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There is no way we can adequately comment on the recent bye-election of Osun West Senatorial District without making a quick review of the build up that led to the emergence of the two gladiators namely Sen Mudasir Hussein and Dr Ademola Adeleke.
Without sounding immodest, let me be quick to place on record and to acknowledge once again of my affection and relationship with Dr Ademola Adeleke and by extension the Adeleke dynasty.
Upon the death of our leader, (the Snr Adeleke), my mind truly went towards Dr Demoo as the winning formula for my party APC, this was regardless of his limited experience in politics, not just him though, I also thought of my former colleague and friend Hon (Barr) Adetunji Isiaka Ajagbe, he is also from Ede township, he had contested and won election before in that constituency, he was also another grassroot politician that could fly my party ticket and deliver at the poll, judging from my little knowledge in politics. That was however before I bought into the eventual consideration and circumstances, Senator Mudasir Hussein another complete gentle man who was previously denied to please late Adeleke, going deep into the circumstances, the party was right, I concluded, no regret till today….
My personal consultation thereafter gave the winning formula to aggressive campaign, sacrifices and serious mending of fences, fast reconciliation, compromising and reassurance for the center was no longer holding the axis.
The party can not be wrong. I was only thinking in the direction of having the vacuum created by the sudden death of an illustrious son of Ede to be so filled by someone else being his kinsman as a compensation especially considering the fact that Ejigbo where Sen Mudasir Hussein hails from is currently a community enjoying the patronage of the speaker of the state, Rt Hon Najim Salam and so also the House of Reps member Prof Mojeed Alabi. Well, I can not be wiser than my party, neither can I contend with its supremacy.
I therefore began to study the scenario from far and was awaiting the body language of my party, party position matters to me as a committed member, vis a vis the leadership’s postures.My curiosity and eagerness prompted my several calls to both of them. We spoke extensively, my immediate advice to my friend Sen Demola was that he should endeavour to meet with the Governor to indicate his interest and thereafter to leave the rest to us to canvas support for his candidature at the primary level.
He heard me quite well, he understood me very clearly, he knows, I would love to see him clearing the air that it was death (Asarailu) that killed his brother and not anybody, that is my believe as a Muslim, Late Isiaka Adeleke couldn’t have been killed as been erroneously peddled by some section of the public, for me a spirited move of such and champion by him as his brother would have been enough to douse the tension and to disabuse the minds of the public and set the record straight.
In actual fact, my wish was that he should do just that on the 8th day of the Fidau organized for the departed soul. I chose that day so as to key into the opportunity that Osun State Governor would also be attending, this was so, as I was so afraid that I may also be lynched just like what the irate youths meted on Hon Idiat Babalola. A great indigene of the town who was openly embarrassed right in the home of the Adeleke and subsequently escaped thank God for the intervention of the visiting Governor Ibikunle Amosun!
I was right there at the venue of the Friday well seated on same table with the former governor of Oyo State Dr Alao Akala,my friend and my MBA course mate Otunba Adekunle Alao( Lele) and so also few others.I was seriously watching the scenario and the countenances of all the people present, highly dominated by the PDP loyalists, this time, no APC Governor joined Ogbeni for the Fidau, I was so curious and at the same time waiting to see if Dr Ademola Adeleke would seize the opportunity to launch himself as presumed..The MC Alh Bakare Adeoye happened to be a friend and in-law , I briefed him about my anxiety and I guess he too reminded Dr Ademola Adeleke of such need but my hope was dashed for a reason I later understood through another great politician in the state (name withheld).
The 8th day Fidau of that our amiable,philanthropist and the first executive governor of the State of Osun therefore came and gone just like that, o am not really sure if the adeleke family thereafter sent any complimentary or thank you visit to the governor after the fidau,no doubt the memory of the departed soul shall continue to live in our minds in the state.
With the cries and woes that trailed his death days before the 8th day Fidau,and with the numbers of PDP members that attended the funeral,daily congregating around the bereaved and tactically given the family a kind of succours and coupled with the security report and the circumstances that prevented a state burial for the late Senator,it became evident that I was soon to choose between Dr Ademola Adeleke and my party.I will alway choose to opt for my party in such circumstances.That may be my sin in the eyes of some people who thereafter begin to attacked my position mostly on social medias especially on Facebook,repeatedly, even as I campaigned for my candidate and party,i never lost my respect for the adeleke or his memory, at any rate,i have not seen anyone who found me wanting or described me as bad Representative of my people in ife ,all I can deduced so far was that my blind loyalty to my mentor and my party might lead me to political suicide, that I bluntly refused.Well,i happened to be a person who based his stance on conviction,i am not the type who worship human being or get carried away by any expectations,that itself has never count for me,what next is at stake in the care of those they wrongly think I bootlick for ,those leader they wrongly think I daily worshipped.
Many had misinterpreted my kind of gestures to mean bootlicking, eye services to gain favour or commissioner slot etc.In whatever circumstances,is it really wrong to be committed to ones conviction.?The answer to me is No and shall remain No in my political carreer.My critics should better know me for that.As someone who shall remain steady no matter the opposing views based on conviction.I have repeatedly state the fact that I would be the last man standing with Aregbesola unless I see what many have seen beyond my eyes.
Come to think of it, is my kind of loyalty truly the wrong or unprecedented in the history of politics,the late great Chief Michael Akanbi Omisade(accuse No 2) my big uncle never for once betrayed Chief Obafemi Awolowo even despite his inability to pick the party gubernatorial ticket based on the fact that the venue for the party primary was changed hours to game in 1978.I am still studying what makes the wrong type of loyalty. I have a mentor who is human,and often allow me audience,i know his predicament,his desires to transform the state,he may not be generous as we compared him to many,may not be socially inclined as we wish but certainly i know he has a call to serve the state,his attitude to workers salaries and delay in payment which is not limited to just Osun State may need review,indeed it is a big task and a pitiable challenge for I know the limitations before him,workers deserves to be paid,so say our Lord,he choose among many options and between laying workers off and payment of half salaries,he end up attracting plenty of enemies and even incurred the wrath of internal party crisis across the state.What a pitiable cob webs.
This is not the time for me to talk about the importance of building trust in leading change efforts. Change creates discomfort and disruption to the way people do things and how they interact with others – sometimes in profound ways. In short, it puts a strain on relationships, and therefore, on loyalty. And what does a leader under pressure to manage a significant change often do, almost reflexively? They try to leverage the loyalty of others.He became a lone ranger,finds no trust in many,finds betrayals littering the corridor of power and yet he prefer to die with good legacies,no doubt,he has many of such to live after him.
There’s good news and bad news in this immediate past bye election .Here’s the good news. The opportunity availed us to know the right kind of loyalty and by extension it provides us a solid foundation for the trust and leadership people around us.What manner of people we should be looking for from others during challenging situations. It makes it easier for a leader to convey the value of the change and enlist others in making it happen.The bye election shall therefore go down in memory for it enables us to take a quick review of our past,reshape our present and for a better tomorrow… We shoukd rather stop dwelling on those things we ought to have done but to concentrate on those things we left on done and to begin to do the needful.There are so many of such,Lautech problem must be resolved,internal party politics must be revisited,improve welfarism,serious reconciliation and reconnection to those who may have good reasons to be aggrieved,balancing of appointments,get closer to the traditional set up a cross the state.i can bet it,osun people knows the PDP can never be the best alternative….
The sudden love flashed and still flashing before my late leader brother and friend Senator( Dr )Ademola Adeleke can never be said to be real but a mere “marriage of convenience”.The beneficiary of this deal is not our new Senator himself but his new found lovers,he just happened to be the best bridging gap for them to hurriedly close ranks.
The bad news? It’s all too easy to misunderstands the nature of loyalty or to disregard the consequences of fake friend, fake loyalty and fake affectionate. You risk building a house of cards that falls apart under the high stakes and duress that change often brings.I refused to believed our party apc can not triumph any longer,lets not forget that Gov Oshiomole was down on two senatorial before he won the governorship tussle.All we need is to reconnect ourselves and work as a team.It is a temporary success for the PDP,it is for us not to allow them to consolidate on it.
Gov Aregbesola is the type that want to build the kind of solid relationships that allow you and your followers to build long-term change agility into your set up,he may be guilty of many sins but certainly you can not bit his records in repositioning the state in the comity of Noble’s.
Great ideas come from robust conversation and differing perspectives. Blind loyalty doesn’t question.That is where I remained different.Blind loyalists simply execute the plan at all times.I would leave my readers to place me where I really belonged.
It will take a lot of initiative to uncover or find solutions to problems that inevitably pop up as regards this last election..Underneath the surface is resentment and desperate anxiety and serious betrayals. It isn’t about the team or the larger vision. It’s about the challenges associated with the just past election. My type of loyalty is toxic to the team. People recognize what’s happening. It often creates distrust, jealousy and behaviors that undermine rather than elevate.Conflict-avoidant loyalty. Some of us as a people go along to get along.not because of what we want but because of our personal conviction.
Loyalty naturally made some of us feels good. Even “fake loyalty” does. And in the short run, it can have its uses. But in the long run, it erodes the very relationships you need in order to thrive in a changing environment..
When you are a leader implementing change, ask yourself: how do I create buy-in and enhance loyalty?…In this case,Gov Aregbesola to me is working within limited resources and with limited connection to get the needful to help his state at the federal level despite the fact that his party controls the federal.I feel sorry for him that his recommendation holds no water and may never usher in any meaningful things for the state,that was never his bargained.
I have read many submission and each writing from different perspectives,i noticed that no one think the fact that the election was not about Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola or about Senator Mudasir Hussein.It was about the ” dying Apc” as a party, it was about our ailing president Muhammad Buhari and his economic development policy as it affects Nigerians.
Gov Rauf Aregbesola and indeed our collective had to fought to have our say in who flagged our party ticket.If it has to be Dr Adeleke,i guess we should be carried along and of course the sitting governor deserved some respect.It was never so and that was the first built up that gave birth to the collosal loss,The calamity was therefore not about Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola but about how things became so degenerated and disconnection that exist in our party,t he governor and the people.The party from National,State and local government must be ready to use broom against brooms for people are very much ready .Tell me one serving or former national assembly member who can freely walk in his domain or plan to recontest with all these that are happening in our party,tell me my set who can woon any member of the opposition to come to this party,many of us worked,staked our lives and spent heavily for this party,believing a change at the federal level would mean much avenues for us to hold our followers and continue the change mantras! Our leaders are so disconnected,governors and Senators and party chairmen no longer have any say in who represents them,the party is at the moment not getting their bearing,the foot soldiers never get party patronage, the lacuna created by our misdoing created enmities between governors and their followers,how many governor in each zone are friends to each other,how many of them in the SW could muster energy to physically surport Gov Aregbesola or Osun Apc as a party in this last election.To them,it was an opportunity to take their pounds of flesh,opportunity to tell him him they could build monster and destroyers even in his home.He Aregbesola had to face many problems,home and away to contest,starting from having his voice on who pick the party ticket,he fought up to the presidency,not the war outside his party but the cabal that never like his style of politics,not just him,his people was shut down,no single member of the state in any agency till today to surport him should he need any help,he remained the only rallying point,he begin to dominate the talk, facing daily organized protest and he appeared failing to understand what Osun people needed.he kept talking and justifying a position to unlistenable ear who wanted food on their table,he was thinking more of posterity but they wanted a piece of the action as they are use to,normal to certain extend I would say , all are necessary in politics..
The bubble finally bursted ,the campaign began,he toured all major city,sell his party and the candidate in his usual manner,he sing and dance and supported only by those who are truly convinced that having a ranking person in the state is just the best and alas until the very final tail end of the campaign their agent and final executioner came,not for re integration but to proof a point unknown to the law but to our Creator.They appeared on the scene in what is better described as the highest spiritual coup d’etat in a mystical manner,they need not make any specific by speech but their mere surprised appearance was damned enough to perfect their fervent desire to take their pound of flesh..
*Hon. Rotimi Makinde
