Written By: Comrade Kunle Sodipo, ANIPR*
ckswritings@gmail.com
*The Desecration*
Give a pig the holy regalia and two things will happen. First, the regalia will not make the pig holy. Second, the pig will desecrate the regalia.
That is what happens when sacred trust is handed to a profane character. He wears honour like a borrowed robe, but his character remains in the gutter. He mounts the holy seat, but his snout is still buried in the mud.
And when a petition is written against such desecration and it is deliberately ignored, the price is always huge.
*1. THE PETITION THAT CRIED FOR JUSTICE*
A petition was written. Not a WhatsApp gossip. Not a beer parlour rumour. A formal, documented, signed petition detailing abuse of office, contempt for tradition, and conduct unbecoming of the holy regalia.
It was submitted to the custodians. To those whose duty is to protect the sanctity of the institution. To those who swore to defend honour.
But they chose the easy path: Silence. Deliberate, calculated, conspiratorial silence.
They thought ignoring the petition would kill it. They forgot that a petition ignored does not die – it ferments. It grows teeth. It becomes a movement.
*2. THE PRICE OF SILENCE*
There is always a huge price for ignoring truth:
*A. The Regalia Loses Value:* When a pig is allowed to parade in holy regalia without challenge, the public stops respecting the regalia itself. The sacred becomes ordinary. The honourable becomes laughable.
*B. The Institution Rots From Within:* Other little pigs get confidence. If he can get away with it, why can’t we? Impunity becomes the new culture. Protocol becomes a joke.
*C. The People Lose Faith:* The ordinary people who believe in that institution begin to whisper: “If they can ignore this, what else can they ignore?” Trust collapses. And once trust collapses, no amount of press release can rebuild it.
*D. History Takes Note:* The petition may be ignored today, but history never ignores. It records who received it, who sat on it, who traded it for a plate of porridge. And history always collects its debt with interest.
*3. THE FINAL VERDICT*
You cannot put lipstick on a pig and call it royalty. You cannot drape holy regalia on dishonour and call it leadership.
The petition was a warning bell. It was an opportunity to cleanse the temple before the stench chased worshippers away. By ignoring it, the custodians did not protect the pig – they sacrificed the temple.
Now the stench is out. The people can smell it from Kano to Delta, from Lagos to Kebbi.
The question is no longer whether the pig deserves the regalia – the people have already answered that.
The question is: How long will the custodians continue to pretend they cannot smell the pig?
*Because the price of a deliberately ignored petition is never paid by the pig alone. It is paid by the entire house.*
*Comrade Kunle Sodipo, ANIPR*
_Public Affairs Analyst_
29 September, 2026
