Esu, the deity, according to traditionalists, is distinct from the devil painted in the Holy Books of the Bible and the Quran.
According to traditional belief, the deity, Esu, is not altogether a deity with general evil intentions but one which is capable of doing some good.
Incidentally, if you examine most of the stories woven around Esu, you will have no problems in concluding that whoever or whatever Esu was, he was actually a master of confusion and chaos.
There was this story of two friends who were so close and cordial to the extent that they did things in common.
One day, Esu decided to cause commotion between the two friends.
He made a cap, the one side of which was done with red fabric and the other side done with black fabric.
The cap having being completed, Esu went to where the two friends were seated opposite each other and passed between them in such a way that each of the friends will see either side of his cap of confusion.
He even greeted the friends and passed by.
After Esu had left, one of the friends told the other friend that he would love to have a red cap, the type of which the who just passed was wearing on his head.
The other friend, utterly confused, asked his friend, black cap you meant to say?
The matter resulted in serious arguments between the duo and eventually ended in a fisticuff.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state is definitely wearing a cap with two colors.
On the one side of his cap is the Umbrella, the logo and symbol of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and on the other side is the insignia of the G-5 which gives him unfettered access to the APC controlled Federal Government.
Governor Seyi Makinde and other members of the G-5 have always maintained that they worked for the emergence of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a matter of their principle and belief in equity and fairness and that they will still stand with president Tinubu beyond 2023.
Take it or leave it, Governor Seyi Makinde is arguably the biggest beneficiary of the complications and confusions orchestrated by the G-5.
His reelection is a perfect fitting for the person whose palm kernel was cracked by benevolent spirits as postulated by Chinua Achebe.
Without the confusion, I am perfectly certain, there is no way Governor Seyi Makinde would have secured a second term in office.
However, statements credited to him a couple of days ago shows that Governor Makinde have chosen to be the proverbial puppy which attempted to answer two calls at the same time.
Chinua Achebe told us that the puppy broke its jaw.
Whether Governor Makinde will get his jaw broken in his attempt to have a leg on each side of the house is a question time will take care of.
Governor Makinde had reportedly prayed for the PDP to be in Government at the centre in 2027!
Would you blame him?
I wouldn’t. After all, ” Omo eni kii se idi bebere…”.
The necklace on Governor Makinde’s neck does not belong to his neck ab initio.
When the sick man gets well, the first thing he throws away is the walking stick that has been his support during his illness.
The Governor of Oyo state is now on his feet.
Why should he burden himself with the weight of a walking stick he no longer have need of?
It is those who threw away their old friends in favour of a stranger with whom they thought they have an enduring alliance who should be ashamed and worried.
No matter what you do to the bird, it will never stop singing of its home.
Ko sibi to dabi Ile leye nke.
I just hope they have not opened their flanks too much when things were rosy between them.
If they did, they will regret.
I have heard some people argued that perhaps, those who ceded the second term to him are the ones who asked him to remain within the opposition party for strategic reasons.
I don’t think anyone who knows what he is doing will try such with Seyi Makinde in view of his antecedents and if they did, they will surely have themselves to blame.
I have kept wondering why some people consider a principle of fishing in troubled waters as one which is fit and proper as against the politics of consolidation.
What is wrong if we strengthen our own structures and then accept those who are willing to join our ranks from other political parties?
We have consistently abandoned our own and decided to put up with a man who is free to roam between two political parties!
The survival of the APC lies within the APC no more, no less.
Whatever will become of the APC in future elections rest squarely on the strength of Its structures across states.
Deliberate weakening of the structures to accommodate those who have no commitment to the Party will be counter productive.
Whatever it is we are offering the Governor, have we ever considered that the opposition could better our bid?
After all, free transfers have become the order of the day in our polity.
Governor Seyi Makinde is indeed a very lucky individual.
Just like his senior in Rivers state.
They are perhaps the only politicians who could publicly dine with the birds in the morning and wine with the bat at night.
Ko seku, ko seye.
Yorubas seriously abhors people with such character.
Sadly, they are the ones in high demand these days.
I must conclude however by sounding this note of warning, no one is imuned from betrayal.
We were all here when former president Goodluck Jonathan was betrayed by all manner of ” friends and associates”.
It happened to Jonathan not because he was ” clueless” as many would want us to believe.
It happened because it is in the nature of men to jump out of a ship which they perceived to be heading for the rocks.
My humble appeal to those who engendered the misnomer of 2023 which gave rise to Governor Makinde is that it is not too late to change tactics.
Governor Makinde is not known for promise keeping, most especially, in politics.
He is on his own, a master in the politics of exploitation.
If you give Makinde room, he will dribble you, no matter who you think you are.
The APC in Oyo state is yet to harvest from Its hard labor and the reason for that is the politics of confusion which we allowed in 2023.
The structures of the party in the state is strong and unshaken despite the bruises of rejection.
The confirmation of the strength of the APC in Oyo state manifested in the last Local Government Election.
Oyo APC scared Makinde and the PDP to the extent that the OYSIEC could not even dare to bring out ballot boxes for people to vote.
I think we just need to strengthen the party appropriately and the president can go to sleep as far as Oyo state is concerned.
He already has a capable hoe, no need to look for mischievous hands to pack dirt.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
