Ekiti people have spoken and a winner has emerged. Contrary to the prediction of some doomsday preachers, the expectation and apprehension of concerned individuals, and the current mischievous propaganda of some bad losers, Ekiti state governorship election of 14th July 2018 was free, fair and credible. The two main gladiators fought a good fight. The outcome of the election is the true and direct reflection of the yearnings of the people. This result confirmed the position and expectation of most unbiased analysts that gave 50/50 verdict in favor of the PDP and APC prior to the election. There are lessons to be learned from this exercise. Fayemi and the APC enjoyed the fruits of having a united front. Kudos to all leaders that ensured and sustained peace and unity amongst all factions, especially after the primary. This gave the candidacy of Fayemi a comfortable leap. Three things worked against the candidacy of Eleka and led to his eventual defeat. The sins of Fayose was vested on him. The failure of Eleka to step out of Fayose’s shadow was his first mistake. Misplacement of campaign priority is another factor. The deadliest of the factors that worked against Eleka is Fayose’s overconfidence.
“I might make a lot of mistakes but one mistake I don’t make is to take my opponent for granted,” -so says Harold Wilson, former British prime minister. Fayose underrated his opponents, overrated himself, became a tin god and considered himself as the wisest and the best man to have ever come from Ekiti state. He saw himself as the mouthpiece of God for Ekitikete whose proclamation can never fail nor be faulted. It’s a known fact that 70% of who-is-who (elites) from each town rose and worked against Fayose in this election. Especially elites from the 122 towns where Fayose has done nothing. It was like a joint decision that here is an opportunity for us to exercise like never before, our own power and ability to do whatever is necessary to reclaim our land and restore our values. This is the first election in the history of Ekiti state that people traveled from far and near to their hometown to exercise their franchise. It was like a coup among many elites that the state must be rescued. Those who were not registered in Ekiti were on ground to mobilize, educate and influence the locals. This helped to neutralize the “minority tyranny” of the civil servants. The alliance between Fayose and the civil servants through the hierarchy of different unions was almost cult-like. This gave him immeasurable confidence because Ekiti is a civil service state where the workforce is a major block. Surprisingly some of them voted against the PDP.
The election was keenly contested but PDP lost with a close margin because they failed to sell Eleka to the electorate. Their sole reliance on the civil servants made them shut themselves in the foot with their style of campaign. An analytical study of the PDP’s campaign revealed that from Fayose to the least PDP campaigner within and outside Ekiti state, each of them spent 70% of their time to talk on why Fayemi shouldn’t be voted for, 10% to promoted PDP by talking about continuity repeatedly, 10% to talked about how young Eleka and his deputy are, and 10% bragged, boasted and joked that another 16-0 awaits Fayemi. That’s why nobody can ascribe any meaningful policy statement to Eleka or the PDP all through the campaign. Prof. Kolapo Eleka, a fine but timid gentleman could have done better by taking the bull by the horns, identify areas where Fayose didn’t do well and make deliberate effort to explain to Ekiti people how he plans to make it better. He was busy giving choruses to the songs of Fayose the lead vocalist, blaming everybody but themselves for the woes of Ekiti state.
May God forgive those who questioned the need for the heavy presence of security agents in Ekiti state for the election. It’s unfortunate that people at times look at things from their selfish point of view. The utterances and actions of Fayose and PDP members all through the campaign implies that hell would be let lose unless they won the election. If not for the heavy presence of security, only God knows what could have happened in Ekiti state, considering the potency of the lies and propaganda of the Ekiti state PDP. Despite the heavy presence of security operatives, no soldiers was seen at polling units, compared with what was witnessed in 2014; none of the police and civil defense stationed at polling units were allowed to carry any weapon (not even teargas) compared with what we saw in 2014 and nobody was harassed or denied voting like then. The combat-ready security operatives were stationed in strategic divisions and locations to quickly respond to any panic call to curtail crisis. To the glory of God such call didn’t arise because everybody behaved well and played by the rules all through the election.
Positions are given by God and only Him can explain why He allowed some things to happen around us. It pleased God that Fayemi should be the next governor Ekiti state, who are we to question Him? Voice of man is the voice of God. Beyond propaganda and lies, Fayemi surely deserves this second chance. It’s unfortunate that people in this clime dwell on and celebrate negativity more than positive sides. If Fayemi’s administration is assessed and analyzed objectively, you can’t fault him on good governance. His case is like somebody that scored positive 80% through good performance, negative10% because of the teacher / civil servants crisis, 10% negative because of human errors because he is not perfect, and mischievously he is crucified for the negative part with no recourse to the positive. The opposition twisted and blew things out of proportion so much that nobody seemed to remember the 80% part again. Many public schools were used as polling centers on Saturday, in each of the schools you will see at least one project delivered by Fayemi. There were three of such where I voted. He made similar impacts in all other sectors. If all Fayemi can do with his second mandate is to clear backlog of salaries, ensure that salaries are paid as at when due and repeat what he did in past, Ekiti state will have no cause to regret voting him. However, he has even promised to surpass his past record and also assured that nobody will lose his/her job.
UGLY : The ugliest part of the process was the inability of the PDP goons to know where and when to tread with caution. The lies of Fayose earned him condemnation instead of the anticipated sympathy. However, the most shocking and disgraceful was the attempt to play politics with the health and life of MOB. He was declared dead by the propagandists on the eve of the election to create crisis in the camp of the APC but this again backfired. Fayose did all these because he already saw the handwriting that people may likely revolt against him on the wall, which they eventually did. Fayose and his team failed to understand that propaganda is a double edged sword that can help or harm the propagandist.
BAD : It’s bad and disheartening that we spent almost 10 hours to do what shouldn’t have taken more than 5 hours at polling units. Lots of precious time was wasted especially where INEC deployed just one card reader. It’s equally bad and condemnable that Ekiti state government gave NBC no choice than to shut down the state owned radio and television stations. In his attempt to discredit the process, Fayose was already reading out his own concocted results before the actual results were delivered to the collation center. No governor has done this in the history of electioneering in Nigeria. What will make a governor do that if not desperation? Worse still, some people actually displayed their moral deficiency by questioning and attacking NBC for taking steps to avert crisis.
GOOD : The best part of this whole process is that God proved Himself that indeed He is God. He will never share His glory with anybody and he can’t be mocked. Eleka is just a victim of Fayose’s atrocities. God used Fayose to teach other leaders some bitter lessons. Only God knows who could have won the election had it been that Fayose didn’t destroy his party. He forgot that a tree does not make a forest. In politics, even a nuisance has value. He scattered and dismissed all PDP heavy weights because he wanted to singlehandedly install Eleka and take the glory but God said no. Mimiko did same in Ondo state and he is yet to recover from it. Tinubu almost did the same thing with APC and the crisis created is still haunting Ondo state APC. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Kudos to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other national leaders that made sure that the Ondo drama didn’t repeat itself in Ekiti state. They should sustain their fatherly roles to all aspirants and treat them as equals in all states for the unity and progress of the party. Ekiti was a success because we were united.
NEW DAWN FOR EKITI
Fayemi is a complete gentleman, well cultured and is strategical in all he does. This is evident in the way he rolled his campaign and managed the lies, blasphemy and hypocrisy of the PDP. While the PDP spent their resources and time on propaganda, Fayemi meticulously wooed Ekiti people with his plans, agenda and manifesto. He has learned his lesson. He is better experienced and well positioned. The return of the good old days is imminent. He has promised to ensure that backlog of salaries and pensions are paid within 6 months. He is matured and not on any revenge mission. The coming together of the elites in the state led to the defeat of Fayose, just like he was chased out of office in 2007, this time through the ballot. All his propaganda and lies were curtailed.
God is giving Fayemi the same, very rare, opportunity that Fayose misused, a second chance. Ekiti eagerly want to be seen as a real fountain of knowledge and land of honor that we are. We need to go into partnership with friendly states (especially regional integration), the federal government and international communities. We want peace, and improved security, health, sound education, social welfare, economic boom through agriculture, tourism and industrialization, and other life changing programs / projects to be restored.
Congratulations to the incoming governor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi. You were dubbed the “Ilufemiloye” (the preferred) within few months of your first term. By the end of your third year in office you were rechristened “Owibee sebee” (promise keeper) because of the various projects you delivered to each town based on your usual pre-budget consultation with them. All these were eroded through lies and propaganda but God is the impartial rewarder of good deeds. He has vindicated and rewarded you. Let the shout of “Owibee sebee” rent the airwaves of Ekiti state again, as soon as possible. Kindly reactivate the “can-do” spirit within you to surpass the glory of the former days, as you promised. We have reclaimed our land. It’s time to restore our values.
Congratulations to Ekiti state APC!!!
Congratulations to Ekitikete!!!
Congratulations to Nigerians!!!
Adegboyega Ajayi writes from Ikoro Ekiti. He can be reached through [email protected]
