The Third Time Messiah and Other Tales From Yagba

By Admin

Let us all rise and sing hallelujah. The saviour of Yagba is here. Again. For the third time. From the hills of Alu, he comes riding a white horse of “capacity,” carrying scrolls of “visibility,” and flanked by apostles of recycled rhetoric who believe that without him, the sun shall not rise over Mopamuro and the moon will refuse to shine over Yagba West.

Ladies and gentlemen, brace yourselves. Elder Leke Abejide, according to his choir of cheerleaders, is not just a representative; he is apparently the Alpha and Omega of Yagba politics. The man is so competent that democracy must now be suspended for him. Rotation? What rotation? Who rotation help?

In fact, a new theology has emerged: The Gospel According to Saint Leke. In it, we are taught that equity is a nuisance, rotation is a distraction, and ambition is the new morality. The apostles of this gospel include political contractors, praise-singers on payroll, and one or two “youth leaders” whose only job is to tweet #ContinueTheGoodWork while awaiting transfer alerts.

They tell us Elder Abejide is “nationally visible.” Very good. We thank him for being visible. But what has visibility got to do with morality?

Oh, and don’t forget the ultimate bait: “He is in line to become Speaker of the House.” This line has been recycled so many times, NEPA could generate electricity from it. When he was running for a second term, they said he would become Chairman of all Committees combined. When Smart Adeyemi was running for a third term this brigade of political jobbers said he would be Senate President, Vice President, and Minister of Everything rolled into one. None of these came to pass, but hope, like Nigerian jollof, never runs out.

Now, we are told to “allow the people to decide.” But who are “the people”? The same people who agreed, informally, but firmly, that power should rotate among Yagba West, East, and Mopamuro? Or is this a new breed of “people” who gather in hotel rooms in Lokoja and Abuja with envelopes and rice?

Mopamuro, that small but stubborn dot on the Yagba map, is now the inconvenient truth. They have waited their turn like disciplined children in a buffet line, only to be told that the food is finished. “Go back,” they are told, “your elder brother is still eating.”

But let’s be fair. Elder Abejide has done well. Yes. Nobody denies that. He’s even gifted vehicles and cash in generous portions. But governance is not a giveaway show. If leadership were by handouts, then Dangote should be Nigeria’s President and the managers of MMM our Senators.

The hypocrisy of it all is what grates. The same folks who once swore by rotation now sing a new song of “merit.” But merit, in their gospel, only applies when their man is in the race. When it’s someone else, they suddenly remember zoning. In this game of musical chairs, fairness is the first casualty.

Let us imagine, for a moment, that the table was turned. That Mopamuro had 12 years already and wanted more. What would these apostles of continuity be saying? Would they not be quoting justice like it’s the book of Psalms?

But 2027 is coming. And with it, the chance to choose, not between competence and incompetence, as they would have you believe, but between justice and greed, principle and power-lust.

Elder Abejide still has the chance to be remembered as the gentleman who respected the unwritten code, not the godfather who broke the peace. After all, even Jesus stopped at 33. Moses, for all his greatness, never entered the Promised Land.

So let us pray for our beloved third-term evangelists. May they find peace in principle. May they learn that leadership is not a birthright. And may they one day realise that the soul of Yagba is more valuable than any seat in the Green Chamber.

Until then, let us keep our rotation spinning, before someone decides that even eternity should be zoned to Elder Leke.

Selah.

Fagbamila Johnson Olawale wrote in from Abuja.