TRIUMPH OF PEOPLES POWER GOKE BUTIKA Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind.---Rudyard Kipling I still recall how my paternal grandfather used to tell me that: oun la a mu ofafa, abegi laa ba meaning that a python ceased by his voice and would be caught under the tree. The import of this is that our words on any given situation could be a law, particularly when such words are coined from the warped mindset. Vice President Namadi Sambo was a governor of Kaduna state before he was picked by President Goodluck Jonathan as Vice President, but recently his electoral value had been eroded by the typhoon-like popularity of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the north. The last two elections, Presidential and national assembly, Sambo as a sitting Vice President lost his ward in Kaduna state. However, another election year is around the corner and the hawks and vultures of power are hovering at the Aso Rock, Sambo knows he is a vulnerable tool that could be excused from the joint ticket of the Goodluck Jonathan presidential candidacy. So, he the contractor turned politician decided to launch a full time political war on any given election he is saddled to superintend with a view to proving to the power mongers that he may have lost his ward in Kaduna to the opposition, he was ready to take back what he lost from the roundabout at the corner. So, when he went to Ekiti state, he declared war he personally supervised and we witnessed how the security agencies withdrew all their operatives from Maiduguri, Borno state and the Joint Task Force from the Creek of Niger/Delta for the OPERATION CAPTURE EKITI. And the state was taken as a result of some mysteries predicated on the effects of the change Gov. Kayode Fayemi brought to governance and the disaffection of some sections who could not stand the new wave of development, because it liquidated their corrupt tendencies and yet to be substantiated wired photochromic ballot papers used. However, Sambo, the Vice President whose home state is currently reeling in bombings of insurgency that nearly consumed a former Head of State knows the meaning and the implication of war, but because he has to prove to the Aso Rock strategists that he is tough, he declares fresh and tough war on Osun and even promised a backdoor approach on the national television. Unfortunately, the war-happy Vice President has forgotten that USA could not defeat Talibans in Afghanistan as a result of sheer determination and defined culture of breaking sweat of the infidel. This character is so known with Afghans that one proverb says: if a snake bites you, forgive the snake, but if an Afghan fights you say your last prayer. Osun people, having seen the antics of the PDP goons and their attendant style of misusing the security operatives from all agencies that are being financed and funded by the money that belongs to you and I, then resolved to show strength of character and uncommon courage. It appeared dramatic, but real, I could not believe that women, particularly traders, artisans and unemployed youth could return a courageous fist to the mask men of the state security who were shooting sporadically on air to scare people. In fact, the people said they were in the know that they would come and intimidate them, and that they were more than ready. The unusual courage was displayed by the people everywhere to the extent that the mask men in black after displaying show of force with no expected result quickly withdrew to their office and began to speak in low tone that: it is like these people in Osun have made up their mind to stay with their governor and they seem to be unrepentant about it. Honestly, Aregbsola as a formidable politician whose five star performance has enlivened his people into fanatical support for his administration should encourage the security men to display more force and demonstrate more brutality, because the commando style our security operatives failed to deploy in Borno Sambisa forest but in Osun has steered the collective anger of the people across the state and their resolve to punish the PDP at the poll has been energized. And more action could generate more reaction that will be a plus to Aregbesola. It is instructive to know that the talk of the town now is that if a party that is contemplating to rule is threatening daylight out of the people before the election, it is an ominous sign that such a party will govern by iron hand that will cow the citizens into years of servitude and bloodletting if given chance at all. With the collective resolve of the people and miscalculated strategies of the opposition, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola seems to have coasted home with victory high and dry. Butika is a journalist of intercontinental experience.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 09:18:40 +0000