Last week, residents of Lagos state, and indeed the whole nation received news of the appointment of Mr. Patrick Arogundade Adeyemi as the National Grassroots Mobilization Director of the All Progressives Congress, the ruling political party in Nigeria.
Clinching one of the most powerful and enviable positions in the ruling political party in Nigeria is no mean feat especially when one considers the antecedent of Mr Patrick Arogundade Adeyemi fondly referred to as “Honourable P.A. Adeyemi” by his teeming supporters and party loyalists.
The meteoric rise of Honourable P.A. Adeyemi in the ladder of the All Progressives Congress political party is indeed remarkable.
Before his recent appointment which many describe as elevation to the national level of the party, Honourable P.A. Adeyemi held the position of the Grassroots Mobilization Director of the All Progressives Congress, Lagos State Chapter. It is no longer news that the appointment of Honourable P.A. Adeyemi has evoked mixed feelings and reactions from practically every spectrum of Nigerian society.
For his teeming supporters, loyalists, hangers-on, outlaws, and thugs who have over time become Honourable P.A. Adeyemi’s unorthodox army, the appointment is a welcomed development.
This is because Honourable P.A. Adeyemi’s appointment enhances their chances of receiving more handouts, food, money, and other means of survival in a society where wealthy and powerful individuals in the political class like him capitalize on the poverty of citizens whom they use as tools for all sorts of deviant and criminal activities for their selfish political interests.
But for most educated and civilized residents of Lagos state, and political actors in other geo-political regions of the country, the appointment is seen as a show of shame and an affront to the democratic process in Nigeria.
According to a reliable source who is a senior member of the All Progressive Congress (APC), since the appointment of Honourable P.A. Adeyemi, the national secretariat of the party in Abuja has received more than two thousand petitions calling on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to immediately withdraw the appointment.
The reason for the clamour for the withdrawal of the appointment of Honourable P.A. Adeyemi centres on two main issues. Apart from his limited education, Honourable Patrick Arogundade Adeyemi’s penchant for violence sets him apart as an extremely dangerous man. The numerous atrocities he has committed since his foray into the murky waters of politics remain indelible in the memory of Nigerians.
It is rumoured that Honorable P.A. Adeyemi did not complete his basic elementary primary education. He ran away from home at the tender age of 12 and abandoned his education, choosing to pursue an unenviable career in the motor parks of Lagos state where he became a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), a deviant sub-culture in the Lagos motor parks.
An environment known for gang rivalry among the diverse groups in the motor parks, the young Adeyemi became notorious for brute force, violence, thuggery, and even murder. His fame as a rugged fighter soon caught the attention of the ruling political class in Lagos state which deployed his services for their selfish political gains.
Being the hatchet man for the ruling All Progressives Congress in Lagos State and in most states in the South-West Geo-political region of Nigeria, Honourable P.A. Adeyemi soon became a wealthy, powerful, and influential political figure with an unorthodox army of thugs and outlaws which he uses for committing atrocities such as threatening, beating, maiming, and weakening members of opposition political parties with the full knowledge, connivance, and protection of the state and federal government.
Despite all the protestations and genuine misgivings by well-meaning Nigerians against the appointment of Honourable P.A. Adeyemi, the painful reality is that President Muhammadu Buhari will not withdraw the appointment.
There is a rumour by some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the appointment is President Muhammadu Buhari’s way of rewarding Honourable P.A. Adeyemi for his role in using thugs to snatch, destroy or burn ballot boxes and other election materials, threatening and coercion of electoral officials to falsify and manipulate election results in the 2019 presidential elections in local governments in Lagos State that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party won.
Honourable P.A. Adeyemi’s inglorious role ultimately ensured that the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged victorious in Lagos State during the 2019 Presidential election.
Like other questionable political appointments by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the clamour for the withdrawal of the appointment of Honourable P.A. Adeyemi, no doubt speaks volumes of the deep-seated problems in the Nigerian political landscape. It reflects the absurdity of a political party whose dwindling popularity has been exacerbated by the appointment of misfits and individuals of questionable characters and unenviable reputations to direct its affairs.
Recently, the actions taken by the All Progressives Congress (APC) are now almost completely at variance with the party’s manifesto to bring the brightest minds to the government to help in building enduring democratic structures in Nigeria. Sadly, the appointment of Honourable P.A. Adeyemi has added to the numerous mistakes and tales of woes that continue to plague a political party that endeared itself to the Nigerian masses by campaigning on the mantra of change.
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