Eniola A. Aleshinloye
Yoruba drummers (of talking drums) are deep people. They are always at their dexterous best in dishing out instructive messages when necessary. Ibile persons like me will easily bond with drummers’ reminder of the empitness that always ends markets once they are over: B’oja ba tu, a ku p’ate, p’ate, p’ate, p’atep’ate ni o ku. Translated, it means at the close of market, what remains is the solitude of the last to pack their trays.
The saying is quite apt in the current political situation in Osun State where it is gradually dawning on many that the market which came to a close about two years ago has become deserted and would no longer serve its purpose. Although the erstwhile Babaloja, in the person of former governor of the State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, is fighting hard to prove that trading could still be carried out, but with the obvious desertion that the market place has experienced, whatever he does now is akin to forcing the impotent to have an erection. As it is now, not so much efforts need to be made to convince anyone that the time to pack bags and basket and head for home was some two years ago.
Those who had since seen the reality of a new dawn had long joined the wise ones and moved on to the next market.
It is good to note that those who had for one reason or the other been unnecessarily obstinate and not ready to do the right thing are now gradually seeing the wisdom in changing their minds. A good example is that of Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, representing Osun Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly at the moment. Noted for his subservience to the former Babaloja, the senator falls into the category of those considered never to have seen anything fantastic about the current governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, until, may be, now.
Oyetola’s offence against their Babaloja, are, among others: the reversal of a situation where all students in the state wear one uniform, and the payment of full salary to civil servants as opposed to Aregbesola’s half salary otherwise referred to as AFUSA.
A number of cases have proven this belief about the senator. His affinity to the former governor, for instance, was a veil enough to make him blind to the gravity of the attempt on the life of Oyetola when he was attacked in October 2020 during the EndSARS protests. Armed with guns, cutlasses, hoodlums swooped on the governor who was addressing the protesters in Oshogbo. Stones were hauled at his car and thank God, he narrowly escaped. But as far as Senator Basiru was concerned, the attack could be said to be of no significance and hence was undeserving of any mention at the different occasions where he spoke on the incident.
His loyalty to the former governor was still unshaken when a gathering to mark “10 years of progressive governance” by Aregbesola’s loyalists was scheduled to clash with the occasion to mark the second year anniversary of the Oyetola-led administration last November. But for the deft moves to stop the antics, the state would have been engulfed in a confusion of monumental proportion.
However, having realised that it is time to go home at the close of Aregbesola’s market, the Distinguished Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, is gradually facing reality just like the proverbial chicken that came home to roost .
Identifying with the governor which was a rarity is one of the steps he has taken lately. To describe Oyetola as his Leader in a statement he personally signed sounded unbelievable. It is obviously the sign of a new dawn which is worthy of emulation by others still insistent on fuelling chaos in Osun State’s political terrain, by trying to work against the government under the pretence of being loyal to a former governor whose era ended more than two years ago.
The Senator’s giant stride towards embracing peace is an action he must have thought deeply of. Like the brilliant man that he is, SRJ, as he’s popularly known, is smart enough to choose the path of objectivity by dissociating himself from the brewing crisis and stating clearly that his new preoccupation is the success of Oyetola’s administration and his representation at the Senate .
But does the move by the Distinguished Senator make any meaning to the former governor and those using his name to fan the embers of discord? In case it is, just like some other similar developments, there is the need to wake them up to some facts. It is a clear indication of the reality of the day that many are realising that the market place they are currently patronising closed some two years ago, and to trade profitably, they need to move to this market that has God’s covenant of profitability. It is particularly instructive to note that except the erstwhile Babaloja wakes up to the current reality, he may be faced with the shame of being lonely and alone in a deserted market.
Let his family members draw him back and tell him what the drums are saying: B’oja ba tu, a ku p’ate, p’ate, p’ate, p’atep’ate ni o ku.
Let Aregbesola listen and quietly go home. His market was over two years ago.
*Aleshinloye writes from Osogbo, Osun State
