OPINION: Saraki, AbdulRazaq And The New Order By Biodun Fadayomi

…SO THE RICH ALSO CRY

I would actually have headlined this piece: ‘The Politics of Impunity in Kwara’ but because wisdom is the better part of valour, let me state that I did not know that those who thrive in hitting others hard politically, could be so hurt when hit below the belt by a much more decisive boxer like an Anthony Joshua.

I read the press statement of Dr. Bukola Saraki, former Senate President over Governor A.A’s recent revocation of the parcels of land adjoining the (former) Ile-Arugbo property of late Dr. Olusola Saraki and all I saw was pain, blind fury and self-delusion that the estwhile political status quo hasn’t changed. No SP, the old order has changed, yielding place to a new.
That statement personally signed by Bukola Saraki revealed much of the weaknesses of a man who once bestrode the political terrain of Kwara like a colossus.

Truly, I never knew the rich also cry but only one thing interests me: I love the courage of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in wielding the big stick of authority in correcting the ills of past administrations and the inglorious activities of some political overlords who hitherto saw Kwara as a supermarket where they could do some ‘jankara’ purchase of goods and commodities, without payment.

The central issue I saw vividly was an attempt to reincarnate the political impunity of old in the state which I would like to illustrate with the biblical story of King David’s impunity and Prophet Nathan’s parabolic rebuke and correction.

King David’s action in taking Uriah’s wife, Bathseba and causing her husband to fall by the sword of an enemy of Israel during war time, provided a shocking and illuminating case study in the behaviour and psychology of impunity. The events currently playing out in Kwara best describe the above scenario though from another perspective.

Read Also: Kwara Govt Says Saraki’s Father Never Paid For Revoked Land

Come with me: And the Lord sent Nathan to David.
He came to him, and said to him,
“There were two men in a certain
city, the one rich and the other
poor. The rich man had very
many flocks and herds; but the
poor man had nothing but one little
ewe lamb, which he had bought. He
brought it up, and it grew up with
him and with his children; it used
to eat of his meagre fare, and drink
from his cup, and lie in his bosom,
and it was like a daughter to him.
Now there came a traveler to the
rich man, and he was loath to take
one of his own flock or herd to
prepare for the wayfarer who had
come to him, but he took the poor
man’s lamb, and prepared that for
the guest who had come to him.”

Then David’s anger was greatly
kindled against the man. He said to
Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man
who has done this deserves to die;
he shall restore the lamb fourfold,
because he did this thing, and
because he had no pity.”
Nathan said to David, “You are
the man! Thus says the Lord, the
God of Israel: I anointed you king
over Israel, and I rescued you from
the hand of Saul; I gave you your
master’s house, and your master’s
wives into your bosom, and gave
you the house of Israel and of
Judah; and if that had been too
little, I would have added as much
more. Why have you despised the
word of the Lord, to do what is evil
in his sight? You have struck down
Uriah the Hittite with the sword,
and have taken his wife to be your
wife, and have killed him with the
sword of the Ammonites.

The story does not give us David’s complete state of mind. It describes David in a way that tyrants and other abusers of power might rightly be described throughout history. David acted with impunity. Impunity is a way of living as if one is free from the consequences of one’s actions, past or present. It is an ugly deceptive use of power that gives rise to an enormous deposit of political sins.

Impunity may have allegedly caused the Saraki’s to invade the commonwealth of Kwarans over four decades ago and even so annexed their lands.

It was the same impunity of the past that propelled Kwarans to express their disdain through the ballot box in March this year. The language of this impunity like David’s is all too familiar. It is the language of plausible deniability of feigned ignorance of the former Senate President that the said Ile-Arugbo landed property was not legally acquired as Governor AbdukRazaq says, and as such could be revoked and retrieved by the current administration in the state.

Whether by deceitful manipulations or acts of feigned benevolence, Ile-Arugbo had for years remained a political haven of old Ilorin folks eager to receive paltry sums as some form of political patronage from the Lords of the land.

It is about impunity – living as if there is no God as if there are no checks and balances, no justice woven into the fabrics of society.

The power of Prophet Nathan’s parable teaches that the most effective tool for dismantling impunity may not be loud rage as demonstrated in Bukola Saraki’s press statement but AbdulRazaq’s subtle official message of TAKEOVER BY THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT. This is an authoritative official statement of government that conveys truth and announces that the impunity of the past era was indeed a deceitful corruption of power that also suffers a revocation.

By Biodun Fadayomi

EkoHotBlog Reporter