“Òní nítorí Ọlá”, was my charge to the people of Igbole Ekiti. In the multitude of the audience were, Hon. Kola Arokodare, former members Federal House of Representatives, who represented the former Governor of Èkìtì, His Excellency Mr Segun Oni, the Kabiyesi, Olugbole of Igbole, Oba Adegbenga Adetiloye, the Aro of Igbole, High Chief Emmanuel Tunde Ajayi, whose official court and quarters secretariat we were there to commission and dedicate; newly coronated Odofin of Igbole, High Chief Olabisi Bamgboye, was at his best elements, commanding an office he was 3 weeks old in as if he has done same all his life, a prominent member of the Aro family, Mr Rotimi Essential Aromolaran. Several sons and daughters of Igbole Ekiti, and their friends from far and near were all ears, Oni nítorí ola! I was emphatic, today was in the womb of yesterday. Life today was in the womb of the electoral decision we made yesterday. The failure of political parties must lead us to a candidate whose personality holds hope upon which we can align Edo, Ondo, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun for the ultimate aim of building the nation of our dream! From my interactions with the people of Èkìtì, same way I did in Edo before pitching tent, Òní Olúwasegun, is that “Today” for a greater tomorrow for Èkìtì State and Nigeria at large!
The hurdles of showing up at Igbole Èkìtì was huge. The surprise element out of my day, 5th of August 2021, at 55 years old was the mission to Igbole Èkìtì! Why in the world will a celebrant practically leave his family and guests behind and head out for a mission to Igbole Ekiti? Pastor Olaitan Aromolaran of Joy cometh Ministries, Ikorodu is the reason, the Ọmọ onílé of Igbole Ekiti placed a demand on me, and this honorable man of honor, I must honor. He is architect and builder of the building been commissioned. But not without first fulfilling the desire to have my father pray with me on my 55th birthday.
It was 2:30 PM, when I left Lagos for Abeokuta, the trip was half done on bike to get through the day time nightmare that Lagos Abeokuta Express Road has become! Got to Sango and took a taxi at the back seat of it was a Fulani man and his wives. With no ill feelings towards one another, we share the joy of safety when we lost a tyre on motion and the driver skillfully brought the car to a halt. But for our leaders, Nigerians wants to be one!
Our contract with the driver engaged from Sango terminated at brewery, where I got down and made an arrangement with another driver to reserve a seat and pick me up at Laderin Estate on his way to Ibadan, I did a bike trip to Laderin for the blessings of the father, Nonagenarian Nasir Adesina Babatunde Ogunseye had his right hand laid on me for my birthday blessings! A call from the Driver pre arranged with who was leaving the park set me out of my father’s house. I needed not wait long before I was picked up. My security protocol on any trip is to first know my driver before I make payment and it was observed earlier. Though, a bit rattled about the driver, I am someone who is never bothered about speed when the driver is observing driving protocols, but this guy was driving like some Boko Haramists on a mission to kill! I reprimanded him, and the rude uncultured person he is was unleashed. Then the story of the driver who sold his passengers to kidnappers came to my mind. I decided there and then, that information about the trip must get to my international security friends!
So, when we got to a police check point and the driver was pulled over, I got down and snapped the car showing the registration number and sent to my contact. Just about then, I heard the Driver telling the policeman reason his drivers license was due without renewal was because he was in Jail for 7 years! You need to see the pride with which he said that! My God! I immediately knew I have to send his picture showing his face, this I took, but not without invoking the wrath of gullible other passengers who felt my own was too much! Dealing with gullibility has become part of my life since 2015, this I have done on a national scale in a country of over 200 million people, so, holding my ground alone against the driver and 5 passengers and of course my classmate who will rather have me keep quiet, was no qualms! It was more like a replay of the confrontations we are faced with in Driver BUHARI, and the gullible multitudes hailing a driver heading for an accident! My conviction rules me at sll time without consideration for others’ sentiments. I manipulated the guy psychologically to the end that if his plan was to sell us. The whole world has already been informed. He delivered us to Ìwọ Road, prostrated on the road asking me to forgive him and delete the pictures I took, well with my aim achieved and moreover knowing it has been over an hour and any deleted posts from me will remain with their recipients, I promised him I will.
At Ìwọ Road, I saw a clean Toyota Picnic and picked it for the trip to Igbole, then the antics of motor park “Oluomos” came to fore! I was manipulated successfully till I agreed to join another bus, that also ended up not taking me with the passengers until another bus coming from Lagos going to Ado Ekiti approached them for passengers. They parked the bus at a distance and came to take us one by one. I was the first, comfortably seated alone in the front given the impression they have communicated my destination to the driver. All passengers seated and the bus about to move, I ask the driver if he has been briefed that am going to Igbole, he was shocked, “I am going to Ado was his response”, by this time all the Agberos have disappeared! Left with the choice to continue on not, I chose to continue. The driver was very familiar with the terrain, he stopped at ìfẹ́ and waited till other buses came and we did move in a deadly speed convoy! We were shaken out of the convoy at a time because we saw a big cobra coiled on the road and our driver wanted to stop to hunt it! Trust me, I had no problems telling him he would die first before anything happens to me if he dared to stop! His response was a reflection of how terribly poverty has dealt with the mind of our people! He told me I just made him lose 5k! A man whose right palm costed him 175k to fix after he was shot in the same axis sometimes ago according to the story he will later tell me, was prepared to risk his life for 5K! The trauma of poverty is our greatest confrontation. Our people are so brutalised that things can hardly be put in perspective. We may be wrongly assuming that our electorates will make an informed decision in 2023, because of what they have suffered. They may like my driver attempt to hunt a cobra on the road at the risk of our collective lives in 2023!
The driver, like an hireling candidate of our political parties dropped us where he was going in Ado at 12:48 AM and not where we told Agberos we were going and they promised to take us! Until we bridge the gap between the drivers (candidates) and the passengers (electorates) to overcome the Agberos ideology of our political parties, we will remain screwed to mischief in the name of party loyalty. Time to get involved is now! Nigerians can hardly be stranded. Some of the passengers, once they heard the voice of songs from a near by church headed for the place to pass the night, Muslims and Christians alike found solace in religion because the system betrayed their rights in transportation transactions! Little wonder religion offers so much from our frustration. Another offered an opposite gender the comfort of his bed and hand in hand we saw them leave. A driver at the park was so nice to me, offered to charge my phone in his car to enable me make contact. I did after 30 minutes, I use the ATM at 2:18 with no threat in sight except the one I conveyed in my mind from Lagos. I got a bike to take me to Christian Guest House, which my contact Segun Famuyibo, also known as Captain, arranged.
Daybreak, the journey to my destination continued. 2015 till date is nothing but daybreak, we must in the light of the reality of this rise from where driver Buhari and Agbero APC has left us to take our journey! It is not time to allow another Agbero to put us in a bus that is not going our way! The only way to save ourselves and multitude of the gullible masses is to get involved in political education of our people, either as facilitators or sponsors. Knowledge, they say is power, the power of the ballot will remain at the mercy of Agberos until the value of our votes is clearly spelt out and taught to them!
Dr Bolaji O Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder, also known as the BID, he is the Convener, Apostolic Round Table, BOT, Chairman, PVC Naija.
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