It has become the habit of the rich, particularly Nigerian politicians, to always come down to the level of the common people whenever the former need the latter to get their ambitions accomplished. This is common during the time that the Nigerian politicians need people’s votes. But immediately they (the politicians) get the votes and sit on the throne, they build fortresses around themselves to create boundaries to prevent the same people, who helped them get to the top, from getting closer to them.
The event at Liberty stadium, Ibadan where the Olubadan coronation reception took place decribed the above scenario vividly. The occasion was a perfect example of the unholy treatment the common people (the voters) usually got from the rich (the voted) after they, the people, had been used for the interest of the fortunate. People stand in the sun to vote for them, and the same people stand in the sun watching them enjoying alone. The wide gap between the well-to-do and the underprivileged was glaringly shown to everyone at the event.
At the stadium, the centre of the show,, there were plenty to eat and drink, but the segregation created by the high-class allowed only the privileged access to the place where delicious foods and assorted drinks were stocked to the brims. The deprived could only stand at the entrance groaning and hoping to eat from the leftovers.
The experience at the stadium was quite the replica of the Bible story of Lazarus and a rich man who lived in luxury everyday. At the rich man’s gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. The occurrence at the reception was really a heartbreaking escapade to the needy, like what happened to Lazarus. Some, after all efforts to gain entrance to the place of plenty at the event, settled to sit where spectators ordinarily sit during football matches, and looked from a distance.
In my view,, I saw no reason for any partitioning or boundary setting in such gathering. Olubadan coronation, most especially that of former governor Ladoja whose influence cut across, ought to be an occasion opened to all and sundry. I expected the dignitaries to extend magnanimity towards the impoverished that day like they habitually did when they needed the latter to execute their inordinate and undue urges, but reverse was the case.
Five hall-like, well-decorated tents were pitched in the field as a demarcation to create barrier between the high-class and the low-class. The five individuals, among whom was a senator, initiated the idea of fencing the public – whose efforts most of them wIelded to get to the top – out of the place where manna was flowing like the river of water.
Outside, I saw some low-class individuals pleading to security officers to allow them to have a taste from the uneaten foods, but they were denied. Isn’t it unkind to put security officers, who normally protect people during elections with a view to encouraging them to vote, at the gate of plenty to dissuade the same people from sharing in the goodies?
Was I surprised by what I saw? Not at all, though I didn’t expect some sections of people, irrespective of their statuses, to be sidelined. What I saw at the event pointed to the fact that the underprivileged were not at all loved by many people living in affluence, notably politicians. They show love to the public only when they need people for the accomplishment of their desires.
What is wrong in using the main bowl, without demarcation or partitioning, to accommodate both the rich and the poor at the venue like it’s normally done during election periods? Why is it that it’s only during the political campaigns and rallies the politicians pretend that they and the disadvantaged are at the same level? During this period, they preach the messages of equality. What a blatant lie!
Liberty stadium, Ibadan is a place where thousands of people can be accommodated without rowdiness. At least places like this are usually used to hold political rallies and campaigns. So why not allowed the same at the venue of the reception? Why did the affluent have the surpluses to themselves alone, leaving the common people at the event with nothing?
They believe that politics is local, but they throw away the idea of localising enjoyment. They canvass people at the grassroots to come out en masse to vote; they call people during elections to struggle with them, but during the time of harvest, they ‘chop’ alone. This is inhumane and diabolical. It’s cataclysmic experience.
Now it’s left to the public to wake up and retrace their steps. I believe the reception at Liberty stadium must have opened your eyes to exactly how you’re being represented by your representatives. If this could be done to you in your presence, how much more at your back in Abuja where your entitlements, which rarely reach your end, are being allocated through your representatives?
Without a doubt, not all well-to-do individuals in society are wicked and inconsiderate, but there is no gainsaying the fact that only few of them are compassionate. And the question remains: must you, people, continue allowing them to use you to achieve their ambitions when it’s obvious that they would later abandon you during the time of harvest?
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