‘’The man who would be king’’ is one of the classic movie of all time for those born in the early 90s. The lead characters Christopher Plummer, Michael Caine and Sean Connery all had something in common- the desire to achieve conquest at all cost. The message was simple ‘’help a local king overcome his enemies, overthrow him, and become rulers before stealing various riches’’
The case of Prof Oba is not much different save for the fact that he does not have loyal emissaries who would stick out their neck for him when all chips are down. Back then as the Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof Oba was unilateral in his decision making; sacking striking University Lecturers and his controversial encounter with the student union leaders. These traits have now become his albatross on his realization of his political ambition.
His recent romance with the Presidency and subsequent appointment as the boss of the Federal Character Commission may have led him to abandon the ideology he once pledged unalloyed allegiance to – The Saraki dynasty which the Prof flourished inhibited as at the time under the late Olusola Saraki and the present leader, Bukola Saraki. It is however, unsurprising that this ‘juicy’ position Oba left in 2011 to contest for the PDP gubernatorial ticket after much lobbying without success has suddenly become ‘’lucrative’’ once again in order to re-ignite his failed governorship ambition.
Oba Abdulrahaman no doubt is an experienced scholar, his level of wisdom considering his age, experience and accomplishments are somewhat intimidating to a few–especially his admirers who deified him by virtue of their grand apparition and they often do not see themselves surpassing such feats in the nearest future. They now ascribe him the status of a demi-god. One of his followers described him as the ‘exultant’ and the ‘messiah’ to deliver Kwara to the promise land despite his disconnect from the grass root and lack of a steady political acumen. The gullible ones blinded by these myopic views constitute a great insult to the large number of meticulous men and women from the State of Harmony with great intelligent quotient but chose not to display any form of folly in order to sound politically adept.
Several interviews granted in the media by our erudite professor reeks of hatred and desperation to capture Kwara in a crooked way. He claimed to be a changed man, different from the one that served in the same position five years ago. Such is the ripple effect of fly-by-night memory our dear Prof now accord us – but we forget not. We can forgive and pardon him, unfortunately so, considering that sometimes, eyewitness memory is highly fallible.
Becoming the president’s alter ego no doubt will earn Oba a temporary appointment, however, renewing his ambition of becoming Kwara State governor with cheap propaganda to blackmail younger candidates would amount to an effort in futility. At his age, one would expect Prof Oba to play the role of an elder statesman and bridge the factions within his party and Kwara at large. But no, his selfish ambitions becloud his sense of reasoning. The question is, had Prof Oba’s proposal in 2011 to become the Governor of Kwara State endorsed by Senator Bukola Saraki, would Prof Oba deny ever been favoured by the Sarakis? Kwarans have come of age, the times are really bad indeed. Desperation is the name of the game and Kwarans are ever watchful.
Written by Wale Bakare, Writer at BailiffAfrica & Founder – MediaFactory.
waleflame@gmail.com
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