BY JIDE FASIKU
The last may not have been heard about the tidal wave of decamping in the country. Thousands of angry protesters trooped into the streets in Ilorin, on Thursday, lambasting the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki for allegedly trying to sell the people of Kwara State into slavery.
The protest which started as early as 9:30a.m.took off from the popular Geri Alimi roundabout and later snowballed like wild harmattan fire until it engulfed the entire capital city.
The protesters requested a change from what some of them called the Saraki hegemony to a free society where people can exercise their freedom of choice and actualise their aspirations in an atmosphere of peace and liberty. They pledged unalloyed support for the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari whom they described as the perfect captain that can steer the ship of the nation to the promised land.
The PDP card carrying members amongst the protesters announced immediate repudiation of their membership of the party and decamped to the APC.
Speaking on behalf of the decampees, the erstwhile Ilorin West PDP flagbearer who defeated Saraki in his polling unit and ward in the November 18, 2017 local government election, Comrade Musbahudeen Oloruntoba Eshinrogunjo, said: “We feel happy to join the progressives today as we cut our ties with PDP. We are leaving our former party as a result of impunity and decision not to work with Bukola Saraki who just defected to the party. We don’t want to work with him because his leadership is an objection to the development of Kwara State of our dream.
“We are using this medium to say no to bad government in Kwara, a government that couldn’t fix our roads, provide affordable and accessible education and save healthcare service. We are saying no to a government that couldn’t pay workers’ salary and pensioners’ gratuity. We are saying no to a government that couldn’t empower our youth with gainful and legitimate employment but gives arms and vehicles to ‘good boys’ (tugs and miscreants). We are saying no to godfatherism where one man would be dictating the political fate of over three millions people of the state.”
There was plan to halt the rally at Surulere area but the attempt was resisted vehemently by the participants who insisted they must reach their initially planned destination which was Post-Office. To prevent any breach of peace likely to spring up as another group called Kwara Agenda, a pro-Saraki group, had earlier fixed their counter-rally also for the day, the State Assistant Commissioner of Police led the security operatives to the scene and saw that nothing untoward occurred.
The peaceful rally also received positive acknowledgement from the motorists, passengers, residents of all the areas it passed through as they joined the crowd in singing damning songs against the government of Kwara State and Saraki’s leadership.
“They said they are leaving APC because the expectations of the state were not met and Buhari’s one man leadership method of ruling was the reason things are getting worse. Let us ask them, was it President Buhari that hold their hands not to perform in Kwara State? Buhari gave them bail out funds, Paris Club refund, and statutory allocations have never stopped coming to the state but they failed in giving good account of all these monies.
“We hereby use this opportunity to pledge our unalloyed loyalty and unflinching support to President Muhammadu Buhari’s government and the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led APC leadership. Come 2019, APC will win the state massively,” the leader of the protesters, Comrade Musbahudeen Oloruntoba Eshinrogunjo, said.
