‘WHY AJIMOBI SHOULD NOT COME BACK’- IT IS FOR REAL. Festus Adedayo, the Special Adviser to Isiaka Ajimobi’s piece on ‘Why Ajimobi should not come back’ published in Saturday Sun of May 10th, 2014 gives us an insight as to the reasons why on daily basis, people, who hitherto were close associates of Ajimobi are deserting him, in short why his government is collapsing. Leadership in government is not all about being blunt, inability to shroud ones passion, inability to democratize the largesse of government, wife worshipping or behaving like wole-wole (sanitary inspector) as Adedayo tried to prove in his write-up. Leadership is the ability to manage self, emotions, passions, strive for collective goal, respect the feelings of others, recognize their limitations and make them feel important to the actualization of your goals and visions. The ability to respect the dignity of others and of course lead by example, congruency, walk the talk. It is the ability of a leader to maintain confidentiality and protect his team, a good listener, not one that uses fear as an instrument of coercion. Worst still, being a leader does not give you the right to use foul basket mouth on the people you are leading. It is a privilege. This is the point. The bane of Isiaka is that he is not a good team leader. He has not shown leadership by practice. He got carried away by his managerial status in the corporate world, without learning and developing the necessary leadership skills that allows a leader to govern the people’s heart starting with his team. As confirmed in the write-up by Festus, most of his close associates, former commissioners, former board chairmen and members, former Special Advisers, his political horse-traders and associates including key members of the structure of the Great Lam he used to win election from Saki-Igboora-Ogbomosho-Oyo-Ibadan have abandoned him. Even the elites and prominent leading Kabiyesi are distancing themselves from him. It is the same complaints: arrogance, selfishness, deceit, inability to control one’s tongue, rascality and pomposity. When a situation like this arises, the elders in Yoruba land will tell the person ‘ Ye ra re wo’ (examine yourself). To drive the point home, is it not interesting that one of his serving key commissioners in the state bought buses and provided fund for another political party to take off ? Festus, je ko ye ara re wo. Senator Ladoja is not the problem of Ajimobi. Isiaka is the problem of Ajimobi. As a matter of fact that article by Festus should have better been captioned “ Why Ladoja should not come back”. It is quite interesting that nearly after eight years that Ladoja left the seat of government in Oyo state, with all the colour of achievements of Ajimobi as painted by Festus, yet Ladoja is still a threat and a focus to a ‘ great achiever’. The point is that if Ajimobi has performed creditably, Ladoja would have lost his voice, no matter how loud he is. Let me call the attention of Festus to what happened during the first term in office of Fashola (the man that Ajimobi claims he is copying to govern Oyo state) in Lagos state. Within two years in Lagos and all over the world, everybody, l mean everybody including the opposition appreciated him and his work. Even when the rumour became strong that his Oga at the top was not feeling comfortable and wanted to unseat him, everybody rose to his defense. The ‘Oga’ had to change his mind. That is what we are talking about. It is not Ladoja, the elites or Ajimobi’s former political associates that will not want him to come back. It is the PEOPLE. Festus, If he has done well, there is no need for that lengthy write-up. It was the people of Lagos state that ensured that Fashola had a second term, not spin-doctoring, blaming past governments, or amplified propaganda. As a matter of fact, Fashola added value to the image of Tinubu. We may ask, has Ajimobi added value to the image of the Great Lam since he became the governor of Oyo state? I think by now, Festus should know there is limitation to what propaganda can do. He was once a Special Adviser to Nnamani in Enugu for eight years. That was the time the phrase’ To God be the Glory’ became the theme for the propaganda strategy of Nnamani’s achievements. Festus at that time put up a spirited fight and defense (like he is doing now) when the people of Enugu state accused Nnamani administration of corruption and deceit. Today, Nnamani has been exposed by EFCC for corruption at his highest level and long forgotten by the people he governed for eight years. Oyo state is not a place for ‘Jankara’ propaganda, where Festus will continue to cast aspersions on the integrity, family life of predecessors of his Oga in office to prove a point that his Oga is the best thing that ever happened in Oyo state. That is very cheap and shows that he is also infested with ‘mouthphobia bowel dysfunction’ . Let us leave that alone and move ahead to examine some of the propaganda issues in Festus write-up. Point one: Festus claimed in his write-up that Ladoja/Akala governments constructed roads , they lasted less than six months. The Mokola junction- Ojoo road(8.2 kilometers) was constructed and commissioned in 2007. It is a dual carriageway with high traffic, the road has not collapsed. The Iwo road interchange-Olodo junction has not collapsed. The Iya Olobe,Queens cinema-molete junction via Oke Bola has not collapsed. The gate-mobil junction has not collapsed. These are roads constructed to international standards at reasonable costs. Is that the way to sell Ajimobi by telling lies and mis-informing the public? Again, Festus in his write-up wrote that “a bafflingly aggressive road dualization in ongoing”. Let him gives us the names of the Ajimobi dualised roads in Ibadan and the number of kilometers of each and the ones outside Ibadan. That will detertmine ‘the bafflingly aggressive’ road dualization projection of Ajimobi’s administration. Point two: Festus mentioned the late Adedibu and Ladoja. Yes, Ladoja fought Adedibu based on his principle of protecting the weak, not using Oyo state commonwealth resources to build and maintain the empire of Adedibu. Ladoja never waivered even with the backing of Adedibu by Obasanjo. With the present administration in Oyo state, we are back to square one, even worst. It is a common knowledge that ‘our Oga at the top’ based in Lagos control the present administration which he sees as his investment empire. The scenario is even worse than the Adedibu era because the locals are not benefiting from this control. The people of Oyo state have been short-changed in all forms and that is one of the prime reasons why people have a bad perception about Ajimobi’s leadership. To Adedayo. the people of Oyo state are impossible, do not appreciate change, that is more or less playing to the gallery. One other key point is the over bearing role of Ajimobi’s wife in Oyo state government affairs. It is no longer a secret in government circles that if you want to get anything done, projects, contracts, you have to get the approval of his wife, (approval before approval) which is subject to abuse. As a matter of fact people of Oyo state wonder whether they have a Deputy Governor. Is that the way to lead a team? The constitution of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria is very clear on this. Let us leave Ladoja/Akala out of this. The late Great Lam was in government and his wife is still alive. Oyo state government then never witnessed this kind of public wife interference. So this is not a question of ‘underscoring the sacredness of the conjugal relationship’ but that of underscoring the principles and acts of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It will be wrong for Ajimobi to ignore the sensitiveness and sensibilities of those people working with him in government. It is not my business as to whether Ajimobi is a saint when it comes to extra-marital affairs, that is left for him and his wife. I pity the Deputy Governor of this state, l am sure the man in his inner self must be amused as to the type of power arrangement that exists in this government. Point three: Festus blamed Ladoja for criticizing the way Ajimobi implemented the Ibadan beautification policies. One may ask did Ladoja prevent him from paying immediate compensation to these people since they have no other means of sustaining themselves? Is Ladoja responsible for the high-handedness of the ministry of environment officials that whipped and terrorized these people, carried away their goods and wares just because government wants to keep Ibadan clean? Is Ladoja responsible for Ajimobi’s insensitiveness to the plight of the people with the governor behaving like wole-wole and anytime the people on the streets sight his entourage, they panic and run? At any rate, which one comes first, is it the provision of an alternative or the mass destruction of the living effort of the people? Let us take a look at the issue of the Soka-camp saga. As confirmed by a government spokesman in the edition of the Nigerian Tribune of August 15th, 2013, it is clear that it was Ajimobi’s government directive that mentally-challenged people and destitutes should be kept in the Soka-camp in order to keep Ibadan clean. The result is what shocked the whole world- the dehumanizing condition the people were kept and the atrocities committed against citizens that Ajimobi’s government is supposed to protect. We are talking about people in their hundreds. Is Ladoja responsible for this? Up till now, Oyo state government has not set up any public enquiry into the issue, or tender public apology for their involvement, and you say some people do not want Ajimobi back. In some countries like South Korea where they know what leadership is all about, the leadership of this government should have thrown in the towel instead of using bold face and waiting till 2015 when he is shown the way out. On the issue of markets, how many markets have been constructed? Let Festus name them and stop playing with words. The people can feel and see. They know when they are being deceived. They may be illiterates, but they have native intelligence. Even now, they know that Ajimobi is begging for their votes by turning a blind eye and allowing them to trade on the streets that were once a no go area. They know he wants the second term badly. They agree with you Festus, that ‘most Nigerian politicians thrive on deceit and subterfuge’ as clearly demonstrated by Ajimobi. They know that he deceived them with his campaign promises, promises he never fulfilled. Festus, it is important for you to note this point that most Nigerian politicians thrive on deceit. You went through it for eight years and it appears you never learnt any lesson especially with ‘to God be the Glory episodes in Enugu. You were once the deputy editor of a reputable Nigerian newspaper. You must not loose your credibility. It does your future no good. You do not have to start manipulating facts and distorting facts to please your present employer. The Soka episode and your misplaced facts on roads constructed by Ladoja in Ibadan does your image no good. Facts are sacred, comments are free, that is the dictum. You cannot afford to place yourself at the same level with those women that are always eager to sing ‘Igba tiwa lode won a fara mo’ for any government in power. You must not sound so cheap no matter the pressure. Let me end this piece with a famous song by the late Barrister Ayinde. This was a song he composed when the late Mr Around the world tried to smear Ayinde’s image with press propaganda. I chose this song because I am told your principal loves the late Ayinde barrister’s music: E simi agbaja, agbaja ki le nse, agbaja lasan, e simi pomposity, e simi rascality, agbaja lasan, agbaja ki le nse___ I invite you to sing along with me. Adeola Adejuwon Adeola Adejuwon is the Executive Secretary for the G5. Email;ade.g5@ yahoo
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 19:45:49 +0000
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