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South West Liberated: Stolen Goods Recovered

April 28, 2011

“Stolen water is sweet, food eaten in secret is delicious. But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave” -Proverbs 9:17-18

“Stolen water is sweet, food eaten in secret is delicious. But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave” -Proverbs 9:17-18

If histories, experiences, events, and tragedies of the past eight years are anything to go by one can conclude without fear of contradiction that the so-called mainstream politics in Nigeria is a monumental fraud. I make bold to say this because of what I saw in the South West in the past eight years excluding Lagos. Please recall that former President Obasanjo became the president of Nigeria in 1999 without votes from his home in the South West. He failed in his ward, he failed in his local government, he failed in his State, and he failed in the whole of South West. It became an embarrassment to him for four years (from 1999 to 2003) as he presided over Nigeria without home support. Hours on end he was reminded by his rivals and political enemies that they stood behind him even when his own people threw him away without regret, without looking back.

Obasanjo suffered humiliation for four years and in 2003 he decided to seek forgiveness from his kinsmen to save his badly battered political image. He met with Yoruba leaders led by the late Chief Abraham Adesanya and the South West governors led by our own Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He pleaded and pleaded to his kinsmen to forgive him for betraying them during the June 12 crisis between 1993 and 1998. Please do not forget that it was Obasanjo that said Chief Abiola who won June 12 1993 presidential election is not the messiah Nigeria needs then. Enemies of Nigeria, and enemies of democracy took advantage of this to deny Chief Abiola his mandate. The rest is now history but remember that Chief Abiola never lived to tell the story including his wife, Kudirat and many other prominent Nigerians. Perhaps, if Obasanjo had stood with Abiola as a general in the Army and former head of State, the story would have been different today. He did not. He handed over weapons of mass destruction to the enemies of his people and Nigeria to do a colossal damage to the things that held us together as a nation and things fell apart.

Obasanjo held several meetings with his kinsmen where a long list of what he must do to move Nigeria forward was handed to him. Each matter that was raised ranging from restructuring of Nigeria, fiscal federalism to resource control, Obasanjo agreed to implement it to the letter. Soon a deal was sealed to provide home support for him for his re-election in 2003 and in return he will assist in the maintenance of the status quo in the South West with Alliance for Democracy (AD) retaining her six States: Ogun, Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo And Oyo

Once the traitor was ‘elected’ in 2003, he kicked the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to the Atlantic Ocean, and went to steal Osun, Ekitti, Ondo, Oyo and Ogun States for PDP. Only Lagos led by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu survived the onslaught. Before the betrayal, the criminals made sure Chief Bola Ige was physical removed from the face of the earth. The criminals knew that it would have been impossible to carry out their diabolic plans with Bola Ige alive. Again the rest is now history. But remember that Chief Abraham Adesanya never recovered from Obasanjo treachery. He died, heart-broken.

In Ogun State, a good man Chief Osoba was removed by Obasanjo and in his place a Gbenga Daniel came in.  In Oyo State, a hero of democracy Chief Lam Adesina was removed and Ladoja and Akala Alao took over.  In Osun State, one of the finest gentlemen in Nigeria Chief Bisi Akande was forced out and a traitor and killer, Oyinlola replaced him.  In Ekiti, a gentleman Niyi Adebayo was forced out and a Fayose was brought in.  In Ondo, another hero of democracy the late Chief Adefarati was thrown out and a traitor Agagu was brought in to replace him.  Now look at the South West, today excluding Lagos and see what has happened in nearly eight years.  They became war zones, killing fields; development was grossly retarded, security breached, law and order thrown to the wind.  In fact Thomas Hobbes State of Nature, where life is nasty, brutish and short set in until Ondo, Ekiti and Osun were liberated recently.

Yesterday Oyo and Ogun States joined Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun to sing songs of victory when the remaining vestiges of the inept, rudderless and corrupt leadership PDP is known for were finally dislodged and swept away by the forces of change and history.

What happened in the South West yesterday was to conclude the business of getting the usurpers, pretenders, scavengers and messengers of death off the shoulders of the people.  It was the day South West was liberated from the fraudulent politics called mainstream politics in Nigeria.  It was a day the progressives of the South West got back their stolen goods.  It was a day a political statement was made loud and clear that mainstreams politics in Nigeria a misnomer, an aberration and unproductive.

An adage in Igboland says anybody who collects something from a child and raise it up will eventually bring it down when he or she begins to feel the pains in his or her hand.  Stolen goods kept for almost 8 years by the PDP have been peacefully taken away from their heavy hands through the power of the ballot box in a free and fair election and anybody or party who want to take it back must also do that via the ballot in a free and fair election. This is a remarkable achievement, an unprecedented one for that matter secured, sealed and delivered by committed leaders in South West led by His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is a reward for hard work, a reward for tenacity of purpose and reward for committed leadership. It is a payback time for 8 years sleepless nights and wars in the South West to chase the pretenders away from the seat of power.

Kudos should go to His Excellencies, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Babatunde Raji Fashola for providing the platform, support, encouragement, logistics, time, space, energy to accomplish this mission. If they had been men who could not stand the heat, they would have chickened out but not these men. What they believed in they put their hearts, minds, souls, heads, hands, feet and everything into it. They are unique men, exceptional human beings who do not run away in the days of trouble.

I have been praying to God to create more Asiwajus of this world to help us in the North and the East to strengthen our democracy. If we had somebody like Asiwaju in the East APGA would not have been decimated in the East. New leaders would have been created; new ways of doing things would have been put in place.

There was wild jubilations and popping of champagnes all over South West Nigeria yesterday for this landmark achievement and as we celebrate may we never forget men and women who laid down their lives to get us where we are today. May we never forget leaders led by Asiwaju who broke their backs to achieve this feat. May we never forget them. Let us celebrate them. We must also remember that the recovery of stolen goods in the South West is a call to duty.

 

 

Joe Igbokwe

Lagos

 

 

 

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