Still on Osun and the Election That Was! (1)

By Abiodun KOMOLAFE

With allegations about yet another killing, the never-ending saga of turbulence continues in Osun State. Far from any official rhetoric, the people bear what is now turning out to be punitive collateral damage. This can be interpreted as the loss of an opportunity to restore progressive governance in the state.

Conventional wisdom today paints Osun as a rudderless ship, devoid of ideological guidance or a clear compass to steer it forward, even as past gains have been torn asunder. Amazingly, it is the only state in the Southwest comfortable with wattages of inefficiency in an era of broad power sector reform. This is, to put it mildly, astonishing, for even “a JAMB student” knows that reliable power is the bedrock of sustainable development.

The terrible tragedy that has left Osun wandering in the wilderness of electricity sector reform is a classic case of “State Capture”, and it’s now being replicated across other sectors. State Capture, a term that originated in South Africa, is defined as “the subordination of the instruments and the mechanisms of the state to individual and/or group interests.” Those with behind-the-scenes knowledge all know too well that State Capture is why Osun continues to flounder in fundamental infrastructural frameworks.

The State Capture framework is also the reason behind the surreptitious “privatization” of the State Teaching Hospital, a concept that is at variance with the modern principles of the provision of public health services for the overwhelming majority and their families. The installation of a progressive government would have reversed this capture to prevent it from being entrenched. It is bound to get worse!

For instance, Governor Ademola Adeleke, as Visitor to Osun State University, is about to get the Osun State House of Assembly (OSHA) to retroactively pass a bill changing the statutes of the state university to extend the incumbent vice-chancellor’s tenure. As we all know, retroactive legislation is incompatible with constitutional democracy. Therefore, OSHA should be very circumspect in acting as a pliant tool in the subversion of the rule of law – an issue bound to be tested in the Supreme Court of Nigeria, where established precedents already serve as locus classicus.

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Numerous examples abound showing how the ‘State of the Living Spring’ is sliding backward. With elections just four months away, the progressive camp needs to access a sober, deep reflection on its next steps. Progressives should work out how to appeal to a disenchanted electorate to win Osun’s Senatorial and House of Representatives seats. Fundamentally, they have to win a majority in the State Assembly election, following the federal polls. It is not going to be an easy task. Nevertheless, “it is a task that must be done”, because allowing Adeleke full control of a Skelewu-compliant legislature for four more years will unarguably trouble the state’s destiny and contaminate its political health.

Since the governor has no discernible programme of social and economic reconstruction on offer, the progressive camp now has a historic task to unite and be methodically proactive because its antecedents and institutional memory can be traced back to the formation of the ‘Egbe Omo Oduduwa’ in 1948 and the proclamation of the manifesto of the Action Group (AG) in 1951. Only the progressives can change the territory of the political discourse to make the people believe that the future can be better.

Osun was not created for hard-pressed citizens to be paying monstrous fees in public institutions, especially institutions built on the backs of their hard-earned contributions, now privatized through the back door. If the progressives in Osun do not get their act together, the verdict of history will be punitive and the response of the populace will be unforgiving.

Meanwhile, there is a Yoruba adage, which literally translates: “If two siblings enter a room to talk and come out laughing, they have not yet told each other the truth; but if they come out angry, it means they have spoken the truth to each other.” Again, the 2026 Osun governorship election comes into focus. Like it or not, the contest has left clear, unmistakable signals that the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun State Chapter, can no longer ignore.

To be concluded…

Email: ijebuijesa@gmail.com.

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