When the erstwhile Kwara political napoleon waves authority like a supreme leader in one of the Islamic republics with no counterinfluence in the whole of a 16 local government state, no one could ever envisaged that a time could come when he would be nixed ingress into his domain.
Not only was he denied entrance he was, on the authority of the new power in government, also dethroned of a very powerful position during one of the traditional occasion that brings the “dahiris” of Ilorin together.
During the last Durbar, he was undisputably the most powerful and influential man not only in Ilorin, but North central- a geopolitical area the state is strategically located. He was indisputable the third man in a country of about 200 million people. The villa that controls every armed and unarmed “capacity” in the country knows this man for his might.
Whichever view one took of the man called Saraki, one fact stood out clearly: he was very intelligent, a man who knew whatever worth knowing in the science of politics. He understood the language of local politics and deployed it to a great advantage. The gate of his ancestral dynasty palatial premises “Ile-Loke” was left open for poverty-stricken people and political opportunists who swarmed the edifice for food and financial favour; not looking the side of those who hanged their political destinies on this dynast.
True to his tributes, he ruled the state like a ‘garrison’. With the support of old women with much stronger electoral values, foot soldiers, traditional rulers – he mercilessly battled opposition figures both from within and outside.
If there is any lesson learnt in the fall of this former lord, then it’s the power of the unbeknownst, the power of tommorow, and the power of the masses!
When, in the built-up of the 2003 election, ex-Kwara governor, late Muhammad Lawal, was so determined to retained power against all odds, elements opposed to the political overlordship of the Olusola Saraki family that has dominated Kwara political terrain for over 40 years found a rallying point in him.
Lawal was said to have reeled out, at a rally, his commitment to emancipating Kwara State from the “strangulating grip of the oligarchy,” and urged opposition forces to sink their differences and work together. He was quoted as saying, “Saraki’s claim to being the kingpin of Kwara State politics is artificial, because he has only been rigging elections. Our people are fed up with the monopoly of the Sarakis.”
The election that followed was very violent, with both parties adopting the use of cultists to their advantages. Very clearly, one could remember that Lawal family compound was battered with bullets, point which are still observable till date. Also among the several opportunities that played out for Saraki was their ability to tent the people against the incumbent administration of Lawal through progandas, they hope for a better governance and with the support of the Obasanjo federal power, the Sarakis were able to bring down Lawal.
Immediately after assuming power, Saraki rather than facing the business of governance begins a vengeance war, he reversed the 36 local government areas to the original 16. Most of the project embarked on by the dethroned leader was abadoned and water-tanks constructed in strategic positions with inscription “UP LAWAL” where changed and abandoned. Saraki was indeed on a mission to dismantle Lawal’s legacies.
During this period, the state continued dwelling in poverty and infrastructure was left at the mercy of the affected individual who cannot survive outside of having it restructured. The danger posed by this is such that it is so deeply hidden and continue to threatened people’s existence like a timed bomb. The forces of evil have a way of bringing kindred spirits together to fulfill an evil agenda. At that moment, any other dissenting voice could be effectively silenced by this ‘axis of evil’.
It then become obvious that Kwara, a state of great potentials, is in dire straits and one wonders what pushed her into such a state of decline. What is it that has made us unable to exploit their natural gifts, resources and potentials for emancipation of our people to the extent that we were swaming in an ocean of fresh water for decades and yet came out dirty and thirsty? Evidently, the governor-general has no other interest(s) than to destroy his predecessor and have a clear chance in the 2007 elections – so soon? Anyone would have asked!
Had Lawal lived to partake in the election that follows, a majority of people would have agreed that Saraki is surely not only going to lose, but woefully. The dynasty might have become history since 2007.
Consequently, what should have happened in 2007 took another 12 years to see light of the day, no thanks to the perfect rigging mechanisms adopted by the dynasty. Nonetheless, during the trying periods, some zealous grunts stood milled and continued to lighten the gradually burning flame of revolution that will later consume one of the the most powerful and influential dynasty in the history of a Nigeria country. It was quite much difficult to imagine this much-dreaded dynasty – that bestrode the politics of Kwara like a colossus from where they held sway as an oracle and dished out orders that were considered laws – will fall like park of matches.
No one could in totality lay claim to the glory that come with the struggle, but we have benefactors; among these is the current governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq who defeated the dynasty’s prefered candidate, AbdulRasaq Atunwa.
Much like the replica of 2003 election that saw to the fall of one of Kwara’s lately celebrated heros, the 2019 election that brought down “Saraki” and her 40 years rule was as ancipated violent. Gunshots were common from both parties and streets were no longer safe like the ’03’s. The Saraki’s acesteral home, Agbaji was attacked and vehicles destroyed in what seems to be a duplicate of the strike on Lawal’s homestead of Idi-Ape. The opposition have the central power at their disposal like Saraki did then and the masses where eager to complete the Lawal’s struggle(s). At this bimah, everyone knows Saraki is audibly out.
The anticipated victory of Abdulrasaq was widely celebrated not only in Kwara but in Nigeria’s seat of power, somewhere in Abuja. Not entirely because of Abdulrasaq’s rise but Saraki’s fall.
On assumption to office, like the Yoruba popular saying, A ti ki òjé bo oloosa lowo, o ku baba eni ti o bo, “Who is going to remove the charmed bracelet from the wrist of a chief priest?” AbdulRasaq might be taking the Saraki’s “politics of bitternes” footstep. He was said to have outrightly rejected Saraki being enshrined as the guest of honour in the 2019 Durbar ceremony.
Also, when the Abdulfatai Ahmed administration consumated a move by joining list of other states to adopt a new “coat of arms” probably to mark and strengthen a sense of identity for the people in line with the vision of the founding fathers of the state, it was greeted with a loud ovation from every intellectual mind. Everyone was much interested in the message the new emblem passes.
At any first glance, any nonnative requires no one to tell that the said logo encapsulates the glaring diversities of the state. The Arewa logo stands gallantly in middle of a well-plotted graphics connoting the presence of Northern Emirate in Ilorin and most part of Kwara North. The cowries comping the Kwara south Yoruba’s inherent, with the tractor showing our arable farm-land. The cow celebrates the rich Fulani/nomadic presence among others and water graphics exhibit the abundance of water in some part of the state.
However, in what seems to be a desperately inane move of an abecedarian administration, the governor blared that the state is reverting back to the national coat of arm. Immediately, there were hue and cry which raged like those tropical storms for which the West Indies and the Americas are famous. But in-depth the outcry, the message is gradually sinking into the sub-conscious of many a ordinary Kwaran that there might be more to some of the step the new administration is taking than what it want people to believe.
What the governor’s handlers failed to riddle out while adjuring the newbie governor is surely admonishing him of Saraki’s mistakes that cost him “eternity”.
However, this does not remove the fact that he is one of Nigerian finest governors to demystify the arts of extravagant spending in governance, the governor is well disciplined that he is said not to wait for his protocols to go out for uninformed facility tours across the state, to personally ascertain situation of things by himself. He goes out in Ilorin in a Hilux vehicle with two back up cars without siren. Such is his simplicity.
The governor that has sent signals since his first day in office has indeed display his readiness for governance, from education, to health, to water, to infrastructure, to social among other sectors. It wouldn’t be overemphasised, at this stage, to call him a Messiah. He is indeed fortified for a rebranded regime but beclouded by bitterness!
After all said, HAVE WE SUCCESSFULLY REMIND OUR HUMBLE, FINE, DETERMINED, PROGRESSIVE, ADVANCED, INTELLIGENT AND SOPHISTICATED ABDULRAHMAN ABDULRASAQ OF ABUBAKAR BUKOLA SARAKI’S COSTLY MISTAKE!