Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has blamed the politicians from the Ekiti South Senatorial District of Ekiti State for the alleged political neglect of the zone, describing many of them as being allegedly dishonest, treacherous and unreliable to be trusted to fight for their rights.
Olanipekun accused the leaders of being feeble and timid to speak out for the zone in its quest to produce governor since 1999, which he said the combined forces of the Central and North have deprived them.
The legal icon spoke in Ikere-Ekiti yesterday during the annual Wole Olanipekun’s Christmas Carol, where he descended heavily on the politicians from that extraction of selling the zone out to other districts to exploit.
He spoke against the backdrop of vociferous agitations for power shift to the South and allegations of political marginalisation of the zone in the state’s governance structure.
Olanipekun, who was visibly embittered by the development, pointed fingers at some prominent politicians in the South who he called “midgets” for betraying the zone’s cause to mount the governorship seat in exchange for “political tokenism”.
“I pity those who say they are politicians from the Ekiti South. They want to play second fiddle because they think they are inferior. That is the way I see it. But if you say I want be deputy governor and I want to play a second fiddle, then, they will treat you as a second fiddler.
“To me, I don’t blame the people from the North if you so called politicians from the South feel inferior and they give them political tokenism and they will accept it.
They see themselves as nugget and see those from the North and Central as the giants. And they behave like zombies”, he added.
He expressed displeasure that the zone had been relegated to the background in the state’s political equations despite its humongous electoral weight in terms of population, calibre of political actors and number of local government areas.
Olanipekun stated that fairness, equity and justice demanded the plum position should be the turn of Ekiti South in the next political dispensation, adding that the marginalisation must stop to foster the indivisiblity and homogeneity of the state.
“I am a lawyer and I thank God for what He has done for me but assuming Obasanjo did not become the president for two term of eight years how would we, the South-west feel. Look at what happened in 1999, when the two leading parties yielded the tickets to Obasanjo and Falae both from the South-west.
“To me, whether you are APC, PDP, APGA or YPP they should say this time around the Ekiti South should produce the next governor come June 18, 2022. You see I hate cheating and God doesn’t even like it. When you look at your Bible after the people of God entered the promise Land and Moses was trying to share the land, he started with all the tribes.
“So, what are we talking about the power shift to the South come 2023 if we can’t practice what we are agitating against right from our home. We must not allow Ekiti state to become a state of landlord and tenant that some people are tenant and others landlord. Everyone is equal”, Olanipekun said.
