Ogun 2015: PDP arrived too late Having a weak candidate for an election is as good as having no candidate at all. Someone called me from Lagos a few days ago wishing to know about the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2015 governorship poll in Ogun State. I said I only recalled one or two things about Mr. Gboyega Isiaka. He contested the 2011 election but was trounced by the current Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun. The last thing I know about him is that he is from Ogun West and hopes to win election on that strength. I have only heard two statements from him, which provoked a roaring laughter and that enquiry of my friend from Lagos. He was reported to have said Amosun would hand over to him and that he was serving the Governor a quit notice! Really, is this how to win elections? Making empty statements, not backed up with any concrete structure on ground? I used to be a boxing aficionado (especially the heavyweight division) before the Klitschko brothers came to ruin the sport through their lacklustre and anaemic performance in the ring. Those were the days when up to $70m was up for grabs in one night. But since the Klitschko brothers took over I lost interest in the game. I once fantasized the WBC, WBA, IBO and IBF paying off the brothers and sending them into retirement in order to rescue and restore the glory and glamour of the sport. In the boxing era of Muhammed Ali and Mike Tyson, the challenger needs to fight twice as much as the champion in order to take away the belt. You are not declared a winner just because you seemingly have some points ahead of the champion. The fact is, you have to pummel the champion sufficiently and glaringly enough to be able to take away his belt – that is when you cannot secure a knock-out. Otherwise, the champion will still retain his title by judges’ decision. Here in Ogun, rather than the challenger doing twice as much as the champion to win, it is Amosun (the champion and incumbent governor) that is going across the state from village to village, hamlet to hamlet, town to town to canvass for votes while Isiaka is busy making grandiloquent statements. “Travellers,” Wole Soyinka admonishes, “you must set forth at dawn.” While Gboyega Isiaka is still in bed, Amosun has already set forth, enjoying the marvels of the holy hours and savouring the fellow-feeling endorsement of the market women, farmers, youths, artisans, workers, etc. What this means is that in the scheduled 12-Round Match on February 28, 2015, even if Isiaka were originally expected to stretch Amosun to Round 4 before being knocked out. The match will now last a few seconds – he won’t survive the very First Round. You don’t win elections by serving empty quit notices on the pages of newspapers to the champion. Just how many days does the PDP with its coalition have left to campaign – amidst the current infighting within its fold on who should or should not be the governorship candidate and who should or should not be this or that? Sorry PDP and your coalition, you arrived too late; the train to Oke-Mosan 2015 has already left the station. Please come back in 2019.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 07:04:23 +0000
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