Sadly, the impending threat to peace as Osun prepares for the August 9, gubernatorial poll is gaining ground as supporters of incumbent Rauf Aregbesola of the APC and his main challenger, Senator Iyiola Omisore, of the ruling PDP are already trading allegations over plans to cause mayhem and disrupt the vote. The APC has issued a stern warning to the PDP and its candidate against resorting to violence in pursuit of electoral advantage. In response, the PDP admonished the APC to desist from orchestrating violence and wreaking further havoc on innocent citizens of Osun by importing thugs from Lagos and sourcing the service of ignoble militants from the Niger Delta to cause chaos in the state.” As it seems, Osun is a disaster waiting to happen. The bellicose rhetoric which has filled the airwaves, is a pointer to the “do or die” politics that still pervades the psyche of Nigerian politicians and another unfortunate episode in the unfolding anarchy in Osun state, ahead of the August 9 gubernatorial poll. These unsavory trends must stop in the collective interest of the country. Enough of violent agitations!
The PDP and APC have been studying the Ekiti outcome intently, not least because of the next gubernatorial election in Osun, another south-west state held by the APC. Fayose’s victory in Ekiti held some harsh lessons and the main lesson is that a well-financed and highly aggressive campaign backed by state security will trump any opposition. While State security ambushed and blocked Fayemi’s fellow APC governors – Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) – from going to Ekiti on the eve of the poll, both the Junior Defence Minister, Musiliu Obanikoro, and the Police Affairs Minister, Abdul Adesiyan, had travelled to Ekiti “to supervise security” which is another way of saying to help Fayose, their party’s candidate. Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar admitted it was one of the biggest election deployments ever. Given the strong arm tactics and attendant brinkmanship that marked the PDP victory in Ekiti, it is appropriate to view the coming election in Osun with trepidation.
As both sides continue to trade accusations, incumbent governor Aregbesola issued a stern warning that any attempt to militarize Osun as was done in Ekiti will be fiercely resisted. Beating the war drums at a campaign rally, Aregbesola warned security agents that: “any security operative that tries to intimidate or bully us will regret it. They should do their job justly or we will show them that we are people with tradition and we shall deal with anyone or such person ruthlessly.”
Aregbesola’s war-mongering sentiments were echoed by the first executive governor, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who warned members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who would serve as ad-hoc officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the election against rigging, saying they should not extend the “antics in Ekiti” to Osun State. “I want to sound a note of warning to NYSC members, if you have been rigging elections, don’t take it to Osun. We are different, this is not Ekiti. Count and record the votes you see, else, it will boomerang on you,” he warned. This imminent descent into lawlessness occasioned by a politics of bitterness and exacerbated by the abuse of the security and administrative machinery of the state for partisan political interests is condemnable.
Nigeria may be quietly returning to the unpleasant regime of garrison politics if as expected, the PDP hierarchy holds up the Ekiti election as an omen for Osun and the 2015 general election. It appears after a year on the defensive, the PDP has launched a major counter-offensive against opposition strongholds in the south-west. If the PDP wins Osun with the same blend of tactics and security power, they could start unpicking the APC strongholds in the south. The augury is bad, especially in the face of the current consuming insecurity in the North East.With the looming anarchy, and heightened political tension; and with the bitter political differences having aggravated into a clash of personality and ego, Aregbesola and Omisore, each acting on behalf of self and/or a higher power, together with their respective foot-soldiers in Osun and elsewhere, are determined on a fight-to-finish course.
This is highly disturbing. Indeed, the struggle for power in Osun has reached unnecessarily desperate heights with grim consequences for future governance. While governance means self-aggrandizement and all forms of primitive accumulation to many politicians, to the long-suffering people of Osun, governance means purposeful delivery of public goods in ways that make life meaningful to them. This is the reason governance is about the people. The on-going frenzy is certainly not about Osun people, but a scramble for power for its own sake. Worse even, the shameless altercation in Osun is not about any well-formulated ideology or philosophy to transform the State, but rather on self-aggrandizement. Nothing is more disheartening.
It is important to ask the politicians what exactly they want, or have achieved since the last elections. Apart from soapbox rhetoric and pronouncements, neither the PDP nor APC has any clear-cut and well-articulated idea by which the Osun people can judge it. The gubernatorial contenders are reciting slogans which are vacuous and meaningless. Three years after Aregbesola took office; there is nothing concrete on the ground to justify the mandate. Electoral promises have amounted to nothing and it is appalling that aside his effervescent political idealism and his admiration for the egalitarian structure of socialism, Aregbesola’s desire to turn Osun into the cultural haven and socio-economic hub of the Yoruba, if not the entire country, has been far below expectations.
The starting point for Aregbesola seemed to have been education; which probably explains his effort to radically transform the educational sector by overhauling schools and providing infrastructure. However, his idealistic proposals notwithstanding, it was a grave error of judgment to merge religious schools; without foreseeing the consequences; especially the uniform crisis that rocked the state after students at the Baptist High School, Iwo, turned up in school in a motley of attires depicting their religious affiliation. They reportedly formed different assembly lines, and simultaneously rendered songs and prayers corresponding to the liturgies of their faiths. The ugly scenario reduced the children to helpless puppets of the intemperance of Osun politicians. This is a shame!
The depth of ill feeling between the PDP and the APC is unhealthy for Osun. It is a claim of crass ineptitude for any party to assume that it alone has the solution to the problems of Osun. Consequently, rather than exacerbate the tension and heat Osun unnecessarily, Aregbesola and his principal challenger must see each other as a patriotic son of the soil with a different vision. Both must learn to appreciate the decorum for rivalry, and take a cue from the public comportment of political rivals in the USA whose system of government Nigeria is trying to emulate. Equally, this is the time for Osun people to shake off their lethargy and hold their leaders accountable for their actions and inactions.
