By Donu Kogbara

LAST week, the day before the  Ekiti State gubernatorial election, I told you that I had known Dr Kayode Fayemi, the then Governor, since we were both youngsters and that I held him and his wife, Erelu Bisi, in the highest esteem.

I urged Ekiti indigenes to vote for Fayemi because I felt that he had done a good job under difficult circumstances and was convinced that he had what it took to carry the people he had diligently and honestly served for nearly four years to the next level and fulfil their socio-economic development dreams.

But the election result did not go the way I’d hoped. Ayo Fayose, the PDP candidate, has been declared the winner by a wide margin; and Fayemi has graciously conceded defeat and congratulated his victorious opponent.

I am very depressed about this outcome; but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Ekitians have a history of not allowing any Governor to stay for more than one term; and since the previous incumbent is not currently querying the means by which he was replaced, let me accept the status quo and wish Chief Fayose well.

Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti (l) and Governor-Elect, Mr Ayo Fayose, during Fayose’s visit to the Governor in Ado-Ekiti on Monday

By the way, my response to the diehard PDP supporters who have sent me abusive messages for daring to highlight Fayemi’s strengths is as follows: Fayemi is not perfect. He has faults like every other human being, this columnist included. But he is a decent Gentleman overall; and your ungrammatical fulminations against him and me were utterly laughable!

A worthy representative

HENRY SERIAKE DICKSON, the PDP Governor of Bayelsa State, recently came to London, having been invited to address a lunch that was hosted by a British Parliamentary group that has a special interest in the African business scene.

This highly regarded group only organises four official lunches per year; and the lunches take place in the hallowed House of Commons.     So it was a great honour for Governor Dickson to be allocated this prestigious, not-easy-to-get slot.

Nigerian dignitaries rarely gain access to such privileged platforms in the United Kingdom, so I was very grateful when I was invited to the event; and I am happy to report that Governor Dickson did Nigeria and Bayelsa proud.

He was eloquent and confident without talking too much or being arrogant. He explained his agenda for his state, emphasised his laudable commitment to education, outlined various investment opportunities and firmly put the toxic and worrying but not insurmountable Boko Haram menace into perspective.

He also made it clear that he was a staunch supporter of Mr President and urged the foreigners to believe in the Jonathan administration.

I used to share Dickson’s faith in the Jonathan administration, but have gradually become disillusioned to the point where I now regularly criticise it. And this difference of opinion puzzles me. But I guess it’s normal and healthy.

You and I can look at the same scenario or individual and see totally different things. I may not see what you see and you may not see what I see; and let’s face it: We are all entitled to view personalities, political challenges and life in general through non-identical prisms that may or may not be rose-tinted.

At any rate, I was touched by the unconditional loyalty that Dickson displayed towards his Big Brother and Boss; and I agree with the English entrepreneur who told me after the lunch that if all of Jonathan’s team members were as credible and persuasive as Governor Dickson, the Presidency would probably not be floundering under the weight of constant doubts about its competence.

Media  crackdowns

THE Egyptian authorities have been cracking down on journalists for a while and a Cairo court has just outraged the civilized world by unfairly sentencing three Al Jazeera TV channel employees to jail terms ranging from seven to 10 years.

Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were arrested last December while they were covering the military coup that had toppled the democratically elected ex-President Mohammed Morsi a few months earlier.
All three men were accused of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi’s banned organisation, and of producing false news reports…simply because they had made objective observations about the situations they encountered.

A couple of weeks ago, I bitterly complained on this page about harassment of Nigerian media houses. My ire was triggered off by the fact that soldiers had, because they were upset about a story that portrayed the army in a bad light, tried to prevent this and other newspapers from being distributed.

This tantrum was, to be fair, uncharacteristic; and it did not last long. Meanwhile, none of the Nigerian journalists who have criticised our government or its armed wing are in prison awaiting trial. So while we must continue to complain whenever the Nigerian authorities misbehave, let us also thank God about the fact that they are icons of liberalism compared to their horrible Egyptian counterparts!