The same authority he is brandishing will soon displace him. He will be completely de-robed and become one of us in no distance time.
Femi Adeoti
That Ibadan early morning debacle won’t go away so easily. No matter the labour of those in constituted authority to consign it to the dustbin of our awful history, it would remain with us for a long time to come. It is a distance runner.
On that Sunday, August 19, 2018, there was a rude shock in the opening hours of the day. The city was thrown into an uproar. What happened? The Oyo State Government went very early to work. Strange?
How did it play out? Let’s on our own craft the ugly drama this way: The bulldozer took off from its Agodi, Ibadan, premises, with renewed vigour. That was the same period Christian faithful were equally preparing for church.
So, this weapon of demolition roared angrily all through the notorious Oje-Gate bus stop. It tore its way down to Bere, Bode to Molete. It climbed up to Challenge, heading towards the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
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Certainly, that was not its preferred destination. Just then, it applied its brakes to a violent halt. The time was 4.15 a.m. or thereabouts. It must not miss its target: The Music House, directly opposite Conoil Petrol Station. The building is owned by Yinka Ayefele, the popular wheelchair-bound Yoruba gospel musician. Unfortunately, that was the victim of the hungry bulldozer.
Having sighted its prey, promptly, a huge C-caution was placed on the dual carriage: “Government (violence?) at work.” The space secured, the bulldozer moved to action. It hit the building hard many times over.
The result? The house could not play music anymore. Heavy damage was inflicted on the N800 million property. That opened the stage to different narratives and counter-narratives. The rest is speedily becoming disgusting history.
Nevertheless, in the furore that trailed the demolition, government completely got all its fingers burnt. Yet the outcry refused to go away. It continued to hunt and haunt the constituted authority, whatever that means.
The authority’s outbursts and utterances at different stages did not help matters. The more they poured out, the more they were messed up.
We are seriously unserious in this weird and wild clime. I can safely repeat this as many times as time will permit me, even without qualms. The authority behaves as if we are in a “dignified” animal kingdom.
We are extremely lousy and uncouth in our actions and inactions, the very reason we are in constant and unending quagmires. We shamelessly thrive in frivolities and trivialities at the same time. It has become our own bizarre way of life.
The inner minds of leaders are particularly queer, eccentric and devilish. All these happenings have given them away. Their thoughts towards us are exposed as evil thoughts. Nothing more.
That Ibadan demolition was a sad reminder of the old Wild, Wild, West (WWW). Funny characters are still on the prowl, constituting the authority. That demolition was sickening and irritating. It ought not to have happened.
From its conception to implementation, it was a bad project.
It could not have achieved anything good, because it was not meant to. It was anchored on someone’s fantasy and delusion.
It was prejudiced. A tactless revenge carried too far. No explanation could have exonerated the super-destroyers. The government could not find the right word to explain away the action.
They laboured hard, cajoled and threatened, all to no avail. They could not sway the public sympathy from Ayefele. Things could not have worked in their favour.
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They ignorantly labelled all the compassion and encomiums poured on Ayefele as sentiments. Yes, why not, if not? They cannot run away from that. Everything about that demolition is sentimental. They asked for it and got it in good measure.
Government realised its goof rather pretty late. It lost some very vital grounds in the process. The word of our mouth is like an egg. Once it drops out, it can never be gathered. It goes viral instantly, causing monumental embarrassment.
No matter your efforts and prayers, a broken fresh and uncooked egg can no longer be put together again. It is wasted forever once it touches the ground. So, it is all about sentiment; and we must be sentimental about it.
A physically-challenged man going out of his way to make life meaningful for those who are able. And one able-bodied man would flaunt his constituted authority recklessly! He acts God in his anger. What do you call that other than sentiment?
The same authority he is brandishing will soon displace him. He will be completely de-robed and become one of us in no distance time.
Forget all the latter-day palliatives they are dangling around. That would not hold water. They are after-thoughts. That only confirmed government’s regrets. That the building was not meant to be demolished, but “merely” to be damaged. It was to display the raw power of the characters in position of authority. Power show.
Methinks government could have opted for this: “Let’s say he (Ayefele) contravened some laws, as they said. What I would have expected the government to do is to regularise it and penalise him for not being diligent enough for approval.
“The building is not disturbing the flood, not sitting on the canal and not crossing any gutter. But if it is a question of not getting approval for staircase, canteen, kitchen and others, they can penalise him, but not to pull down the whole building.” Those were the words of ex-Governor Rasheed Ladoja. You may ignore the messenger and pick the message. Certainly, you cannot afford to throw away the birth water with the baby. Yoruba would tell you: “Ori gige koni ogun ori fifo.” Meaning: “Cutting the head is not the solution to a headache.”
True? False? Both?