By Abdulrasheed Akogun
No doubt the historic annihilation of the Saraki political machinery is bound to go down as one of the suspense-filled folklore to be narrated to our progenies for decades, if not centuries to come.
The new guys on the block are coming at a time the adrenaline, expectations and no-nonsense posture of the average Kwaran is at its peak. Therefore, there will be no room for flimsy excuses, despite the fact that the State’s purse is as lean as a patient battling renal failure.
The two biggest opposition groups that’ll keep the AA government in checks are the army of unemployed youths and citizen reporters on social media on the one hand and the masses who trooped out en masse to send the out-gone guys out of the ‘village square’. The two categories are expecting miracles and their wants are rather insatiable.
You might want to ask about Sarakites, as the only organized opposition, but I tell you they’ll be the least of the many headaches the incoming administration would have to battle, provided the government never disconnects from the masses.
As it is already getting obvious, the political class, majority of whom had been fenced off the honeypot since the ouster of Gov. Muhammed Lawal of blessed memory in 2003, are already salivating at the new opportunity offered by the O’TOGE tsunami, yet the incoming administration owes its all to the electorate. How AA handles this set of people will be a major determinant of the trajectory and path his administration will take, and in the long run, how history will record his days as Governor.
The scheming for spoils of war is already manifesting, it’s visible to the uninitiated and glaring to Steven Wonder. How AA balances between competency and political correctness would have the acidic potential of making or marring the infant government.
Bookmakers had already predicted AA will need the combined wisdom of Solomon and the trickery of Delilah to effectively contain this set of politicians that have been deprived of lucre for almost 16 years, yet he can’t afford to push them completely off the radar.
It’s however already glaring that the honeymoon had long elapsed even before the official solemnisation, as the youths who were the canon fodder of the O’TO GE crusade are already singing cacophonous melodies. How AA handles their missiles would determine the long term fate of the government.
The youths, mainly unemployed, derive joy in criticising government and its policies mainly on social media, having realised that the only means of gaining cheap popularity and mass followership online is to criticise and knock the powers that be. So, it is no more than a popularity game to majority of the social media population. Yet, the government cannot afford to have this set of stakeholders as foes.
Another major banana peel is the disoriented workforce who were undoubtedly one of the major reasons why we all can gleefully call the defeated hegemony men of yesteryears today. This vital strata of the State only understands the language of improved welfare. But AA is coming at a time that the free goodies are drying up, if not already exhausted.
Kwarans have made it expressly clear that they won’t take empty purse narrative as an excuse, yet we all know the State is near insolvent and no Jupiter can command a turnaround overnight.
With these explicit contradictions, the demands for both personal and public goods keep pouring in for AA and whoever is seen as a potential power broker in the infant government.
Sadly, majority are only interested in identifying with the new power blocs and brokers, that’s why congratulatory messages are busy flying around, with majority not sparing time to put to test their cerebellum and come up with sectoral scientific backed trajectory the administration must follow to succeed.
It must be made clear to all discerning minds that the time to celebrate is not now, this is the time to echo and act the ISE YA mantra. We all must roll up our sleeves and work for Kwara and Kwarans and not to please AA or anybody else.
This is no time to congratulate AA, he deserves the pity of all and sundry. He’s like the proverbial cerebellum operation specialist going for an operation. While the operation takes hours, the recovery period requires the patience and perseverance of the patient’s relatives and even the patient himself, yet emotions wouldn’t allow patience.
Rather than congratulate AA, we must pity him for having come at this egregious time in the history of democratic governance in our dear State, with the attendant decades of manmade abject pauperization.
Perhaps, with the oneness exhibited by all aspirants during the post primary campaigns, not minding their misgivings with the primaries, the selfless sacrifice of official and unofficial members of APC, solidarity and camaraderie of the workforce and indeed the entirety of Kwarans, we’ll be able to make merriment and celebrate after four years of people-oriented governance. Until then, celebrating Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq now will be premature. What I think we should start drumming into the ears of the new governor should be “ise ya; it’s time to rebuild Kwara!” May God guide AA aright!
Abdulrasheed Akogun, a media practitioner, writes from Ilorin.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on our opinion page are those of the writer and do not represent the position of INSIDER or any of its reporters/editors.