Losing it: Femi Aribasala’s diatribe on APC in Lagos State By Gboyega Akosile 2 Femi Aribisala I will start this piece with a Yoruba adage that says ti aja ba n siwin, yio mo oju ina, meaning a dog will certainly recognise fire in his state of madness! This will set the tone for some points I wish to raise here in direct response to some balderdash put together as analysis by some little Femi Aribasala in his perilous attempt to gain recognition and perhaps satisfy whoever he is working for. Firstly, this man must think he is important or he certainly has an over blown ego of himself simply because he’s able to do some hatchet job for some politicians wherever they may be. First, he thinks no one else should enjoy the freedom to reply him or to write to question his often arrogant and sometimes obnoxious assumptions. Because others have written in response to his several weeks of attacks he now calls them Lilliputians. Well, I have news for him. Most of the people that replied you enjoy the same right you have to write. The tyranny of using the Vanguard platform has been rendered of no effect because of the age of the internet and social media. Secondly, most of those that replied you are senior journalists and writers who will never let the likes of you run away with your senile arguments. So why are you lashing out because they wrote back. Your self-delusion that we must all bow to your “superior” thinking is unacceptable. You play god where and when you should not. Perish the thought that no one will respond to your diatribes. Perhaps as a professor at the Institute of International Affairs, you can lecture and say anything and get away with it. In journalism, the media, it’s a different kettle of fish. You will be tackled. Aribisala’s plate of lies is so full that his efforts at forcing more lies on the plate is making his writing sound not only stupid but unintelligible. He had started with a pull him down writing on the leader of the All Progressive Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The Tinubu media team has taken him up on the several lies, rumours and totally unsubstantiated falsehood written about the man. They have also cleared the air on some that needed clarification. In spite of all of that, this Aribasala would not stop and then I began to wonder that as a media practitioner, part of the main objectives of writing a special report or analysis is to either elicit a response from the subject or for them to make amends where necessary but when writing becomes an object of personality attack, it is no longer worth the energy of a reaction. This prompted me to ask myself a pertinent question recently that what does Aribisala really want from Tinubu? Perhaps he’d be the best person to tell us or he should just shut up and face his theological assignment. Of course there are prophets of doom and they have their day too. The latest per fortnight tirade by Aribisala, Why APC is likely to lose Lagos in 2015 is nothing short of bollocks! This latter day political analyst tries so hard, unsuccessfully though to paint the Lagos State APC in the negative. He offered a few unsolicited advice. For the good advice he offers, he has his ego written all over it. His attempt to denigrate Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola and confine him to a position of electoral weakness is in bad taste. Again, we see a man who keeps falling into the abyss of contradictions. In the end, I drew up my conclusion that Femi Aribisala must either be under an influence or something or someone is influencing him with this sort of writing. Whichever way it is, he’s failed to achieve his set objective. Demonising the Electorate Much as I tried to make meaning of the content here, I did not understand the message Aribisala is advancing. Before he says his writing is too superior for my understanding please follow him with logic. He talks about his disdain for those making mockery of madam President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan of ‘Dia ris Godu o’ fame. He claims that unlike Mrs. Jonathan, APC leadership is disconnected from the electorate. Now I ask, does one need to speak bad English to be connected to the people that will vote for him? If as permanent secretary in Bayelsa State, all madam President could offer the nation in a serious situation is comic relief with her pronouncement na only you waka come, which has become major street lexicon, so be it. What has APC winning or losing election got to do with that? I like the fact that Aribisala suggested that the APC should do a post mortem and unravel the cause, remote and immediate for the loss of Ekiti to PDP but I disagree with him that the party is abusing the electorate by describing what happened on the 21st of June as politics of stomach infrastructure. The concept of stomach infrastructure emanated not from APC but some well meaning Nigerians who were shocked at the turn out of that particular election. Prof Akin Oyebode in an interview granted The Sun newspaper said ‘’ Well, it’s most unexpected. It is curious, mysterious. In fact, I would say it is incredible because a guy that to the rest of us was doing excellently well was put to a very uncomfortable and inconvenienced situation of having to be reluctantly compelled to accept the votes that cost him his governorship. Prof. Oyebode went further on stomach infrastructure ‘’ …that phrase belongs to Jibril Ibrahim. He is my friend. He is a very insightful, cerebral guy. The question of stomach infrastructure, I think is a big phrase to describe what we generally call amala politics, Adedibu style of politics. But I think it doesn’t tell the whole story… I think they would regret what happened quite sincerely and before too long they would be asking for Kayode Fayemi.’’ Jibril Ibrahim is not an APC member! No doubt, many political scientists and social media analysts have sprung up as a result of the Ekiti episode but the truth is, at least to the best of my knowledge the result of that election is doubtful. One should wait for the outcome of the petition tribunal before making further comment on it as to whether it was indeed a free, fair and credible election. Aribisala’s assertion that ‘’the tide of South-West politics is moving inexorably against the APC’’ is a mere figment of his imagination. Perhaps he’s the one that will cast ballot for millions of APC supporters during elections in 2015 or their votes won’t count or be counted! Maybe Femi knows something we do not about the PDP magic of winning elections. Femi sees nothing wrong in using federal might to crush the opposition.He is blind conveniently to the militarization of state. For him, denying elected governors their freedom to move about is okay as long as it comes from President Jonathan Goodluck-led PDP! The likes Femi are apologetics who suffer from selective auditioning and because they think they have more wisdom than everyone else, want us to take their words as commandments. No. Pounded Yam Politics One needs to remind this man who claims that PDP’s victory in Ekiti is a demonstration of winning formula struck by his pay masters. Hell No, Mr. Aribisala. Where were you in 2003 when PDP under the watch of President Olusegun Obasanjo brazenly swept the entire south west after a gentleman agreement was reached that the region should vote for him in the presidential election as against what we did to him in 1999? Am sure someone like you would have taken to writing that the PDP was so good at the time or that the then Alliance for Democracy was not performing and the people revolted with their vote. Aribisala should be reminded that political imperatives defer from one State to another. Factors that win you an election in State A might not guarantee you victory in State B! Stop using Ekiti as a yardstick for measuring activities of the party in other States. In fact the popular slogan in the State of Osun now as they prepare for August 9th poll is that ‘’we are not Ekiti” even with all the attempts being made by the opposition “corn man”, Iyiola Omisore who has suddenly become a friend of the market men and women! Aribisala like other brit-brat writers like him is very contradictory. Here him ‘’ I am an unrepentant admirer of Babatunde Fashola and his seven-year tenure as governor of Lagos State. He has done a lot to change the face of Lagos for the better by renovating the physical infrastructures. But the Ekiti defeat has exposed the Achilles heel of the APC in their Lagos stronghold. In his seven years as governor, Fashola has been contemptuous of the electorate’s need for “stomach infrastructure.” What more can be contradictory and inconsistent as the above statement? In one breath, BRF has done well in seven years as governor; in another the Ekiti election has exposed the need for stomach infrastructure. This submission made me wonder again and I ask what exactly does this man want? You admire a performing governor for all the good job he has done and he is still doing, but because you need to satisfy the main objective of your article, you conclude that his party will lose election simply because they disregarded ‘’stomach infrastructure’’. This character should examine himself critically because to me, he needs help! Or how do we put his thought in the following statement together? Hear Aribisala ‘’ Like Fayemi, Fashola speaks primarily for the rich. Under him, the poor in Lagos have been marginalized; oftentimes evicted from their homes without the benefit of rehabilitation. Their menial abodes in places like Mushin, Oluwole, Ojota, Makoko and Ijora-Badia East have been bulldozed. Their markets in Tejuoso, Yaba and Oshodi have been demolished. The new stalls that replaced them were priced beyond their pockets. People like Femi Aribisala would not be published in a civilised society because journalism is telling it as it is. Even as an opinion, editors of newspapers and magazines will verify claims before they are published. I challenge Mr. Aribisala to substantiate the claims he makes in the above sentence. What Aribisala and his league of APC bashers are saying is that government should not demolish for developmental purpose simply because of elections. This is pitiable and I dare say his types are those that are responsible for the lack of development in Nigeria. Clearing of Oshodi remains to the best of my knowledge, a great achievement of governor Babatunde Fashola. This feat does not only elicit commendation by millions of Nigerians, it has enjoyed favourable reviews in well meaning international journals. Like Oshodi, the partial ban on Okada on some major highways in Lagos is another feat recorded by this governor. I remember then as a reporter how on a weekly basis, the governor would lament on the rise in number of emergency cases at various government hospitals including LASUTH and the Orthopaedic hospital in Igbodi. Relief has come since the government reordered the movement of Okada riders in the State. I see this point raised by Aribisala as mischievous because the government of Lagos embarked on serious mass sensitisation and re-orientation campaign and sought the citizens input before a final decision was taken on the restriction of Okada riders on Lagos roads! No to Aribisala. We will not encourage governor Fashola to bring the Okada riders on the highways to kill either themselves or Lagosians simply because he wants his party to win in 2015. What of security of lives and property? It is on record that robbery cases and heinous crimes were at an all time high prior to the restriction of Okada riders. Today, you and I can move freely in Lagos because men of the underworld cannot escape as easily as they used to when Okada was everywhere. I had witnessed an assassination before along Sabo-Yaba and these violent criminals escaped with the aid of Okada! Think about this, Aribisala. You or any member of your family could have been victims of crime aided by Okada riders! Much as I wouldn’t want to dwell on the issue of permits in Lagos, Aribisala should please tell us where else in the world you live and operate business without some sorts of permits? If they have come after you, it simply means you are an irresponsible citizen! Please Aribisala go and pay your permit and stop castigating government for you being an irresponsible citizen. My Take The approval rating of Gov. Fashola is high. He has had to take difficult decisions. He is today a shining example of what governance is and should be. But is he a human being and as such not perfect? Yes he is but has he impacted positively on the living standard of the people of Lagos State regardless of where you come from? Yes he has. Will he be instrumental to his party’s success in the next governorship election? To a very large extent, yes he will be. Without delving into the strict political realms which is a major determinant of victory or loss in an election, I will say without equivocation that the points Aribisala advanced as reasons why APC may lose Lagos are weak and founded on the logic of hatred and arrogance. Gboyega Akosile is a media practitioner and can be reached at gboyegaakosile@yahoo
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 04:50:40 +0000
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