By Usman Okai Austin
Events among key political actors in Kogi State have taken a new dimension with the emergence of Senator Smart Adeyemi in the scene. Senator Smart Adeyemi was a role model to many youths in Kogi State when he held sway in the Nigerian Senate. He looked like a gentleman and someone who understood the virtue of selflessness. But beyond that and from events unfolding, Senator Adeyemi is reducing himself to a political laughing stock that seems to have lost the grace that once held him high.
From all indications, Senator Adeyemi’s political challenges are deeper than the eyes could see. From what I gathered of him, he was pre-warned of his imminent political failures which may never see the light of the day again.
He was even advised not to run because the grace he once enjoyed has been taken away from him. He could be likened to the Biblical Saul, a one-time King of Israel who enjoyed grace and support of his people and lost it midway.
Saul had a good relationship with God. Samuel the Prophet was the mediator. Samuel himself anointed Saul. Midway, Saul slipped. His ego and disobedience to divine instructions hauled him to abysmal state. He desired the grace that once held him high as a King of a powerful nation. He strived to hear from God again. He never did. He sought for the admonition of Samuel, he never got it again. Reason? Grace has been severed.
The negligence and unkindness that plunged Senator Adeyemi to political doom is resurfacing again with his latest attempt at calling a spade spoon. Senator Adeyemi lost it when he severally neglected the cries of his people, especially the women from his constituency who he severally made promises of empowerment which he never fulfilled. He is at it again.
>>Senator Adeyemi never advised Governor Yahaya Bello to pay Kogi workers over 12 months salaries owed them by the State Government.
>>Senator Adeyemi never advised the Governor to be humane enough to save the lives of these poor civil servants who have been dying in their numbers because of their salaries which have been denied them for over one year {Oh, 12 months according to the Chief of Staff to Governor Yahaya Bello – Emperor Edward Onoja}.
>>Senator Adeyemi never advised the Governor to reopen the tertiary institutions that have been long shut down.
>>He never advised the governor to leverage on the land mass and fertility of Kogi land to encourage agro-allied growths like other States, including neighbouring Anambra and Benue States.
>>Senator Adeyemi has only stepped out to defend the governor.
>>Senator Adeyemi has come out to justify illegality of double registration.
>>Senator Adeyemi has stepped out to look for cheap popularity by calling a spade a spoon. He seems to have stepped out to feed from the flowing free food from Lugard House to praise-singer of Governor Yahaya Bello.
Senator Smart Adeyemi could not have claimed that Senator Dino connived with INEC to rob him of his victory. One, he was a sitting Senator when Senator Dino was fighting with his own resources for the overall good of Nigerians. He was not at that point in the good record of the government of that time to suggest that he was being patronized by the then government. Senator Dino was being hunted at that point while Smart Adeyemi cashed in on his position and his romance with the government of that time to gather as much as he could.
From being awarded mouth watering contract running into hundreds of millions of Naira to supply chairs to schools {obviously through proxy-companies} to shouting wolves to the construction companies as the then Senate Committee Chairman for FCT, a platform that spruced his pocket. He was far much richer than Senator Dino, far much connected to the power brokers than Senator Dino and far much on top from every social stance. So accusing Senator Dino, who was then reduced to not-too-important status by the then power brokers to have robbed him of his victory could be likened to a man claiming to have been defrauded in the dream.
Senator Smart Adeyemi from every indication is in that state where grace seems far from him. Like the legendary boxer – Mike Tyson who admitted that he only fought to feed, Senator Adeyemi could be in the fight just for what comes to his pocket. He failed on his mandate to be the eyes of his people, the shoulder to the teary eyed and a light to those that reposed much confidence on him and elected him a representative. His sudden fall from political relevance is not only a political failure but a failure that has deeper connotation. If what I heard is anything to go by, his political doom is infectious. Only God could heal him of it. He could be likened to a sailor on a rudderless voyage.