By Femi Fani-Kayode
There are two events that are of major
significance this week. The first is the
birthday of a man of immense integrity and a
great son of the Yoruba by the name of
Olusegun Rahman Mimiko who was 62 years
old on October 3rd.
Much has been said about him over the last
few years and encomiums have been
deservedly showered on him from all quarters
for his birthday. I will only add this: ever since
I have known Mimiko when he was a senior
colleague in President Obasanjo’s cabinet he
has been kind, forthright, courageous, honest,
consistent, clear-thinking, hard-working and
God-fearing.
His tenure as Minister of Housing under
Obasanjo was successful and he went on,
against all odds, to be elected governor of
Ondo state where his work and legacy,
particularly in the health sector, is simply
outstanding.
Anyone that doubts that should simply pay a
visit to Ondo state and see for themselves.
What he has done in the last 8 years is simply
unprecedented and I am very proud of him.
He has proved to be a loyal friend through
thick and thin and he possesses an uncanny
foresight into matters that only the Holy Spirit
can give.
A devout and committed evangelical Christian,
who like many of us, is not ashamed of
proclaiming his faith and carrying it into all
that he does, Mimiko undoubtedly still has a
major role to play in the affairs of our nation.
I am proud to be not just one of his political
associates and friends but also his brother and
I stand shoulder to shoulder with him in
whatever his ambitions or aspirations may be
for the future.
The other significant event is the
rapproachement and blooming friendship that
exists between two sons of the Yoruba both of
whom I have immense respect and affection
for. Like Mimiko I have a special place in my
heart for them both and this has been so for
many years.
The first is my brother Ayo Fayose whose
courage is second to none and the second is
Rauf Aregbesola who is a yoruba nationalist to
the core and who is, in my view, the brightest
and the best within the ranks of the APC.
I got to know Fayose well when he was
Governor of Ekiti in his first coming and only a
fool will not acknowledge the fact that his
return to power a number of years later after
suffering the most terrible and wicked form of
persecution from his enemies was clearly
prophetic.
Fayose was accused of corruption and
prosecuted by the EFCC. He was also
accused of murder and so many other things
by those who wanted him dead and destroyed.
Yet in spite of it all he defeated his traducers
and adversaries in court, he rose again and he
has not only become one of the most potent
voices and forces in our politics today but he
has also metamorphosised into something of a
whirlwind and destructive hurricane against
the Buhari administration.
He is a man that is destined for greatness
despite his humble beginnings and he has
broken all the norms and crossed all the red
lines and boundries of Yoruba politics by
proudly and openly defying the powers that be
in the west, capturing the imagination of the
people and bulldozing his way to the top by
popular will. That takes guts and it could only
have been done by the finger of God.
Then comes Rauf Aregbesola who I got to
know well in 2013. What I found the most
attractive and most extraordinary about him
was his loyalty to any cause that he commits
himself to coupled with his total and complete
faithfullness and fidelity to his political
associates and friends and particularly to
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu under whom he
served as Commisioner for Works.
Apart from that few know that he is an expert
and authority on Yoruba ancient history and
this informs and feeds his very rare and
distinct sense of Yoruba nationalism.
I have written about him on several occasions
over the years and despite the fact that I
disagree fundamentally with him on a number
of issues and we do not belong to the same
party my admiration and respect for him
remains intact and unshakeable.
We may all have our differences in terms of
political party affiliation but one thing is clear:
as he rightly told Fayose during thier recent
meeting in Ado Ekiti a few days ago, there will
be a realignment of political forces both in and
outside of the south west very soon. There is
no question about the fact that he is right
about that.
And when that time comes we all need to wise
up, smell the coffee and accept the fact that
we must stand together as one in order to
defend the interest of our people.
When the lion and the tiger stand shoulder to
shoulder in defence of the castle it makes it
very difficult for the jackals and the bandits to
mount the walls and take the gates.
For those that are still asleep and that refuse
to recognise the fact that there is a problem in
this country kindly consider the following.
30 per cent of the oil reserves and 40 per cent
of the gas reserves in our country are in
Bayelsa state.
Nigeria has become relatively rich as a
consequence of this and up until one year four
months ago our economy was booming.
The oil of the people of the Niger Delta
appears to be good enough for Nigeria yet the
people of the Niger Delta do not appear to be
worthy of anything as far as Nigeria is
concerned.
After railroading the only Niger Deltan
President in our history out of power in a
rigged election after just one term and then
coming after his family, friends and political
associates with everything that they have got,
the new powers that be refused to stop there.
They went further by doing their best to rig
the governorship election in his state but they
failed as a consequence of the sheer
doggedness and fortitude of Seriake Dickson,
the Governor of the state and the defiant and
gallant fighting spirit of the people.
Yet in an attempt to pay them back for their
stubborn streak the President decided to prove
to the whole world that Bayelsa, the state that
lays the golden egg for the whole nation, was
not worthy of even one member of the Board
of Directors of NNPC or even one out of the
44 Ambassadors that were recently appointed
by him. On all counts Bayelsa was left out.
Is that fair? Is it justice? Is it equity? I must
acknowledge the fact that I was furnished with
these interesting facts by the Secretary to the
Bayelsa State Government, His Royal Highness
Barrister David Serena-Dokubo Spiff, and
having cross-checked them they have proved
to be accurate and true.
This sort of treatment that has been meted to
Bayelsa state goes across the board in all the
states of both the south-south and the south-
eastern zones of our country.
The story is the same in both regions: it is one
of marginalisation and humiliation. And for
some of my Yoruba kinsmen to believe that it
will not eventually be applied to them too is
the height of naivety.
With the attempted demystification of Tinubu
the process has already started and we better
sit up and learn fast.
When your neighbours house is being set on
fire by the marauding barbarians and invaders
do not gloat because it is only a matter of
time before they set their sights on yours as
well.
Yet let me be clear. I do not talk about a
realignment of forces with cowards and
quislings and neither am I proposing joining
forces or closing ranks with those who have
sold their souls to the devil, who have traded
their heritage for a mess of pottage and who
have decided to be perpetual slaves to the
ultra-conservative feudalist hegemonist forces
of the core north.
I do not refer to those who have decided to
sell their erstwhile mentors, elders, betters and
political leaders in the south-west down the
river in return for being made a “super-
Minister”.
I do not refer to those that have consistently
rejected the idea of restructuring our country
or redefining the composition and nature of
our union and who believe that all is well with
the structure of our so-called federation.
I do not refer to those who believe that the
entire south is simply a conquered territory or
an enclave and appendage of the north.
I do not refer to those who have consistently
rejected the concept of a handshake across
the River Niger from the west with our Igbo
and Niger Deltan brothers.
I do not refer to those that have consistently
derided the idea of southern unity even if we
may have had our differences in the past.
I do not refer to those who would rather go
and pay homage to the powers that be in the
core north than pay their respects to their
southern brothers and sisters.
I do not refer to those who see nothing wrong
with the activities of the Fulani herdsmen,
who express joy whenever IPOB members are
killed, who take pleasure in the military
occupation of the Niger Delta and who refuse
to acknowledge the challenges and horrific
plight that the people of the Middle Belt and
the northern minorities are facing.
I do not refer to those who align and identify
with the Muslim north purely for religious and
political reasons forgetting that Islam came to
the south west through the Turkish traders
200 years before the 1804 jihad of Usman Dan
Fodio and well before the establishment of the
Fulani Caliphate.
I do not refer to those who are comfortable
with the fact that they are looked down upon
as Yoruba Muslims by their northern
counterparts and who are pleased with the
fact that they are not allowed to lead any
northern Muslim in prayer in the mosques.
I do not refer to those who are posessed by
the spirit of Absalom, who have decided to kill
their fathers, who are committed to betraying
the south west and who have offered
themselves out as the “new alternative” of
yoruba leaders that will become ever-ready
puppets of an all-powerful core north. I need
mention no names but they know who they
are.
They include those that enjoy to watch and
hear about the shaming, suffering and
humiliation of their own southern kinsmen and
brothers.
They include the unconscionable bastards, the
house-niggers, the Uncle Toms, the lowest of
the low and the scum of the earth. Men that
have no dignity and no self-respect. Men that
have no knowledge of history and that have
lost their self-esteem. Men that are suffering
from an acute sense of self-hatred and that
wish they had not been born into their families
or tribes.
Men that have lost their souls and that have
submitted themselves and future generations
of their families to perpetual servitude and
slavery.
Quislings that are ready to trade in their
daughters and wives for political favours and
consideration from their new-found ethnic
masters.
Animals that are ready to destroy the future of
their own children and turn them into serfs
and second-class citizens in return for a few
crumbs from the masters table.
Such creatures are not welcome to the table
of rapprochement or reconciliation. There can
be no realignment with such beasts because
there is no fellowship between light and
darkness.
Such a table is reserved only for the
omuoluabi’s of the west. The civilised, the
well-educated, the humble, the enlightened,
the contrite and the well-to-do.
The earlier that men like Rauf Aregebesola,
Ayo Fayose, Olusegun Mimiko and a number of
others put their differences aside and join
forces to protect and further the interests of
the Yoruba people in a wider Nigeria the
better.
Given what is slowly unfolding in our
respective political parties and our country it
is obvious that we have little choice.
Whether you are in the PDP or the APC the
lalasticlala
paramount interest must be how to further the
Yoruba interest, how to restore the dignity of
our people and how to ensure that our country
is redefined or restructured before it is too
late. Anything less than that will lead to our
collective doom.
Whether they like it or not those that betrayed
our cause and that stuck the dagger into our
hearts will pay a heavy price. A political re-
alignment is coming in the south west. At
every crirical point in our history the north has
always realigned in order to protect or further
their interests.
As a matter of fact that is the secret of their
success. It is about time that we in the south
west in particular and in the south generally
did the same. May God grant us the fortitude
and the wisdom to do so.
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