By: Ibrahim A. Okanlawon.
A few points came together since last week, that brought out the level of irresponsibility at the heart of politics in Kwara State. There was the “long-awaited suspension” of Modibbo Kawu as Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC). I said it was long-awaited, because as a Kwaran who has followed the stories about the man, we knew that the evil forces of Kwara politics, led by the snake from Sanmora, Lai Muhammed, have been having sleepless nights, looking for ways to get rid of Modibbo, ever since he was appointed to the position. Very few watchers of Kwara politics, have forgotten Lai Muhammed’s anger, when Modibbo Kawu joined the governorship race in 2018. Lai told his boys that he wouldn’t allow Modibbo to get the ticket and he will work to remove him as Director General of NBC. The ICPC court case became the excuse that Lai Muhammed has exploited to achieve Modibbo Kawu’s suspension from work. And as we all await the court’s ruling on the matter on March 26th, Lai Muhammed’s miserable life is only just beginning to unfold before the whole world. The first issue that will haunt him forever, is why he would be the approval authority for the payment of the N2.5B and yet deliberately refused to affirm that the money was properly paid. How does his conscience hold up, to see the recently deceased Chairman of Pinnacle Communications in court for about one year, when from all that we have read in newspapers, he was the one that made the man to commit his funds to the project. Was Lai Muhammed not the same man that we saw on a recent TVC documentary, praising the late Mr Lucky Omoluwa, as an “uncommon patriot” for his contribution to the DSO? Yet he betrayed the man to death, just as he is betraying a son of Kwara state, Modibbo Kawu, by the suspension that they said he procured through the ICPC case, from the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF). Lai Muhammed the snake, has clearly shown the world that he doesn’t care about the political health of Kwara state. The man is a Minister representing Kwara in the federal cabinet, but he is working to destroy one of the few Kwarans working at the level of a Director General, in a grade A commission. And this is a commission that he directly supervises. Lai Muhammed the treacherous snake will crawl back into his Lagos hole, when his pitiful life as Minister ends in Abuja. But he would have caused untold damage to the aspirations of our dear state.
The other fallout from Modibbo Kawu’s suspension, since last week, was the emergence of the ridiculous video montage that was produced by the Saraki political group, targeted at destroying Modibbo Kawu. They centered that on the issue of the sum of N2.5B. Well, truth is constant. Even the ICPC that is trying Modibbo Kawu in court, didn’t ever allege that he stole the money. They took him to court, with the argument that he MISLED the Minister of Information to APPROVE the payment of N2.5B. How does a person who prepared a memo, MISLEAD the person approving money? Does the buck of responsibility not stop with the person approving? That is the normal thing. But not in the case that ICPC has against Modibbo Kawu. There was a political agenda from the beginning of the case, to remove him at all cost, because Lai Muhammed’s Lagos political team want to appoint their own person into the position, in preparation for the 2023 elections. The court will rule on March 26th on the issue. But for the pigs of the Saraki political group, the facts of the issue are not important. They are still very angry about the role that Modibbo Kawu played for several years to expose their boss, Bukola Saraki, and his thieving hegemony in Kwara state. So the court case and suspension came as an opportunity to hit below the belt. Their tasteless video was full of lies, as one normally expects to get from the disgraced and discredited Saraki hegemony. Kwarans are not fools. We know those who stole us blind for 16 years; those who desecrated everything decent about Kwara; we have not forgotten the political machinery that turned our young people into thugs; young ladies into prostitutes; and elderly women into beggars. We know that it is the Saraki hegemony that used the Ile Arugbo as the alter of ritual shedding of the blood of our people, on at least three different occasions. Hundreds died there, just like their theft deprived millions of Kwarans good schools; decent medical facilities and so many good things of life. We know those who sold our state assets to themselves; we all know the so-called leader that ruined three banks: Societe Generale Trade Bank and Intercontinental. Surely, we Kwarans know you, and we know the role that Modibbo Kawu played in opening our eyes to see who your boss, Bukola Saraki, is. He enlightened us with his pen and exposed your boss as a common criminal. That is why you hate him so much. His present issue is clear to all reasonable people. No amount of video blackmail or photoshop will change the nature of truth. Modibbo Kawu belongs to the forces of liberation in Kwara state. And Bukola Saraki and his hegemony have been swept into the dustbin of history, where they belong. Won oni wa mo. Lailai!
And it came as no surprise, that another well-known snake, Abdulwahab Oba, stammered his way out from the hole this week, to write about Modibbo Kawu. Can the stammerer-in-Chief, Abdulwahab Oba please tell Kwara state those things that Modibbo Kawu benefitted from the Saraki? He should list them for all of us to know. Modibbo Kawu was first GM of KWTV, appointed in 1997, after coming first in an interview, among 13 people. He was appointed by Colonel Peter Ogar, not Saraki. He resigned in 2002, under Gov Muhammed Lawal, to become pioneer Editor of Daily Trust newspaper, again not appointed by Saraki. He was pioneer Chairman of the Editorial Board of BLUEPRINT newspapers, not appointed by Saraki. He was a Delegate to the 2014 National Conference, not nominated by Saraki. So the stammerer should stammer out what Modibbo Kawu got from Saraki or should return to his hole of disgrace. He crawled on his belly to be appointed Press Secretary and believes everyone is like himself. And maybe he has forgotten, but I have just been told this week, that he once begged Modibbo Kawu to be employed by Daily Trust. Try and remember that Abdulwahab Oba.
The situation has changed in Kwara state. Our people removed the thieving Saraki hegemony, after 16years of locust. We are far too enlightened now to have wool put across our eyes. And we know the character of many individuals. Those who think they can destroy the reputation of someone like Modibbo Kawu are deluding themselves. The facts, history and consistency speak for the man. Being suspended by Lai Muhammed the treacherous snake will not change that.
Ibrahim A. Okalawon lives in Agbo Oba.