If elections are won on newspapers, the All Progressive Congress (APC) would have won the Ekiti elections conducted on Saturday 21, June, 2014 adjudged to be free and fair by virtually all observers. This is because, the APC controlled a large chunk of the Nigeria media and rather than my senior colleagues in the media, taking an objective view of the situation on ground, they composed jaundiced assessment of the situation in Ekiti, particularly, neglecting the views from below. They were mostly elitist and biased in favour of the now trounced outgoing governor, Kayode Fayemi. To the writers, their views seemed to be all that was needed to give the APC candidate victory. All of them, like the APC, did not see the importance of the masses who decide who wins when elections are conducted under a free and fair conditions. It was an electoral contest between the elite favoured candidate, Kayode Fayemi and the masses’ man, Ayodele Fayose. For me, the party slogan of both candidates made the difference: for the desired ‘change’ (APC) in a democratic setting to be guaranteed, power indeed belong to the people (PDP). The media have been totally unfair to Fayose, they injected too much partisanship into the objective reason of our social responsibility to the people. As it played out, on this occasion the media was against the people; they failed to see from below. This myopic analyses exposed our jaundiced media as aligning with the ‘powers-that-be’. Fayose is the man of the people who as an Ekiti patriot never left the state since eight years ago. He worked tirelessly for the emergence of the APC candidate but was stabbed in the back by the same party that used him. The same tactic is used against the masses; they are lobbied during elections and abandoned after the victory is attained.
Where were all the writers in the media when the person they painted corrupt (Fayose) went on the streets of Ekiti to campaign for Fayemi? Is this not the same APC embracing and welcoming former governors with corruption cases still with the EFCC? I think those who live in glass houses should not throw stone. The late garrison commander of Ibadan politics, Lamidi Adedibu had said that newspaper reports do not win elections. Adedibu, although very controversial, lived with the society rejects, those despised by the elite and neglected by policy makers. He gave them food and shelter. This was why they resolved most of the time to ‘die’ for him. Do our politicians live where their electorates live? NO. They build their houses far away from the electorate, hence, are oblivious of what the people suffer. But, why are people surprised at the result? There is a problem of subjective evaluation of what the APC brandish as ‘performance’ and the performance through the lens of the Ekiti people. At last, good human relations and recognition of the downtrodden worked for Fayose.
In his article in the Nation newspaper titled “All eyes on Ekiti” on the day of the election, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, said “if allowed to proceed freely and fairly, the election is a foregone conclusion. Governor Fayemi has distinguished himself as a leader dedicated to the welfare of the people of his state. He has done more good in four years than his PDP challenger can do in a lifetime. ” He wrote off Fayose: “Fayose can do little good because he has little good in him. Any good he has done, has been by accident”. And to the people of Ekiti state, Senator Tinubu said “no one in his right mind chooses a nightmare (Fayose) over a dream or bad (Fayose) over good (Fayemi)”. These were weighty comments from an elder statesman. These character assassination and condemnation of the electorate was however adequately rewarded with Fayemi’s rejection by the people that matter.
On the evening of Saturday 21 June, 2014, I was in the premier university, University of Ibadan seated with some scholars, eagerly awaiting the results of the Ekiti election. Their anxiety was between their perceived performance of the incumbent governor Kayode Fayemi and what I would call media-dented image of Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party. We argued on why they felt Fayemi should win and why Fayose who was considered ‘criminal’ should not be allowed to steer the leadership of the state. I had averred that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will suffer defeat in at least two states in the southwest with the current approach and penchant disrespect they show to the masses. At best, their programs are elitist. In this regard, the masses, who constitute the largest pool of voters are sent off the roads and their livelihood shattered. They APC have become complacent; while some of their policies elevate elitism and social capitalism.
The governors, after deriving the power from the people (masses), closed relationship with them and developed along the line of elitism. They have good followers and fans among the elite who hardly participate in voting during elections. They implement policies before thinking of the consequences on the masses. An example is the well conceived but ill-executed urban renewal programme. The masses have suffered from this policy. A definite home grown approach in terms of social protection and welfare program which ought to have been developed to help the poor cope was not considered. The people must remain the corner stone of every project. They should not count only during electioneering campaigns.
I have read and saw destruction of shops, onslaught on the civil servants, sack and ‘degeneration of people’, denial of children of the masses with quality education through astronomic increment in tuition fees in Ekiti and some other states in the zone. Unemployed graduates who work as ‘okada’ riders were not left out. They imposed taxes and restrictions or outright ban on their means of livelihood. Yet, the masses and the downtrodden are firmly on ground while the elite are in diaspora. We should begin to think of what we do as leaders. Consider the demographic advantage that the masses have. While the elite limit the number of children they bear, the poor have large family sizes and have ‘significant contributions to make to elections’. For me, demographically, the feelings of the masses must be taken seriously by any government seeking re-election. They are too significant to be neglected.
One of the errors of the APC, I believe is the use of one-size-fit-all model of economic development. Economic models are peculiar to specific setting. What works in Lagos may not work in Oyo, Osun, Ogun and Ekiti states. Economic model which allows the appointment of technocrats who collect monies in Nigeria and spend in London, Dubai, USA does not allow circular flow of income. How many of these appointees patronize the common market which the civil servants patronize? More worrisome is the claim of ownership of the zone by the leadership of the party. Yet they failed to connect with the masses. Poor welfare programs have led to the making of more poor people within the geo-political zone. The gap widens between the rich and the poor.
In education, government should save the future of the country by making education accessible and affordable. Elsewhere, scholarship, and grants among others are deployed to cushion the effect of fee hikes. The APC states now equate increment in tuition fee to quality. A governor in one of the APC states was also reported that a technical university he was contemplating is not for the poor! If the purpose of government is to generate more Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), how many of the research output from these institutions have they patronized? How much has been invested by government in a research team to determine the direction of development? If schools are shut down because of fees, then the society faces kidnappers, rapists, armed robbers, and more domestic insurgency. The unintended consequences of the policies of the so-called ‘progressives’ are questionable to say the least. Good governance is not party-based. Examples of PDP governors doing well abound. It is the individual. Parties cannot dictate to us. Those who need us must have regard for us and respect our needs. A party that needs the help of those who have several corruption charges hanging on their head to win elections is not the messiah. They only need people; they lack principle.
Oludayo Tade
The significance of ‘the insignificant’ hit the APC below the belt. You can only fool the people sometime not all the time. People need leaders who connect with them and can relate with their needs not those who lord it over them and destroy their livelihood with serious adverse impact on their life chances.
Unfortunately, the national leader of APC, had boasted ‘rig and roast’ prior to the election. As it turned out, no rigging: the people already chose their leader. Asiwaju must be seriously troubled. The states being used to negotiate and retain his status as the National leaders are dwindling. I share his pain but he should learn to derive power from the people. The recent descent in the “broom party” shows an impending implosion. Otherwise, the same broom which was used to sweep the PDP out will be used to sweep APC away. The masses can endure hardship and stay around for the Day of Judgment but the elite switch camp like prostitutes into political parties. Instead of asking for the support of the electorates, APC believed in the mundane idea that a former governor of Ekiti would add value to their electoral chances. They goofed!
Truth has finally triumphed and the people have spoken with their votes. Although he never anticipated defeat, a versatile columnist in the The Nation, Segun Ayobolu in his piece on Saturday, June 21, 2014 said ‘Ekiti is a land of honourable and valiant people. They can neither be deceived nor intimidated. We shall ultimately celebrate the triumph of truth.’ But he had earlier taken the PDP candidate to the cleaners when he said “on the one hand is a candidate yet to clear himself of corruption and murder charges currently in court. He confronts an incumbent with impeccable moral and intellectual credentials. There is a candidate whose idea of governance was to build poultry sheds”. All these uncharitable remarks did not make sense to the Ekiti people.
Government policy in Ekiti state must have made more people vulnerable and poor. Perhaps the distribution of rice and money to electorates by parties in the race lend credence to this assertion. If people were better treated, why should the incumbent also engage in this act even if other parties did? APC had told the people to collect the money of opposition and vote their conscience. They apparently overestimated and took the people for granted. Alvin Gouldner, a sociologist had argued that people repay assistance to them in the form of reciprocity. He suggests that there is a universal norm of reciprocity, whereby people repay assistance from others in any form either by helping them in return or at least by doing nothing against their benefactors. The Ekiti people have displayed this with their votes. Those who identified with the vulnerable get rewarded. Certainly, workers, artisans, Okada riders, small scale self-employed, shopkeepers and students among others who have suffered policy injustice voted against Governor Fayemi. Service to society is particularly difficult to define and the allocation of rewards tends to cater more for the needs of those in power than for the society at large. There is no doubt that workers in Ekiti fell into Karl Marx’s categorization of ‘class for itself’, a group of workers or members aware of their position in the society and who take action to improve their situation by working to overthrow their oppressors.
Fortunately the broom is available for all to buy in the market and can be used by anybody to sweep. The victory of Ayodele Fayose over Dr Kayode Fayemi should make political parties reflect on their programs for the people. There must be participatory democracy while those in government should connect with the governed. Imposition must be stopped while people’s and workers’ rights must be respected. A government elected by all must serve all and not some privileged aristocrats. The Ekiti victory has thrown open, the once claimed territory of the APC. I fear for Osun state which has issues like that of Ekiti but change is inevitable. Can the PDP and APC make the people the cornerstone of their policies and have regard and respect for those they rule? For me Ayo Fayose has a daunting task of consolidating as a man of the people. If he was bad in his first coming, he has a chance of making history. Whichever way it goes, he is a man of history, having humbled the incumbent, Kayode Fayemi and the APC. It is indeed the triumph of the ordinary masses over the elites.
Dr Oludayo Tade, a criminologist writes in from Ibadan
