By Chidi Obineche
EKITI STATE governor Mr Ayo Fayose in the perception of many people have assumed the ranks of the enfant terrible of this political dispensation. And he earned it. While his colleagues have taken a flight into reticent hibernation, away from the pellets and concomitant troubles that their visibility and activism may attract, he has apparently chosen to dare and be bold. He has gaudily taken on the federal government on all fronts, from the sublime to the ridiculous, sparing nothing. His opposition to the government has taken the dimension of a struggle, a huge business complete with a format and collateral. So much is the governor consumed by this flame, that some have come to dub him a “one man army”. Perhaps, his latest tryst with the presidency over the freezing of his personal account with Zenith bank may go down as one of the most acerbic in his long list of confrontations. The stormy petrel had gone to a branch of the bank located on Bank/ Secretariat road Ado- Ekiti for transactions when he discovered that his account has been frozen. Visibly enraged, Fayose frothed from the mouth letting out umbrage and in the process took on the wife of the president Aisha Buhari, linking her with the Halliburton scandal in the United states. “ There was a judgment against the wife of the president where she wired $170,000 to Jefferson that was convicted in the Halliburton scandal.
“If she wants to deny that we will publish in the newspapers. The government is more corrupt than ever How could somebody stealing a cow be pursuing someone that stole a mouse. They are using force and harassment to intimidate the opposition.” Not one that runs away from a fight , he declared that “ I fight everyday and God grants me victory every day.” The scurrilous attack on the wife of the president was enough to draw the flak of the government and brought to the fore again, controversies surrounding section 308, of the 1999 constitution which confers immunity on sitting governors. The development has also engendered huge interest on the fight against corruption by this regime, and the distinctive criticism of the president the governor assigned to himself. Psycho –analysts are also falling over each other to understand and situate the nature and conditioning of the governor’s battle with the president. Literally, Hypomania is a state characterized by persistent dis- inhibition. Hypo maniacs are extremely energetic, talkative and confident. While hypo manic behavior often generates productivity and excitement, it can become troublesome if the person engages in risky or otherwise inadvisable behaviours. Individuals in a hypo manic state have a decreased need for sleep, are extremely outgoing and competitive, have a great deal of energy and are always fully functioning (unlike full mania).
Despite his travails, Fayose has earned golden epaulettes for his consistency, doggedness, and most of all, his pro- people lifestyle. Like him, or hate him ,his strength and the power of his equivocation resonates with his beliefs and abiding principles.
Born on November 13, 1960, He grew up in Ibadan, Oyo state where he attended Olivet Baptist high school, Oyo. In 1998, he began to build the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP from scratch. In 2003, he won election to become the governor of the state. From 2003 – 2006, when he was impeached, he was about the most troubled and distracted governor in Nigeria. He bounced back again in 2014, against all odds and has since been immersed in battle on all fronts.