For desperate people, the immediate is more important than the long term. A bag of rice makes more sense than roads, and this does not mean that the people do not appreciate the roads Fayemi built. A bag of rice and N2000 naira in their pockets over roads and even over hospitals makes very rational choice. For desperate, poor, cornered people, they do not have cars to ply the good roads anyway and even if they have cars, these are most likely unserviceable cars and cars whose maintenance requirement daily add to their desperation. New hospitals built by a progressive governor make little meaning if the poor cannot afford to visit them. The good governor who built roads and did not steal, people clearly appreciate, but all his efforts did not change their immediate life situation. Worse, there is that debt to pay; that fee to offset etc; at election time, a bag of rice and N5000 on offer, at least for the immediate need, brings hope for better meals for a week or two. These seem to have met the desperate needs of the people. Seemingly befuddled, many moralists here have asked why people would not simply take the money and vote the "better" guy anyway. Well, contrary to much bad mouthing of local people, these people still hold on to their own standard of morality. If they take your money, they deliver on their promise! If you have filled their belly and at least capacitate them to earn enough to give them hope for good meals and something besides that makes a try at quality life, they will deliver on their promise.
If you have never fallen into desperation before, you find it difficult to appreciate people who are oppressed by desperate situations. I have known desperate people and have seen what desperation can make people do. People who must watch their loved ones suffer pain because they lack the money to take them to good hospitals or to buy anything other than some expired panadol; they watch their dreams evaporate as day by day and into years resources that capacitate people into living active purposeful and good life never come their ways. Their sons and daughters roam the city without jobs and become target for pimps and thug-recruiting politicians etc. To get the vote of these people, good roads and flowers give promise of better times in the too distant future. This needed to be complemented by tangible immediate economic empowerment. I take exception to the term infrastructure "of the belly" and other opprobrious terms that people have used here to denounce the Ekiti people and condemn them as imbeciles. They are not. Isn't it said that Ekiti is the most educated state in the country to boot? So our elites have concluded that all of these people simply lost their senses!
I feel that much of the belly aching done by many commentators shows a lack of sensitivity to the plight of the poor and a lack of understanding of the dialectical nature of the requirements for holding the trust of the local poor (& even of the non-local elite). What kind of sensitization program did governor Fayemi's party embark upon during his tenure that could have positioned his much praised road development programs within the nexus of the peoples immediate need.
Much planning and programming by all levels of government in Nigeria neglect agriculture, the trades and the rural and sub-urban areas. Much of the "development projects" , and thank God Fayemi at least successfully embarked on some, are usually contracted to big contractors, or foreign companies, with very little or no trickle down effect on the people. A structured and well monitored programme that infuses resources and capital into agriculture, into local trades and even into the informal sectors will always win votes of the local people. In fact, these will win votes, not only of the local grateful farmers, school leavers, the mechanics and food processors etc, but of their urban relatives and civil servants who would have been relieved of the burden of agonizing over how to help them with their difficulties. If governor Fayemi did all this and the people still turned against him, I would have said that much criticism and angry denunciation of the people embarked upon by commentators here would have had some justification.
Besides, these people have not done anything radically different than most of our educated elite have done - disregard long term goals for short term opportunities. I find their choice more defendable, though.
And who says people cant learn from mistakes or that people should never make mistakes, if mistake this really is. And if we grant that the people made this choice deliberately based on their rational or gut feelings, and that their choice, Fayose, as many have avouched, easily connect with the people, who says, that he might not or cannot turn out to become a good governor.
If Fayose has won the election against all "odds", and if he is cleared of all the crimes he is said to have committed and is sworn in, I would think the more productive thing to do is to get Ekiti patriots together, irrespective of political affiliation, to help turn Fayose into a good governor. Le him try to confound all those who have written him off. If he can be convinced that he stands to gain more by investing in the people than in his own pocket, with the gel that everybody testifies is between him and the people, I bet we and all the naysayers here will be in for a pleasant surprise.
I beg, lets give the people a break!
Femi Kolapo
From: "Mobolaji Aluko" <alukome@gmail.com>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 2, 2014 12:57:51 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Response by Niyi Osundare
Moses:
You social scientists like alternative "narratives", so here is one....
Could it be because of the differential effect of the 48-hour curfew imposed in Ekiti before June 21, one candidate's "rice" was still in the belly during the voting, while the other candidate's "rice", having
passed through the alimentay canal to early, had lost much of its culinary memory effect?
Just asking, because I understand that many elections are won or lost in Nigeria in the last 48 hours, when there is greatest official (INEC, security and others) and electorate "hunger".
The most annoying aspect of all of this is that we Ekiti are yam-chopping people, not rice. How rice has become our stomach infrastructur paving raw material is a mystery. In fact, I remember my father once telling me that the general feeling was that only thieving children asked for rice and eggs outside of Christmas in Ekiti.
He must be shaking his head in Heaven.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
Shaking my head on Earth
On Wednesday, July 2, 2014, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:
> Good point, Toyin Adepoju. The rice narrative has taken on an unwieldy explanatory life of its own and now serves as the anchor for all manner of reductive analyses. Indeed, Feyemi not only also distributed rice but in fact gave away bigger bags of rice, according to newspaper accounts. Not only that; while Fayose accompanied his rice gift to students with 1000 naira (reduced from an earlier promised 2000 naira), Fayemi is reported to have accompanied his own rice gift with 5000 naira. If all this is true, it ought to at least mitigate the claim that rice distribution and other appeals to consumptive gratification played a decisive role in the election. If both candidates engaged in rice distribution, its net effect on the election should be a wash, and this should cause us to pivot to more profound issues and explanations.
>
> On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 2:11 PM, Oluwatoyin Adeopoju <oluifadante@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> But, both candidates gave rice to the people
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 9:31 PM, Oyeronke Oyewumi <oyeronke.oyewumi@stonybrook.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks a million. I posted this on Falola list.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 4:30 PM, Oyeronke Oyewumi <oyeronke.oyewumi@stonybrook.edu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Dear All,
>>>> On Ekiti elections, the poet has spoken. Professor Niyi Osundare is the Poet Laureate of Ekiti State, does he have the last word?
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://saharareporters.com/column/people-voted-their-stomach-blues-arrested-renaissance-niyi-osundare
>>>> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEigb_fxRrxRpnduz31CP9Wi9gS2Kb1qncdruZRCee1mbEADbRs2zWV1YE1ny-CchQEE8KIcqzYE5aBLIe2kvMe47SIzEG0OARnYeQ_gQxeRGs_MEf0oZ7HpkhdsqOwQKB571bUpG2-E2b-qgvOTrHgx8TH8rT7LSFWoz2yV2pKeHCnYkPSHTwNT3GqlXT3iZjOX=s0-d-e1-ft>
>>>>
>>>> The People Voted Their Stomach -Blues For An Arrested Renaissance By Niyi Osundare
>>>>
>>>> Posted: Jun, 29 2014, 9:06PM
>>>> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiczPv4Rr8Mkqcyuhr5odYa9_UWy87IhK1WeefeaxjV38en7np7C_tD-hM2qR5m_t6Rn3IReYIePLRQYWf7xYnzYx2xZKNMpBTEeGDvwmQw5ltoctg_WkHmPWAQIHP-VBZgqx9hKMmKcit_hz8P9atfJs6fI1ONwZr2FHeYoNBxdedq2ta7JYpOZsgYpWtNzFhqUYnkwR49Pdf0H1dgEImyZX_-GuFsD7cJIGHGs4ww=s0-d-e1-ft>
>>>> Prof. Niyi Osundare
>>>> Columnist:
>>>> Guest Columnist
>>>>
>>>> A-RICE, oh compatriots
>>>> Your stomach's call obey
>>>> Say, A-RICE, oh compatriots
>>>> Your stomach's call obey
>>>> Hold out your bowls for the golden grains
>>>> Pawn your pride without delay
>>>>
>>>> Grab your bribe and dance in the street
>>>> To the Riceman's drum and venal command
>>>> Yes, grab your bribe and dance in the streets
>>>> To the Riceman's drum and venal command
>>>> Bend your back for his heavy ride
>>>> Your golden rice is your sole demand
>>>>
>>>> The Riceman is here, your lord and saviour
>>>> Pawn your vote for his golden gift
>>>> Say, the Riceman is here, your lord and saviour
>>>> Pawn your vote for his golden gift
>>>> Eat your rice and belch like a bull
>>>> And give your guts the forgetful lift
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The passage down the gullet
>>>> Is the fastest road to heaven
>>>> Yes, the passage down the gullet
>>>> Is the fastest road to heaven
>>>> To those held hostage by their shameless guts
>>>> There is no nirvana like the seething toilet
>>>>
>>>> The people voted their stomach
>>>> And the dunghill usurped their future
>>>> Alas, the people voted their stomach
>>>> The dunghill embraced their future
>>>> The wounds from this blind affair
>>>> Defy the magic of the cleverest suture
>>>>
>>>> II
>>>>
>>>> The people voted their stomach
>>>> And the dunghill usurped their future
>>>> Alas, the people voted their stomach
>>>> The dunghill embraced their future
>>>> The wounds from this blind affair
>>>> Defy the magic of the cleverest suture
>>>>
>>>> Cunning Riceman with bags
>>>> Full of tricks and daggers
>>>> Say, cunning Riceman with bags
>>>> Full of tricks and daggers
>>>> His first coming left us all
>>>> In ashes and fluttering rags
>>>>
>>>> Brazen murders, strange disappearances:
>>>> His hands drip with unexpiated crimes
>>>> Yes, brazen murders, strange disappearances
>>>> His hands drip with unexpiated crimes
>>>> But he has an arsenal of cash and rice
>>>> Both so vital in these degenerate times
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Rabble-rousing, clowning, scheming
>>>> Frightful intimations of Idi Amin's pedigree
>>>> Yes, rabble-rousing, clowning, scheming
>>>> Frightful intimations of Idi Amin's pedigree
>>>> Yesterday's fruits still stir the leaves
>>>> On History's bewildering tree
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Here, once again,
>>>> The wild histrionics of a deadly actor
>>>> Say, here, once, again,
>>>> The wild histrionics of a deadly actor
>>>> Mindless applause from a captive audience
>>>> Chloroformed puppets of a wily victor
>>>>
>>>> III
>>>>
>>>> They sold their birth right
>>>> For a kongo* of rice
>>>> Alas, they sold their birth right
>>>> For a kongo of rice
>>>> This mindless commerce
>>>> Will come at a heavy price
>>>>
>>>> Erstwhile Knowledge Fountain
>>>> Overgrown with Ignorance's malignant weeds
>>>> Alas, erstwhile Knowledge Fountain
>>>> Overgrown with Ignorance's malignant weeds
>>>> The Book, once robust, resurgent,
>>>> Has been voted out of our daily needs
>>>>
>>>> They sold us a lemon; we emptied
>>>> Our bank of virtues to pay the price
>>>> Alas, they sold us a lemon; we emptied
>>>> Our bank of virtues to pay the price
>>>> The will powerful guns could not subdue
>>>> Now lies suborned by a spoonful of rice
>>>>
>>>> Poverty so desperate, so demeaning,
>>>> It consumed our pride, our primal worth
>>>> Yes, Poverty, so desperate, so demeaning,
>>>> It consumed our pride, our primal worth
>>>> The pride we once extolled is vanishing fast
>>>> From the face of our stunned, corrupted earth
>>>>
>>>> The people voted their stomach
>>>> And the dunghill usurped their future
>>>> Alas, the people voted their stomach
>>>> The dunghill embraced their future
>>>> The wounds from this blind affair
>>>> Defy the magic of the cleverest suture
>>>>
>>>> *Kongo: a small tin, plastic, or calabash container used for measuring peas and grains in market sales.
>>>>
>>>> IV
>>>>
>>>> Too good for us, far too advanced
>>>> The reigning King is too high above our rot
>>>> Say, too good for us, far too advanced
>>>> The reigning King is too high above our rot
>>>> Too much bound to Excellence and Honour
>>>> And a public garment without a blot
>>>>
>>>> He expends state funds on the road to the Future
>>>> He never paves the way to our bottomless stomach
>>>> Yes, he expends state funds on the road to the Future
>>>> He never paves the way to our bottomless stomach
>>>> Whoever doesn't know in the eating world
>>>> That the gut is a grand, demanding monarch
>>>>
>>>> We asked for rice, he gave us Reason
>>>> We asked for booty, he gave us the Book
>>>> Say, we asked for rice, he gave Reason
>>>> We asked for booty, he gave us a book
>>>> So we trooped all out to cast our lot
>>>> For the side of the dark and loaded crook
>>>>
>>>> The Damaged Good has riced its way
>>>> To the top of the brand
>>>> Alas, the Damaged Good has riced its way
>>>> Right to the top of the brand
>>>> Our feet stand askew
>>>> On our dark and traitored land
>>>>
>>>> Come again soon, oh brief Renaissance
>>>> This interlude forebodes a trembling twilight
>>>> I say, come again, brief Renaissance
>>>> This interlude forebodes a trembling twilight
>>>> Sow rainbow stars in our darkening sky
>>>> Divine another Dawn, new and bright
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Niyi Osundae
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Oyeronke Oyewumi, Ph. D
>>>> Department of Sociology
>>>> Stony Brook University
>>>> Stony Brook, NY 11794
>>>> Ph: 646 707-3703
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Oyeronke Oyewumi, Ph. D
>>> Department of Sociology
>>> Stony Brook University
>>> Stony Brook, NY 11794
>>> Ph: 646 707-3703
>>>
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>
>
>
> --
> There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed.
>
>
> ---Mohandas Gandhi
>
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