Thursday 14th April was a day to remember. The whole state woke up to a stunning news. One of the leading lights of the APC in Oyo state had dumped the party. Governor Seyi Makinde had caught a big fish.
In a shocking move, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe had exchanged the broom for the Umbrella. For the next few days, everyone was talking about the morality and the implications of the move. A man, who his detractors called a political neophyte got the state talking for days, running into weeks.
Except you had a colleague or school mate bearing same, the name TEGBE was largely unknown Oyo state political circle before 2018. As the race for who would succeed Governor Ajimobi reached a crescendo, that name was introduced into the vocabulary of Oyo politics and has since refused to go away. In fact, it underwent a rapid metamorphosis from “Who is Tegbe?” to “Tegbe we know and trust”.
Born 56 years ago, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe joined the political fray with 3 decades of experience in consultancy, finance and markets, technology and engineering. As the Head of Technology Practice in a leading consultancy firm, his competence was never in doubt. Governance wasn’t alien to him either, haven consulted for Federal and states governments within and outside Nigeria for almost two decades.
It is often said that Nigerian politics, particular in Ibadan, isn’t for refined people but Tegbe dared the odds. With the help of a competent team and committed supporters, the TEGBElization movement spread like wildfire. In record time, Tegbe had transversed the state reaching out to traditional rulers and elders, community stakeholders, political leaders and the populace. Everywhere was Tegbelized!
4 years down the line, Tegbe decided to team up with Governor Seyi Makinde who is seeking a second term. In return, he bagged the Senatorial ticket for Oyo South Senatorial District, to the delight of party members who have received him with so much enthusiasm and have shown so much commitment to work for the realisation of the agenda. Two months after Tegbe dumped the APC with his supporters, many others have towed the same party; some to the PDP and others to Accord and other parties, citing manipulations and unfairness in the process of party primaries. What Tegbe saw long time ago, it took failure at primary elections for many others to see. Such political foresight for a man who has spent such little time in party politics.
What Tegbe seemed to lack in years of political participation, he more than makes up for it with his Omoluabi nature and strategic thinking. Despite his rich professional background, he has no air around him. He relates so freely with his supporters that it is sometimes difficult to pick him out in their midst. You cannot but love the man.
As 2023 beckons, if character, competence, experience will play a role, then the best man to represent Oyo South Senatorial District in the red chambers is none other than Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe
_Adeola writes from University of Ibadan_
