By Busuyi Mekusi

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Arakunrin Akeredolu walked away conveniently from this side of the divide, as if the attractions of his office were no longer as important as we always feel. He succumbed to death, not because he was fearful, but because the courage he had was given to him by death, which he had in his porch like Fela Anikulapo. The jovial nature of Arakunrin was lost in a world filled with hates, and his courage was diminished by the cacophonies of a people ruled by fear. His feebleness was said to have been exploited by his handlers, his office has someone else taken. Even though he gave his commitment to finish his tenure after returning from treatment in Germany in September, 2023, he could not return to relinquish the mandate the people of Ondo State gave to him, but the performance of power, through constitutionality, made transfer of authority possible vicariously.

I had hoped, like others, that Arakunrin would survive the desire of some to knit the Gbedu drum with his Egiri skin. The star fell and dimmed the space it used to illuminate, and his prophetic declaration to diminish for Aiyedatiwa to increase, like John did of Jesus Christ in the Bible, remains a reference point in how the word remains an egg. While the effusion of condolences for Arakunrin Akeredolu is noble, the discreet relishing of people that wanted to benefit from his death is an act for secret places. For them, they are elated that the stubborn fellow is no more, and they can pop Champaign. Like the inevitable departure of a forerunner, who must recede for his successor to appreciate, Akeredolu has left the stage, and the space or world (Aiye) now belongs to a lucky man, whose head attracts good things, for a time and chance. 

The parables inherent in the recession of Akeredolu, and ascension of Aiyedatiwa, would not go away in a hurry, as the quest for Alagbaka in this year’s gubernatorial election is intractably webbed in new intrigues and idioms. The decision of Aiyedatiwa either to run or not would determine the weight of his burden, and the speed of his movement in the few months bonus he has to complete the tenure he started with Akeredolu. As political necessity and correctness doubly confront the brand new governor in a brand new year, one does not pity him for being so lucky in an intricate web that would make decision making not only onerous, but forcing one to cohabit with poisonous snakes that once spitted venoms. With the resignation of some former appointees of Akeredolu, who would not negotiate their loyalty to him with the new Sheriff, it is not yet clear how the remaining ones with either virulent ambitions and ambivalent loyalty would weather the storm, where Aiyedatiwa is the new coast guard. The unification assignment Tinubu gave to Aiyedatiwa is another ball game.

Jesus Christ would use parables in the Bible to reinforce his statements, particularly when he needed to limit comprehension, or avoid ruffling feathers. One of such occasions was when he had an engagement with Scribes and Pharisees. The Scribes and Pharisees had interrogated some of his actions and statements, and felt he was being blasphemous, leading Jesus to use two related parables in the book of Luke, chapter 5, verses 36 and 38. The first one is that no man puts a piece of new garment upon an old one, while the second one dictates that no one puts a new wine inside old bottles. Doing so would make the cloth to tear and the bottles to burst. To this end, to avoid turmoil, new wine must be put in new bottles. Unfortunately, either by option or compulsion, people do put new wine in old bottles, with the attendant avoidable combustive implications.

Some literatures acknowledge that January 1 was chosen partly to honour the Roman god of beginning, Janus, with the failed attempt made by medieval Christians to replace the date with more religiously significant dates. The January 1 signpost was said to have been achieved in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII when he created a revised calendar that officially recognised the date as New Year’s Day. 

Each time humans transit between old and New Year, various emotional investments go into it, with newness being belaboured in a bizarre manner. It is the practice that some would wash their used cloths, sweep and mop their residences, dispose off thrash, settle old brawls, etc., as part of the attainment of the newness required for the New Year, some habits, problems, desires, goals, aspirations, etc, would remain old vestiges, with the virtue of inseparability with the newness of the New Year. People move, very desperately, from rented accommodation to their self-built houses, whether completed or not, as part of the newness they like to experience in the New Year. Some even undertake New Year resolutions, that would see them dropping old negative attitudes and assuming new positive ones, but such new-found ways would filter away, given the pretentious posturing of the human agency, who is still in love with the old beneficial liabilities he seeks to extricate himself from. Self discipline remains the best thing that can happen to anyone!

The New Year speeches of Aiyedatiwa and Tinubu also responded to the imperatives of quest for newness in some ways. For instance, among some others, Aiyedatiwa’s speech dwelt on unification and cohesion, in the face of variegation; commitment to the welfare of the people; warning political gladiators to eschew violence in pursuit of their ambitions. This is as the bottle of the cabinet of Aiyedatiwa is still dominated by the old wine of executive members that were appointed by, and served in the regime of, Akeredolu. Doyin Odebowale, the Senior Special Assistant to Akeredolu on Special Duties and Strategy, who resigned his appointment after the death of his former principal, has been characteristically cantankerous, with his garrulous outbursts in recent times assaulting the sensibilities of the grieving family of Akeredolu, the good people of Ondo State, and the loving memory of the gallant Amotekun Commander. Hate him or like him, Odebowale has the capacity to see evil, talk about evil, and damn evil! Regrettably, all the revelations he is now making in defence of his friend of 30 years is like crying when the head is already off.

It is not nebulous that Aiyedatiwa has his James, John and Peter, who are assured of the larger part of his heart, mostly when the issue of the First Lady is still being recalibrated for a newness that will help ward off the past controversies of domestic battering. It is not also lost on him that the betrayers that helped him with scared secrets in the past would also sell him for Thirty Pieces of Silver, in the order of Judas Iscariot, who kept money for Jesus, and also sold him for money. The intrigues that defined the twilight of the tenure of Akeredolu remain huge concerns that the future would not be ready to blur; from the allegations levelled against Aiyedatiwa by the House of Assembly, to the allegation of the forging of the signature of Akeredolu, and other similar hues suggesting malfeasances. One is not yet certain whether the instruction given by Tinubu to Aiyedatiwa to unite the APC in Ondo State will hamper him from demolishing the political structures in the State, in order to birth a new one for his ownership. Undoubtedly, the priority of Aiyedatiwa, between good governance and quest for the guber ticket in the coming election, will determine what success or otherwise he makes of his inherited tenure of 14 months.

PBAT, in his New Year address was vehement about his Renewed Hope agenda, based on shared identification, promising or reiterating, among others, to pay workers a new wage, which he saw as morally and politically correct; offer the space for Nigerians to strive and thrive, with vicarious pains Chief Segun Osoba later told Nigerians the president is going through. The New Year speech of the President may either be seen as half full or half empty, depending on where an individual stands. Rather than debate the optimism or pessimism of this renewed assurance, it is expedient to achieve unanimity about the need to stop killings in Plateau and other States; tame kidnapping across the country; arrest hunger that is pushing people to the hanger; kill corruption and greed that are killing our certificates, and rescue the naira that is now absent in the homes of most powerful Nigerians.

The newness sought in year 2024 is analogous to the Renewed Hope PBAT is serving to Nigerians, and the new Nigeria he is committed to birthing may be a tall dream if the old political and governance structures remain. Akeredolu was almost the last lonely voice that pushed for the unpacking of the present negatively-skewed federalism, for the devolution of more powers to the sub-national entities, and it is best we honour his memory by heeding his advice to: think and act anew! Adieu, Arakunrin Odunayo Oluwarotimi Akeredolu!