It is a sign of the times, and a tragedy that the most popular Senator in the Nigerian National Assembly at this moment is not the person who has moved the most impactful motion, not a lawmaker who has proposed a thought-provoking bill, and certainly not any Senator who has given any impressive speech debating a matter of national importance. What we get, most of the time, in place of legislative responsibility, prudence, accountability and distinction is burlesque, farce, Japanese-styled Bungaku-Bunraku enactments, a dose of medieval commedia d’ell arte and an enormous supply of Yoruba Alarinjo with a bit of the Akata from Efik and Ibibioland. And the star in this comedy of errors that the Nigerian National Assembly has become is a gentleman called Dino Melaye. He is the perfect archetype of all that is wrong or right with the Nigerian legislature, a fine representation of contradictory binaries, and a lesson unto the rest of us.

I am not condemning Dino Melaye. I am in fact just about to say that we created a man like him, just as before him, we needed a Busari Adelakun, and a Lamidi Adedibu to show us the true character of Nigerian politics. And to those who think Dino Melaye is something of an aberration, I say to them that Dino Melaye is indeed a true picture of Nigerian politics. He is much smarter and far more politically savvy than those who condemn him.
His Wikipedia profile announces that his ambition is to be Nigeria’s President someday, may be he won’t become President, but he may suddenly show up in the future as something close to that high office. He is far more Nigerian than those who criticize or condemn him. He knows the system. He plays the system. He has the capacity to beat the system. Most people who get to the top in Nigeria beat the system, and when they do so, they flaunt their smartness in the people’s face. The pundits write their articles but nothing changes, because a man like Dino Melaye can get a whole Vice Chancellor of a University created under the Act to do his bidding, and a National Assembly to queue up behind him.

I read one piece in which the writer was wondering how on earth we ended up with a Dino Melaye in the National Assembly: A man like that whose brand raises too many questions. His school certificate result is not exactly impressive. His year of graduation from Ahmadu Bello University has been controversial, even with the sitting Vice Chancellor’s needless testimony. Nobody is sure whether a BA or a BSc is the appropriate description of a degree in Geography.

Dino’s name is allegedly missing in the University’s Graduation Year Brochure, an omission that nobody has been able to explain. There is an NYSC group photograph but he is just about the only person not properly dressed. Former classmates have confirmed that he was actually a university student and that he graduated, and the Vice Chancellor says he got a Third Class. Third Class!

I have never seen any student so proud of a Third Class like Dino Melaye. To celebrate his Third Class he wore to the National Assembly, a Doctoral candidate’s gown, and thus insulted the entire academic establishment. I have a Ph.D gown and the full robes of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, but no form of temporary insanity will make me wear either of both robes to a wedding party. Dino Melaye is a Nigerian Senator; nobody should be surprised if one of these days he wears his distinguished borrowed robes to a funeral just to convince everyone that he has a university degree.

No serious person advertises a Third Class degree, but Dino Melaye says on top of that, he has acquired six additional degrees, including certificates from Harvard and the London School of Economics! The lesson from this is that the certificates of everyone who aspires to lead Nigeria at any level must be carefully verified henceforth. Only God knows how many persons at the highest levels in Nigeria are parading certificates and qualifications that should form the subject of scrutiny. A nation that is led by the least educated and the most ignorant of its population is definitely in trouble.

In the United States, a man like Dino Melaye would probably never win an election. His former wife, Tokunbo accused him of battery and domestic violence and showed pictures to prove her point. Her short-lived successor made similar claims, spent six months and fled. There was another lady, one of those man-eating Nollywood girls who entertained us with her misery and the story of a child and DNA tests. If the wives and the baby mamas were wrong, Dino Melaye soon had a tiff with Senator Remi Tinubu and what he said about her menopausal status, we don’t have to repeat. He even went to the front of Remi Tinubu’s house in Lagos to pose for a photograph, daring her husband to do his worst. Senator Tinubu’s husband, the Jagaban of Borgu, Asiwaju of Lagos, former Governor of Lagos and national leader of the APC knew better. The last time Dino Melaye got into a duel, he came out of it with torn clothes, which he proudly advertised.

Dino Melaye poses as an anti-corruption crusader. He rides some of the most exotic cars in Nigeria, all labeled Dino 1 to 5 or whatever. He is loud, flamboyant, and unconventional. He can talk, which means he is articulate, he is fearless, he is also fiercely and stubbornly loyal to the incumbent Senate President Bukola Saraki. He can sing. He can dance. He obviously has no respect for women because he is a macho-man, an alpha male. He can also fight, and he considers journalists the scum of the earth.

That is why when Omoyele Sowore of Sahara Reporters digs into his past and qualifications, his immediate response is to say that he is being stalked and to go after the investigative journalist with everything that he can deploy. Melaye was elected as a Senator to make laws for good governance, but he has been busy acting like he is an awada kerikeri actor on loan to the National Assembly.

I am not condemning him. He won an election. In fact he has won many elections. The people who voted for him must see something in him. The man who represented Kogi West before him used to make useful contributions that made the headlines, he was respected for his informed interventions; there was never a time he wore torn clothes to the Red Chamber, but the people voted him out and elected Dino Melaye and since he started ruffling things up, nobody who voted for him has questioned him. You actually get the impression that Melaye is considered a hero in his Kogi West constituency. This should explain why he enjoys being the drama king of the National Assembly.

To politicians of his type, every kind of publicity is good publicity. It is better to be heard and known, for whatever reason, than to be unknown and unsung. In Melaye’s mind, he is obviously having fun. The kerfuffle over his academic qualification is probably as far as he is concerned, a joke, because afterall, he doesn’t need more than a secondary school certificate to be a member of the National Assembly. When we write about him, discuss his politics, interview him, project him in the media, we are actually promoting his politics and brand.

His kind of brand works in Nigeria. What was the value of Busari Adelakun’s politics or that of Lamidi Adedibu? But both men ended up being more prominent in their constituencies than other politicians of their time. Lamidi Adedibu, the exponent of Amala politics, was so powerful, when a certain Governor refused to pay him Godfather-rent, he got him removed from office and as they say, nothing happened. Adedibu derived his power from being close and loyal to a bigger man of power. He could sing too. And he could dance. And that is perhaps why Dino Melaye should be taken seriously when he breaks out into a song:
A je kun iya ni o je
A je kun iya ni o je
E ni ti o to ni na, to n dena de ni
A je kun iya ni oje

That song is now top of the charts in Nigeria today, with a remix and multiple parodies by other public figures. The only man who is probably yet to learn that song is Senator Ali Ndume, but it is a song that speaks to him directly and accounts for his six-month suspension from the Senate. It is also a song about power and dictatorship. There is nothing in it about values or fairness, or justice. It is a might-is-right composition, about the mighty punishing and oppressing the powerless. “A je kun iya” emphasizes the severity of punishment, “eni ti o to ni na” underscores the imbalance of weight, and the lack of equality in strength. It is a song of intimidation, threat and abuse, completely arrogant in tone and sense.

Dino Melaye knows how to taunt his critics. I visited his website: dinomelaye.com. There are nice photographs and links to other sites including his Facebook page, projecting him as a courageous and outspoken anti-corruption crusader and a political activist. We do not find any information about the...

READ MORE: http://ikengachronicles.com/dino-melaye-the-making-of-a-brand-reuben-abati/

Politics is just a dirty game plus i'm tired of this perverts

This is aptly written. Dino Melaye is the poster boy of everything the nigerian politician stands for.

Dino Melaye is an aberration period!

Comedy of errors is what the Senate has become!! Just apt!!

That error called "SAK" must & will never ever be allowed to repeat itself, each candidate will be examined based on his/her own credentials & antecedents... No more buy one get more for free, there is always a price to be paid, ALWAYS!!

Dino and more than half of the senators in the hallowed chambers are mistakes that we will correct by 2019

sarrki:
Dino and more than half of the senators in the hallowed chambers are mistakes that we will correct by 2019

Mistakes like your god buhari?

Confused party. Too focused on stealing and attacking each other to bring about anything positive.

The only hope is that Osinbajo is gonna be in power again with your god leaving soon for medical touring, so he has another short while to fix all the evil that has been done.

Exactly like last time.

Dino Melaye is working secretly with Sahara Reporters to raise his profile.

Both NAss leadership and Sahara Reporters are agents stooges of the same imperialists who secretly sponsor them them to disrupt African progress and to misinform or distract us from the truth.

https://www.nairaland.com/3721499/how-dino-melaye-nass-sahara

Apt

No be small brand.

Who would have thought Buhari and his APC would have provided such drama, confusion and aberration in two years more than the sixteen of Obasanjo, Yar'Adua and Goodluck of the PDP?

Certificate saga. Magu. Custom Uniform. Grass cutting. Grass importation. Herdsmen. Abacha never stole. Hospital tourism while 'Buying Naija to Grow Naira'. Money spended, well spended ... and on and on. What a comedy of errors. And now from the stables of the APC yet again, the top of the charts from a senator of the republic ...

Ajeku. The reigning song.

Abati should go and say it before Dino. When he too got close to power, by appointment, he became another Adedibu till his master lost. There is a Dino in every Nigerian politician or public officer. Dino is just the only one courageous enough to flaunt it.

sarrki:
Dino and more than half of the senators in the hallowed chambers are mistakes that we will correct by 2019

Yes if we put our mind to it!!!

A summation of a true and typical Nigerian politics. However embarrased anyone may feel for lack of decency in our polity, the piece is nevertheless a true reflection of our collective identity.

Dino this Dino that, nothing but envy and jealousy toward Dino make people against, if it is easy go and buy form and be senator.

Dino is the most vibrant national assembly member, the house of reps use to be the most vibrant but the presence of Dino made senate the most active legislative house.

Some people want the senate to be a rubber stamp where everything passes but people likes Dino refused and stood by separation of powers.

One of the reasons Dino is being seen in bad light by ignorant people is the senate stance that Magu should go, people failed to see that the senate used a report by DSS where the DSS clearly wrote that Magu is not fit for the office as he lives a double life, DSS is under executive, EFCC chairmen under executive but the scapegoat is the senate for using report that indicts hime to nail him if the presidency is good why didn't they do their home work to smoothen relationship between Magu and DSS expecially for second presentation to the senate but no they didn't do anything, and Magu must be confirmed since he was sent by almighty Buhari.

Some Nigerian won't mind Buhari to wear his army uniform an rule us with decree, this is most fuelled by bitterness toward those whom God has chosen to bless, our senators refused Nigeria senate to be yes sir senate that is why the framers of the constitution made it a separate arm of government.

This same Senate stopped the data hike by NCC, and mobile companies.
This same Senate stopped 1% charge on TSA by remita
This same Senate stopped customs from collecting duties retrospectively even on your old 10 years old cars
This same Senate just passed a law that allows use of electronic voting in Nigeria

Dino is young, Dino is articulate, Dino cannot be silenced easily by rants of envious inconsequential minions, if it is easy go and be senator

lomaxx:
This is aptly written. Dino Melaye is the poster boy of everything the nigerian politician stands for.

True.

@Lalasticlala, I doubt you've seen this thread.

Our comedy House of Summons!!!!!

Are the credentials of these thieves called senators scrutinised before they are elected/sworn in?

A classical case of the animal farm story

HAH:
Dino this Dino that, nothing but envy and jealousy toward Dino make people against, if it is easy go and buy form and be senator.

Dino is the most vibrant national assembly member, the house of reps use to be the most vibrant but the presence of Dino made senate the most active legislative house.

Some people want the senate to be a rubber stamp where everything passes but people likes Dino refused and stood by separation of powers.

One of the reasons Dino is being seen in bad light by ignorant people is the senate stance that Magu should go, people failed to see that the senate used a report by DSS where the DSS clearly wrote that Magu is not fit for the office as he lives a double life, DSS is under executive, EFCC chairmen under executive but the scapegoat is the senate for using report that indicts hime to nail him if the presidency is good why didn't they do their home work to smoothen relationship between Magu and DSS expecially for second presentation to the senate but no they didn't do anything, and Magu must be confirmed since he was sent by almighty Buhari.

Some Nigerian won't mind Buhari to wear his army uniform an rule us with decree, this is most fuelled by bitterness toward those whom God has chosen to bless, our senators refused Nigeria senate to be yes sir senate that is why the framers of the constitution made it a separate arm of government.

This same Senate stopped the data hike by NCC, and mobile companies.
This same Senate stopped 1% charge on TSA by remita
This same Senate stopped customs from collecting duties retrospectively even on your old 10 years old cars
This same Senate just passed a law that allows use of electronic voting in Nigeria

Dino is young, Dino is articulate, Dino cannot be silenced easily by rants of envious inconsequential minions, if it is easy go and be senator

100 gbosas I stand with Dino

sarrki:
Dino and more than half of the senators in the hallowed chambers are mistakes that we will correct by 2019

Noisemaker you have just one vote. If you want to rig Dino is crazy enough to go head to head with you. By now everyone knows what ye can do.