Ayi Kwei Armah, the great Ghanaian writer, put things aptly and succinctly when he titled his first novel The Beautyful Ones are not yet Born. He got it right when he wrote beautiful quite unconventionally-'beautyful.'I read in the newspapers, Chief Bisi Akande's utterances against very reputable elder statesmen of the Yoruba nation, namely Chief Olu Falae, former federal permanent secretary, former minister, former managing director, Nal Merchant Bank, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD)/All Progressive Peoples (APP) Alliance (1999); Pa Reuben Fashoranti, veteran school principal, septuagenarian, former commissioner, leader of the Akure Community and pan-Yoruba nationalist; Chief Ayo Adebanjo, septuagenarian, party mobiliser in the olden days of yore, very senior lawyer, trusted ally of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and a prominent counsel in Obafemi Awolowo's treasonable felony trial of 1962, for exercising their rights by supporting Olusegun Mimiko's ambition to seek re-election as governor of Ondo State on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).I shuddered a bit to ask, 'Where is the beauty, finesse, dignity, humility, candour and discretion that are usually the hallmark of a Yoruba thorough- bred man''' and I concluded by saying in the words of Armah, that the 'beautyful ones are not yet born' indeed! The late Pa Emmanuel Alayande was Bola Ige's principal at Ibadan Grammar School. He was very much beloved by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and would have, in his heart of heart, wished that Pa Alayande emerged the Second Republic governor of Oyo State. Despite Papa's preference, he allowed for a primary election, where Chief Bola Ige emerged the governorship candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) by defeating Pa Alayande at the primary election.The moral lesson is that internal democracy is the only panacea for good governance. The Yorubas will always say 'Eni jogun ewu ko le mo iyi agbada nla'. The emergence of Chief Bola lge, a product of internal democracy, threw up Chief Bisi Akande, first as Secretary to the State Government of the then Oyo State and later as a deputy governor of the state, following the defection of Chief S. M. Afolabi to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Would Chief Akande have emerged the SSG of the then Oyo State and nay, its deputy governor, if Pa Alayande had emerged governorship candidate of the UPN by imposition' It is, therefore, an irony of history and circumstance that the same Chief Akande would most unguardedly, in the euphoria of newly found friendships, retort that 'primary election is not our style'.Whose style' Chief Bisi Akande never wanted to be governor of Osun State in 1999; he was, in fact, the protem chairman of the AD.At a meeting of the Afenifere in Ijebu Igbo, sometime in 1999, intending aspirants for governorship elections in the South-Western states were asked to come out for recognition. Chief Akande did not come out or show interest in the office until the Cicero of Esa-Oke, in fury and rage, asked him, 'Bisi, won't you come out'' That day, we all saw the body language of Chief Ige and knew his preference was for Akande, his maternal cousin (Bola Ige's mother is from lIa-Orangun). From that meeting, intending aspirants started to defer to Chief Ige to allow for his choice, in recognition of this singular feat and lge's grace, Akande would always say that he did not spend money, nor serious efforts, to emerge governor of Osun State.'Eni jogun ewu ko mo iyi agbada nla'. Ige's popularity, oration, humility, resourcefulness and wide political network won that election for him and some of us that also emerged electorally in 1999. I won the election, with the influence of Chief Ige, to the House of Representatives in 1999 on the platform of AD.Chief Augustus Adisa Akinloye was chairman of the NPN in 1978 until the collapse of the Second Republic in 1983. He was chairman indeed! He was boisterous and behemoth and had dignified presence, carriage and control of his party. Every Monday, he would chair the national caucus meeting of his party, where party programmes would be articulated, discussed and ratified. Former Head of State, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, would only be in attendance at the meeting as a party member. The power of the chairman was awesome, but do we witness such powers in Chief Bisi Akande as chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)' I was thoroughly amused when Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu paid a condolence visit to the Yar'Adua clan in Katsina, upon the demise of President Umaru Yar'Adua. When the newspapers aptly reported the story that Senator Tinubu was accompanied on the trip by the national chairman of the ACN, I wondered: what a role reversal!I felt sad for Chief Akande that he could not chastise Sam Omatseye of The Nation newspaper when he mouthed unjustifiable, unpatriotic attacks on the person of Mama Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo whom the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had described as 'a jewel of inestimable value'. How dare him' Except he would want to see the rage and red eyes of his mentor and young godfather. Mohandas Ghandi (1862-1948), commonly known as Mahatma Ghandi, the father of the Indian nation and apostle of non violence, did not aspire to contest election to rule the Indian nation despite all opportunities. What, then, has electoral asset got to do with the fact that he still stands today as the father of the Indian nation'I have contested five elections between 1987 and 2011, won three and lost two. I was elected councillor on a non-party basis to Iwo Local Government Area representing Ile-Ogbo Ward in Iwo Local Government of the then Oyo State in 1987; aspirant, House of Reps (1998) on the platform of the UNCP; member, House of Reps (1999) on the platform of the AD. I lost election (alongside Chief Akande in 2003) in my bid to go back to the parliament in Abuja and Chief Akande's bid for re-election as governor of Osun State and lost a senatorial election in 2011. That one is not a political neophyte does not make one in any way a better politician or progressive than those that are not inclined to be part of the intrigues and shenanigans of electoral contests.The late Pa Sholanke Onasanya, Pa Olanihun Ajayi, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the late Pa Alfred Rewane, the late Ajanaku of lIesha (who gave his Eletu-Odibo, Lagos building freely to be used as the UPN National Headquarters at the debut of the party in 1978); the late Hubert Ogunde (who also led the UPN orchestra and also wrote Yoruba Ronu in the early 60's at the peak of the Western Region crisis and turbulence); the late Professor Samuel Aluko, leader of the AG's and UPN's economic think-tank; the late Justice Adewale Thompson; the late Professor Hezekiah Oluwasanmi, former Vice Chancellor, University of Ife; the late Chief S.O. Gbadamosi of Ikorodu; Professor Akin Mabogunje, Emeritus Professor of Geography, Urban and Regional Planning; the late Biodun Falade of Osogbo, Papa Obafemi Awolowo's private secretary and confidant; the late Chief S,O. Shonibare, the man with the Midas touch, etc, did not parade electoral profile, but were great men of distinction, erudition, panache, humility and, above all, loyalty to the progressive cause and ideals of the social democratic principles of Chief Awolowo in the propagation and clamour for an egalitarian society and a life that is more abundant.Lastly, the Yorubas would say, 'Ti a ba dagba, se la n ye ogun ja'. In other words, old age should naturally take away from a person, unjustifiable pride, unguarded utterances, rudeness, snobbishness, unmerited anger and unsustainable innuendoes. Wishing you, sir, the very best of luck as you continue to co-chair the affairs of your party (ACN), whose slogan, I learnt is 'Democracy for justice.'' Indeed! And also, let me finally commend to Chief Akande, the immortal words of Edmund Burke: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.'Kehinde, a lawyer, is a former member of the House of Representatives.
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