The Candle That Burned the Wrong Way: How Kayode Ojo’s Supporters Lit the Farewell Fire for His Ambition.
When people gather for a Candle Night, the world understands what it means. It is a night of remembrance, a symbolic moment when flickers of light pierce through darkness to honour the dead, mourn a loss, or express collective grief. Traditionally, it’s not a festival of mockery or a stage for political rivalry, but a solemn gathering of hearts — united in memory, reflection, or farewell.
That’s why the news of a Candle Night organized by supporters of Engr. Kayode Ojo struck me as both absurd and revealing. It is a desperate theatre of political confusion. Those candles, if truth be told, should have been reserved for the final funeral of Ojo’s political ambition. Because in that very act of lighting candles, his supporters unknowingly announced the symbolic death of their own hope in the current political equation.
They didn’t realize that they were conducting a farewell service for the ambition that has refused to accept reality. In the Nigerian sociopolitical space, a Candle Night is sacred. It’s an emotional ritual that transcends religion or culture — a moment to honour a person’s life. But when a man’s political relevance begins to wane, confusion replaces strategy. And that’s exactly what we are witnessing. The camp of Kayode Ojo seems to have exhausted the language of logic and now resorts to the language of theatre — lighting candles to mourn the death of the ambition of their principal.
You see, there’s something deeply symbolic about fire. It consumes what is already dry. It has no mercy on what has lost moisture and vitality. That’s why this so-called Candle Night may turn out to be a prophetic reflection of the current state of Ojo’s ambition — a dry leaf on the branch of Ekiti politics, waiting for the wind of time to blow it off. The people who carried those candles may not even understand the depth of the irony — that they were, in fact, burning away the last drops of life left in a dream that has lost its rhythm with reality.
Politics in Ekiti has moved on. The people have found stability in continuity and consistency, not in the drama of bitterness or the politics of blackmail. Governor Oyebanji represents that quiet steadiness — the kind that builds gradually and wins confidence over time. The people have come to see through pretenders, those who mistake noise for popularity and confusion for conviction. In every election season, Ekiti has a way of sifting substance from show, and history has consistently humbled those who mistake the crowd of curiosity for genuine support.
The Candle Night by Ojo’s supporters reminds one of a man who calls a press conference to announce his own defeat. It is the loudest way of saying, we have nothing left but symbolism. For a man who once had the chance to build alliances, earn trust, and embody leadership, it is sad to see his movement reduced to candlelight mockery. Instead of lighting the way to progress, they are burning their own credibility in the name of cheap propaganda.
If truth must be told, Ekiti people are not fooled. They know when politics is played with dignity and when desperation wears the robe of relevance. Those flames, whether they like it or not, will only brighten the chance of the governor they sought to ridicule, while exposing the darkness in the hearts of those who plotted the act- for no man lights a candle against another whose sun still shines.
Let us call things by their names. The Candle Night of Ojo’s supporters was not a night of mourning — it was a political confession. A confession that the dream is over. A confession that the movement has lost direction. A confession that they no longer believe in their own candidate’s viability, hence the need to seek attention through a funeral performance. But Ekiti people have long grown weary of theatrics. They now crave development, peace, and leadership rooted in humility and results.
Those candles may burn for a few minutes, but truth outlives fire. The truth is that Oyebanji has not only survived their political mockery but has also emerged stronger in the eyes of the people. And when the flame of a desperate ambition dies out, even the wind of propaganda cannot rekindle it.
So, as those candles melted into wax and smoke filled the air, what the people witnessed was not the death of Oyebanji’s influence, but the symbolic burial of Kayode Ojo’s ambition. The moment they lifted those candles, they were unknowingly lifting the farewell light of a dream that has come to its end.
And if we must borrow the language of the ritual they have desecrated, let us say this — May the political soul of Engr. Kayode Ojo rest in peace. May those who loved his ambition be granted the fortitude to bear the colossal loss. May Ekiti move forward from political theatre to meaningful governance.
Because, truly, that Candle Night was never for Oyebanji — it was a farewell service marking the end of a once promising but now extinguished political journey.
Idowu Ephraim Faleye|EphraimHill DataBlog-Freelance Writer, Independent stories, Data-driven Insights.
