Bankole, Daniel, and Mrs. Daniel

Comfort Obi

Ogun State indigenes ought to be asking questions from their leaders, especially, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, and the State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel. Let me not get tempted into adding Daniel’s wife, Yeye Funke Daniel. I will come back to her later.
In all my adult life, I have never seen politicians descend as low as these people. The two most recent events in the state confirm how low they have sunk. Let me start with the first. Some people, allegedly led by a sacked local government chairman of Ijebu-East LGA, Tunde Oladunjoye, had gotten hold of photographs of Daniel’s children taken at a party with their friends and schoolmates in London, and splashed same on the pages of newspapers. The aim: To tell Ogun State people how Daniel and his children are squandering state funds. But my comments: Shame! What did the children do wrong? What was wrong with their attending a party? Dancing. And generally having fun? If the aim was to present Daniel and his children as frivolous, it failed. If the aim was to show how wasteful they are, it failed. That was cheap. I may not be a fan of Daniel's brand of politics, but Daniel was not a pauper before he became a governor. He could afford, even then, his family's lifestyle now, without a blink of the eye. Those behind that publication acted beneath contempt. In civilised countries, Daniel’s children and their friends would have sued them for their miserable lives and everything they have got. But this brings me to the shameful behaviour of Mrs. Daniel.
I have heard stories of a couple of wives of governors being unruly, and behaving like thugs. But none of the stories touches the gutter behaviour allegedly exhibited by Mrs. Daniel. Consequent upon the publication of her children’s photographs, she naturally hit the roof. Not only were her children’s privacy violated, those who published the photographs had mischievously revealed that Funke Daniel is a second wife. Where is the first wife by the way? And why is she anonymous? Mrs. Daniel’s anger may have stemmed from what I choose to call a Double Whammy – Her children. Herself. It is now known that she is a second wife. But there ought to be a difference between a literate, exposed First Lady, and an illiterate market woman. That difference lies in self- control. It lies in being cultured. Mrs. Daniel exhibited none of those. As soon as she saw the publication, she took scores of security men and stormed the residence of Oladunjoye who, allegedly, was behind the publication. On her orders, they beat up everybody seen in Oladunjoye’s house, She had Oladunjoye’s house ransacked, and in the process destroyed not a few things. Where did Mrs. Daniel get such powers from? If the allegations are true, she should be sued for assault and damages. But perhaps, she is learning from her husband the dirty aspects of politics.
Of course, I have never heard that Governor Daniel assaulted anybody. But he has been alleged to have done some other untidy things. Remember the nude photograph story. Remember his publicised public altercation (which resulted in physical combat between one of his security personnel and Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello). And remember, always, his famed foul-mouthedness! It is this famed foul-mouthedness that resulted in the second disgraceful incident in Ogun State within a few days. On Thursday, July 29, Daniel and Speaker Bankole got entangled, publicly, in a disgraceful episode. Here is the story.
The Ota, Ogun State fly-over bridge was billed to be commissioned. I don’t know now whether it was to be commissioned by the Minister for Works, Senator Sanusi Daggash or Bankole. But briefly, the time for the commissioning had been set for 2.00 pm, then, shifted to 4.00 pm. According to Bankole, he had been invited by Daggash to come and commission the bridge. But he was late. According to Daniel’s camp, he, (Daggash) and other dignitaries had waited for Bankole to come in vain. When they got tired, Daniel led Daggash to commission the bridge. But it was not that simple. In Daniel’s opening remarks, he childishly took a swipe at Bankole. He said that the bridge was the brain-child of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and that Bankole should, therefore, stop taking the glory. He then challenged him to start his own project before his tenure ends. Who asked Daniel for details? He was simply indulging in mischief, knowing the no-love-lost relationship between him and Bankole.
Bankole, living up to his reputation came late. And you ask why, when he was given a presidential jet! By the time he arrived, Daniel, Daggash and company had entered the bus that brought them, ready to leave. Bankole’s anger boiled over. He had missed the limelight. So, he jumped into the bus which was about to leave, not to apologise for his lateness, but to ask why the bridge was commissioned in his absence. What arrogance! When he couldn’t get an answer, he said a couple of unpleasant things to Daniel and Daggash. And the shame of it all, Bankole allegedly snatched the bus key from the driver, wounding him in the process. How could Nigeria’s No. 4 citizen descend as low as confronting a driver? What has happened to decorum?
For the records, both Bankole and Daniel were on an ego trip. That bridge has been on-going for over eight years. Neither Bankole nor Daniel contributed a kobo to it. It is the people’s money. Bankole’s only contribution is that Ota, being his constituency, he saw to it that money was allocated for the completion of the Bridge project. And what was Daniel’s contribution? And how many bridges has he built? The question, however, is: Why does Bankole almost, always, allow his youthful exuberance to becloud his office as the Speaker, House of Representatives? The other day, he had to go to a school to aplogise to students for the unruly behavour of some members of the House under his watch. This time, he needs to go to Ogun State to apologise for his alleged unbecoming conduct. What if the driver sues him? Indeed, he should. The time has come for him to differentiate between his political position, and a politician from Ogun State.
But finally, Ogun indigenes should rise in anger and sweep out these people from all political offices in 2011.