FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar was not wrong when he described Nigerian politicians as sycophants and survivalists, who say things based on convenience.
Alhaji Atiku made this touchy statement during the heat of his political discord with his estranged boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, when felt disenchanted with the insults being hurled at him by his protégés, whom he helped secured appointments in Obasanjo’s administration just to proclaim themselves as loyal people .
The former Vice President threw the missile not only to score political points or gained sympathy from Nigerians , but he spoke based on the reality of life, when friends, who had benefited from one’s generosity began to use the same teeth you helped sharpen to bite you.
Today, a House of Representatives member and Governorship hopeful, Hon Opeyemi Bamidele’s situation is akin to what Alhaji Atiku experienced during that pulsating period in the annals of the country’s democracy. His political allies, friends , politicians and those that had benefitted from his wealth of experience are displaying crass ingratitude just to show loyalty to a certain emperoror show that they have arrived.
A reasonable Ekiti man knew the pivotal role Bamidele played, both in cash and kinds for Governor Kayode Fayemi to reclaim his stolen mandate from Segun Oni-led Government. This was aside the role he played in ensuring that he secured the ticket of the then Action Congress where the political heavyweights like Dayo Adeyeye, Ayo Arise and other twelve aspirants were prowling to snatch the guber ticket.
At a time when the ships were down, when Ekiti AC and later ACN was in shambles and had nothing to rest on, Bamidele offered the solace by playing the role a leader should play to infuse life into the dying party. The kind of impetusthe former Commissioner for Information in Lagos State infused into the then opposition party dazzled the ruling party to the extent that they had to query where the Rep member got his political astuteness and ingenuity.
But now, the rhythm has changed. He is now a subject of attacks from many of his best friends and greatest beneficiaries of his generosity, including Fayemi, owing to his avowed stand to contest the 2014 Governorship election by enforcing his fundamental human right as enshrined in the constitution .
In the Guardian of Saturday, 26th October, 2013, Fayemi in an interview on page 10 of that edition portrayed himself in a manner that was ungovernorship by making unprintable and sarccastic comments about Hon Bamidele, a prominent citizen of Ekiti State and one of the pillars that brought him to stardom .
Fayemi when quizzed about his intolerant posture to opposition figures in the State ahead of the 2014 governorship tussle in that interview said, “Why I would I be intolerant of the opposition? Absolutely, there is no basis for it. Even opposition elements with greater weight not within my party are out there declaring their intention to contest. Non of them has for a moment complained on intolerance. Their billboards are all over the place I meet with them and relate with them. Why I would I then spend my time worrying about one paper challenger in my party”
Direct interpretation of this statements connote that Fayemi was alluding to Bamidele, his benefactor, so where did the Nigerian politicians kept their conscience? But one would be forced to ask the question, is Bamidele a paper challenger?
Bamidele served in Lagos State for a period of 12 years as Special Assistant Polictical and Commissioner for Sports under the political tactician and one of the best brains in Nigerian political space today, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu .
This enigma, later served under the best performing Governor today in Nigeria and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Babatunde Raji Fashola as Commissioner for Information for four unbroken years . To cap it up, Bamidele later forayed into Ekiti politics and won election as a Rep member, polling 42,075 to defeat the hard-fighting Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party’s Candidates , who polled 14,005 and 13,774 respectively.
Should we now conclude that Tinubu and Fashola were political naive to have chosen Bamidele as Commissioner? Were they not as intelligent as Fayemi for them to have made the choice? Calling Bamidele a paper challenger was a great insult to the people of Ekiti State who freely gave him their mandate in 2011 and Fayemi must tender unreserved apology for this.
Before Bamidele arrived at the choice of House of Representatives after he was begged by party leaders to allow Senator Babafemi Ojiudu to fly the party’s senatorial flag for the Ekiti Central, Fayemi and his cohorts could not stop Bamidele from winning the primary despite the huge resources they released to support Ojudu. Knowing fully well that defeat was staring them in the face, they quickly stopped the primary election and opted for consensus, when their puerile political calculations had failed them.
Aside the foregoing, in the 2011 election, Bamidele won all the polling units in Ado and Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Federal Constituency where he is presently representing except one, the unit of the LP candidate , Mr. Kayode Oso.
On September 17, 2013, this ‘paper challenger’ took the State by storm while declaring his governorship intention in Ado Ekiti. The mammoth crowd that joined the rally rattled Fayemi and his cabinet members to the extent that they had to compel the Commissioner to order his men to disrupt the rally.
Funny enough, Fayemi has spent over half a billion naira to commissioned agents and propagandists to write all sorts of uncomplimentary fictions about this dreaded ‘paper challenger ’.
For the fear of 2014, Fayemi has been pushed to the extent that he is now importing popular politicians from other States to Ekiti to shore up his highly depleted political prowess due to the love the people have for the ‘paper challenger’ .
With the kind of popularity Bamidele muster in Ekiti today, one would pray to be christened a paper challenger politician. Fayemi must watch and be awake to the reality that many of his cabinet members are now working for the paper challenger, so he must watch his back and align with the fact that the fear of MOB, is the beginning of wisdom.
Written By Ahmed Salami
