Leading a band of sea marauders in R.L. Stevension’s TREASURE ISLAND, the vicious, ruthless, one legged,one-eyed Long John Silver with his men has a favourite song whenever they are high on drugs and rum:

     

             Sixteen men on a dead man’s chest / Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

 

I could remember the questions we used to ask in those early days in school when we had to read and digest the novel. I remember asking why the leader of the gang has to be a one legged, half-blind man?  I used to ask how it is  possible for the ugly, disabled Long John Silver to so effectively control his environment and be the nemesis of very many good men?

I used to ask questions on the above song and wonder aloud “ sixteen men on a dead man’s chest?” What and who killed the man with a chest massive enough for sixteen men to stay on? The chest, I learnt soon enough, refers to the treasure left behind by an ancient sea man which has now become the target of these pirates whose love for money (and rum) is so profound and hatred for truth legendary.

 

It was not long before I was made to know that in the world of crime, the uglier the leader is, the easier it is for him to give effective, ruthless leadership. His vicious mien is enough to command awe, a prerequisite in crime world leadership. Beyond this, the incompleteness in the personality of the leader makes him blind to goodness. He goes for what he wants, not minding whether a friend or foe is hurt in the process. He fills the vacuum in his life with titles, money and blood!

 

It was that song and Long John Silver’s gang of pirates that came to my mind when I read an advertorial by very eminent and respectable Lagos elders led by Hon. Justice I. Ishola Oluwa in The Guardian of  Monday, July 9, 2007 (Page 88 ).The same image I saw  after reading a thought provoking piece in Thisday of Friday 22 July, 2007 (Page 22). Both publications, which must be read by all Nigerians, told tales of how Lagos has been held viciously in the scrotum by some men who profess to love that state more than the real indigenes. They both end with almost total resignation and helplessness in the face of the vicious stranglehold on the jugular of Lagos by a band that for eight years ruled (and ruined), fought and vanquished real and imagined opponents. And they want to remain right there where the treasure chest of Lagos is by all means.

 

The two pieces also reveal something about current (and recent} political events in Osun and Lagos states. It explains why a governorship candidate in the April election in Osun state, Rauf Aregbesola could, after the election, describe the state he wanted to rule as a satellite of Lagos and give the reason for his ambition as the desire to save, not Osun but Lagos “from certain death.” The picture is getting clearer now. One could see the fanning out from Lagos to “the satellite states” by the failed viceroys in the context of a Long John Silver asking his men to look for new treasures to corner (and conquer). 

 

Very probing questions came to mind too on what is between Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Aregbesola that is said to be “inexplicable” and even mysterious. Could it be that the emerging mystery about the personalities of the duo is the bond? I do not know if others noticed in that Thisday write-up why Hakeem Gbajabiamila had to be ostracized because he allegedly revealed that Aregbesola’s highest academic qualification is a Diploma in Refrigeration Engineering? Does that remind anyone on the controversy over whether Tinubu attended Chicago State University or University of Chicago and the yet unanswered questions for Tinubu from Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on which schools the former Lagos state Governor attended?  What about Tinubu’s work history and his roots, simple questions he, through his ghost writers, now refer to as old wives fables instead of answering them?

 

And they will close their eyes to the truth at any time because it suits them at that moment. Because Oyinlola dared ask those sacred questions all manners of accusations must be hung on him. Thank God we have had the Oputa panel in this country which provided a unfettered opportunity for all to give evidence on events in the years before democracy. The Oputa panel sat for months and was told about Sergeant Rogers, who has also appeared and confessed in court, that he shot Kudirat, Alex Ibru etc and gave the names of those who sent him. Oyinlola’s name never featured for once throughout the months Oputa sat and the nation listened to gory tales of  unimaginable features including betrayals from supposed pro-democracy activists.     

 

  

Now, the eminent Lagosians who signed The Guardian publication and the discerning Lagos media will understand why the people of Osun state rejected the invasion of their state by this Lagos- based gang who saw the last election as an opportunity to create an empire with the emperor sitting on the throne in Lagos dispensing favours to whoever he fancied.

 

I sympathized with the gentlemen and ladies who had hitherto thought they were part of the team in Lagos but have now been shoved aside. Doves and hawks have nothing to share in common. The sidelined ought to have enrolled in the political school of Osun state where they would have been thought by the likes of Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun and Chief Abiola Morakinyo how to escape being attacked (and hacked) by pirates on the high seas of politics. The victims of the Lagos pirates would have listened to Alhaji Oyedokun as he speaks on how  the highly regarded, truth-telling parrot (Ayekooto) escaped after he found itself lumped in the same filthy cage of the Action Congress with “awon eye keye”(worthless, ordinary but ruthless birds). Ayekooto escaped back to the top of the legendary Iroko oluwere, king of the forest.        

 

 The Lagos experience and the revelation that a debt of over N100 Billion hangs on that state, coupled with the disclosure in the Thisday report that Aregbesola spent over N2.3Billion on his ambition in Osun State should be food for thought for all who genuinely love Lagos. What about the alleged demand from gentleman  Fasola of N500Million to prosecute their case at the election Tribunal? Did I hear you say Lagos is in trouble? That is the trouble God saved Osun State from on April 14, 2007 when the N2.3Billion of Aregbesola with Molue loads of thugs were insufficient to enslave the State of the Living Spring.

 

We commiserate with Lagos indigenes on the modern day slavery. We congratulate the people of Osun state for God’s favour that saved them from Long John Silver and his gang of pirates.