Fuji star, Wasiu Ayinde K1 de Ultimate, has said he is supporting President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection bid because he is fighting a group of Nigerians he described as ‘cabal’.
K1, as he is fondly called by his fans, visited the President in Abuja last week, a visit that has generated mixed reactions. But he insists that the courage that Buhari had demonstrated in fighting corruption in very high places was unprecedented.
He said, “I support President Buhari and want to carry it on my head because this is the fist time we see a person coming twice to fight the cabal that refuses to let this country move forward. The cabal that refuses to let the people of this nation making good of the nation for themselves and for other generations to come. For the first time we have someone who looks the cabal in the face and tells them enough is enough. He had tried this when he first came as a military ruler.”
He said his relationship with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu might have reinforced the one he had with Buhari, but stressed that it was also based on the principle of effecting development.
He added, “I supported Asiwaju too when he was in government. It was based on his focus and approach. I have asked myself why I m going in this direction. The answer is that any time I am not at shows or in a studio, and I interact with friends, we always discuss the development and happenings in society. One thing will lead to the other and I felt, why not seek an opportunity to push these discussions to the main political space, to the people who make decisions for all of us? And I discovered that when you give political office holders good advice, they do listen.
“I remember my area in Okota, Lagos, then. And this takes me to why I seriously support Tinubu. There was no development in the area in the past. Everybody would just go there and buy land and start building. One day, council officials came and started demanding this and that. I said, ‘Take it easy with us. If you want to get something from us, you shouldn’t force it on us. Show us the way. Do something for us. There is no gutter here. No drainage and you come here to collect tenement rate. You can collect it only when you have done some things. This prompted the government to do the needful there. Today, the people of Okota have cultivated that habit and they see my relationship with government as an opportunity to push matters of the development of our area. So, I have now become the bridge between the government and the people.”
On the pervasive killings in the country, for which many people are criticising Buhari, saying he was not doing enough to curb them, Wasiu argued that everybody was eager to see the killings stopped but he noted that the problems could not disappear as quickly as many wanted because they were rooted in history.
But is the musician who broke into limelight in 1984, with his album, Tala ‘84 aware that some of his fans may not want to play the Buhari card like him? His answer is that he does. According to him, he is entitled to his belief and philosophy, just as others are to theirs.
“I follow my mind,” he said, “The truth is that each and every one of us, either you participate actively or not, is a politician. If you are a man, and it is time to marry, you become a politician, because if you have more than a woman in your life, you have to play some politics in making a choice.
As a man, born by a woman, once you get married, you have to play politics between the two. And when you begin to have children, and you now have a daughter, then, the politics becomes strong because you now have three women in your life. You need to show us where your love lies – your mother, wife or child.”
At the chat held at Oyo Amala restaurant in Omole, Lagos, Wasiu said this was not the first time he would participate actively in politics because he believes in being part of those who want to bring development to society.
“I have been doing that for ages. The reason I chose to do so in the past is the same reason I do now. When you see things happening around you and you do not talk, it means you are not there. You are not existing. Life is not just about making money. You can make money for yourself and spend it. It ends there. But it is when you are able to share it and ideas with others that you are really existing. That is when you can make society better.
“But we all know that massive corruption is entrenched in the country. So, we need someone to lead in the fight against it. Most people want to go into government today because they can see opportunity, they see loopholes they can exploit. If you see them six months after, they are far richer. So, everybody wants to go there to get their own chop. They don’t go there to do what they ought to do to elevate the quality of life of the people, to add value.” (punch)
