17th May, 2011
The present travails of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole has been described as a reward for his disloyalty to the people that brought him to power.
Speaking in Lagos today, the Life patron of NUJ Ondo/Ekiti Council, Prince Olusegun Ologbese explained that because of the uniqueness South West in the nation’s polity, Bankole failed to read and study the political trend which made him to fall victim of the intrigues in the lower house of the National Assembly.
According to Ologbese, who is also the Coordinator of the Association of Good Leadership Advocates and Peace Development Lagos, Yoruba as a race is unique in nature which you cannot rubbish and go scot free.
He alleged that immediately Bankole rode on the back of the southwest to clinch the speakership of the House of Representatives, he turned his back on his people and started implementing agendas that are detrimental to the progress of the people.
Ologbese regretted that Bankole played prominent role in the House of Representatives to scuttle the ambition of the former Lagos State Governor, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tiubu to create additional local governments in the state.
According to him, if Bankole had backed the decision of Tinubu to create more local governments in Lagos, the people would have really enjoyed the dividends of democracy.
The NUJ patron also recalled a statement credited to Bankole in pre-2007 election campaign where he said they would not mind deploying soldiers and the entire police force to Lagos if Tinubu insisted on creating additional local governments in the state.
Ologbese therefore urged other politicians to learn from the predicament of the outgoing speaker by working for the progress of the people who voted them to power.