By 2023, Governor Seyi Makinde will know his political fate. And for the first time, he will enter that race as a top dog. In 2015 and 2019 elections, he was an underdog with little political relevance. Mindful of his underdog posturing, his dwindling political fortune and despite running under PDP, the Governor, sensing a possible defeat entered into, relied heavily on and rallied round powerful political coalitions and heavyweights to dislodged then ruling APC from Agodi. How deft and artful he has managed those forces and coalitions and heavyweights and the brewing crisis will tell of his political dexterity, creativity and artistry — and importantly, his political survival when next election knocks.
Omituntun: The Dawn of a New Era?
In 2015, Engineer Seyi Makinde, a relatively known politician whose only stint as an aspirant was in the 2003 elections threw his hat into the ring for the Agodi house under the obscure Social Democratic Party. As a billionaire Engineer, and businessman, the Ibadan born Philanthropist adroitly put his money where his heart was: building political networks and foot soldiers who will hoist his party flag and chant his slogan in subsequent elections.
Despite his financial war chest, Engineer Seyi Makinde lost that election picking a miserly 54, 740 votes as against 327, 310 of the APC. The result, though heart wrenching and politically frustrating came along with that simple, relatable, concrete and credible slogan: Omituntun. That slogan stuck in people’s hearts such that the catchphrase was retained purely in his second coming. With it simplicity and relatability, the slogan caught people off guard; sending shiver down the spines of his political opponents thereby ensuring his victory at the poll.
The Dawn of the Era?
Pundits often described Oyo as a radical state. And her citizens, politically smart, sophisticated and unpredictable. It’s why the ‘Aji sebi Oyo laari’ aphorism has become the state second name. Incumbent Governors Lam Adeshina, Rashidi Ladoja, and Alao Akala were roundly booted out of office by their successors. Even the jinx breaker, Abiola Ajimobi was not spared of people’s heavy knocks. He was defeated as a senatorial candidate same as his party was brutally flogged at the Gubernatorial poll.
Ajimobi factor and the misfortune of APC in the state coalesced and positively played in the electoral success of Governor Seyi Makinde who promised to restored Oyo pace setting glory and a new dawn both in the state’s politics and policy. Indeed, analysts pointed out that the first several months of GSM in office reflected his vision for the state: a peaceful, serene and optimistic environment conducive for the Omituntun experiment. With weeks turn months and months paving the way for years, the story if for anything has turned awry. People are now increasingly tired and impatience as time slips off the Governor’s fingers in fixing their fears, worries and anxieties.
The Promise of something shinning.
“I was drawn to politics” the Governor gleefully declared in his inaugural speech on the 29th of May, 2019 “because I saw the way the wealth meant for everyone was being siphoned by a few to enrich themselves while leaving the masses in desperate poverty and dehumanizing suffering, and our land in ruin. We have an opportunity to change this and we will”.
This promise to transform the state of state to one of prosperity as against endemic poverty has led to interventions in critical sectors of the state notable among which is the formation of Operation Amoketun: a security outfit intended to complement and corroborate the conventional security apparatus of the state. But with Amotekun comes other security threats and hiatus which required adaptive measures to stem and overcome. An insecure state will send investors away to other state.
In that inauguration speech, the Governor furthered that his administration “will more than confront poverty, and usher in an era of progress and prosperity”. “To do this”, he chimed in with optimism “I speak to your consciences; we have to shun the way things are currently done. Now with promises come it peril.
The Peril from the Period of softness.
More than any time since the dawn of Fourth Republic has Oyo state rank lowest security index than now. And no thanks to farmers herders confrontation, hoodlums free reign in Ibadan and scores of crimes committed across the state. Scarily, the Governor’s soft and calm down your nerves approach to this existential threats has neither helped matter nor douse simmering tension. Indeed, the near absence of government in those volatile and hotbed region further exacerbated the situation turning it into issues of National discourse.
Interestingly, the prompt payment of workers salary instead of turning things around for good has neither made education anything better compared to the past even though enrolment has increased. This constant conflicts and labor by authorities across basic, secondary and even tertiary schools in finding ways in to keep the system afloat continue to make teaching hard and managing difficult thus sapping motivation and ruining resolutions. As pointed out in that inaugural, the Governor full awareness that Oyo people are not asking for much maybe the start of his own undoing if the little expectations in terms of security, education and infrastructure are not met. For that, his political Journey can be cut short Midway.
OYO101, Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion on issues affecting Oyo State, is published on Saturdays. He can be reached via muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com and 09065176850.
