It is the duty of true social critic and activists to expose impostors who masquerade as one of us; they should be exposed for who they truly are. Their tribe abounds everywhere; they take up sentimental issues, manipulate facts to hoodwinked weak leaders and hamstring them into personal negotiations.

They profit from the respect unsuspecting public have for them, their trademark is to appeal to people’s sentiments through the use of propaganda. The public think they are bold, because in most cases they have no reputation to protect and nothing to lose. They are either jobless, rusticated from a school, or convicted of some crimes; some others are so poor that they go about begging to survive.

In 2009, Reuben Abati recommended that it would soon be time to start stoning the economists in the corridor of power in Abuja. Abati wrote: “The arguments being advanced to justify the proposed full deregulation do not make sense. All the arguments have a ring of deja vu. They are taken from the same textbooks that the economists have refused to update, the same ideas that led to the collapse of the global economy. Other countries are making a U-turn and subjecting textbook knowledge to the test of reality, Nigerian policy makers are still holding on to old paradigms. One of these days, we shall start stoning the economists in official corridors.”

But in 2011, the same Reuben Abati wrote to support the same policy he condemned; he even took it upon himself to attack those who advocated a radical change in governance. This time, he has been appointed as the President’s spokesman.

Labaran Maku was a student activists of the radical hew in the ’80s and early ’90s but the same Maku is now Minister of Information – he is now on the side of the people whose ways he once condemned.

I read for the first time the article written by Kayode Bello, calling Dr. Doyin Odebowale names, and justifying the pay received from his pay masters as he betrayed his true intents when he descended to discuss departmental issues and departmental politics. One thing is certain: Those prostitutes who recruited this unfortunate cum frustrated person did some bad job because you chose the wrong person to attack.

Kayode Bello went into great trip of falsehood, misinforming the public that High Priest is not a staff of the University of Ibadan and that his appointment is not confirmed; what has that got to do with the issue of cooking or no-cooking in halls of residence? If Kayode Bello’s assertion were to be true, the statement is an indictment against the university, because if Kayode false position were to be true, the university, the head of department of Classics would have been engaging in illegalities for allowing a non-staff to teach, conduct exams and grade students of the University of Ibadan.

I do not wish to digress so much from the aim of this my write up. Few weeks ago, I got so many complaints from friends who castigated my positions, and they told me blankly, that all Nigerian activists are beggars and opportunists looking for what to eat. I was mad and I put some of them in their places. One of them later invited me to view a copy of some letters flying around government and private business offices; when I got there I was stunned.

I got so mad that I had to go all the way out to get one of a copy of the letter written by our ‘pious’ activist Kayode Bello.

I made some notes on the letter and I hope every right-thinking, unbiased Nigerian will see behind the veil, the true colour of this pretending activist.

First, Kayode Bello wrote in his lengthy letter against Dr. Doyin Odebowale the following:

“Even students always try to look at other options apart from protest when demanding. Then, you abused me. You went further to abuse Union leaders, and the NANS leaders. You spoke the same way you spoke at the Town Hall meeting over the no-cooking policy. High Priest, you cannot deny the fact that even your political party (ACN) uses some of the NANS elements for political reasons.”

Kayode Bello also wrote thus:

“Leave the department and become a full-fledged political thug you were destined to be to your pay master both in ACN and People Deceiving people (PDP) who dresses in an academic outfit.”

The same Kayode Bello who attacked ACN for ‘using NANS elements for political reasons’ and who accused Dr. Doyin Odebowale as ‘a full-fledged political thug of ACN and PDP’ in public and on the internet; now went in private like Nicodemus to write a letter begging the same ACN-controlled Government for money to pay for his studies abroad.

It is the right of all Nigerians to ask their government for scholarship and to request for favours from the same government but when you claim to be an activist who is against politicians in charge of such government, you are not expected to approach that government for financial favours because doing would involve some level of compromise.

Kayode Bello was so careful that he submitted a Xeroxed (Photocopy) version of the letter so that he could have the opportunity of denial when the time comes; I laughed when I saw this gimmick and I became suspicious of the ‘activist’. Only a crook could devise such means; of course, his letter was not attended to as no serious government would attend to a copy version of a letter. Why not send the original?

My initial reaction to this observation was to ask the official to call our activist Kayode Bello in my presence, because I still could not believe my eyes, he did; lo and behold I heard Kay Bello’s voice in a pertinent mode asking for support for his overseas scholarship.

My second observation is on the nature and the tone of his letter; he wrote thus:

“Moreover, the academic programme, when completed, is a prerequisite for becoming a Solicitor in the United Kingdom.” How can a social crusader encourage government to sponsor a scholarship that will not be of any benefit to the country? You want government to sponsor you to study a course that will allow you to practise in the United Kingdom. Of what benefit is that to the country?

So, Mr. Kayode Bello, the social activist who condemns anything corrupt and even castigates the Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan for supporting PDP agenda, is now in private requesting a state government to use taxpayers’ money to sponsor him to study a course that will allow him to practise in the United Kingdom? This Guy is a joke and an impostor. Abati started this way.

My other observation from his letter is his concluding remark; he wrote menacingly thus:

“Thank you in anticipation of your favourable response.” I circled this remark, too, and I got stunned by this arm-twisting technique; the message is clear: respond favourably and I would be your friend, but respond unfavourably and I would go all over the place to run you down. That is a blackmailing technique.

The same element ran down the Vice Chancellor on Facebook and in Campus publications calling him all sorts of names openly and some unsuspecting fellows took him for a social crusader and a bold fighter of corrupt leadership. He labelled the Vice Chancellor a PDP man; since when has membership of a political party become illegal? He also wrote all sorts of rubbish against the man but he went in secret to still ask the man for financial favours. This is a characteristic of impostors, liars and social activist pretenders.

It is the hallmark of critic to be impartial, unbiased and of course not to seek personal financial favours from an official you are fighting against. How can the president of the Trade Union Congress, for instance, ask Jonathan for financial favour in secret and expect the presidency to take his criticisms serious some other time?

I have decided to go to this length to prevent another case of Reuben Abati who will use public sentiments to rise to fame. He will manipulate and confuse the public that he is a social crusader but he would later seek patronage from the same government. Kayode Olusegun Bello, I hope you will learn to be honest and not to go about constituting nuisance. Get a better job and stop being used as a pawn for financial patronage and gain by those bastards whose interests you served.

•Oludamilola Adegoke is a philosopher, development sociologist and a social media activist from the University of Ibadan.

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