Premium Times
By Semiu Okanlawon
I knew ab initio that any attempt to present Aregbesola as evil was going to hurt Governor Oyetola, more than it would, Aregbesola.
Is everything okay with the ruling party in Osun? Definitely not! Could this messy situation have been avoided? Clearly yes! No one needed a soothsayer to have known since 2019 that should the governor continue to open his flanks to those humming the anti-Aregbesola hymn into his ears, he would tear a once vibrant, impregnable party to shreds. The tatters might be too bad to piece together.
Permit me to tickle you with the Yoruba folklore, A o m’erin j’oba (we’ll make the elephant king), which in history has no parallel in the apt dramatisation of deceit, wickedness and fraud, usually woven around fame and positions of influence and affluence.
In the a o m’erin j’oba tragi-comedy, the elephant, in its obvious majestic size and shape, was led on by a band of deceivers and manipulators all garbed in attires of praise-singers.
Sadly, they had a sinister motive. Those who chorused its praises and assured the elephant of its impending ‘coronation’, had dug its grave where they planned to ditch it once they succeeded in cajoling it to follow them to the venue of the ‘coronation’ ceremony.
The grave was decorated with very attractive velvet materials. And so they went for the elephant with singing and dancing. Totally oblivious of the evil plots by its praise-singers, the elephant danced on its way to the venue thinking it was its day of honour.
Alas! On getting to the ‘coronation’ venue, where a beautifully decorated royal chair had been placed, the elephant sank with all its weight into the grave, while the praise-singers went their different paths; some of them jubilating.
Who is the elephant here?
In the three years that Governor Gboyega Oyetola has held sway in Osun, I don’t think I have been taken aback by anything else more than the manner he has left himself to the whims and manipulative caprices of a band around him.
I learnt before now that occupiers of offices are often hostages of the intriguing manipulation of ‘smooth operators.” However, not in anyone’s wildest imaginations could it have been speculated that a man of such immense power could become so weak and seemingly hypnotised to this point of self-immolation.
In all things, I have continued to ruminate on how successful those who have goaded the governor on this misadventure expected their venture to be. This was the crux of my discussions with him in December 2019, during which I asked whether he thought it possible to extricate himself from whatever happened under the Aregbesola administration by virtue of his position at the time.
Assuming, without conceding, that Aregbesola’s administration was spendthrift or took certain decisions bordering on the finances of the state, including loans, salary issues, infrastructure financing and virtually every general matter, is it possible for Oyetola to be seen as an outsider to what transpired? As a functionary in that administration, I knew ab initio that any attempt to present Aregbesola as evil was going to hurt Oyetola and his administration more than it would, Aregbesola.
With Oyetola’s emergence, no one expected any lull in the advancement of the “State of the Virtuous” in education, job creation, infrastructure rebirth, security, and above all, value re-orientation that hallmarked the administration where he served as the Chief of Staff and as a matter of fact, a major policy egghead.
But rather than busy himself with these lofty objectives for which continuity would be a preference for public good, a vein, inglorious and totally unnecessary attempt at “removing the hands of Aregbesola” from the politics of Osun was elevated to the level of state objective. If you cannot key into that objective, you certainly cannot matter either in government or the party.
I have asked myself what were these objectives meant to achieve.
…when some of my own brothers and uncles tried what I consider to be a damage control ‘support rally’ in Iwo on Wednesday, December 22, mobilising the media to foist a narrative that is hard to sell that Iwo belongs to Oyetola, I could not but lament that the ‘A o m’erin j’oba’ choristers would simply not stop until they do our man in tragically and completely. But why would you treat Oyetola this way? I knew him to be a gentleman.
In December 2019, I returned from Europe after about six weeks. During my stay, I was getting bombarded from Nigeria and my Ward in Iwo East Local Council Development Area with reports of surreptitious moves by some people, propped up and goaded on by some appointees of the governor, to reorder some political arrangements at the ward levels.
Of course, given the roles I had played previously in the election of the governor, especially in the face of the total rejection of his candidature, people from my ward and local government were becoming apprehensive. Simply put, the grassroots ‘soldiers’ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were already suspicious that something capable of destroying the fabric of the party was going on at the ward level across the State. They needed information, assurances that the party was not coming into the hands of those who would destroy it. They needed to bring their anxieties to me. But because I had travelled for an international conference and used the opportunity for some rest as well, they kept bombarding me with messages that our party was witnessing something very sinister, the type that could ignite an implosion if nothing was done.
Once back in Nigeria, I immediately sought audience with the governor. I needed to confirm if he was in the know of some underground moves to replace the party structures at all levels with those who claimed to be Ileri Oluwa leaders.
The governor denied knowledge of this but I told him that he needed…
