Wetie: Makinde’s morbid sense of history
Out of abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks – Bible IBADAN, the ancient city of renowned and redoubtable warriors, was aglow at the weekend. Ibadan is the home of
Out of abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks - Bible
IBADAN, the ancient city of renowned and redoubtable warriors, was aglow at the weekend. Ibadan is the home of many things. It is home to culture, tradition, ancient history and as they say, the gbambaparigi of it all, politics. It holds the distinction as the political capital of the Southwest.
Nothing happens politically in the region without Ibadan being at the centre of it. In fact, it is the go-to place for major political events. The minor ones hold elsewhere. Seasoned politicians know that Ibadan is Ibadan because it is the happening place. Forget about its rustiness and dirtiness, it still draws politicians from across the country into its bosom.
Ibadan will not be Ibadan without politics. Though it still bears the scars of its many political battles, it remains a melting pot for tested and untested politicians seeking to lead the country, especially at the national level. With the 2027 general elections around the corner, there can be no better time for politicians to come to the historic city to invoke its name and fame for political relevance.
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With an Ibadan son who is fighting the battle of his life to remain relevant after his two-term tenure of eight years as governor lapses on May 29, next year, the tempo of political activities in the city is increasing by the day. First, outgoing Governor Seyi Makinde hosted the convention of his faction of the splintered Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) there last November.The convention has since been voided by the Court of Appeal.
He and his group are waiting on the Supreme Court which has reserved judgment on their appeal to know their fate. Makinde has been spending time, energy and resources to ensure that his own faction of PDP survives. Unabashedly, politicians of his ilk have resorted to forcing the apex court’s hands to give judgment on appeals on which it has already reserved its decision, with a promise to inform them of the date when ready.
Makinde is not putting all his eggs in one basket. Uncertain of how the Supreme Court verdict will go, he has teamed up with the equally troubled African Democratic Congress (ADC) to ensure that he does not lose out completely in the power game. Like PDP, ADC also has an appeal at the Supreme Court.
Judgment has also been reserved in that appeal. Rather than wait for the court to announce the judgment date, the party, in trying to paint the court as the one delaying the appeal which was filed just over three weeks ago, has written to Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, asking her to prevail on the appeal panel to deliver the judgment apace!
The Saturday meeting of the so-called opposition party leaders hosted by Makinde was the last kick of a dying horse, as it were. Makinde said it was not a “gang-up”, but he knew in his heart of hearts that it was. The way the meeting ended showed it for what it was. A gathering of desperate politicians hungry for power at all costs. No wonder Makinde shot himself in the foot in the process.
Makinde is an untested politician swimming in a pool full of sharks. He may be governor, but he lacks the experience and finesse of a political leader. It does not take only money to be a political leader. It takes much more than that. Someone like Makinde should still be learning the ropes from more experienced politicians within and outside his circle. Unfortunately, those under whose tutelage he should still be, kowtow to him because of the enormous resources at his disposal.
As governor, he can dispense a lot of political patronage and this determines a lot of things in politics. As the host of the Ibadan meeting, Makinde, a young man, who appears not to have a grasp of the rich political history of that historic city, misspoke. The meeting had not even begun in the real sense of it when he spoke out of turn. Indeed, those who the gods want to destroy, they first make mad. From all indications, he spoke without giving a thought to what he was saying.
Mind you, he was not speaking extempore; he was reading a prepared speech, yet he made that Freudian Slip. What he said took the shine off whatever was the eventual outcome of the meeting. After hailing Ibadan as the political capital of the Southwest, nay Nigeria, to use his word, Makinde committed political suicide when he bellowed: “Those that are carrying on (referring to none other than the government of the day) as if there is no tomorrow... should remember Operation Wetie started from here. This is the same Wild, Wild West”. Makinde was not born in 1962 when Operation Wetie first reared its ugly head on the political landscape.
It was an inciting statement capable of setting the country on fire. Such a statement should not have come from a governor who is constitutionally the chief security officer of his state. Makinde committed a Cardinal Sin with that statement. The import of his statement is that they (the opposition) must win the 2027 elections and if they do not, Nigeria will burn. For a group which house is not in order nothing can be more frightening than such a statement coming from Makinde.
How do you win a major election with a fragmented house? To Makinde and company, come 2027 and beyond, there will be nothing like the 1962 Operation Wetie. It was an orgy of killing, maiming, looting and burning which began in Ibadan and engulfed the whole country bwtween 1964 and 1965. It eventually truncated the First Republic. May we never witness such bestial act again. For the man who wishes to take us back that road, I say:
Alagbara ma rora ile yo (Let the strong be cautious, the ground is slippery). May we not be deceived by our perceived strength.
