By Danielle Lobito
Professor Festus Iyayi (1947 – 2013)
Death Game
Death came
From the Governor’s convoy
Death game
It wasn’t from the Envoy
It stole the life
Of a lecturer, union leader and writer
It put a full stop to
A writer’s pen
It spelt the end of
A Commonwealth Writers Prize recipient
Senseless sirens
To pave ways of honour
For disgruntled shallow men
In robes of governance
That control smart people
The noise of criss-crossing
Pollutes the city
The fear of security officers
Rushing to 'transport' the Governor
Leaves the populace traumatized –
For days
Death came
From the Governor’s convoy
Death game
It wasn’t from the Envoy
The vehicle collided with the side which the professor was sitting and something pierced straight through his heart, and he strapped on the seat motionless with a copy of a national newspaper in his hand.
Beside his seat was a pair of Novas an anti-hypertensive drug which suggests that he might have been hypertensive. However, the woman sitting in the front of the vehicle (Dr Ngozi Ilo) only had part of her right hand flesh slightly chopped off, no fracture in the hand as alleged.
—The Sun
Henceforth, the Federal Road Safety Commission will be leading the convoy of Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State. That was how Professor Festus Iyayi lost his life in an 'accident' after a vehicle in the ‘power drunk’ convoy of Kogi State Governor rammed into him. At this stage, the most sensible thing to do is to stop the use of overzealous convoys and sirens by politicians in Nigeria. Already, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola has called for the ban of sirens used by 'public office holders'. Our Lady of Aso Rock should avoid travelling to Lagos State since such events usually leads to momentous shutdown of some activities in the state with blasting sirens in a convoy.
Several years ago, a Governor (name withheld) in the South West caused a collision after he ordered his official chauffeur aka driver to stop the convoy on high speed because he wanted to urinate in the bush since there were no roadside toilets. The driver could not risk losing his job and stopped the car without a notice to the convoy behind him and there was a minor accident. The cars hit one another at random but it was unclear if the Governor had a weak bladder or too much to drink.
One camp is celebrating in Rivers State while the other is grappling to come to terms with massive disappointment. Ahead of today’s ruling by the Supreme Court on the suit by Sir Celestine Omehia seeking the ouster of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi,
News Express learnt that Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), the political machinery of acting Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had already set up canopies with a view to celebrating Amaechi’s removal. However, the pendulum swung the other way as the apex court dismissed Omehia’s suit, describing it as an academic exercise and fixed February 7, 2014 to rule on Amaechi’s objection.
—News Express
Celestine Omehia and his troubleshooting troop of political thugs and vagabonds in power from the Abuja axis should back off… After all, Amaechi has tried his best to make peace with the warmongers who have tried to demote his stars on earth. Omehia’s motive to return to power as the Governor of Rivers State failed woefully. Can you believe that Omehia and Amaechi are 'supposed' to be cousins?
The former Governor of Osun State Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and the chairman of New PDP Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje were recently suspended from the PDP. Oyinlola and Baraje supported Amaechi in his battle with the old PDP. Baraje subsequently resigned as the chairman of Nigeria Railway Corporation Governing Board when he could no longer trust the old PDP.
Oyinlola challenged his removal as PDP National Secretary and the Court of Appeal judgment in his favour legally restored his position but some wicked and powerful PDP members boasted that Oyinlola would not return to the party despite his court victory therefore he was quickly suspended from the party.
The old PDP may have made a big mistake because Oyinlola is likely to make the PDP lose a lot of votes in 2015. The prince from the Okuku royal dynasty has reasonable political weight in Osun State especially as he is 'moving' toward the main opposition party APC. Amaechi, Oyinlola and Baraje should be aware of their political enemies who are hell bent on series of power show programmed for their downfall.
Dehumanization is one of the central processes in the transformation of ordinary, normal people into indifferent or even wanton perpetrators of evil. Dehumanization is like a “cortical cataract” that clouds one’s thinking and fosters the perception that other people are less than human. It makes some people come to see those others as enemies deserving of torment, torture, and even annihilation.
—Professor Philip Zimbardo
