By 
FEMI FANI-KAYODE ONCE UPON A POLITICIAN
B y Ubaka Okofu.
Those who may already be hauling invectives at Femi Fani-Koyade over what looks like a case of licking one’s vomit are certainly not members of the Nigerian political class who clearly lack any known affinity to defined political ideologies in their very untoward political conduct since the return of democracy in 1999. In Nigeria, the whole essence of joining a political party is evidently to rig elections, gain public office and asphyxiate or choke the electorate while not minding whether or not government policies are in tedium with campaign promises.
In the country also, rumours are seen as facts waiting to be made public! Not even his public denial of joining the All Progressive Congress, (APC) could make Nigerians take their eyes off the radar. The Nigerian public is wiser for the gimmicks being played out by the likes of Femi Fani-Kayode and his allies in the All Progressives Congress, (APC). And for them now, there is nothing to fret about. They are used to politicians jumping ship which usually comes as a rumour to save the personality the odium which might possibly herald such political decamping.
In a very swift reaction to the rumour making the rounds that Chief Femi Fani-Kayode had ditched the party for the ruling All Progressive Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) through their spoke person came out penultimate week with a communiqué stating unequivocally that Femi Fani- Kayode was still a bona fide member of the party and that there was no indication whatsoever that the Sadauki of Shinkafi had left the party for the All Progressives Congress, which the latter had dubbed Almajiri Peoples’ Congress when the Muhammadu Buhari government was on a manhunt of all those alleged to have something to do with the Dasukigate.
Ordinarily, Nigerians ought not to be perturbed by such decamping as they are already used to it. If his avowed disagreements with Muhammadu Buhari was anything to go by, Femi Fani-Kayode is very much unlike the man who would least consider the idea of joining the All Progressives Congress. Severally, and in his seemingly uncompromising manner, Femi Fani-Kayode had called out President Buhari and his party members for public scrutiny. In his pontificating guff, he had primed himself as ‘cleaner’ and more pious than the former. This may however not be the only reason why the rumoured jumping of ship by Femi Fani-Kayode from the Peoples’ Democratic Party ( PDP ) to the All Progressives Congress is a now stoking some ruckus in the air.
Perhaps, Femi Fani-Kayode is saying that he must be politically relevant at all times. However, it remains to be seen if the All Progressives Congress and its bucket load of internal squabbles could offer a new entrant, Fani-Kayode such relevance. But, one thing was sure; Femi Fani-Kayode may very well be seeing the offer as an opportunity to pay back the Peoples’ Democratic Party in it’s own coin. Things have not been well with Femi Fani-Kayode and some big wigs of the party after the Uyo humiliation of who was bank rolling his nationwide tour. Femi Fani-Kayode felt betrayed particularly from the pressure coming from the party’s top brass to apologise to an ‘ordinary’ reporter. The PDP on its own could not be unpretentious that Femi Fani-Kayode had assumed a new status of a bad product as well as a bad marketer.
It may be that those who had arranged for Femi Fani-Kayode to come to the All Progressives Congress were in need of one that would stir the hornet’s nest in the mould of the same Femi Fani-Kayode. No doubt, a man such as Femi Fani-Kayode who is widely known for his vituperative expressions is a good fit to push the political Jagaban of Lagos to his limit.
All considered, the coming of Femi Fani- Kayode into the All Progressives Congress seems to have been carefully planned to undo the leading political actors in the west and whatever ambition they may have in 2023. The denials and counter denials are part of the game. Perhaps, it is to make it look untrue before the big burst.
But then let us look at our dramatis personae. He was born David Oluwakemi Adewunmi Abdulateef Fani-Kayode into a home of legal luminaries. Like his grandfather and father, Femi Fani-Kayode studied law in the UK. No doubt, he had the best of foreign education, and on his return to the country, he was to reap from that investment abroad. However, rather than practice law, politics became the cash crop from which he thereafter elected to reap the fruits of his labour. Twice he was minister under Olusegun Obasanjo. First, he was minister of Culture and Tourism and later in 2007 he was appointed minister of Aviation.
The likes of Femi Fani-Kayode are only accountable to those in their corner, and this is the reason why the Yoruba nation must watch out now for the job he is poised and has now seemingly been conscripted into the All Progressive Congress to do.
Femi Fani Kayode
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