By Lanre Aminu
As the clock ticks daily to the D-Day for the Osun State gubernatorial election and the flurry of political activities and intrigues that accompany it, the question on the lips of observers is: Is there any credible alternative to the incumbent governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, who is seeking re-election for a second term? Every unbiased and neutral observer of the “State of the Virtuous” will agree with this writer that the answer can only be in the negative, no. Alice Chasan, editor, World Press Review, declared that, “Without information, we grope in the dark. No nation can be truly free when its people lack the tools to choose a leader or assess the government and its policies in the context of the world community.”
The holy book also says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” There is no iota of doubt that we all need political enlightenment to enable us make an informed decision on an issue: the July 16, 2022, governorship election that has to do with our future, the future of our children and children’s children. It is on record that one major challenge that has faced our beloved state, Osun, since it was created 31 years ago, is leadership deficit. We thank God for the emergence of Oyetola’s corrective regime in 2018. There is no gainsaying that Osun State has suffered excruciating socio-economic pains for several years. Basically, poor, visionless and corrupt leadership has been our bane as a people. But, fortunately, the state has been blessed with a quintessential servant-leader, Alhaji Gboyega Isiaka Oyetola, as governor since 2018. Our amiable governor was simply that: a rigid, principled, consistent, blunt, trustworthy and dependable man. He was firm but fair, strict but compassionate, frugal but generous.
A private, sometimes self-effacing, person with a deep passion for accountability and good governance, Oyetola invested a tremendous amount of his physical energy and intellectual acumen to enthrone a sane, humane socio-economic and political order in Osun in the last three years of his purposeful administration. He is a firm believer in the efficacy of public discourse in the moulding of public opinion and actualization of social change, which he has brought to bear in the governance of Osun. In the words of Aristotle, “It is better for a city to be governed by a good man than by good laws.” Edmund Burke also says, “A state without the means of change is without the means of its preservation.”
At the risk of being labelled a sycophant, spin-doctor or, worst still, a paid image-maker, I make bold to say the man, Oyetola, presently in the captain’s seat of the ship called Osun, would have matched, if not surpassed Awolowo’s landmark achievements in the old Western Region, if he had not been hampered by the wasteful and expensive presidential system and bad leadership provided by his predecessors in office. There is no gainsaying that he is bearing the scars of the woeful failures of most, if not all, his predecessors in office. Oyetola has used sheer brilliant performance in the last three years to turn Osun into a one-party state.
It is a thing of joy that he got deserving laurels for his laudable developmental giant strides in the last three years without borrowing a kobo to finance them! Oyetola is a man who works quietly while positively impacting on the lives of his people. Before he came on board, many people in the state had looked on with gloom concerning the state of affairs in the land. Indeed, people were not happy at all with the administrations of most of his predecessors, especially the first civilian administration in the state headed by late Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke and the Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led PDP administration whose twin legacies were profligacy and ineptitude. Oyetola became popular in Osun mostly because of the incompetence, greed and cluelessness of some of his predecessors. However, all that has changed now. The people of the state are now proud to associate with the affairs of the state. The records of his achievements in all sectors are verifiable. He has won many laurels for his trail-blazing feats in Osun, nay, Nigeria.
He has redefined development in Osun State by investing in policies and programmes that we, our children and children’s children will benefit from. Oyetola is that “miser” very much hated by the vampires of Osun politics and the beneficiaries of the old order for his uncompromising refusal to throw the usual party, where money belonging to the state is shared out in Ghana-must-go bags. Rather, he “stubbornly” and against the usual practice, invested in education, healthcare, infrastructure, human resources and youth empowerment, thereby preparing to bequeathe citizens and unborn citizens of the state so much to live for today and so much to hope for tomorrow.
If there is one major challenge that has faced Osun since creation, it is incompetent, clueless and corrupt leadership. Before the advent of the corrective regime of Oyetola in 2018, the leadership deficits that assailed us in Osun was so legendary that the state continued to lag behind in an emerging world order that emphasized clear-headed and able leadership. Since the creation of the state in 1991, Osun had been struck by a string of incompetent and corrupt leaders who were gradually running the state aground, before Oyetola came on a rescue mission. The first civilian administration in the state headed by late Adeleke and the Oyinlola-led PDP administration were the worst culprits. It is on record that, under Adeleke and Oyinlola’s watch, humongous amounts were voted for many projects without execution.
The level of rot and decadence and suffocating loans Oyetola met constitute a big hindrance to redemption and progress of the state. How he has been repaying the loans and still meeting the state’s financial obligations to other sectors, paying workers’ salary and pensions without borrowing a kobo in the last three years remains a miracle to the long-suffering people of Osun State.
In view of the above, it should be glaring to any discerning mind that Osun governorship is not for the faint-hearted. A Yoruba adage goes thus: “Atari Ajanaku ki se eru omode”. With the above revelations, I harbour no iota of doubt in mind the long-suffering people of Osun will not allow themselves to be hoodwinked by ill-bred and inexperienced kindergarten politicians suffocating our political space seeking their mandate. If Osun must stay on its current course of rebirth and renewal, if there is need to sustain the momentum, not a few will agree with this writer that we must not make the mistake of allowing Osun State to go to the wrong hands, because of the need for continuity. There is nothing harder to bear than the reverse of fortunes. I strongly believe that we, the appreciative people of Osun State, are not prepared to move backward. We are poised to be on the move until we get to the Promised Land. Osun people are too wise to succumb to the promises of a new beginning. It is common knowledge that Nigeria still remains a potentially great nation because of inept, clueless, visionless and corrupt leadership it has been inflicted with and lack of continuity of programmes. Developmental programmes are better sustained, if allowed to thrive and endure over time. The antics of professional hirelings, rudderless opposition, professional bootlickers, paid image-makers, crumb grazers and unconscionable trumpet blowers must be forestalled by the electorate. The point must not be lost on us that this 2022 represents our watershed year, a year we must take our destinies in our own hands, a year that will determine whether we will continue to make progress as a people or bear the reverse of fortunes, God forbid! I do fervently believe that the highly intelligent and politically sophisticated people of Osun State will not allow themselves to be cajoled. The greatest mistake anyone would be making at this point is to suggest that the state be given to just anyone to manage. It should not be thrown to the dogs. Its journey back from Golgotha should be smooth, steady and assured. It will, however, be too stretchy for a short-distance runner and too cranky for the faint-hearted to drive.
•Aminu, convener, Oodua Youth for Good Governance, writes from Ilobu, Osun State; [email protected]/ 08076124433