Aregbesola’s ‘stomach infrastructure’

SIR: A new phrase that has entered into the nation’s political lexicon, following the governorship election of June 20 in Ekiti State is ‘stomach infrastructure’. It refers to the practice of the electorate asking to be paid upfront the dividends of democracy, in material term. 

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ayodele Fayose, has become the poster boy of this tendency as reports have it that he won because he wooed the voters with food items, especially rice. Many politicians across the land have suddenly become jittery while analysts have expressed concern on the dysfunction that is setting in the democratic process whereby factors like personality, impressive track record and performance in office may no longer determine the outcome of elections but the capacity of candidates to induce voters with food. Tarring roads and providing social infrastructure may not cut it again but stomach infrastructure.

The PDP has now wrongly projected this perverse tendency to the coming governorship election in Osun State and is now claiming that it would buy the election, just as it did in Ekiti. Osun is not Ekiti and therefore will not produce the same outcome.

    However, if the stomach infrastructure rule will also hold in Osun, then, Aregbesola is far ahead of the PDP in this department, as he has started the stomach infrastructure campaign long before the election. For close to three years now, the government of Ogbeni Aregbesola introduced (and has been running) the home grown school feeding programme for primary school pupils in the state. More than 300,000 pupils are now being fed a sumptuous meal every school day. This is a rich meal containing beef, catfish, chicken, egg and fruits. In addition, a deworming exercise is carried out on a regular basis so that worms will not be sharing the food with the kids.

    This programme is so successful and popular that the British Parliament recently sent a delegation to come and study it preparatory to recommending it to other states in Nigeria and other countries in Africa. The Federal Government has also reluctantly decided to copy this programme and sponsor it in other states in Nigeria.

    This programme tagged ‘O’MEALS’ is also integrated into agriculture and other empowerment programmes in Osun. These are the cocoyam farming, poultry farming and fish farming. The government gave most of these hitherto unemployed youths training, helped them to set up and buys off their produce in bulk from them. 

    We even have reports that the parents of the pupils were asking their wards to bring part of their food home so they can share with their siblings. This has made school enrolment to surge in Osun. 

    To the best of my knowledge, all Omisore has been saying is that he will return schools to missionaries. When Aregbesola’s stomach infrastructure through O’MEALS clashes with Omisore’s stomach infrastructure of rice and cash, there is no debating that O’MEALS will carry the day. Political victory belongs to those who have foresight and had worked in advance, not those who crash into election with subversive gifts.

• Mike Ogundele,

Osogbo, Osun State