I have a good relationship with Pyrate Confraternity (PC) and over 8 other Confraternities, although I am not a member of any. I am a god and don’t need crowd to feel relevant.
They have never harassed me or stopped me from hanging around them. My relationship with PC, dates years back.
First it was in University of Abuja around 1992-3. Chike Alaribe brought firm for me but I chickened out. Later Ugochukwu Makanma Nwamara took interest in me and we continued our relationship without any body forcing me to blend.
When I got involved with PRONACO, particularly PRAG, I met Prof. Wole Soyinka. We had good relationship and exchanged emails. The first meeting was facilitated by Ayodele Adewale and it was during the Magodo meetings that I met Agba Jalingo
I still remember the 70th birthday of WS and the article I wrote “What is the immortal doing among mortals” The article was published in more than two national dailies.
It was raining that day and I was taken aback that WS, is still active on the front line, instead of resting and we, the younger comrades, will visit him and learn from his wealth of experience, rather than him still being at the barricade with us. To me, this is a failure on the part of my generation. We have failed to be young men like our fathers.
While on Kano Law School Campus, I met Pastor D, a PC member and he is a fine jolly good fellow and naturally we bonded and we are still very good friends. It was through him I got to know that there is AP in Kubwa and he took me there to give me a CAC brief back in the days.
As fortune will have it, I met my cousin, who is also a Seadog! Well the rest is history.
I repeat, I have enjoyed good relationship with PC, covered their humanitarian programs in and around Kubwa and have been a panelist in one their yearly programs-Feast of Barracuda.
But…
After I shared the video of their sailing with chants about Tinubu, the seas were ruffled and my relationship with them entered tsunami. In no mild, unmistaken terms, the message was delivered.
I have no regrets. But truth must be stated.
As I had been made to understand, a Seadog, has right to support any candidate of his choice but their chanting anti Tinubu song, in their full regalia, is bad optics and goes against their avowed non-partisanship and apolitical posture. This is a dangerous red flag.
Agreed that PC is not a cult group but the history of Confraternity in Nigerian Universities can never be complete without giving PC over 7 pages. This is my worry.
Other Confraternities, will take dressing and will without prompting, choose a candidate to openly deride or take it a notch higher, support such candidate and by whatever means necessary, harvest votes for him or intimidate voters within their sphere of influence.
While in LASU, over 80% of the fatal Confraternity clashes, were between Eiye and Black Ax. The bone of contention, is supremacy and who will “own” LASU. This is what I fear will happen going into 2023 with this open show by PC. Other Confraternities, would want to lay claim to the process that produced XYZ as president. If they don’t have nationwide capacity, they will do it at Guber level.
PC will claim that the Magnificent 7 didn’t introduce violence on campus, but the fact remains that, PC brought into the campus, an ant infested faggot. As years wear off, lazy students are admitted, violence becomes the choice tool of settling gentleman issues. The military also saw it as a means to deal with Student Union Activists, especially during IBB’s days and the glorious days of Anti-SAP protests by Nigerian Students.
This is my worry.
