My wonderful people of the State of Harmony, it is auspicious, once again, to be "selfish" and discuss issues of collective interest and benefit. This is the same issue I have written about in the past few years and I am always grateful for the varied responses each of such generated. While some welcomed and embraced the ideas I postulate, naturally, some others came out pointedly against them. And that is to be expected because anyone who seeks to please everyone will end up pleasing nobody and in any case, my interventions are not meant to please anyone or a group of people. If there were to be sentence to summarise each of my interventions, it would be to say that my interest lies in seeing all of us moving Kwara forward together in one accord.

And that is why today I still want to touch on an issue that has the propensity to affect us as a people one way or the other. Today I want to write about the travails of one of our own, Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President who is currently facing a battle his foes pray will eventually consume him. Let him go with the trial is the song on the lips of his traducers even before any court has pronounced him guilty. If outsiders are singing that song, my question is, should we also join them in the chorus? Wait, let me say that I am not deriding the rights of individuals to hold their opinion on any issue but I also think it is worthwhile if you listen to the message of the drum before you put your feet forward to dance.

Saraki, no doubt like all humans, is no saint. And I do not think he has ever pretended to be one, at least those who are close to him acknowledges that. Like you and I, he makes mistakes, like everyone of us, he offends people and like every one of us, he has his shortcomings. As a mortal, he is not perfect and like the Yoruba saying, one can not walk without moving the head; he could not have been in the various positions that Almighty has given him the privilege to be at both the state and national levels these past 14 years without having had to step on toes, both at home and abroad.

But should a mortal crucify another mortal for failing in the way of all mortals? I am not referring to his trial here since I know it is purely a legal matter and he must stand before the court to answer to his name. But I am talking about our attitude to this whole trial as KWARANS. What should be our attitude? To me, we should stand for him in prayers; that is if we understand the wider implications of his current ordeal. Let me share my thoughts on few of the implications for KWARA. First, we should not deceive ourselves that while our geographical location makes us accessible to both the north and south of Nigeria, it has therefore conferred on us a political advantage. No. Instead, it has imposed on us a political albatross. This I have lamented on severally. I have espoused times without number that today if the presidency of this country is zoned to the north, the core north will always refer to us in Kwara as Yorubas and thus unfit for the saddle, yet if the south west is given the same slot, we are zoned to the north and therefore cannot share it with them. Even if the slot is zoned to the north central, we are a minority there.

But God through Saraki has propelled a Kwaran to the number three position in this country as Senate President. We have never smelled that office even though Kwara central is the highest state to have produced Senate President in Nigeria so far. If we have someone like Saraki at the topmost echelon of power in Nigeria; it is one opportunity I believe we should not wash away just because of politics. If Saraki falls as Senate President, May Allah forbids, truth be told, Kwara will feel the pinch.

One, they will not pick another Kwaran to replace him because it is not our birthright and no matter how much a politician likes you, when it comes to making decisions, he thinks of his state first. So who will think of Kwara first, who will speak for us when the highest level of personalities in government converge? Have we not seen how one of the political leaders of the APC is putting his men in positions? To whose advantage if not the advantage, first, of his state before any other consideration? Should we allow Kwara to become an extension of another state just because we don't like Saraki's face? Just because he was "arrogant" when he met us? Just because he didn't smile when we went to greet him? Just because he didn't appoint us to office again? Just because he has not fulfilled his pledge to assist us? Are these not personal and parochial allegations? Are these strong reasons for KWARA to join Saraki's traducers in singing the song for his downfall? Having Saraki where he is today is one opportunity I believe we should not wash away just because of politics.

Politics. That is the watchword. And it is the anchor behind the various strings connected with the Saraki ordeal. Those who know the tricks of politics understand quite well that the entire trial is all about 2019. Without prejudice to the legal process, what in reality is going on is an attempt to blot out Saraki's name from the list of those entitled to determine the shape of things to come in the country based on political alignments. If they succeed, who will speak for Kwara and Kwarans? These same traducers who carry portfolios for the so called party leaders outside our shores? May God forbid? Who can boast with his hands on his chest that he will be active in the decisions that will eventually determine the fortunes of men in 2019, three solid years away from now? Should we then join them to play God?

Dear compatriot in Kwara, another Yoruba adage says you don't throw your female child to the tiger just because she is well endowed at the back at such tender age; in other words you don't kill your brother just because an outsider has accused him of wrongdoing. That is why instead of throwing stones at Bukky, the least we can do for him at this trying period is to raise our pleas in supplication to God on his behalf. There is nothing beyond God's capability. Fellow Kwarans, thanks for listening to me: let's join hands together in prayer and believe that for Bukola Saraki and by extension for Kwara state, this too shall pass.

Oba, Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, writes from Ilorin.