Ayo Fayose: The Audacity of Impunity!

Among the 36 Governors in Nigeria one stands out as something of an ‘enigma’, a polarizing puzzling figure in his best nasty element. That one is none other than the ‘Governor’ of Ekiti state Ayodele Peter Fayose. That Fayose is an executive reprobate is beyond question. That his entire life has been fraught with scandals, manipulations and schemes is also not in any doubt. What is certain about Fayose is that he understands the Nigerian brand of politics and plays same smartly without giving a damn about scruples or principles. Let’s give the devil his dues: Ayo is a ‘great’ politician in ‘Naija’, one who plays gutter or ghetto politics!

Ayo Fayose

Fayose must have learnt a lot from the late Adedibu in Ibadan about the ‘amala’ politics that he came out in flying colours in the Adedibu school of ‘amala’ and ‘gbegri’ soup. Ayo is a political survivalist, one who could be likened to a cat with nine lives! Whenever his brand of politics failed him he would earnestly mobilize his gang trying even harder to rebound using every foul means possible to re-conquer power for the sake of dominion. Ayo is a ‘strongman’ of Ekiti politics a la Lamidi Adedibu and he must be given an award for continuing where the late Molete ‘king’ had stopped!

‘Governor’ Fayose could have beaten Fred Ajudua to the game of international fraud or internet scam were he to have been a notorious ‘419’er’ given his masterful skills in grand deception and hypocrisy. Both are glorified ‘victims’ of cupidity and debauchery! Ayo is a local king that packs ‘shit’ as long as he is hailed and held in high esteem by the hoodwinked populace. He can fight naked with madmen, artisans, truck-pushers or market women in the market square without qualms given his pedigree as a former ‘danfo’ driver! He can be deadly when he is after a goal by using every scorned means like assassination of opponents and kidnapping of relatives of his adversaries if only to achieve his aim! He is an executive thug who beats up judges with his fellow thugs and hired ‘agberos’ when his political interest is threatened!: He can play god to his ‘servants’ and subjects if only to show them who is the boss! His capacity for nuisance knows no bounds.

Tales abounded of how Fayose had escaped from the government house in Ado Ekiti at the back of a dilapidated car in the wee hours of the night as the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his notorious vindictiveness, had perfected plans to liquidate him politically many years ago. After he left the Government House impeached by the state legislature for his crimes, corruption and other ‘sins’ Fayose went into hiding vanishing from circulation. I had cause then to do an article about him and his travails captioned “Blessed Are The Oppressors”. He had then described Obasanjo as an oppressor blaming him for his woes. But Ayo committed certain executive crimes like alleged murder, embezzlement, misgovernance for which he was being investigated and deposed. Today no one knows the outcome of investigations into those sundry crimes of his yet he has bounced back exploiting the generalised poverty of his people as an instrument of power conquest.

He had ‘conquered’ honour and personal integrity as an indefatigable irresponsible ‘conquistador’ (apology to my favourite columnist, the America-based Olatunji Dare of “The Nation” newspaper in Lagos). Remember when GEJ was still in power, days and weeks leading up to the presidential election when Fayose was firing from all cylinders against the then opposition candidate now President Muhammadu Buhari? During one of his unguarded statements he had sworn that whoever cared should “call me a bastard if Buhari ever becomes president of Nigeria”. Buhari later became President and I know people are now calling Fayose a bastard in their private conversations!

The monsters Fayose has spent his entire political life creating and nurturing would definitely devour him one fateful day. But we cannot afford to wait that day when the rascals and ruffians he is feeding fat through his “stomach infrastructure’ machinery would rise against him. It must start now with “Ekitigate”. In the guber polls in Ekiti state Fayose ‘triumphed’ over the then incumbent Governor now Minister Kayode Fayemi, a gentleman from all indications. The astonishing outcome of that ‘election’ led the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka to express publicly that he was dumbfounded to learn of the Fayemi defeat. But now we all know better what transpired before, during and after the polls!

Going by stunning revelations in the ‘Ekitigate’ we have now known how Fayose conspired with the then ruling PDP to majestically rig the election by using slush funds, the military, the police and electoral officials to achieve the seeming impossible! The truth has come out finally but instead of him to bury his head in shame he struts around behaving like a local conqueror above the law! It baffles the critical mind that the Buhari administration and the APC ruling party permit this Ekiti loud-mouth to continue to spew one nonsense after another seeking national attention as if he is a paragon!

Today Fayose has somewhat elevated himself to the position of the unofficial acting spokesman of the PDP and opposition leader. But no one is fooled by this kind of tantrums. As a desperate man who is morbidly afraid of tomorrow and his political future Fayose has employed the art of rabble-rousing, making some noise to be noticed so that when the time of reckoning comes he would be seen as the victim of a power cabal that is non-existent. He has smartly initiated the so-called “stomach infrastructure” scheme in his state to woo the undiscerning ignorant populace. Fayose is dangerous for this democracy and he must be cut to size now!

It is, indeed, to the credit or discredit of Nigerian politics, in its murkiness, bizarreness and disorganisation that fraudulent and murderous politicians like Fayose could rise to power thereby exploiting the immunity clause to evade justice. Something must be done to forestall further bastardisation of our polity by crooks in high places. From the federal level to the states down to the local governments across the land you see them riding flashy cars (some with bullet-proof), talking big and boasting of connections in high places!

The arrogance and magniloquence emanating from Ado Ekiti amounts to the audacity of impunity! It is a demonstration of political insanity taken to a satanic level! The purloined mandate Fayose is exercising (much like those of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states) must be resisted and retrieved in good time before he glorifies himself as having achieved something. A robust politico-judicial strategy must be put in place to take away from him what he got through spectacular electoral fraud. Fayose is not invincible; he must be demystified!

(NB:) Prosperous and healthy new year to every man and woman of goodwill! Mighty is our prayers this new year 2016! Mighty is our prayers for peace and tranquility in the world and the salvation of humanity. Mighty remains our supplications for Boko Haram to be given a bloody nose and vanquished for good! Mighty is our prayers for the success of the Buhari regime in Nigeria! Mighty is our prayers for mankind to be saved providentially from itself! Mighty is, indeed, our prayers!