Deji Adeyanju – what manner of man?

So I watch the video where he stands with a large wad of Naira notes claiming he was given the funds at gun point and wanting to return it to the people he has alleged gave them to him failure which he would hand it over to famed Femi Falana to add to Sowore’s legal fund.

This picture is a picture of a different kind of activism. An activism that is beginning to gain some kind of relevance. With an empty pedigree and almost a lone man tendency, Mr. Adeyanju has consistently become a kind of irritant in the eyes of the authority. I know he spent some time in the gallows and was only just recently released on charges I cannot just throw up here at this moment, but his come back is to say the least kind of commendable.

Thrown up from a band of light weights, with no real carriage in Civil Society, Deji is gradually working himself to the fore front of dissent. At the risk to his personal liberty and may be his life especially if you have seen the video where shots were fired to disperse protesters who had gone to seek for Sowore’s release. His lack of strategy and cohesive social cohesion not deterring him from his self-appointed task of saving the country from what he has labelled tyranny.

The establishment up until very recently have all but ignored him but then again have seemed to have woken up to the reality of a fly in their ointment. They seem to have come to the realization that this was no longer a Lilliputian activist but a possible gathering storm.

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He may not have the charisma of the Gani Fawehinmi’s or the mass mobilizing abilities of the Oshiomole’s but his brute courage especially under fire and his ability to literally stare down the barrel of the gun may begin to give him a foot in the door of popular agitation.

The need for strategy on both sides and the lack of it is appalling. So Deji carries a band of young lads who in most cases do not really understand the issues and go to the front of the target office and with a mega phone screams campus liturgy and then seats on the grass for a dose of Agege bread and pure water is hardly the picture of a serious activist meaning to help change the system. On the other side, totally ignoring him or even giving him ‘N1m at gun point’ as alleged for whatever reason does not also portray the picture of a serious mainstream push against a storm that although in its nascent form has in its bowels the seeds of a major wave if not carefully corralled.

Both sides should pull back, review their strategies and bring about robust and holistic strategies that would make we the by standers proud of the quality of opposition and push back we have achieved as a Country.

For now, Deji seems to be winning on the public opinion scale and may even gain more grounds as the days proceed if he continues at this pace. I just wish he could shave his beards.

By Joseph Edgar…

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