With Kayode Fasua
In the giddy run to 2027, which is a year of general elections in most states of the federation, oddities are particularly not left out. It so much reeks of pig fart that bland generosity and the display of crass opulence to foist political acceptance on a hapless people is now venerated in the streets, as of the tour itinerary of a Pope.
While not exonerating any part of the country from such dishonour in party politics, particularly because of mass poverty and ebbing social values, the dimension of gastronomic indiscipline prevailing in Ondo State politics at the moment, calls for concern.
Pandering to the philosophy of ‘stomach infrastructure’ as espoused by former Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, not a few persons have been so much brain-washed by some supposed political leaders, telling their acolytes that it’s far rewarding for a dog to graze than to hunt. While Fayose in all honesty equated his stomach infrastructure tantrum with human empowerment and capacity building, perverts around here now take it as freebies, and freebies and freebies. To hell, they say, with social infrastructure, quality education, improved healthcare, et cetera.
Rather than value leaders who are working tirelessly to improve on the public wellbeing, they would rather that the leader perhaps on weekly basis, storm the market square with lorry-loads of bags of rice, condiments and above all, physical cash, distributing them to the masses as expression of love, generosity, humility and good governance. They forget so easily, or so it seems, that after Ofa community, Oje township should not see itself as the far bigger point of call, spiting the others. Permit this conversion from a Yoruba adage, as it is hewed to indicate that beyond the current spending rave, more politicians with deeper pockets will still emerge to woo the bread and butter party members.
Coming down to simplification, the ongoing political razzmatazz in ruling All Progressives Congress in Ondo State is no longer a thing to be revealed in whispers as it appears to be having debilitating effects on enthusiastic party loyalists ahead of the 2027 presidential and parliamentary elections as will hold in the state. The governorship poll, apparently waits till the winter of 2028 in the off-cycle encampment.
While it is indubitable that in Nigeria’s entrenched political system, a Governor is the Leader of his political party at the state level, it naturally comes as a strange vision to imagine that a Minister too, would boldly and loudly hit the road with the speed of animistic Impala, to dislodge the governor, wrest his crown and begin to command in expectation of compliance.
Without equivocation, Interior Minister, Mr. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, inspires as a young man with intrepid surge in his political career. While still in his forties, he has already chalked up repeated election into the House of Representatives before being made a Minister, thus throwing him up as a politician who knows his onions and who still has other juicy political apples likely for his catch, in future. Tunji-Ojo, widely famed as BTO, they say, is so generous that he leaves every visitor smiling back home with enhanced pocket, for as long as the visitor is deemed as politically correct.
While this and other such claims cannot be readily verified, the tell-tale signs in some quarters in Ondo State is that the interior minister has his focus on contesting the 2028 governorship election and likely sees incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as a possible feller for his high-stake ambition. Political assessors thus draw up the revelation that some party members are clamouring that Governor Aiyedatiwa should counter BTO in naira-for-naira show, by gambolling around the streets distributing money, rice, garri and if possible, ice cream to welcome school children back after the holiday.
But such is a pitfall the governor should not be tempted into, as he is readily focused on the business of governance with the Ondo State masses expressing deep appreciation for the various physical and essential achievements aimed at uplifting their living standard. So far, space will suffer glut reeling out the Aiyedatiwa scorecard, but a few of them will still surfice for mention.
Under the Ondo Governor’s OUR EASE agenda, a five-kilometre road in the minimum, is nearing completion or has been completed in each of the 18 local government areas, apart from giving the communities the needed breather through the installation of various social amenities, chief of which is streetlight, which keeps the nights aglow and deters criminalities.
On security, the Aiyedatiwa-led administration is widely rated high with the fruition of his silent efforts in strengthening the Amotekun security corps and supporting all security agencies with logistics, thus translating to drastic reduction in crime in the urban and rural communities.
Fact-check the Aiyedatiwa quiet achievements in the health, education and agric sectors for instance, you’ll marvel surfing the net to see how many they are, and that they are translatable in length as in the long road from Akure to Maiduguri. However, the long-lasting legacies thrown up in this Aiyedatiwa era are such that he will be venerated by generations to come, once his various industrial attractions to Ondo State come on stream.
Already, the Dangote business empire has cheekily consented to transform the Olokola Free Trade Zone with industries and other businesses while various investors, as of rivulets trickling down the cottage rack, are falling in. Get tickled too, to the fact that the dual-carriage road project linking Akure, the state capital and Idanre, Nigeria’s cocoa hub has advanced in execution. While capping it lately, Aiyedatiwa sent shockwaves to naysayers by kicking off a 2.8-kilometre flyover road project in the capital city, to eliminate traffic jam and make life more abundant.
Therefore, it will be plausible for our dear young minister to join in encouraging the elderly governor to rev up the humming machine of performance the more, fully realising that the achievement record of the APC governorship is more valuable than the legendary rubies, should he decide to run on the platform of the party tomorrow.
Otherwise, it could be assumed that BTO cares less for the Aiyedatiwa achievements in Ondo State and that he is secretly planning to dump the party soon. God forbid!