A governor in the eye of exiting cabinet

Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was sworn in as the sixth civilian governor of Ondo State on February 24, 2017, following his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the November 26, 2016, gubernatorial election in the state. In the election, Akeredolu, who was the standard-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), clinched 224,842 votes to defeat Eyitayo Jegede, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 126,889 votes and Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy who scored 150,380.
On August 30, six months after he mounted the saddle of leadership in the Sunshine State, Akeredolu inaugurated his commissioners and special advisers. The governor had earlier appointed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and his Chief of Staff. The swearing in of the commissioners and Special Advisers completed the process of composing the State Executive Council.
As the saying goes, everything that has a beginning surely has an end. Last Thursday, February 18, 2021, at exactly 6pm, the curtain was drawn on the executive council. It was time for members of the Akeredolu cabinet to exit the stage after about four years of serving the state and its people.
A few hours before the governor finally dissolved the council, it was an emotional moment. At an extraordinary meeting, valedictory speeches were made, with cabinet members eulogizing the virtues of the governor and reliving the good moments they had together.
The exiting cabinet members took turns to pour encomiums on Akeredolu, commend the notable feats achieved in his first tenure and offer their views of his personality. To all of them, Governor Akeredolu was a leader with uncommon passion for the development of the state. According to them, the governor ran the affairs of the state in the last four years with a rare sense of responsibility and patriotism. A view shared by all of them was that Governor Akeredolu was a courageous, audacious, blunt, truthful, sincere and compassionate leader.
The SSG, Temidayo Oluwatuyi, shattered the impression that Akeredolu was an administrator whose approval was difficult to obtain. Oluwatuyi, said to get Akeredolu’s nod for anything, you must be ready to deploy convincing arguments. Once you are able to prove the altruism of your proposal and how beneficial it is to the state and its people, be rest assured that you would get the governor’s approval, Oluwatuyi said.
The SSG recalled how he once secured the approval of his boss for 13 out of the 15 files he brought to him. He was then Commissioner for Natural Resources.
“When I came back from the governor with the approvals, some people wondered how I performed the miracle. To them, it was a miracle to have gotten the governor to approve 13 of the 15 proposals I brought to him. But I told them that all they needed to sway the mind of Mr. Governor was the ability to convince him,” he said.
In the opinion of Olugbenga Ale, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Akeredolu is a leader that cherishes merit. Ale said he was surprised when the governor appointed him as his CoS because he did not lobby for any appointment. To him, Akeredolu is a thorough administrator whose eyes don’t gloss over errors. He hailed the governor for being a good representative of Owo town, where he hails from. Ale, a retired permanent secretary, commended the governor for not politicising the state’s civil service.
Akeredolu, according to the CoS, was a man who appreciated family values and loved his family so much. He said the way the governor protected and cared for members of his family was worthy of emulation.
The Head of Service, Oluwadare Aragbaye, said Akeredolu was a man who enjoyed divine mercy. He ascribed the mercy of God to the purity of Akeredolu’s heart. Aragbaye, who described Akeredolu as a compassionate man, said the governor always had deep feelings for people. Noting that Akeredolu was loyal to friends, Aragbaye said the governor always remembered people and kept relationships.
“He said I will give mercy to whom I will give mercy. Check it, anywhere God gives mercy, He will not even look at your sins. And when He gives it, anything you do is ordered by Him. That is what I see that has been working for you, sir. This is because you have a pure heart, which does not harbour malice,” Aragbaye said.
The HoS thanked the governor for what he had been able to do for the civil service and government workers in the state. He hailed the appointment of 42 permanent secretaries during the Akeredolu administration, describing it as unprecedented in the history of the service. Aragbaye mentioned regular promotion as one of the gains of the service from the government.
Donald Ojogo, Commissioner for Information and Orientation, identified grace as the secret behind the string of successes that Akeredolu has achieved in life. Ojogo described the governor as a benevolent leader, saying he was one of the beneficiaries of his boss’s benevolence. Apart from saying Akeredolu possessed uncommon integrity, honesty and courage, Ojogo added that the bluntness of the governor was rare in the country.
These qualities, according to Ojogo, were very difficult for ordinary minds and ordinary eyes to discern. Saying he counted himself lucky to be part of the modest lifestyle of Akeredolu and the modest but very lasting legacies and successes of his administration, Ojogo noted that the governor never regretted any decision stubbornly taken by him.
He said: “Mr. Chairman, before I say anything, don’t conclude and judge me by the sweet words I am about to say. Draw your conclusion after four years through my conduct and my character.
“The most costly and most expensive of all gifts of nature is rare grace of God. You possess it. And the grace of God cannot come without personal moderation and God-given wisdom. You are a man of grace. I congratulate you and I confess that grace.
“Office consumes intellectual capital. It does not create it. The best leaders are those who master the art of what decision, the right one for that matter, to be taken at a very critical moment. When you took certain decisions, as politicians, most of us were not happy.
“You made up your mind that you were not going to politicise governance. And one of the ways you did it was not to be frivolous in the award of contracts. You were very strict. Today, we are all happy because it bred good governance. That was a sound decision you took.
“Another critical decision you took was the insistence that Amotekun must be launched. Today, it is a success story and I am happy for you. That was a sound decision that was taken and laced with courage.
“Mr. Governor, success is what everybody yearns for. The more successes you record, the more challenges surface. The challenges should not be seen as enemies. They have come as very real precursors to further successes. And it means that success has no final destination. Your success shall know no destination, in Jesus name.”
Ojogo said further that he had learnt a lot from the governor’s courage, candour and bluntness, adding: “You can be upright, you can be truthful, you can be stubborn and succeed as long as your conscience is free in whatever you are doing.”
Omolola Fagbemi, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, was one of the women in the the cabinet. Fagbemi described Akeredolu as a leader with a sense of humour.
“I will never forget your sense of humour, your unparalleled sense of humour that acts as a soothing balm for us each time we see you,” she said, reeling out examples of the governor’s humourous statements.
She commended efforts of the governor’s wife, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, to change the fortunes of women in the state.
Fagbemi said: “During this four years tenure, women have had a better time under her. I am already sure this second term you will continue to provide necessary financial logistics for her to be able to continue her good work.”
Commissioner for Environment, Funso Esan, said: “The encomiums that my colleagues have been pouring on you, I want to say, is not part of eye service. That is what you are. After the election, I was sitting in my house in Lagos when you called me that ‘Mr Esan, can you work with us?’ I replied, ‘In what capacity, sir?’ You said either commissioner or special adviser. Then I said ‘I can work with you.’ You said ‘thank you’ and cut your phone. It was the fourth day I saw my name as one of the commissioners.
“I am saying this because I thought when I joined politics that if you didn’t know anybody or if you did not go and beg, you could not be given any appointment. But you did that without me asking for it.”
Esan added that Akeredolu was a sincere and trustworthy leader. He desired the position of managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Esan went to seek the endorsement and support of Akeredolu. But the governor told him that he was already supporting someone. For not deceiving him, Esan said he loved Akeredolu more.
It was the view of Pastor Emmanuel Igbasan, Commissioner for Economy, Budget and Planning, that Governor Akeredolu was a puzzling personality.
Igbasan said: “You are an enigma and phenomenon that no one on earth is still able to decipher or unravel. I need to give glory to God that I have a rare privilege and opportunity to be associated with you at this time.
“Men are not known where they stand in the time of comfort and convenience. But real men are known in the period of confusion and conflict. And you have come up sterlingly as a leader in light of this generation.
“I thank God for your life. I thank God for the people of Ondo State that God has bequeathed you on our people at this critical and most difficult time in the annals of of our history. I need to congratulate the people of Ondo State on all the achievements that have been recorded in the past four years. And, as one of your disciples, I will proudly wear the badge of our achievements across the nation with a deep sense of gratitude to God and to you, sir.”
Responding to the accolades showered on him, Governor Akeredolu spoke in his usual blunt manner. He said: “Except you chose to keep some things to yourselves, I am not a perfect man. Nobody spoke about the fact that I am a brash person. Nobody spoke about the fact that I am a very temperamental person. Nobody spoke about the fact that, a number of times, my utterances, sometimes, you don’t like.
“I know that there are a number of things I say that you don’t like. Maybe we are living by the Yoruba precept or adage that you don’t want to talk to somebody even before him or behind him when he has died.
“I know that I am not a perfect person. I am aware of it myself. I know my limitations. I am aware of the fact that I could be temperamental. I am even temperamental. I know that I could run into problems at times. Knowing my limitations as an individual, I will choose this opportunity to appeal to all of you to forgive my inadequacies.”
Akeredolu thanked the council members for their service to the state and people. According to him, the glory of the achievements of his administration belonged to all of them.
He said: “I can assure you, whatever it is, I cant be governor and determine what happens in the Ministry of Agriculture. I can’t be governor and determine what happens in the Ministry of Budget and Planning. I can’t be governor and manage the Ministry of Finance. I can’t be governor and manage all the ministries and all the agencies. We must have made a mark. Don’t say I made a mark. We made a mark. That’s why when they write news for me, I change it and put we. It is all of us.
“There is nothing we have achieved here without you. Nothing! Take it or leave it. Is it what you are doing in education, am I there? I am not. Kamomi Aketi, will I follow you to drink water? I won’t.”
But somebody was there. He was not just there in the office, he was there on the field as they drilled boreholes. So, You must take credit for it. Whatever is our achievement, the credit goes to all of you and all of us. Not one person. Everybody here has contributed his own quota in no small measure. Everybody and I mean it.
“Whatever achievement we have made, it is a joint achievement. Not by Akeredolu alone. Akeredolu cannot be everything and I was never everything. Yes, the bulk has to come to my table. There are decisions you take, you don’t even tell me. Today, we talk about roads, we talk about infrastructure. Can Akeredolu be the one that has done everything? It is not possible. It is because you have the opportunity to have one or two who have experience to know where the needs are.
“So, will I now claim that I am the one that did everything? I am not making that claim and I will never. So, I want to thank all the ministries and all the departments. I don’t have to mention names one by one. All of you have done very well. I want to praise you for your services. I thank you for overlooking my faults. I am not infallible. I am human. And I am no longer a young man.”
Akeredolu disclosed that he never wanted to be governor of Ondo state, saying it was providence that guided his steps towards the Alagbaka Government House. He said all he desired to be was the president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). The governor told the outgoing cabinet members that he was surprised when he once heard that his posters had flooded the streets of Akure, the state capital.
“I remember just as Yetunde said. She was the first person that would call me that she saw my posters on the streets of Akure that I am running for governor and she wanted to support me. I told her I was not running for governor. She said she saw it, that people were there and were happy. I said was not me. I was not running for governor.
“She took the picture and sent it to me. I was in Canada then. I asked, how? What happened? I had to call some of my friends to check. I suspected a fowl play. And that was it. And that was the beginning of the story of my life I never planned for,” Akeredolu said.
He added: “If anybody tells you I wanted to be governor of this state, tell that person he is lying. I never wanted to be. I must continue to thank chief Folake Sholanke (SAN). She listened to me the few times she came to my office and warned me and said, ‘you should stop saying this word.’ I said what ma? She said to me that I kept saying I wanted to be the president of the Bar and that I thanked God I was president and that I needed nothing again.
“She said I didn’t know where God was taking me. President of the Bar was all for me. And she was right. I never knew that God was going to bring me here at all. President of the Bar for me was just everything because that was all I prayed to be. I never planned to come here.
“How would I be planning when I was one of those who fought to install governor Mimiko in government in court. How would I run against him? I wouldn’t do such. When the pressure was too much, I wrote him a little letter, that we would remain friends, that I was only succumbing to this pressure, that if he won, we would remain friends and if I won, we would remain friends.”
The governor declared that he would always express his mind, saying there was no place for fear in his heart.
“I always say to people, I have two heros, Fela Anikulabo Kuti and Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Fela has said so, and I live by it. Fear is not for man. A man must stand. So, fear is not meant for man. If I die now, you won’t say I have not lived. God forbid, if I die now, I will appear on the front pages of all newspapers because I have lived. So, why will I be afraid of dying. I am not afraid of anything anymore,” he said.