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From cartoons, write-ups and even from the lips of people, the inference has always been that the Governor of Ekiti State, Governor Ayo Fayose, wanted President Mohammed Buhari dead from the sickness that took him to the Queen’s country. They might have arrived at this position because of his hard stand on President Buhari’s leadership style. As far as I am concerned, the contrary holds. Pointing out bitter truths to him rather qualifies Fayose as a friend and not a foe.
In the ‘Twelfth Night’ or ‘What You Will’ by William Shakespeare, speaking through Feste, the clown, he said, ‘The better for my foes and the worse for my friends.’ Asked what he meant, Feste explained that his foes would tell him the hard truth that he was an ass, and through that knowledge, he would make the necessary adjustments. His friends, on the contrary, would praise him, when they were aware of his glaring lapses. It would make him to continue in his foolery. In this case, one may ask, who Feste’s real friends were: the men, who were praising him even at his folly or the people, who were telling him the story as it was?
My parents could not afford to send me to the secondary school and I adjusted my life to it. One day, one of the youths in my town, who was in the secondary school, made a mockery of me on this. Laughing hilariously, he said, ‘Osondu, you are just a mere School teacher’, whose reward, everybody knew was only in Heaven. There was even no cause for that. I got the message and therefore decided to do something about my future. I made up my mind to do correspondence course for the GCE, University of London. I chose the Rapid Results College, London. Nweke Umezuruike, my friend, took a similar decision. At that time, Science was a god. Graduate Science teachers were paid 840 Pounds per annum, while their Arts counterparts were receiving 720 Pounds. We decided to read the sciences, including Maths and by the grace of God, though we did not even know Him then, within four years we had qualified to enter the university by direct entry and that was by the Federal Government Scholarship. Would I call that man, who ridiculed me, an enemy? Without him, would I have read?
I refuse to accept that Peninnah, Hannah’s mate, was a bad woman, though she continued to remind Hannah, through foul words, that she was barren -1Sam 1:6. It was Elkanah, her husband, who was rather, providing Hannah a safe landing pad. In showering his love to her, he asked her whether he was not better to her than ten sons. Had Hannah bought that apple, she would not have been the mother of Prophet Samuel and her name would not have been recorded in the Bible. As beautiful and soothing as her husband’s words were, she threw them inside the trash can and rather listened to Peninnah. She then went on fire prayer that produced Samuel. Would she forget Aunty Peninnah? Never!
When I was the President of Ovim Students Union, there was a boy, Goddy, in Form 3 at Annunciation Secondary School, Isuikwuato, who would cause me to stand on my toes during our meetings. ‘Mr. President, I beg to disagree,’ he always said. Thank God that I was quick and wise to recognize him as a ‘cabinet’ material and thus brought him on board. He and his likes, contributed immensely in the visible marks made during my tenure, which included the establishment of a library. The UNN donated 105 books to it. Had he been praising me, I would have felt that we were doing well, when perhaps, we were not. Goddy, now a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, is practising Law.
May we not make the mistake of believing that all our praise singers are really our friends. It may be a surprise to President Buhari, if he happens to know all the people, who voted for him. It is not all the people, who campaign for people that vote for them at the end of the day. The President may be surprised that some of the people, who opposed him openly, might have voted for him. You never can tell.
I have been in a situation, where a Chief Accountant appraised a staff, his fellow Accountant and a man from his place, and wrote: ‘Recommended for confirmation’. Being an Open Appraisal, he staff member read it, appreciated the recommendation and wrote: ‘Accepted with thanks’ and went out to look for a car to buy, since the company would soon give him a car loan. Not long after, he received a letter of termination of his appointment from the Human Resources because of poor performance. He protested. The Human Resources Department was surprised at his conduct, since he accepted his appraisal with thanks. Unknown to him and the Human Resources, Uncle Chief Accountant had added the killer word, ‘Not’, in front of where he had written, ‘Recommended for confirmation, to read: ‘Not Recommended for Confirmation’. Governor Ayo Fayose belonged to the few courageous people, who would tell the story at it is and they are often misunderstood.
Governor Fayose cuts the image of a fellow, who will spend many nights interceding for people he has criticized, who may include our President. You never can tell. Some of the people praising the President may not even spend a single hour praying for him. When the time comes, when we shall know as we are known, we will be surprised of the various things people did, when we were wearing this mortal clad.
Protocol or no protocol, Party or no Party, nothing should really prevent the President from relating intimately with Governor Ayo Fayose, for he is the fellow, I guess, who is deeply interested in his success and also that of the nation.
I am not in any political party and will not. My Party is Jesus Party, the Party of ministering God’s Word. I have written it before that PDP is APC and it is also any other Party. The beauty of them all is their fluidity. When you are tired in one, the Party becomes evil and the one you have joined becomes good. After a time, you can go back to your former Party and from that day, it becomes good and the one you have left becomes evil. I suspect that the PDP leaders are wining and dining with their APC counterparts all the time. There may be various things holding Party leaders together, though they oppose themselves in public. You never can tell!
For further comment, Please contact: Osondu Anyalechi: 0802 3002-471; [email protected]
