the long-standing love and friendship between two old men at the twilight of their lives; not the tenuous relationship between Nigeria's two major ethnic groups, the Igbos and Yorubas; not the religious balance that serious people think is essential to the survival of our nation; not anything! All is fair in this war. Any obstacle to the achievement of the goal must be crushed. Any calabash must be broken. It does not matter what it costs. What money cannot do; more money can do it!
In the battle for the soul of Afenifere, you begin to understand the mindset behind EMILOKAN… It is my turn. If you are a thinking person, you must pause and think whether this is a project for the good of the Nigerian people or a project for self fulfilment, regardless of the cost to the Nigerian people. EMILOKAN… Wow!
Two days after storming Ondo State, the Jagaban was back in Lagos where he presented his action plan to the business community. Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; foremost investor, Tony Elumelu and founder of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, led the group of business leaders that were at the event at Eko Hotel attended by Tinubu's running mate, Kashim Shettima, APC governors and party loyalists.
Have you forgotten the controversy over the fake bishops that attended the unveiling of Tinubu's running mate, Kashim Shettima? It is clear that no trick or subterfuge will be spared and no values will be left standing on this journey to Aso Rock. Will it work?
Why do I believe that the forth coming elections in Nigeria will not be decided by who Pa Fasoronti, Adebanjo or Dangote endorses? It appears that the young people of Nigeria have made up their minds to take their future into their hands and will not be listening to any godfather anymore. Maybe democracy will finally arrive Nigeria.
The entire democracy project hangs on an intriguing concept: all men are born equal. In other words, the great Aliko Dangote with his zillions of Naira, many trucks and thousands of employees has the same voting power as his cook. In a democracy, the opinion of Elon Musk, the young man who just paid over 40 billion US dollars, more than the entire Nigerian foreign reserve, to take over Twitter and whose 'can do spirit' is behind Tesla, the self-driving electric car now populating American roads, has the same weight as his janitor. Mark Zuckerberg, the mastermind of Facebook who today also owns the mega platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp has no voting power stronger than that any of his thousands of employees across the globe. A Barack Obama with his political sagacity and deep experience in world affairs casts one vote and that vote is in no way superior to that of a homeless man begging for coins in front of Washington DC's Union Station.
I was talking with a big player in the present Nigerian government. I had asked him why the government does not appear to listen to what the Nigerian intelligentsia says, especially as elections are coming close. He looked at me, sighed and said mockingly, "the government does not need the votes of the intelligentsia to get to power. Their vote is too expensive! Go to the motor park and the marketplace with some bags of rice and salt and some Naira notes and all the votes you are looking for are there with very little grammar" You see why the bullion van concept took hold in Nigeria and brought us EMILOKAN where whatever money cannot do; more money can do it?
EMILOKAN is a scary mindset. Nigerians better watch out.
See you next week.
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