No progressive political observer would ever have expected the bizarre results that the on-going gubernatorial election in Osun had produced so far.
The indisputable fact is that at this material time, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is leading the APC by 354 votes and on the verge of victory barring an unforeseen divine intervention during the supplementary election scheduled for Thursday this week.
This electoral comeuppance of the APC is even more bizarre coming as it does after a hectic eight-year tenure of Governor Rauf Aregbesola during which time landmark developmental strides were recorded.
To what can one attribute this electoral debacle, especially when it occurs at the heart of Awolowo’s region, which for long had been well noted for self-reliance, hard work and iron determination to do and support what is good and noble?
Can we now assume that our people generally no longer believe in the values that we hitherto hold dear: personal achievements, education, integrity and honest pursuit of public good?
It is pertinent to proffer answers to these questions if we must discover the roots of our current political dilemma.
In this column last week, I wrote on the sixteen unbroken years of the PDP on our national saddle becoming an albatross, a big cog in the wheel of our national progress. I pointed out that such time was long enough to change the orientation of a whole generation negatively.
One of the negative legacies of that party is what we witness in the outcome of the Osun election. People have spoken about poverty being an important factor in determining the behavior of the electorate during elections.
Yes, this may be true to some extent, but have our people suddenly forgotten that it is the poor individual that can pull himself out of that poverty through determined and well-directed honest efforts?
This reminds me of that inspiring Yoruba poem which was very popular during our primary school days entitled : Ise loogun ise, which can be roughly translated to mean: Hardwork is the most effective antidote to Poverty.
With this in the mind of Osun electorate, one would naturally have thought that, at this election, they would be looking for a party candidate that can build on the infrastructural foundations so well laid by Governor Aregbesola.
Another eight years of such prudent management of resources directed towards basic infrastructure, agriculture and education would have propelled the poor state towards industrial take-off.
Given Gboyega Oyetola’s all round antecedents, none of the other aspirants to the office of Governor of Osun is as eminently qualified. But, alas our people in the “Omoluabi” State do not seem to take all these into consideration in casting their ballot.
They probably take voting in an election as a light-hearted activity that can be done to favour a town’s man, a relation, a handsome man or beautiful woman, a man or woman from my tribe who speaks my language, and other such superficial reasons.
A passage in the Holy Writ reads: “My people perish for lack of knowledge ” From time immemorial, ignorance has been the bane of the black man. It is that ignorance that has pushed Nigeria into this pitiable level of poverty in the midst of so much natural and human resources that the Almighty had endowed us with.
It is this same abysmal ignorance that is pushing our brothers and sisters in Osun to insist on taking many steps backwards after having taken only a few steps forward in the last eight years.
I cannot cease to wonder why people who count themselves among the educated do not realise the simple logic that ” as people are, so is their government A government is not a divine contrivance sealed and sent from heaven. Rather, it is a human creation made by men to solve their earthly problems.
Therefore, no human government has a magic wand to conjure into being socio-economic development and prosperity. These are worldly conditions that a government must plan and work to achieve with the support of the people for whom the government works.
Like I said earlier, it is a process that takes time, focused government, and cooperation of the people to bring to fruition. This singular fact or realisation is what seems lost on our people generally.
What they seem to be looking for is a government that would magically conjure away their poverty, bring about economic development and prosperity instantaneously without themselves lifting a finger or making any sacrifices whatsoever. No such happening exists in reality, it can only be a figment of a primitive and confused imagination.
This brings me to one fundamental question which I have asked myself over and over again: Are we black Africans ripe for democracy as it is presently practised elsewhere and as we currently try to do in our country? Could we not have been better off with our traditional monarchical system evolving naturally into a modernised form that suits our level of social and intellectual level?
Are Africans really honest with themselves when they blame the then ruling whites in South Africa for introducing the “apartheid policy” at the time they did, given the economic development level attained under the apartheid rule?
These questions may appear rather irrelevant at this point in time, but we need to constantly interrogate our minds with such questions particularly when our people deliberately and with their eyes wide open lead themselves into a developmental cul de sac as happened in Osun with the on-going election.
I have a strong feeling that democracy is a political system that is only fit for a population that has attained a particular level of education and enlightenment. That is a population that really know their rights and duties as citizens and what their government is expected to do in promoting the welfare of the citizenry. I have my doubts as to whether we have attained that level in these parts.
One must not be misunderstood in these matters. Aregbesola’s government is not perfect and of course no government anywhere is. His traducers particularly the PDP are never tired of reminding their listeners that he owed workers’ salaries.
Pray, how can that be totally avoided in a state where you inherited an over-bloated workforce that you cannot reduce to the size you want due to the political consequences. Yet you are confronted with urgent developmental projects and needs calling for immediate attention.
As a purposeful Governor with an eye on the welfare of the generality of the people, that kind of situation is akin to being between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Some myopic political never-do-wells would rather he devoted the entire state revenue on paying salaries and allowances of civil servants! Perhaps, it may not sound welcome if I confess I will not feel too disturbed if the Osun electorate eventually get the PDP government that they yearn for as manifested in this election.
I personally want them to lay on the bed of thorns which they have deliberately made for themselves through the election of PDP’s Adeleke. At the end of four years, they should be better placed to have a rethink. That perhaps is the beauty of democracy.
Under a democratic dispensation, while you have absolute freedom to sow, you are however compelled to reap that which you have sown. It is in accordance with the law of God as taught by our Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to wish my compatriots in the state of Omoluabi good luck in Thursday’s supplementary election to determine the incoming Governor and to remind them of the irretrievably lost four years of developmental strides lost in Ekiti due to the same electoral misdemeanor committed in 2014.
