Desmond Elliot: We Lost, But Won Hearts
It was something else in Surulere this past week. The establishment came out in all their violent finery. They opened up their full arsenal. Everything, including the kitchen sink was thrown at Desmond Elliot. The actor-cum-politician dared to go against the system as personified by the graying overlord. They said after three terms, what else are you looking for? Your overlord has said he doesn’t want you, so step down. You plotted Obasa’s downfall but Desmond said no. He leveraged precedence; the overlord was in the House of Representatives representing the same Surulere for a marathon tenure. It was only this appointment where we hear he is just a roman figure on the mantle that saved Surulere from his grasp. Desmond fell on a clean democratic ethos of allowing the people to decide when to step out and push his ambitions.
Then agbaya things started to happen – massive intimidation, threats to his life by withdrawing his security, threats to local government workers who support him, pulling in mercenaries into Surulere, barring his people from accreditation, thereby stopping them from casting votes.
All of this seen in clips Desmond himself captured and sent out to Nigerians and the world. At the end, they got their way. Their candidate beat Desmond with the kind of margin only a corrupt process can throw up.
