Imagine that you are the Governor of Oyo State. In 2019, when you came into power, you had limited time to clean up the mess left behind by your predecessor and stamp your feet on the sand of time. As you pick up the shovel armed with the urgency of time, detractors both within and outside the corridor of power swarm around your neck. Like bees, the coalition that brought you into power mounts an aggressive and virulent pressure through media trials, and cheap blackmail, demanding their fair share of the political cake. Rightly so, as they played a critical role in your emergence. As your government grapples with stability, self-awareness, and support, your ability to focus and concentrate on the daunting task of governance became fragmented. At that moment, you needed to change course. Very fast. Very quick. Very urgent.
While you appealed and appeased those power brokers and party bigwigs to sheath their sword and fight for the common good, it dawns on you that such an ego-massaging trip will only derail and distract from fulfilling your numerous promises to the electorates. As a student of politics, you reminded yourself of what drives people into politics in this clime: an opportunity for personal enrichment and self-aggrandizement. And instead of going that familiar path, you choose to fix your gaze on the stuff that motivates you to join politics. In years after you steadied the ship despite the turbulence, your leadership has redefined both the state political landscape and terrain of the state in a way never seen before.
In Saki, the abandoned township road that once painted buildings with dust brought out the beauty of the town in full glare. In Iseyin, the tattered roads that linked Oyo and Ibadan became spotless terrains that sooth travelers and transporters alike. In that same breath, you promised to connect the unconnected part of the state in record time. As you planned and plotted your way into the heart of hearts of the people, unpaid government workers, hopeless pensioners, beleaguered farmers, unemployed youth and close to one million out-of-school children all waited for you to act in their utmost interests. As you navigate the stormy waters of the situation, you shifted your attention to addressing administrative malfeasances and rots that have clogged the wheel of an effective and efficient system.
Instead of kicking off new projects as most politicians who take over from rival parties often do, you rolled up your sleeve to finish the neglected ones. In Ibadan, you had a dream to change the face of the city to reflect its modernized and urbanized status. In the Oyo zone, you had a dream to awaken the giant within the abandoned Fasola agribusiness industrial hub.
In Ogbomoso, you made a bold and audacious promise to restore the sole ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology. In Ibarapa, you vowed to restore calm, normalcy, and peace in the otherwise troubled zone. In Oke-Ogun, you had the vision to unlock the hidden potential of the people. Beyond the tangible gains, you had your eyes on tackling unemployment, attracting investments, preserving culture and tradition, while engineering a harmonious peaceful co-existence in the State. On paper, those were all dreams and visions. In real life where challenges are to be surmounted, dream actualisation can be messy.
With careful and painstaking execution, those dreams and visions began to manifest and materialize beyond ordinary pipe dreams to tangible projects that drive sustainable growth and development. Of course, the task of government was and is still daunting and insurmountable. Challenges abound in shape and sizes. In different shades and colors. But a leader tackles each challenge with unflinching commitment and determination. In situations that require compromise and tradeoff, an exemplary leader strikes a balance by adopting an integrative bargaining approach, one that fosters win-win for all parties. As you juggle between dream and reality, destiny quietly pops up in the background.
One by one, the movers and shakers in the state political landscape began to kick the bucket. When the death of prominent people in the state became prominent, speculation began to fly that you had a hand in it. It was a rumor that got tongues wagging. And to fight the agents of speculations and character assassination, you fought back in style, first by attributing death to the Almighty. What the traducers and the detractors didn’t realize is that the state under your leadership was in for a new era in history. While the top monarchs joined their ancestors, from the Soun of Ogbomoso, late Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, Olubadan of Ibadan, late Oba Saliu Adetunji, Alaafin of Oyo, late Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Aseyin of Iseyin, late Oba Abdul-Ganiyu Salaudeen, etc, political gladiators were also warming up to join their forebears.
In 2020, the first major political shock thundered through the state and beyond. Late Abiola Ajimobi, the first Governor to serve two terms in the history of Oyo State was pronounced dead after battling COVID’19 in Lagos. Two years later, Ajimobi’s predecessor, late Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala was equally found dead in his room after returning from a trip to Abuja. The deaths were both shocking and surprising. Just last week, Dr. Victor Omololu Olunloyo, the 89-year-old former Governor of old Oyo State was also pronounced dead. That brought the total number of former Governors who died within the lifespan of an administration to three.
In 2024, Chief Michael Koleoso, former Secretary to the State Government equally died at age 86 in his hometown of Saki. The old must die for the new to be born was how the scripture described the transition of man to the afterward. For one, nothing can be more mind blowing than for a governor to witness the ascension to the throne of all the prominent royal fathers while he’s at the saddle. Not sure any Governor would be chanced to turn the wheel of history in such a fashionable way. In effect, when Governor Makinde proclaimed ‘OMITUNTUN’ as his campaign slogan in 2015, he had no idea that the ‘new era’ he promised would sweep the state of many of its notable personalities: politicians, traditional rulers, etc. Perhaps, he must have thought that his slogan would only represent and reflect the giant leap his government would make in office. Alas, he had no clue that many of the giants in the state would bow to the cudgel of death at the peak of their power and influence. How is a new era born?
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @Upliftnuggets on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
