“Every man’s death diminishes me for I am
involved in mankind; so ask not for whom the bell
tolls; it tolls for thee”— John Donne LAST Wednesday, as has become his wont, during
Sallah, Bukola Saraki, former Kwara State governor
and Senator representing Kwara Central, gathered
people in Ilorin to distribute money and pieces of
cloths. And in a copy of what has happened on two previous
occasions, there was a stampede, resulting in a tragic
loss of lives of many of those gathered on the
occasion. Mas’ud Adebimpe, a Bukola sidekick, and
Kwara State PDP Publicity Secretary, issued a
statement of condolence and confirmed four deaths. The media variously reported between 10 and 20
deaths; the online medium, Premium Times, quoted a
mortuary source at the Sobi Specialist Hospital in
Ilorin, as having counted 15 corpses. There are
rumours in Ilorin that over 40 people actually lost their
lives in the tragic stampede. Bukola, who gathered the people, issued his own
condolence, stating that “our party’s strength
resides solely in the support from party faithful which
gives us confidence always-it’s very painful to have
lost these party faithful”. It is noteworthy that
Adebimpe had also stressed the “party faithful” line while expressing “regret to announce that (they)
lost four of our party members to the unfortunate
development”. It is obvious that Bukola and his sidekick were
cynically manipulating the tragedy to underline the
party line in order to posit the old PDP argument that
what happened was no one else’s business,
because it was their “family” or their party’s
business. Manipulative pattern It is also instructive that there is a consistently
manipulative pattern of reportage of these killings by
Bukola and his henchmen. But the first thing that
should worry all rational observers is the persistent
pattern of deaths of people in these annual gatherings
in the hands of the young man who deludes himself as “leader” in the political scheme of things in Kwara
State. If there had been just one stampede resulting in the
death of even a single individual, we would normally
have all been saddened by such an unfortunate
incident. A second stampede will be seen as a tragic
coincidence too many, especially because of the
repeated pattern of event and very significant loss of lives always deliberately under-reported, with the
active collaboration of a complicit local media. But a third stampede in as many years, with the same
pattern of gathering of the people in a most
dehumanising and disrespectful manner, has become
not only a source of anger but has become completely
obscene and unacceptable! Nigerians must not allow
this latest tragedy to be swept under the carpet, as they elaborately attempt to spin the story out of the
headlines. Even the victims are already being blamed for
disorderliness, while Bukola is being whited up (like a
sepulcher?) as ‘compassionate’. Traditional rulers
have been corralled as part of a conspiracy of spin,
with the Etsu Patigi leading a condolences delegation,
instead of asking disturbing questions as to why we annually harvest the deaths of our poor people. Instructively, the online medium, Premium Times
reported early this week, a desperate effort to cover
up the tragic deaths, when the DPO in charge of the
jurisdiction was allegedly ordered from the Zone 8
command HQ in Lokoja to “suspend investigation and
immediately forward the case file to the zonal command”! This harvest of deaths of poor people stains Bukola’s
hands, starting from November 17 2010, when at
least 11 supporters died in his Mandate House
campaign HQ. But just as happened last week, Bukola
and his PDP gang claimed that ‘only four’ “party
faithful” died on the occasion. Mas’ud Adebimpe, press secretary to then Governor Saraki, toed the
official line that “the deceased would be greatly
missed by both the party and their families”. The next round of deaths by stampede was harvested
on May 27, 2011, with up to 25 dying in the
pandemonium following the distribution of six yards
of cloth and N5000, to inaugurate the incoming
governor. Bukola did not depart from his usually
cynical line on the tragedy: “I’m deeply saddened to receive the news about the loss of some of our
party members…”. Humanity of victims Neither showing remorse about the humanity of
victims, nor their loss as citizens, sons, daughters,
parents or members of community, but the absolute
manipulation of political circumstance, with an eye on
continued hegemonic control of the people and the
resources of the state! The standard definition of lunacy is to do the same
thing over and over and expect a different outcome.
Bukola is a medical doctor, so he should know that for
a fact. Why does he continue to gather people in
hundreds when there is the likelihood of the
stampede witnessed in the past? Must politics be played with so little respect for the sanctity of human
lives? Why has theBukola Saraki political group refused to
move beyond the manipulation of the people’s
poverty as a means of hegemonic control? Must the
people of KwaraState be perpetually at the receiving
end of the humiliation regularly visited upon them by
a young man who sits atop the resources of the state and calls himself ‘leader’? When would they apprehend the imperative of
genuine empowerment that can translate into wealth
creation and dignity for the people? How does Bukola
sleep comfortably with his conscience, considering
the harvest of deaths on his head with these
stampedes? It is incredible, but far more people have died under Saraki’s watch, than the community lost
during the Nigerian Civil War (and I say this
responsibly, as someone who lost two cousins in the
war!). But as the NLC, CISLAC and other patriotic individuals
and organisations have severally pointed out in the
past week, more than ever before, we have arrived
at a tipping point in KwaraState. The humiliating
politics by handouts, from resources that actually
belong to the people must be ended! The authoritarian pall cast over the state by the Saraki group must be
lifted, karfi da yaji, as we say in Hausa. The oppressive atmosphere of fear has largely
endured because of the endemic and humiliating
poverty, mob culture of violence, the vicious cult of
Saraki’s personality and the fact that people are
scared of dire consequences, if they speak up! The comforting truth is that there has NEVER been 100
percent dictatorial control in human history. The
minority that refuses to be cowered will eventually be
the spark lighting the fire that will burn the veldt of
oppression and the elaborate infrastructure of heist.
That time has appeared on the horizon in KwaraState. The people are fed up with the hegemonic dictatorship
of the arrogant young man. He is fighting for his political life now, at the national
level and the homestead is slipping from his hands,
despite the spin and propaganda. This is why he has
become even more desperate to give out the Ankara
cloths and N1000. But that has always been badly
handled, leading to the stampedes ending in tragic loss of lives, as happened last Wednesday. Bukola cannot sustain the delusion of grandeur that
drives his politics. He has alienated himself with his
arrogance and has offended too many people. His
type of politics isbackwards and reactionary; and it is
too costly in the body counts that the people of
KwaraState have to continuously endure! Between China and Vietnam IT is 0259HRS local time in Vietnam
on Monday night/Tuesday morning and 1959HRS on
Monday in Nigeria. I am writing these lines in the
absolutely stunning Victoria Hotels & Resorts in the
Vietnamese town of Can Tho. We had flown into the commercial city of the south of
Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, named
after the national hero and communist leader. The
drive from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho took about four
hours, through Mekong River Delta towns, with rows
and rows of rice paddies on both sides of the road, as far as the human eye could see! The two-hour flight from the Chinese city of
Guangzhou was not eventful, except perhaps for the
funny way the airbus plane sounded at take off and
landing, points that Chief Audu Ogbeh noted as we
steadied into the flight and which all other members
of our delegation discussed briefly after airport formalities. The Ho Chi Minh City airport is much bigger than any of
the airports in Nigeria and is very neat. We noticed the
orderliness about the place and the city itself is a
sprawling metropolis, with the heat and humidity very
much like Lagos’! This country must be the moped
capital of the world! There are motorcycles everywhere, ridden by men and women, young and
old. We left Nigeria on Sallah Day, via Ethiopia where we
transited for four hours before the near 11-hour flight
to Guangzhou. I had been invited by the Borno State
government to join a delegation attending the Canton
Trade Fair, where deals were struck to make
purchases of equipment central to efforts the state is making in the development agenda for the post-Boko
Haram insurgency period. The main issues for the government are agriculture
and agro-allied businesses, poverty alleviation and
empowerment issues as well as water resource
development, irrigation adapted to the realities of the
state as well the large scale production of wheat, rice
and groundnuts and vegetables. We are in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam as part of the rice production
initiative, because Vietnam is now the world’s
second largest producer of rice. Borno wants to tap into the expertise for an all-year
round production of rain-fed and irrigated production.
This is my first visit to Vietnam, a country whose
struggle played a very significant role in the
development of my consciousness. I read everything
that Ho Chi Minh wrote and I used to enjoy his collection of poetry, with its patriotic melancholy and
steely determination to achieve freedom from
colonialism. They achieved it but with tremendous sacrifice,
because the United States dropped more bombs on
Vietnam than were used during the Second World
War! Yet these people have returned to their
humanity and are now waging a battle against
underdevelopment. The Borno State delegation is here to borrow a leaf
from the efforts of the Vietnamese people. Next
week, we will talk a bit more about the week I have
spent in China and Vietnam. Who says you can take
away the gene of travel from a Fullo? Not from this
reporter. I am a very loyal nomad; I carry the gene of travel!

source:www.informng.com/fetish-call-bukola-sarakis-annual-ritual-of-deaths-by-ishaq-modibbo-kaw/