The political news coming from Osun State ahead of the election scheduled for tomorrow is not good for democracy. Many voters have concluded that they will not cast votes for their safety. It is their civil right to cast votes, but they realize it would be foolhardy to jeopardize their lives for a single vote that counts as one.
Already, there are killings here and there and threats and promises of more killings. Rival political parties are determined to defeat the ruling party, Accord Party (AP). The ruling party is also determined to retain power. This determination is democratic and is what makes democracy interesting, like a football game with highly spirited spectators. When determination to win an election is expressed within the ambit of the law, it is called healthy competition. When the determination turns awry, it is called unhealthy competition.
But what is currently being displayed in Osun State is far beyond unhealthy competition; it is deadly. “Deadly” is used here, not in its metaphorical sense but in its literal meaning. Because of political contest, people are being killed, allegedly by thugs loyal to the ruling party. In Ilesa alone, four members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have allegedly been shot dead by Accord Party thugs. This is not an isolated case. There are allegations of killings across the state. Of course, no party has a monopoly on violence. This led to an outburst by an APC federal lawmaker in the state who ordered that opposition party members should be killed in retaliation.
Since the utterance of the reckless marching order to kill Nigerians who would prefer to vote for Accord Party in Osun State, Senator Francis Fadahunsi has been in the eye of the storm. All attempts by him to do some damage control, claiming he was misunderstood, have fallen on deaf ears. My two ears too are deaf to Fadahunsi’s explanation. The chorus from Nigerians everywhere is “you go explain tire.” No one is willing to listen to him except his party loyalists, whose only source of buttered bread is defending every sense and nonsense from their benefactors.
Instead of denying what he said by giving it an interpretation that convinces no one, Fadahunsi should have availed himself of a simple-sentence defense. He should have told Nigerians that he is acting on President Tinubu’s script. He should have informed Seun Okinbaloye, the Channels TV journalist, during the interview that “All is Fair in Politics.” With these five words, he would have vindicated himself. No one would have raised an eyebrow.
Except if that was a slip of the tongue. Except if President Tinubu did not mean what he said or was not sober enough to realize the implications of what he said. But it is safe to assume he is serious about it. He did not say it in a beer parlour. He did not say it in a state of trance. He was not addressing agbero (park thugs). He said it in the presence of Catholic Bishops. Tinubu’s “all is fair in politics” would lead Nigerians to the most dangerous phase of their political life. And if he was just theorizing, the praxis of the theory is what is being witnessed in Osun State.
Fadahunsi is not alone. Osun Defender posted a viral video of a suspected APC female thug known as “Arugba” walking majestically on Osun streets as if she owns the state. She appears to have understood Tinubu’s “all is fair in politics” better than Tinubu himself. She allegedly threatened voters in Osun State, warning that those who fail to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) during Saturday’s governorship election risk having the finger used to cast their ballot severed. This is how Osun Defender translated what she said in Yoruba into English:
“‘We will cut that finger. You won’t go back home with that finger.
‘Tell them not to come out to vote. Let them know we are coming for them. Don’t dare us. We are not bluffing. We mean what we say.’”
Another APC thug, an elderly man who should be a grandpa or great-grandpa, was seen threatening those who would not be voting for the APC candidate. In his own way of saying “all is fair in politics,” he said, speaking in Yoruba: “We should however tell those who are not willing to vote for Ambo the truth: they should not even try to cross the gutter on election day in Ikire” (as translated by Sahara Reporters).
While we await how “all is fair in politics” shall be displayed by APC, AP, and other parties tomorrow in Osun State, voters should take all necessary precautions as they set out to vote. Security agents should act professionally in securing voters without being partisan. Who wins or loses should not be their concern; their concern should be the protection of voters.
This is about Osun. At the national level, “all is fair in politics” could be at play when one Yahaya Jinjir, said to be an Izala cleric, declared that Muslims are the majority in Nigeria. He should have stopped at that. He went further to say his vote is still for the Muzlim-Muzlim ticket (even though hundreds, if not thousands, of Muslims are currently in kidnappers’ dens in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, etc., under the watchful eyes of the Muzlim-Muzlim government). At this point, he is still entitled to his opinion.
Then he crossed the red line by saying Christians who are not happy with the Muzlim-Muzlim ticket are free to leave the country. He did not address them as Christians; he called them infidels. Though he spoke in the name of God, Islam has taught us, ever before Jinjir was born, how to relate peacefully with Christians. We are to either call them Nasara (Christians, followers of the one [Jesus] from Nazareth in Arabic) or People of the Book.
Nigerian Christians are angry and still angry. While it is their right to be angry, they need not take Jinjir seriously, since it is coming from him. A leopard does not change its spots. To Jinjir, all is fair in politics provided it is Muzlim-Muzlim. Just as he calls Christians infidels, he did not spare the Muslims either. Ahead of the 2023 election, he declared Muslims who were not inclined to the Muzlim-Muzlim ticket apostates. I wonder why Christians take him seriously (though it is still their right to express anger). Most Nigerian Muslims, except probably the Muzlim-Muzlim category who are an infinitesimal minority, do not take him seriously.
To support my claim that Jinjir did not speak for the Muslims but for himself, two days ago, an interfaith peace accord to live together in peace was signed by leaders of Nigerian Christians and Muslims at a conference organized by the Muslim World League—an Islamic non-governmental organization based in Saudi Arabia. Representing the Muslims, the secretary-general of Jama’atu Nasril Islam, Professor Khalid Abubakar, said: “It is not a call to leave your own religion, but a call for cooperation and working together in harmony.” The generous and amiable Abubakar, whom I met and interacted with three years ago, is a professor of Islamic Studies and one of the Imams at Abuja National Mosque.
Similarly, John Praise Daniel, chairman of the Northern Christian Religious Leaders’ Assembly, said he hoped it would curb divisive rhetoric by clerics. He must be referring to Jinjir. He continued: “No hate speech, and no disrespect for other religious groups, no calling of people infidels.”
In conclusion, I urge people of good conscience to prevail on agents of “all is fair in politics” in Osun State and wherever they are across the country. Also, Jinjir speaks for the Muzlims, not the Muslims. Let’s work together to change the rhetoric. All is not fair in politics until it is fair. Let’s hope “all is fair in politics” is not being test-run in Osun State before the general elections early next year.
I pray the election will be peaceful tomorrow in Osun State. I am not from Osun, but they are my in-laws—very caring and loving. May we live in peace in Nigeria.
Abdulkadir Salaudeen
salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com
