by Itunu Oloyede
I was very amazed and really shocked when ‘Rice’ was trending on major social media networks yesterday; this was connected to the just concluded Ekiti Elections #EkitiDecides. There was so much politicking before, during and after the election. Various arguments and counter-arguments rented the air.
There were allegations leveled against the Federal Government as regards using the security forces to intimidate members of the opposition, this was widely condemned due to the fact that some Governors’ jets were grounded and the Governors were prevented from gaining entrance into Ekiti state two days before the elections.
To be realistic, Fayemi lost the election the day Fayose clinched the gubernatorial ticket of the Peoples’ Democratic Party. Mr Peter Ayodele Fayose is a former Governor of the state who was impeached due to allegations of financial impropriety, he was alleged to have siphoned money through the poultry business he embarked upon that time. It is no news that Fayose is a very popular candidate who is really liked amongst the masses, civil servants and youths in the state. Fayose is a Man of the people who the masses really loved, he associates with everyone including the Okada riders, the pepper sellers, Artisans et al. The civil servants really liked him because he did very well to them during his first term in office.
Kayode Fayemi is a well learned, gentle personality who is really intelligent. I must say he is more of a professional than a politician. During his tenure, most of his policies were disconnected from the people. They saw him as an ‘intellectual’ and ‘foreigner’ who they knew nothing about. He had problems with teachers in the state when he wanted to subdue them to a competency test; teachers felt this was meant to undermine and humiliate them and an ‘excuse’ to sack them. They were not comfortable with this. The Governor dropped this idea few weeks to the election and also increased workers’ salaries, the workers saw this as Greek gift from the Governor and they’ve already vowed to vote him out. A very close friend of Fayemi, Micheal Opeyemi Bamidele, popularly known as M.O.B fell out with the incumbent and decided to run against him due to the fact that he didn’t follow the ‘pact’ that he’ll take over from him after his first term. This really affected the incumbent as M.O.B is also very popular amongst the electorates.
Few days before the election, pictures were rife all over social media showing people on a queue waiting for the ‘Vote For Fayose’ inscribed rice. This was really condemned by so many people on social media. Few hours later, there was another picture showing Fayemi and his wife serving cooked rice to people on a queue, this was also condemned.
Fayemi was believed to be much more popular on social media compared to his popularity in Ekiti state; meanwhile, Fayose was not really popular on social media but was much more popular amongst the citizens of the state.
Ekiti state as the fountain of knowledge boasts of so many intellectuals, there is barely a family where a PhD holder won’t be found. Personally, I don’t believe the distribution of bags of rice swayed people’s allegiance from Fayemi to Fayose. The masses saw Fayose as one of them, they saw him as their messiah, people were proud to associate with him, Fayose mixed with them as if they were part of his immediate family, and they love him. Fayose’s campaign vests were sold which were supposed to be distributed free of charge, people were happy putting on his vest. Oshokomole as his admirers call him once helped the incumbent during his election against Segun Oni, he used his popularity in making people vote Fayemi in place of Segun Oni.
It came as no surprise to me when the election results poured in, Oshokomole won overwhelmingly, the gap was huge. He cleared all the 16 local Governments in Ekiti state. He had over 200 thousand votes compared to his closest rival that had 120 thousand votes.
Immediately the results were announced, Ado-Ekiti residents moved to the streets enmasse and they were seen jubilating, old women were in tears out of Joy, Okada men were pulling stunts with their bikes, people were happy. The will of the people prevailed. I think we should be realistic and ask ourselves one pertinent question: How is it possible for over 200 thousand people to vote because of bags of rice? Both parties distributed rice. It will be very myopic and stupid to think people voted Fayose because of this.
Fayemi showed an exemplary spirit of sportsmanship which is to be emulated by all Nigerian politicians by congratulating the Governor elect. He promised to work with him to help build the state to an enviable height.
Itunu Oloyede wrote this piece for The Scoop. She tweets from @hiteeobama.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
