By Bode Owoeye
November 3, 2014
When I watched the procession of Barack Obama and Michelle to the White House on the day of his official inauguration in 2009, I was not only ecstatic about the fact that the first Black Man was to be inaugurated as the most powerful man on the face of the Earth, but also fascinating was the arena, Pennsylvania Street where the procession was taking place and seeing it adorned in beauty and serenity reminiscent of the biblical description of heavens in their glory. The trees, the too perfect lanes and the lawn, all exuded symbol of greatness, confidence and freedom. As I later learned, the entire Washington DC as we know it today was envisioned on an architectural design dating back to the 1700s.
It was said that part of the consideration while designing the City was to give it a look intended to manipulate the reaction of visitors to the city, but the nation’s leadership, at that time, were more concerned with the perceptions of visitors from within the United States using it as a template to project potentially good economic and political outlook.
From Oval Office in the White House to Capitol Hill, you see an office which has become symbolic of the power and prestige of the Presidency in the minds of Americans and people across the world. It goes to tell the architectural creativity, the liquidity of thought and nimbleness of mind that conceived this great master plan and how it has morphed into a great masterpiece. White House as popularly known today is synonymous with power, influence and prestige. Yar’adua must have felt this glory-like presence before infamously declared the day he first visited the White House as his happiest day of his life.
The overall conceptualisation of the Washington DC, the White House, Oval Office and Capitol Hill encapsulates and fits perfectly well into the narrative that the design was meant to project its political power and influence both within the United States and outside of it.
This brings me to my State, Ekiti and what I think about our own ‘White House’ at Ayoba Hill. I have not visited Ayoba Hill and I don't think I need to, not because the N3.3b that was said to have been spent to build it doesn’t make it compelling to make one to want to visit the place to know why it cost so much to some people especially in Ekiti. But I still don't need to even if the project was badly or wrongly conceived so to speak, to me, seeing what it has turned out to be, having a Government House in Ekiti which symbolises prestige should naturally make Ekiti people go rhapsodic.
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| Ekiti State New Government House |
This government house should be a symbol of pride and prestige to all Ekiti people. If we want people to do business with us in Ekiti, projecting our State as poor will only run counter to our efforts in bringing any investor. Any foreign investor that wants to do business with us in Ekiti must know that we are serious, must know that we have taste and class. The environment where government does its business must convey a message of openness, peace and welcoming posture. These are what investors coming to your home will first see. In business, you project yourself the way you want your potential business partners to see you. You don't allow investors to define you on their terms. If you do, the proclivity that you will be priced below your value is more than certain.
You don’t say because you don’t have good clothes so you think appearing before a girl slovenly and sloppy looking will make her feel sorry for your poor self and therefore consider you for a date. The moment you approach a girl for a date you are a sales man already. And you know, a sales man must look good. So, why is Ekiti different?
Furthermore, some people say Ekiti is not like other states so we should not build such an edifice. Argument that we are poor and the little we have should be used to put food on the table of the people went viral. This is good, but what these people are not telling us is how they are going to do it and what they are going to do differently. Yes, we may not be getting money just yet like other states but the people on this side of debate seem to be doing this with politics in mind - a mischievous ignorance. They forget that a State that fails to develop its economy through a deliberate infrastructural policy runs the risk of putting the state on a scale of massive unemployment and perpetual degradation.
Perhaps, we are poor considering our economy and per capita income but not doing anything to change the situation is the purest form of poverty of mind. They forget that it’s not in the tons of professors that we have that guarantee a safety net for our generation and the ones to come. Professorship doesn’t equal to prosperity, it’s a society built on good value system, zero tolerance for corruption and enduring infrastructural legacies that does. I make bold to declare that no Governor in the recent history of Ekiti State has performed above board until Fayemi’s shot at governance. The success story was possible because he put the little into good use. You achieve greatly when there's a zero tolerance for corruption.
The biggest problem of any man is when he lies and believes in it and goes further to act on it. This kills more than ignorance. What’s most dangerous is how we allowed ourselves to be defined based on these self-made lies. Ekiti is now a joke on national stage and we are just cool with it.
This is a recap of one scenario playing out in Ekiti
The lies have become so lethal in the hands of Fayose. He believes once he can link the lies of new Ekiti Government House with poverty narratives, then his grip on the people of Ekiti is water-tighter. This is a mortal sin – an unpardonable sin entailing a total loss of grace.
Photo Credits: Ekiti State Government
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