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720 days of Oyetola’s purposeful administration

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A commentator Lanre Aminu, examines Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s achievements and constraints in the last two years he has been piloting the affairs of the state.

Leadership, especially, political, is perhaps, the greatest responsibility anyone would want to take upon himself. John Updike, the American writer, put it in a more profound, if sarcastic way: “A leader is one, who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woes of a people”.

It is even more so in our environment where these woes are stark and dire. But the tragedy of it is that those who thrust themselves on the people, with the promise to take up their woes, often turn out to be people’s deadliest, vicious nemesis. It is therefore, the exception when a leader genuinely acts on his promises and truly relieves the people of their woes.

What all of this suggests is that, political leadership is simply about service, service to the people- it is having the mandate of the people and using that sovereign authority to make life tolerable to the greatest number. It is also about looking ahead, about seeing beyond what works today to what we give tomorrow the requisite leverage and impetus. Such commitment is evidently scarce here and when it occasionally shows up, it is only fair and just to acknowledge it.

Osun state governor, Gboyega Oyetola is one of such delightful happenstances. In the last two years as the helmsman in Osun state, he has shown that the word, responsibility is not a free agent.

It is bound by another word- service. And indeed, he has neither misinterpreted nor perverted this twin order. He has brought service to bear in his governance, while mindful of not only how to sustain today’s gains and empower the demand of tomorrow, but also how that tomorrow will rate him. From infrastructure to education; from health to security; from economy to social, Oyetola administration has made more than a dent.

There is no gainsaying the fact that since the Oyetola administration came on board on November 27, 2018, the state has seen remarkable transformation. In the words of Walter Anderson, “Our lives improve only when we take chances- and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves”.

Oyetola has within a short period of time in office, being able to correct the negative view of the people of the state towards governance. Yes, democracy is about being responsive to the people that voted you into power.

Our amiable governor has within two years of his assumption of office proved critics wrong by being responsive and progressive in the discharge of his duties to the people of the state. To say that his adoption of open policy as his style of governance has given the people a sense of belonging will merely be underscoring the obvious. In the context of the second anniversary of the swearing of Dr. Gboyega Oyetola as the fifth democratically elected governor of Osun state, the title of this essay would suggest that Oyetola is posing a performance indicating an eventual rating of historical magnitude. That immediately raises a question of what constitutes history in relation to the role of individual. It is true that irredeemable idealists start out with a mindset to make history.

But, as Karl Max put it, “Men make their own history but they did not make it as they please”. They did not make it under circumstances chosen by them, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past”. History making and the role of individuals in history is thus not a function of the individual’s wish to make history.

Rather, it is the situation on ground and the creative interpretation of that situation in the context of balance of social forces that constitutes the making of history. Let me start with the proposition that no governor in Nigeria inherited a more horrible objective situation than Governor Gboyega Oyetola. Aside from the fact that the state is one of the poorest in Nigeria, there was a crisis of alienation in terms of a total disconnect between the government and the people with all its consequences. There is history in the speed and deftness with which the Oyetola regime was able to recognise this dangerous gap and successfully restore responsibility and responsiveness to governance. His emergence as the new sheriff in town signaled a new dawn for a state hitherto run arbitrarily by one man for eight years with iron-fist, ravaged by the locust, savagely raped by interlopers imposed by do or die political brinkmanship and bogged down by a huge debt burden. Uncompleted projects, an abysmal low workers’ morale, disorganized education sector, health sector which was on life support, unacceptably low IGR stared him in the face. With doggedness, determination, commitment, diligence and well thought out policies, Oyetola has continued to tackle head-long the problems confronting the state one after the other. That Osun is now marching assuredly, proudly along-side other states in the Nigerian federation, is an Oyetola sterling performance.

This restoration is a product of a moral warfare against any elite attributes that goes against the grain of service, discipline, social commitment and honour; mass mobilization based on personal touch; social justice in which all interest group such as farmers, women, traders, the elderly and workers are made the concrete objects of governance, the health sector revolution of the regime and the heavy investment in infrastructure development and human capital development. As the leading provider of the perspectives and the key sustainer of the tempo of this praxis, Oyetola emerges as an archetype of Plato’s Philosopher- King, not in the sense of all knowing leader but in the sense of the person whose experience and exposure in life is such that he or she is capable of informed and balanced decisions.

Oyetola draws attention to further reflections on Plato’s argument that leaders must be prepared for leadership. Oyetola came into power with his reform agenda, managerial potential and regeneration ability to make the state excel in all ramifications and recover the lost fortunes.

No doubt, Oyetola has demonstrated the capacity to solve problems and making positive changes in the lives of the people. The innovations and ingenuity he brought into government has translated into increased performance in all sectors. He understands the difference between being a politician and being a leader and that leadership must be marked by explaining, convincing and winning over the other half, not by intrigue, cynical manipulation and diabolical politics, which explains the leadership disaster at all levels in Nigeria today. A government is worth protecting and supporting for continuity if it has met the yearnings and aspirations of the people. Not a few will agree with this writer that Governor Oyetola has so far done well. We can only encourage him to do better through mobilization and support for continuity beyond 2022.

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