At the end of time, it is said that several unbelievable things would be happening such as people openly rebelling against God and giving recognition to overtly satanic, shameful and immoral cause in desperate bid to satisfy human greed and avarice.

Last week, the executive committee of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), the apolitical umbrella body for all Ilorin indigenes spanning at least five local government areas of Kwara State,  published an advertorial to declare support for the aspiration of Senator Bukola Saraki who appears very desperate to occupy the seat of the Senate President and chairman of the National Assembly.

Shameless and very dangerous, that political action (taking an advertorial to openly back the political aspiration of Bukola Saraki) was the first since the body was established in 1943.

For reasons that would be explained in this article, it is very disheartening and shameless that the IEDPU would put up a paid advertorial to openly canvass support for Bukola who has a history of denigrating the people and culture of Ilorin Emirate. One is therefore constrained to conclude that those at the helm of affairs of the highly respected body appear to be using the body for personal gains and not in the interest of the Ilorin community.  That advertorial could not have been the official position of the union (as no meeting was ever called to arrive at such a consequential action) but that of some few attention-seeking fellows who may be using the union for personal gains.  Indeed, if a meeting is scheduled with Bukola today, there are many elder statesmen and strong members of the union who are ordinarily supposed to be part of the delegation who will deliberately refuse to attend, simply because of what Bukola represents to them: unprecedented arrogance and disdain for common good.

Could IEDPU executives have quickly forgotten the humiliation and embarrassment caused the body by the same Bukola Saraki in 2012, when in far-away Saudi Arabia, he publicly tongue-lashed them before the entire Kwara contingent in Mecca, calling them opposition party and challenging them to float a political party and meet him at the next poll if they were freeborn? People still keep the audio recording of that infamously arrogant address.  Has he publicly apologised to the IEDPU for that affront?  The answer is certainly in the negative.

Besides, the antics of Bukola to scuttle the last IEDPU election are still fresh in the memories of Ilorin people.  The same Bukola, realizing that he could not manipulate the last executive council headed by the highly-respected Honourable Justice Saka Yusuf, first tried to impose a new president by sponsoring one of his sidekicks Prof Salihu Hassan to head such an important body.  One of Bukola’s former commissioners and SSG was given the script to play, with a very deep pocket.  The whole of Ilorin community resisted such derring-do, hoping that the present executives will be as upright as the former one.  Ilorin people would also recall that Bukola also tried to form a parallel body in opposition to the community umbrella body. Again he failed woefully.  Knowing Bukola very well, he will not rest on his oars and clearly the next move he made is what resulted in the advertorial.

“Ema ro wipe ago fa eyin executives IEDPU” – the IEDPU executives should never take us for fools. They claimed in the infamous advertorial that their reason for doing it is community interest and any other indigenes of Ilorin who find themselves in a similar situation will be supported in the like manner.  And one again is forced to ask: how many of such gestures did the IEDPU extend to Ilorin sons and daughters in similar situations in the past? Or is this the first time an Ilorin man is in a political contest or desires the supports of his community? When the military government of General Muhammadu Buhari in 1983 threw some politicians into detention (including Bukola’s father, the late Olusola Saraki) and the late Alhaji Akanbi Oniyangi, which advertorial did the IEDPU place calling for the release of their indigenes?   When the late General Idiagbon was in detention, tell us your advertorial calling for his release.  When the late General Abdulkareem Adisa was on death row during Abacha’s regime, we did not see any communal efforts championed by the IEDPU to ensure Adisa was released.  Quite interestingly at the same time, the people of Ogun state through their various development associations came out strongly in support of General Oladipo  Diya.  The late Alake of Egbaland  was quoted as saying: “upon all, the fact still remains that Diya is our son and we cannot forsake him.” Are these distinguished individuals from Ilorin not as worthy indigenes as Bukola?

As recent as this current dispensation, this same Bukola was blocking a fellow Ilorin indigene (Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem) from being cleared as the Chairman of Federal Character Commission just because the latter decided to put paid to the usual game of sycophancy.  This issue dominated the national media and led to serious drama on the floor of the senate.  Senators from other parts of Nigeria, at some point, exposed what Bukola did to massage his ego. Was there any public statement from the IEDPU to support Oba or condemn Bukola despite the importance of that position to your community? Of course not. “Eberu Olohun fa!”

The narrative above, which is a study in Bukola’s arrogance and self-preservation,  exposes the hypocrisy of the IEDPU’s claim in the advertorial that Bukola is a humble person. Indeed, if there is any attribute for which this man is known nationally, it is his trademark arrogance. If genuinely in the opinion of IEDPU Bukola is humble, then there is something wrong with the sense of assessment of the signatories.  That means only the two of them cannot see what is patent about this man.  Could it be that the signatories have invented a new dictionary meaning for humility to accommodate a person like Bukola? And if it is just a case of “omo wani (he is our son),” let us cover him with the veil of humility, then  this is also hypocrisy of the highest order.  Either way, it is very pathetic, especially when one of the signatories is a revered Arabic/Islamic scholar and who has always worn the toga of uprightness.  Is this how people change suddenly?

No wonder, at the last economic summit organized by the IEDPU in 2014, one of these signatories was making spirited efforts to defend the collection of rice “iresi” and other items from Bukola, struggling to differentiate between the union and their individual personalities.  We warned you repeatedly nothing is free, not even in Freetown.  “Ema gba inkankan lowo re, ema gba inkankan lowo omo yi (do not accept compromising gift from him)”, this is the result.  “Enu tije dandan ni ki oju oti (gifts have a way of compromising the taker)”.  The advertorial appears to be a payback time. But the IEDPU should watch its steps.

Mayaki writes from Ilorin, Kwara State capital.