Ekiti Election: Street Credibility, Elitism and all that, by Dr. Tunde Oseni

The recent governorship election in Ekiti will no doubt remain a subject of interest for a long time to come. Although it was generally perceived as free and fair, it was indeed not free from fear. As the people say, the devil is in the details. Granted, there were no reports of violence on the Election Day, and the incumbent Governor Fayemi has congratulated Governor-elect Fayose, reasons for winning or losing elections are never clear-cut. There are at least three major reasons for the dimension of the electoral outcomes of that fateful Saturday.

One, the governor is seen as an elite politician, who is far removed from the ‘ordinary people’ of Ekiti. No doubt, Governor Fayemi’s education, experience and exposure far outweighed that of his opponent but, the governor, it is said, lacks street credibility. Unlike Mr. Fayose, Dr Fayemi is an urbane, refined and grammar-speaking gentleman. Unlike Mr. Fayose, Dr Fayemi is hardly seen on the street; he seldom attends social parties, especially owambe type. Although the street credibility hitherto espoused by Mr. Fayose as governor in three years was largely populist, the masses, including the street traders and roadside mechanics understand him better than they do Dr Fayemi. But populism could be tricky; nobody truly knows the mind of a populist politician. Yet, even the most theoretical political scientist would judge a man by what he says and does, since the psychology of the politician is as hard to read as the psychology of the people that follows him. Yet, the question begs for answer as to why the very populist Fayose could not win the senatorial seat when he contested on the platform of the Labour Party in 2011.

Second, and following from the first, Governor Fayemi, it is generally thought, is more of policies than of politics. Dr. Fayemi is a man of scientific bent. As a Political Scientist, he believes that less emotion should be factored into public policies. What would benefit the people should count than what the people would ordinarily want. Education must be reformed, teachers must be qualified, and merit must determine promotion in the civil service. These innovations are foreign to a people who have been used to the patronage model. The replacement of the old dysfunctional system with a new developmental approach was seen as ‘elitist’. Many began to hate the governor for developing physical infrastructure while neglecting the ‘stomach’ infrastructure. His pontifications on building a knowledge economy, tourism and social provisioning continued to fall on deaf ears. With his academic training, Dr Fayemi knows that ‘prebendalism’ is a cog in the wheel of progress in many developing countries especially Nigeria. Dr. Fayemi had researched, taught and wrote about these things and the scholar in him defined the path he has chosen. Dr Fayemi placed governance over politics and long term vision over a short term merry-go-round.

Although many have put emphasis on the personal and political choices of the two contenders as the main reasons, the third and often neglected reason as to why the incumbent lost was the militarization of the election environment by the PDP-controlled federal government. In politics, particularly what is known in political science as ‘power politics’, the tripod of manipulation, domination and maneuvering can be used, even to the detriment of the society, for a few powerful to have their way. As a matter of fact, media reports in the preceding weeks to the election, and indeed on the very day of election showed a massive double standard securitization of the state of Ekiti. Fayemi’s political supporters and partisans, including the DG of his campaign team and his information commissioner, were harassed, arrested and even in some cases detained for no just reason. The playground was anything but level. The intimidation was what some now call ‘peaceful’ environment.  A boxer who fought his opponent in chain and cage cannot be said to be a winner. But this is Nigeria, where impunity is still the order of the day. With time, democracy will mature, but the actions and inactions of the current players would determine how soon that will happen. Dr Fayemi has taken the shine off his opponent by not being a bad loser. Even those who plotted the Machiavellian method that handed them a pyrrhic victory now call him a ‘true democrat’. Fayemi out, Fayose in, but only time will tell if the ‘street credibility’ or populism of the latter is indeed anything better, in reality, than the ‘elitism’ of the former.

• Dr Oseni teaches Politics and International Relations at the Lead City University, Ibadan