KANGUN KANGUN KANGUN, A KANGUN SI IBI KAN! THE PETTIYFOGGING ANTICS OF FEMI FANI-KAYODE HAVE FAILED AND WILL FAIL. THEY DO NOT WORK!
In the wisdom of Yoruba culture, a liar or fool is told that it is better to keep quiet than to speak and expose the fact that he/she is liar, a fool or both. Somebody better advise this Femi Fani-Kayode man of this truism.
Anybody around in the 1960s would know his father, Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, Chief S. L. Akintola’s Deputy Premier popularly known and called “Fani Power.” He was a confusionist, par excellence; in the same league with the likes of Chief Richard Akinjide of the twelve two thirds is equal to thirteen fame. His brand of politics he called “chop life.” He wanted to “chop life” and anybody in that frame of mind was welcomed by him.
Like Chief Remi Fani-Kayode or hate him, he went about his confusion business with this spectacular brilliance that challenged the minds and thoughts of people at the time. Simply put, he was very brilliant. It took the likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka breaking into the Ibadan radio station to make a revolutionary broadcast in place of the planned broadcast by Chief Remi Fani-Kayode’s boss, Chief S.L. Akintola to stem the tide of their shenanigans.
Half a century later, here comes little Femi trying to play his father’s game, albeit, without his father’s brilliance and intelligence. He was hired as the Chief Media Adviser to the Goodluck Jonathan 2015 Campaign, a job, which in my experience, in essence, carries the following duties and responsibilities: the media adviser or publicity coordinator guides the candidate’s relationship with the media, including campaign literature, television, radio, print and the Internet. He/she is in charge of writing copy and press releases and creating concepts for signs and billboards or bumper stickers.
Fani Kayode has not minded the store. Instead, he has assumed the role of candidate without assuming the responsibilities for the agreements and other undertakings [issues-centered campaign, no-violence, etc.] entered into by the principal contestants, including his boss.
How about the following for issues-centered campaign;
a] Gen. Buhari has no certificate; when that failed as the Gen.’s various institutions released his results, then
b] Gen. Buhari is too old to stand for election; Tunisians elected an 88-year old as president and Buhari at 72 looked like a teenager, then
c] Gen. Buhari has cancer; the Gen.’s doctors released his medical information that proved the assertion to be all lies, then
d] Gen. Buhari, on an overseas trip to explain his position on issues of concern to our foreign friends, was accused of going abroad for medical treatment and the Gen.’ handlers asked for proof, a picture of the Gen. in any medical facility. That failed and the Gen., instead, got a rousing endorsement of his address at Chatham House around the world, then, who knows what is next!
In between, his like-minded cohorts, especially Gov. Fayose of Ekiti State were busy thinking and working along with him.Newspaper front-page advertorials were published in which the possibility of Gen. Buhari dying in office because former Heads of State from the Gen.’s geo-political zone, the Northwest had died while in office was boldly envisioned.
It might interest the reader that one of them, Commissioner Chia of Benue State slumped and died at the youthful age of 46 leaving a wife and eight children behind. What other warning do sane minds need? You wish no one, not even your enemy, death. As I noted in a previous write-up, Gen. Buhari’s garments these days are made of Teflon; nothing sticks to them or his person. Better for everyone to stick with the issues of the campaign.
The salient question to ask is where is the economy, unemployment, falling naira, intractable problem of power supply, the Chibok girls and national insecurity, infrastructure, education, health and social services, the elderly, the pensioners who continue to get fleeced, injustice, and the issues no one really wants to talk about, fuel scarcity, missing billions [trillions], general societal decadence and corruption in all of these?
Of late, Femi Fani-Kayode has vented the ire of his vituperations on the Jagaban of Borgu himself, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and others. He inveighs that Tinubu slurs when he speaks and his hands shake when he handles the microphone. Lai Mohammed, according to him, wears adult pampers. I do not know the medical situations of these two gentlemen or the others he has vilified, but my question is why getting this dirty? All in the name of politics? Has civility, decency and commonsense been thrown to the dogs?
Let Femi Fani-Kayode be told that just as the famous Idanre monkeys have left the mountains and forests of Idanre with cellular phones in hand for Abuja and other cities, the citizens of Nigeria can no longer be fooled by irrelevant rhetoric. Give them money, rice, vegetable oil and what have you, they will take all and still send you back home. Just make sure that if you get sent home and did not wear shoes while growing up and you have the chance to ever live in Abuja, you go home with as many shoes as can be acquired in Abuja.
On a final note, and I say this as a fellow Yoruba man, Femi needs to be reminded of Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey’s song; “Kangun Kangun Kangun; A kangun si ibi kan,” {all of these will end someday somewhere} a father’s dirge to a foolishly wealthy son. Even, the Bible cautions to never glory in wisdom, might or riches. It pays to be humble. A word is enough for the . . .