Femi Fani-Kayode’s recent defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress has generated a lot of debate in the political terrain of the country. The reactions cannot be unconnected from the fact that many people saw the defection as a representation of the fact that Fani-Kayode is an unprincipled politician whose actions are always informed by his stomach. In reality, a bulk of Nigerian politicians are not ideologues, hence, it will be practically impossible for them to give what they do not have.
Defection by Nigerian politicians is always a characteristic of opportunistic political manoeuvrings, which they exhibit at every given opportunity, most especially for the sake of being relevant or staying close to the corridor of power. The Nigerian political party system is like a recycle bin with the same faces drifting from one political party to the other day-in, day-out all in the quest for survival.
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One would have thought that Femi’s defection must have been informed by irreconcilable ideological differences, which do not align with his values, but the alibi that was given oozes falsity. The excuse that was given by Femi Fani-Kayode for joining the APC smacks logic and shows that he is an inconsistent pathological liar who cannot be trusted by the words of his mouth.
For someone like Femi Fani-Kayode, there is no ‘ambition’ he aims at actualising by jumping from one party to the other because he does not have any electoral value aside from the fact that he just want to be relevant because politics is a source of survival for him and his ilk. Today, we see him making a reckless statement about Pantami. Tomorrow, we will see him claiming that he did not mean his words. That is the level of inconsistency deposited in him.
The Yoruba’s admonition that ọnibárẹ ọnibárìn aptly captures the relationship one must share with an element like Femi Fani-Kayode because this is a man that does not even trust himself. As he is, he cannot predict his next political move. That his defection came weeks after his meeting with Sunday Igboho where he was portrayed as one of Igboho’s pillars of support, we could even see him reassuring Igboho that no one will desert him during his trying times. How then do we explain the recent u-turn of Femi Fani-Kayode? Is he now saying that he now supports the actions of the federal government?
Fani-Kayode represents everything wrong with politics in Nigeria. As a former minister, he has a lot of allegations of corruption against him. As an opposition chieftain, he was a man who criticised the government in manners portraying lack of decorum and decency, a man who specialises in spreading conspiracy theories and spurious allegations. He was a glorified social media agbero. Now that he has found love with the Buhari’s administration, he is now a shameless bootlicker; the proverbial dog who came back to his vomit.
With Femi Fani-Kayode, I have come to terms with the saying that “scholarship does not translate to intelligence”.
Kazeem Olalekan Israel (GANI) wrote from Ibadan, Nigeria.
