Opinion: Now, Can Akeredolu speak up?




I must first congratulate Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN,  on his victory at the Supreme Court against the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) Eyitayo Jegede SAN   in the October 10th 2020 gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
 The Supreme Court by a split of 4-3 dismissed the Petition filed by the Eyitayo Jegede SAN against the incumbent Governor Akeredolu and the All Progressives Congress.

 With the outcome of the Supreme Court judgement between Akeredolu and Jegede, it was quite obvious that Jegede had a good case but it was thrown away base on technicalities concomitant with power from above. Therefore, Eyitayo Jegede also deserves some accolades for his doggedness and democratic exhibition.

The judges explicitly agreed that the actions of the All Progressives Congress in permitting a sitting Governor as the Interim Chairman of the Party is in violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

My friend, Barrister Arijeniwa Alexander while discussing the judgement with me clarified that, the provision of Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) is clear and unambiguous to the effect that “The Governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity".
But I told him blatantly that I personally don't believe in the judicial system of Nigeria.
Back to buisness  But now that ruling has been given in favour of  Governor Akeredolu,  can he now focus on his development agenda for the people of Ondo State as a major distraction has been removed? Please, no more Abuja today, Ibadan tomorrow. 
To me, Akeredolu has been wielding political influence, because he is not a coward and not too scared to speak out or challenge the power that be. He believes that whatever will be will be. Although some people have described him as undiplomatic because of his blatant communication.
He's not one of those leaders who chooses to remain silent despite the evil and tyranny in the land .
While the case was still on, I've seen in several occasions where the media aides of Governor Akeredolu try to censor some of the bitter-truth words spoken by the Governor because they (media aides) believed that those words could be used against Akeredolu by Buhari cabals. 
I don't blame his Media guys though, but I always feel like reminding them that the Bible tells us that we must resist evil, oppose injustice, stand up for the oppressed, liberate the downtrodden, speak for the voiceless, defend the persecuted, inspire the faithful and set the captives free. 
It is no longer a news that in  Nigeria today, we are facing the greatest, most deadly, most relentlesss and most glaring Fulanisation and 'herdersnization' agenda in the history of our country and it is unfolding before our very eyes. 
Including people from the North, hundreds of people are being slaughtered every day and genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass murder is alive and well in our shores. 

Despite all this, some governors, religious leaders, traditional rulers still remain silent, standing aloof and sleeping like an spoiled palm oil.
Statistics shows that more Nigerians have been slaughtered by Islamist terrorists and  Fulani militias in the last five years in our country than at any other time in our history other than during the civil war. Yet some people cowardly say we must keep quite and not speak out? 
 Are we to say that all those that fought against military rule, fascism, totalitareanism, dictatorship, barbarism and colonial rule in the past throughout the world and throughout the ages were wrong?
Following the rising spate of killings, kidnappings and wanton destruction of economic livelihood of residents of the Ondo state, which have largely been blamed on herdsmen, on Monday, 18th January, 2021 there was an executive order by the Governor  Akeredolu,  which ordered unregistered herdsmen to vacate all forest reserves in the state within seven days. 
This was further cemented by Governors of the southern region, banning open grazing in all the southern states of the federation.
We must not also forget that he was the engine room behind the establishment of the South West Security Network Agency, codenamed'Amotekun'.

The public relations guys always filter what he says. To them, Akeredolu should not attack President Muhammadu Buhari or comment on anything that would make him loose the case at the end of the day. 

But Akeredolu understood people implicitly and manipulated them accordingly, and that is why he has remain one of the most influential Africans of this generation. He has remain in the forefront amongst the southern governors.

 Yes, history teaches us of the danger of being afraid to speak truth to power. Therefore, since Akeredolu's Re-election case him been done and dusted at the supreme Court, just like Gideon, Jeptha, David, Daniel, Jehu, Samson, Peter and Paul in the Bible who  oppose evil, Akeredolu should speak out against injustice and stand against tyrants till 2025.
The primary responsibility of every responsible government is the protection of lives and property of its citizenry and any goverment that fails in this has failed in totality.

If Moses had remained silent in the face of Pharaoh's tyranny the Jews would still be slaves in Egypt. If Elijah and Jehu had remained silent in the face of Jezebel's tyranny Israel would never have been delivered. If Peter had remained silent in the face of Herod's tyranny he would never have left prison.  If Samuel had remained silent in the face of Agag and the Amalekites the Jews would have been decimated. If Esther had remained silent in the face of Haman the Jewish race would have been wiped out. 
 
On a final note, Akeredolu should not allow cowardice and greed shatter his mantle of leadership, decimated his calling and destroyed his credibility. Now, it is time to speak up. And this must be done with policies and actions backed by the law.
Fidelis David is a Journalist, and a  Feature Writer. He wrote from Akure, the Ondo State capital. You can reach him via fidelisdavid5@gmail.com Or 07060835375 (sms only).

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