By Nathan Oguche Emmanuel
For eight long years, the White Lion held his reign, believing it would stretch into eternity. Yet now, the consequences of his actions are catching up with him, most notably in the looming November governorship election, which has become his worst nightmare. It’s astonishing to witness how MURI AJAKA, once dismissed by the White Lion as a mere Antelope, has suddenly emerged as the cause of his sleepless nights.
The White Lion had the opportunity to choose competent and popular figures like Edward Onoja or Asuku, but instead, he opted for the man he could use as a flower boy in the next four years of another wave of a failed conjugal leadership contraption.
At a time other political parties and their candidates are moving from one community to another to solicit and canvass for support, the ruling party and their supporters have been doing same with braggadocio, flexing muscle, spreading desperation, instead of telling Kogi people what they have done in the last eight years. If two good terms deserve another, then, two bad terms deserve no further chance. People understand why the White Lion struggles to gain his steam. From West to East, East to Central, the Lion is losing ground.
I read somewhere that he attempted to confuse the peaceful, intelligent and smart people of the West by creating a monarchy that has never existed – the Ohinoyi of Kaba. However, anything associated with the White Lion is currently viewed with suspicion, and Elders from the West vehemently oppose this move, considering it a tactic to divide a united people and perpetuate years of marginalization in the region. An Ibaji man recently made jest of the move by saying even if the White Lion were to create the Ata of Ibaji, the people have unanimously resolved to vote for MURI.
But isn’t it ironic that a man who deprived his own people of their rights is now seeking their support? He treated them poorly, deprived them of dignity, and reduced them to mere existence without true living. Didn’t he and his disheartened supporters claim he had performed admirably? Why, then, is he struggling to regain their attention? My prediction is that the November governorship election in Kogi State will be a referendum on his administration’s failure to pay salaries on time. It is often said that once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but to happen the third time, people must rise up and challenge the clear-cut incompetence.
What’s even more disheartening is that the White Lion no longer enjoys the home-based advantage he once did. I recall a conversation I had with Adeiza, one of the White Lion’s relatives, about eight years ago. At the time, I shared my Grandma’s wisdom, stating that “You can have a brother as a King and still die of hunger.” He vehemently disagreed back then, but today, he understands it all too well. Adeiza laments that the opposition at the home front is even fiercer. Many of his people remain resentful for subjecting their revered King, Ohinoyi, to public ridicule and leaving their youth unemployed.
In the November governorship election, a rejected stone cannot even be used as a cornerstone; it should rather be thrown away. People think the White Lion’s Flower Boy lacks the steam, luster and the scent that are befitting of a Governor. You can understand why people are rejecting him.
I will conclude this piece with what a lyrical philosopher, Jude Abaga popularly known as M.I once said: “Man must pay to gravity the price for his ascension.” The White Lion has not paid enough to warrant his ascension to Lugard House the third time through a proxy. The November election shall therefore be a percentage vote for a percentage salary.
The writing is very clear on the wall, and it spells one name: MURI.
