Vunderkind
Social Member
One morning earlier this year (January, I believe), while having breakfast at a hotel in Abuja, I realised that one of the two men seated at the next table was Ayo Fayose, a former Governor of Ekiti State, now reelected after Saturday’s governorship election. There was no retinue of aides and hangers-on, just the two of them, eating, talking. He cut the perfect picture of the ex-Big Man who has now grown accustomed to a life out of the limelight. I went to say hello, mentioning that I am journalist. He seemed pleased to be recognised, and we exchanged phone numbers.
Barely three or months later, Fayose was back in the big leagues, after winning the Peoples Democratic Party primaries for the governorship election in Ekiti State. The next time I would see him was at his campaign headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, on June 6, where he was surrounded by heavily armed policemen, soldiers and DSS officers, and hundreds of adoring supporters. Intriguing commentary on the unpredictability of life, the “suddenly-suddenly-ness” of it all, to borrow the words of the contemporary urban philosopher, Dapo Oyebanjo.
What struck me again and again while I was at the Fayose campaign office was the outpouring of support for the candidate, to the point of fanaticism. “Fayose is someone we genuinely like in Ekiti,” Odunayo, a 31-year-old artisan and PDP supporter, told me, in Yoruba. “Fayose to me is like a woman you like.” I put questions to him about some of the many allegations associated with Fayose. He had answers for everything; and it was obvious he genuinely believed everything he was telling me. When I mentioned the violence associated with Fayose’s first term in office (2003 – 2006), he said: “That Fayose killed people is a lie. There is no government under which people don’t die. Everyone is destined to die at one time or the other.”
Click here to read more
Source: #OsunDefender
Barely three or months later, Fayose was back in the big leagues, after winning the Peoples Democratic Party primaries for the governorship election in Ekiti State. The next time I would see him was at his campaign headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, on June 6, where he was surrounded by heavily armed policemen, soldiers and DSS officers, and hundreds of adoring supporters. Intriguing commentary on the unpredictability of life, the “suddenly-suddenly-ness” of it all, to borrow the words of the contemporary urban philosopher, Dapo Oyebanjo.
What struck me again and again while I was at the Fayose campaign office was the outpouring of support for the candidate, to the point of fanaticism. “Fayose is someone we genuinely like in Ekiti,” Odunayo, a 31-year-old artisan and PDP supporter, told me, in Yoruba. “Fayose to me is like a woman you like.” I put questions to him about some of the many allegations associated with Fayose. He had answers for everything; and it was obvious he genuinely believed everything he was telling me. When I mentioned the violence associated with Fayose’s first term in office (2003 – 2006), he said: “That Fayose killed people is a lie. There is no government under which people don’t die. Everyone is destined to die at one time or the other.”
Click here to read more
Source: #OsunDefender
