Before their crusade was hijacked by hoodlums and sponsored political thugs, many credible voices in our nation had praised our EndSARS’ crusading youths for good use of modern technology during their well-organized crusade against police brutality and mismanagement of not only our scarce resources but also our crisis of nation-building by successive political leaders benefiting from the nation’s nightmare.
Afenifere and Ohaneze leadership praised the youths for waking up to their historic responsibilities but condemned the anarchy and massive destruction of state and private properties. Pastor Tunde Bakare who prides himself for leading major protests in Lagos and Abuja since the beginning of the fourth republic praised the youths for their initiative but equally condemned them for their youthful exuberance and inexperience, the reasons their crusade was hijacked by hoodlums and disgruntled politicians who according to northern leaders wanted a regime change.
Besides losing 80 buses valued at over N3billion, Lagos State also lost the High Court Complex, Igbosere; Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre, Broad Street; Ejigbo LCDA secretariat; City Hall, Lagos Island; COVID-19 warehouse at Monkey Village; Ajeromi Ifelodun LG secretariat; and NPA head office, Marina to arsonists.
Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos State police commissioner also told Lagosians that besides complete burning of “16 police stations and 13 police formations”, some private facilities, as well as other investments including the Oba of Lagos’ Palace; Television Continental (TVC) ; Access Bank, GTBank and Ebeano Supermarket at Victoria Island; The Nation office at Fatai Atere Street, Mushin; Shoprite Malls at Ajah; LTV 8, Alausa, Ikeja; Samsung outlet at Apple Roundabout, Festac; Shoprite at Festac; and Samsung Office, Oyingbo”, were torched or vandalized. All the six southwest governors as well as the their 17 senators have visited the governor of Lagos to assess the scale of the destruction.
But for Bode George, who prides himself as the only “son of the soil”, all the above loses paled into insignificance when it comes to settling political scores with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his political rival in Lagos. In fact, by crooked syllogism, he seems to link the massive destruction of Lagos to grievances of youths over Tinubu’s alleged ownership of some business concerns including the torched media houses. The argument however flies on his face when it is realized that Bola Tinubu whose media houses were torched never worked or took federal government contract, while many media houses located in Lagos whose owners are in court defending their integrity over suspicious financial transactions with federal government were spared.
But Nigerian youths including the hoodlums who moved around selectively torching private properties must be reminded Bode George all through his political career has loved none but self.
Let us do a critical analysis of his records as military administrator of Ondo State. He along Sasaenia Oresanya and Mohammed Lawal as governors of Odua states sold 60% of the then 24 years old Cocoa Industry Limited (CIL) to Emerald Holdings at an amount less than the N9million cost of the land on which it was located despite Messrs. Onakanmi and Partners post-SFEM N97,958,000 valuation. Their embarrassed predecessors, Governors Adisa of Oyo, Abiodun Olukoya and Oladeinde Joseph of Ondo and Ogun respectively were forced to breach esprits de corps of the military by resurrecting the case “because the participation of those that really produced the cocoa has not been reflected” in the sharing of ISL.
Africa Concord alleged the administrator Bode George alone awarded contract for 34 months, disbursed Ondo State funds without following civil service rule or laid down procedures. It alleged the artificial water fountains he built at N250,000 each, all packed up after commissioning. He was also accused of giving out cars as Christmas hampers and that he spent N398,000 to print his portrait in 17 months. Sixy per cent of Ile-oluji Cocoa Industries he sold to Majekodunimi ventures was also said to have been reversed by his successor.
Finally, the magazine also claimed that whereas Igbokoda to Aiyetoro by speed boat was 45 minutes, George spent five harrowing hours for the same trip during the maiden voyage with a N2m faulty boat he allegedly bought from one Alhaji Garba Lawal.
While one was not sure if all these were parts of attempt at character assassination, Bode George had an option of going to court to redeem his image but opted to leave his defence in the hands of his self-christened “Lagos boys, proud owners of “gleaming Mercedes Benz V Boot cars”, who were always in Ondo to party every weekend. And unfortunately, instead of defence, they embarked on proxy war against Yoruba non-Lagosians working in Lagos.
If our youths want to know the colour of one who pretends to be their friend, the only person Bode George who has fought Obasanjo, PDP at national level and at Lagos level has not fought is Bode George.
As for fire-spitting Femi Fani-Kayode, he had long before the Lekki Toll Gate tragedy, embarked on free deployment of incendiary language, talking of “price tag and butchers bill”, “dogs of war and demons of hell”; ‘of government plan to deploy soldiers on our streets to slaughter EndSARS protesters in the same way that the Shiite Muslims and IPOB youths were once slaughtered by the military and security forces” and of threat to “turn the #Endsars movement into the #EndNigeria movement” which no force or power in hell or on earth will be able to resist or stop”.
Here again our youths need a bit of history.
Femi was like his illustrious father Chief Remi Fani-Kayode whose “introduction to Nigerian politics began in the early fifties with a series of articles which reminded one of Hitler’s Mien Kampt’’ {Aiyekooto P 366). The exploits secured for him the leadership of the youth wing of Action Group (AG), to which he soon added a militant wing called ‘Mosquitoes Squad’ which relentlessly tormented Yoruba detractors notably NPC, NCNC and the colonial masters.
As a politician, he was described by Victor Bisi Onabanjo as having “the courage of a mischief maker who knows how to exploit a situation”. He immediately unleashed his ‘mosquito squad’, on his former party after decamping to NCNC kin 1959. The romance here also was short. It is on record that it was Fani-Kayode who as the leader of Western Region NCNC, signed a petition alleging that “under Dr Ikejiani (Zik’s friend), two-thirds of vacancy of Railway Corporation’s senior posts were held by Igbo, three-quarters in Nigerian Ports Authority while they controlled Nigerian Airways, Ibadan University, Ibadan Teaching Hospital, Yaba Technical College and three quarters of foreign service postings”.
Fast forward to the 4th Republic. Femi Fani Kayode abandoned Obasanjo’s PDP and joined APC from where he deployed verbal arsenal at Jonathan. His hostility against Jonathan did not last long. He was to later swallow his vomit with an alleged budget of about N14b to launder the image of Jonathan. Then he became a Yoruba irredentist and wrestled the Igbo to the ground for claiming ‘Lagos was no man’s land’. Then he found himself in detention along with some Igbo who like him allegedly partook in the Dasuki’s mismanaged $2.1b arms funds. Just then then he realized the enemy of Yoruba and Nigeria is President Buhari along his Fulani ethnic group that supply his Yoruba people 10,000 heads of cow every day.
If our youths must also know, Femi Fani Kayode’s loyalty is as short as his temper.
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