There is this saying among the South-westerners: Orisa bi ofun kosi; ojojumo ni gba ebo… which translates to: There is no god like the throat; it takes sacrifices every day. The people of Ekiti underscored this philosophy on June 21, 2014, when they trooped to the poll to elect a new governor.
In this piece, we shall savour the lighter side of the Ekiti guber race ran between the outgoing governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the former governor under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Peter Ayodele Fayose, who was impeached in 2006.
Evaluating the two gladiators in the build-up to the titanic joust, the people of Ekiti acknowledged the good governance of Dr. Fayemi. He built roads, hospitals and pushed the economy of the state to the next level. Fayemi prided himself with the numerous achievements his administration recorded in his first term. He deluded himself by counting on the physical landmarks that dotted the landscape of the state to swing him back to the Government House. But the electorate was not impressed one bit with all of that coupled with his big, big grammar.
During one campaign binge, Fayemi was confronted with a poser from one of his subjects who spoke the minds of a cross section of Ekiti folks. He admitted that the number one citizen has done so well in the area of social infrastructure but wondered why he failed in the provision of stomach infrastructure. Conversely, they were full of praises for the returnee governor Fayose for his grassroots simplicity and generosity.
As the D-Day approached, Fayose, who is well-schooled in the art of tummy politics in a poverty stricken milieu like Ekiti, threw sacks of rice and other gastronomic inducements at his targets. It is said that the quickest way to a man’s heart is via his tummy. In Ekiti, the shortcut to the hearts of the electorate is via their tummies. The average Ekiti folk, trapped between the crushing jaws of poverty, does not care a hoot about the socio-economic development of the state. Social infrastructure is an inheritance of the state. But chop-chop infrastructure is an individual inheritance which no one, not even Fayose, can deprive them of once consumed. I leave them to posterity to judge.
The common Ekiti woman is a culinary aficionado. And Ekiti folks love their tummies. My conclusion is premised on the experience I had when I first came in contact with the old Ondo state which comprised the present Ekiti state in 1995. A colleague, who was the media chief of the military administrator, had invited me to Akure and lodged me at the NUJ Press Centre Guest House.
There was this eatery run by one Ekiti woman located around the Guest House. If you are looking for a pounded yam slave, search no further. I am your man! Throughout my sojourn in the town, I had pounded yam for lunch. The Ekiti restaurateur was a superb cook who understood the psychology of her clients, mostly from Ekiti axis. The meals, mostly swallows that also included eba and amala dudu, were accompanied by bush meat, ponmo, goat meat, beef and intestines, known among gourmets as roundabout. They served these assorted pieces of meat in a separate bowl, juxtaposed with the one bearing the swallows. A hyena would whine with envy seeing the way I relished the chewables. But I made sure that dog meat (you call it 404) which Ondo/Ekiti people consider as a delicacy, was not on the list. Seeing the tempting way the contents in the bowl were presented and the aroma that seized the atmosphere, fueled by the whiffy goat meat or obuko in Yoruba, it was always difficult for me to resist the pleasure until I sighted Made-in-China… a euphemism for emptying the plate. And my host was very generous in footing the bills.
From this brief account, you will appreciate why Ekiti folks place more emphasis on tummy infrastructure at the expense of the overall development of their state. Ekiti kete!
