As one of the most consequential appointees of the Governor; Barrister Bayo Lawal had a moment with history. His time as the reclusive Chairman of the state housing corporation could have etched his name as an unusual pathfinder in a government of spectacular propaganda. Probably the oldest in the corridor of power, Barrister Bayo Lawal could have simply walked away from that agency with astonishingly beautiful laurels to his feather – the most befitting retirement package. Instead, he succumbed to the pettiness of politics, mercilessness of power, and the murkiness of influence. In a government that’s notorious for reneging on promises and turning friends into foes, his uncharacteristic desperation for power, by becoming a pawn in the dangerous game of political chess speaks volumes. Despite his inability to pull off one of the most significant projects in the agency’s entire history, he was still ‘smuggled’ in as the Deputy Governor in the middle of the night and through the backdoor – against his brother – from the same region and religion. Power can be dangerous, intoxicating, and self-destructive. Politics can be dirty, murky, and stultifying.
Indeed, Barrister Bayo Lawal’s ascension into that position of influence is a classical case of reaping bountifully where one does not sow – because of his popularity and wide acceptance in his country home of Kisi, Makinde almost won in the area if not for the pittance 229 margins in the last election. For the record, Kisi is the only local government where PDP and Makinde suffered electoral blows in the ten local governments of the region. Even in Igboho, the historic hometown of Engineer Olaniyan, and despite the contentious view of the man’s personality in the community, he still delivered for the party and the Governor. But who knows what the next election holds for that serial senatorial hopeful who has been roundly rejected by the people of Oke-Ogun not once, or twice but three times! After a carefully orchestrated plan and dark conspiracy theory that led to his unconstitutional impeachment and removal from office as the Deputy Governor of the state, the dark forces at play against Engineer Rauf Olaniyan knew their best shot at consolidating their various power bases must be to install a legal practitioner to cover up their illegality. And who else fits that bill than the man whose ultimate desire since 1999 has been to be the state Deputy Governor?
And to buy time for that illegality, for instance, Governor Seyi Makinde pretended to hand over the reign of leadership to his less than three-month-old deputy – after snubbing his enormously wealthy and influential deputy of three years from even staying in the state secretariat! What a ruse! In a letter to the rubber-stamped state house of Assembly, the Governor asked the lawmakers to transmit power to his ‘smuggled’ deputy, so he can deceptively camouflage as the acting Governor for the time he’s out of the country in search of eureka to his failing and flailing re-election bid. Indeed, the report did show he found some respite in London and Paris where he, alongside his co-travelers, hobnobbed with different Presidential candidates – the APC flag-bearer being the most coveted. An insider even hinted that Governor Makinde’s associates are negotiating with a powerful figure in the South West to guarantee a soft landing for his re-election in Nigeria’s make-or-mar 2023 poll (partly because he’s the only Governor seeking re-election in the Wike’s camp – a group that has intensified fight with their party and its Presidential candidate).
In effect, Makinde’s choice of Barrister Bayo Lawal as the replacement for his ousted brother Engineer was intended to neutralize the Olaniyan effect: an impenetrable strategy that appeased and appealed to voters in the agrarian area of Oke-Ogun in the 2019 election. Never the one to ruffle feathers because of the way he emerged, Barrister Bayo Lawal’s clever and mischievous installation as the Deputy Governor came in hurriedly to counterforce whatever is left in the political arsenal of the Igboho-born retired Permanent Secretary – particularly in Oke-Ogun. But going by their respective credentials, one is quick to admit the clear and convincing difference between the two. Without sounding condescending and with all due respect, Barrister Bayo Lawal is no match for Engineer Olaniyan – by all standards. Placed side by side, the duo orbits two worlds apart: one has a bankable political spread, a likable financial muscle, and incontrovertible philanthropic nature. Honestly and respectfully, Deputy Governor Bayo Lawal’s muted political base and depleted financial purse should worry those that installed him ab-initio.
Under his watch as the chairman, Barrister Bayo Lawal had the chance of setting the record straight. The strategic Agbowo shopping mall could have come back to life with tremendous benefits – 5000 direct jobs as one. His Principal, Governor Seyi Makinde even made heaven smile at his lie on the 23rd of September 2020 while at the flag-off of the edificial structure where he promised to make history by completing the reconstruction in a matter of two years – leasing out the building for fifty years at a princely sum of N4.9billion. It’s three years and ten months to the end of his first term; the imposing structure stands still as a reminder of bad governance and misplaced priority. Perhaps, one can take a useful cue from the failure of the Agbowo shopping complex and use the lesson to rate the various promises made by the government.
By choosing to be ‘smuggled’ in as the deputy governor through the darkest of means, Barrister Bayo has abundantly made it clear what his level of exposure, experience, and networking in public service means to the unsuspecting members of the public. As the results from his three failed Senatorial bids show, perhaps his tentative 2023 electoral outing might probably turn out the same depressing outcome leaving Governor Makinde and his struggling marines in the pantheon of one-term politicians to rule over the affairs of the state.
Engr. Bello Razaq, a public affairs commentator, writes from Ibadan.
