For weeks running, there has been a resurgence of hostilities on the pages of newspapers regarding  Kwara politics. Starting from Kawu Modibbo to Ishaq Abdullahi in the Vanguard and then Bolakale Abdulkadir in the Tribune, the writers attempted to paint a picture of what happened during the last gubernatorial election in the state, which cost the flag bearer of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), M.D Belgore, electoral victory. Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, won the election with a total of 259, 969 votes to beat Belgore who scored 152,580 votes. The election of Governor Ahmed has since been reaffirmed by the apex court.

Although I am not from Kwara State, I have the privilege of knowing the politics of the state having lived my growing and education years in the state. The Modibbo's  "M.D. Belgore and the unfinished work in Kwara", published in the Vanguard newspaper of March 15, full of illusions and delusion, appropriately passes for a voyage of vendetta for someone who identified himself as Belgore's cousin and openly confessed to "personally linked to his campaign.

While asserting that MDB candidacy galvanized the youths,  Modibbo, affirms that "the most difficult issue all through, was the choice of platform, the ACN" and concluded that the majority of the people of Kwara State do not equate Bola Tinubu and his ACN platform with liberation. 

I fully align with Ishaq Abdullah in his "How Modibbo Kawu got it wrong on MD Belgore/ACN/Tinubu" that the Kawu's assertion constitutes  " a veiled reference to the so-called Hausa/Fulani-Yoruba rivalry in Ilorin, a position which erroneously gives the people away as backward folks still trapped in primordial ethnic chauvinism, at a time the norm all over the world is de-emphasising  ethnic bickering and embracing the concept of brotherhood and pursuit of good governance. 

But beyond that, the assertion shows that in spite of Kawu's acclaimed education and exposure, he is still neck deep in the politics of ethnicity and genealogy. He probably, loathes the Sarakis and Tinubu, not because they have not sacrificed their today's comfort for the tomorrow of their people, but possibly because both do not belong to his lineage and have not invited him to share in his perceived turning "the state and its resources into something close to a sole proprietorship".  

I feel strongly that as a people interested in the unity of the nation such chauvinistic tendencies should not have arisen in the first place. If we must move forward in this nation, we must do well to divorce these infantile dispositions from our body politics and cast our votes to the candidates we feel has the potentials to deliver people-oriented programmes, tribe, religion or background notwithstanding. As if that was not enough, Kawu, again, got it absolutely wrong when he posited that "Bukola Saraki, deep down in his mind, knew that he was almost completely rejected by the youths, especially in the Ilorin Emirate", a position also adopted by Ishaq Abdullah, in whose imagination, it meant  demystifying the myth of invincibility long built around the Sarakis. 

The truth remains that these warped submissions exist only in widest imaginations of their proponents since the INEC form EC8 does not have columns for the young or the old.

A general breakdown of the Kwara gubernatorial result shows that in Kwara Central, ACN had 87,274 representing a little above 36 percent of the total 239,862 votes from the zone. Put together, the PDP and the ACPN, which undoubtedly represented the Sarakis as myopically insinuated by the Kawus, had 327,136 votes representing over 63 percent of the total vote cast.

In Kwara South, the perceived heartbeat of the ACN, the 'demystified' Sarakis scored 66.17 percent of the total votes while, ACN had just 33.82 percent of the votes. The story is not different in Kwara north senatorial zone where the Sarakis scored 82.85 percent with ACN scoring 17.14 percent. Where, then, lies the rejection of the Sarakis? Kawu made several other preposterous allusions, which for space, will be issues for another day.

On his part, too, Ishaq Abdullah also got it wrong in many instances. Trying to represent a case that has failed concurrently at tribunal, the Appeal and Supreme courts, Ishaq failed to establish one common fact, more than any other, that decided the direction of the votes during the said election, which is the person of MD Belgore. I do not claim to know all, but only a few voters knew MD Belgore so well to entrust him with their votes. This may sound awkward, but that is the truth. For most voters, MD Belgore was a stranger, who though a Kwara native, lived all his life in Lagos and still lives in Lagos till date. 

On whether the youths voted for MD Belgore en masse or not, available facts point to the opposite direction. While one cannot say that he did not enjoy the patronage of some youths who share his ethnic and religious sentiments, most people hold strongly that the little inroad M.D Belgore made, particularly in Kwara Central, was possible because he flew the ethnic card. If it was something more, why did he not impress in Kwara South, which is traditionally an opposition stronghold?  And, why his abysmal showing in Kwara north?

Interestingly, Abdullah had sought some measure of respect for Senator Bola Tinubu, whom he insists has done so much for the South-west to stand tall in the region's political turf. I agree with him. Tinubu deserves some respect having done so much for his people in the South-west. It is the same way I strongly feel that the Sarakis also deserve respect, having given their all to the service, growth and development of Kwara State and doing so for more than 40 years. I see this talk of 'fed up' as a calculated and deliberate effort to demonize the Saraki family in the face of their enormous contributions at the state and national level.

Or, could anyone have expected that as the first civilian governor to serve two terms in the state, Dr. Saraki would not have made enough friends or built a strong political support that would make him indispensable in the politics of the state?  Or, could it be imagined that the people of Kwara would not appreciate the Sarakis goodwill for the state in form of strong relationship, which could influence the choice of who gets what, politically in the state? It is mere wishful thinking to wish the Sarakis away. Thankfully, Abdullah admitted this when he said: "Personality cult' in politics is rooted everywhere in the world: the Kennedys, the Ghandis and Nkrumahs and if you like, the Mandelas and now our own Buhari in Nigeria. In the United States, the Democratic Party was almost synonymous with the Kennedys. Look at the record high endorsement Obama got minutes after the patriarch of the Kennedys family endorsed him to be democratic flag bearer in 2008."

I agree with him that nature has endowed certain individuals more than the rest. It is divine that persons such as the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu whose presence at the campaign venue of the incumbent governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, swayed voters to vote for the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whose philosophies still stand firm in the South-west decades after death and, today, Tinubu. Therefore, why would anyone deny the Sarakis a position, which only God knew why he made them a special breed in Kwara?  It is cheap blackmail to always throw into the debate the issue of hatred for the Sarakis by the Kwara people! There is no such thing except that it exists in the imaginations of the likes of Kawu. Having said that, I think what should matter now is the things that we see on ground. Even party affiliation or personality cult, apologies Abdullah, will not win the people over if the dividends of democracy are not delivered.  But today, in Kwara State, only the blind will not see the progress being made by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. Since progress and even development are all the people are looking for, I think the Kwara people should throw their support behind the incumbent governor and shun campaigns of calumny, greed and religious jingoism. Everyone must join hands to put an end to unbridled search for relevance for some individuals who mean no good for the larger majority.

• Salako writes from Lagos