Osun: Who’s really in-charge of the state’s affairs?

By Waheed Adekunle

Painstaking assessments of the happenings within the corridor of power in Osun state are disheartening and disturbing: outcome is capable of raising the public curiosity as to who is really in-charge of the affairs of the state.

The quest to establish whether or not the affairs of the state are being run on autopilot has become a subject of agitation at the hearts of those that care to know the implications of such on governance in the state.

The lingering crisis within the power brokers and political gladiators jostling for one political appointment or the other has revealed where the power to hire and fire lies within the ruling class.

To this end, the need to ask the pertinent question as to who is really in-charge of administering the affairs of the state becomes unassailable.

There is a clear indication that the incumbent governor, who by virtue of the principles of Presidential System of Government is bestowed with the “Executive Power” is in no doubt, consciously and unconsciously, he appears to be running a Parliamentary System where he is  administering the state affairs as ceremonial entity, while the power-that-be lies somewhere else.

The salient questions agitating the minds of the discerning citizens on who dictates the tune, and from whom the authority lies in the running of the day-to-day affairs of the state in the last one year remained rhetorical.

It has been reported on different occasions that until one has a nod of an individual, who in the eye of the law holds no officially-pronounced political office but acts as de facto governor, nothing scales through in government, and that no policy of government could be implemented without passing the table of the aristocrat.

Upon assumption of office in November, 2022, the coast became clearer to the electorate who were hitherto hoodwinked and blindfolded into believing in the unrealistic political rhetoric that heralded the incumbent government.

Glaringly coming to wage a personal vendetta, the incumbent Governor came up with obnoxious Executive Orders to clampdown on perceived opposition, destroy the enduring legacies of his predecessors and promoting nepotistic tendencies in the corridor of power on the altar of vengeance.

The despicable voyage led to the sudden suspension of some royal fathers; demotion of top civil servants most especially those appointed by the immediate past government into the position of Permanent Secretary as well as sacking of thousands of employees of the state.

Many standing committees constituted by the immediate past administration on various sectors to oversee the pros and cons for the overall development of the state were aggressively dissolved for political reasons. Both statutory and non-statutory boards were dissolved to pave the way for the replacement and installation of stooges of the political gladiators in the state.

As time goes by, it became obvious that the ill-thought decisions taken by the government were conceived to score cheap political points, and subject the main opposition party to ridicule, the persistence of which had become the subject of interrogation among the citizens particularly the elites who queried the rationale behind the parochial tendency that had pervaded the system.

Feelers within the ruling class revealed the grouses that many of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s loyalists held against the system, as the aggrieved were annoyed over the palpable decentralized form of authorities which they considered as a bane to the growth and development of the state.

It was revealed at different quarters that unless the two de facto governor in the person of the elder brother and sister to the Governor give a nod to any official business of government, such would become a fantasy as it would not see the light of the day let alone be considered for implementation.

The two de facto governors are not only as powerful as governor but they are the  Alpha and Omega of whatever happens in government as they determine who takes what and what to be acted on by the ‘ceremonial governor’.

The persistent anomaly that is not only strange to the system but alien to the democratic tenets had successfully reared its ugly head and become a cankerworm being nurtured by the system itself for survival.

The seat of power and office of the executive governor had not only been hijacked, but been taken over by the aristocrats leaving the state affairs at the whims and caprices of the governor’s siblings who myopically determine the fate of the over four million citizens of the state.

The bizarre scenario goes beyond the finality on whatever the decision taken by the two de facto governor, but they are the ones managing the public and private life of the number one citizen of the state to the extent that the state government house and governor’s residence had been practically jettisoned by the governor since he assumed office.

Aside from the futile claims that the state government house was under renovation, it is crystal clear that even after the completion of the said official quarters, the governor has not for once slept in his official residence since he was sworn in.

It was gathered on good authority that the governor has been squatting with his elder sister (de facto governor) at her private residence despite the fact that the same governor has his private residence on the same axis popularly called (Ede country-home). This, has further lent credence to the insinuation that the governor is not in-charge, as he is being controlled by his relations especially by the two de facto governor.

As hilarious as it appears, one of the de facto governors has been acting behind the scene since the inception of the Adeleke administration, while the other engages in open dealings on governance matters with the support of the Chief of Staff.

However, there is no doubt in the fact that, the incumbent government which has been feasting on lies of its diabolical ‘Executive Orders’ targeted to earn undue sympathies on matters of public concern has become a subject of discuss as many ponder on what could have led the state to the state of uncertainty.

Though, ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,’ but in the case of the state, the whole scenario as manifested in the way and manner the state has been governed in the last one year has retrogressively dragged the state back in all ramifications.

One would wonder why a state like Osun that hosts the cradle of Yoruba race with substantial size of educated population; frontline professionals and foremost religious leaders, would be governed by a perceived pawn.

In what appears as an affirmation of the popular opinion, the free conversations at different quarters in relation to governance since the inception of the current administration ostensibly pointed out the rots in the system.

While it was equally adjudged that the Adeleke-led government had practically dashed the people’s hope, many were of the opinion that the incompetence on the part of the governor to administer the affairs of the state without family interference culminated into woes.

Interrogating the emerging issues around the system vis-a-vis the way and manner the state has been administered in the last few months, it is safe to opine that the state is on the verge of being run aground if the identified ills are not swiftly addressed.

Juxtaposing the humongous amount of money, and other tangible support the state has received from the federal government to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, with the way and manner the same has been handled by the state government, no doubt ‘the administration has practically failed.’

These submissions are, in no doubt, the pointer to existing reality, as it further lends credence to the imminent failure of the State Government in all sectors.

Many are bothered with the unfolding events characterised with nepotism of the highest order that had become a norm in the system as manifested in decisions making and policies implementation.

The impunity in the system has become the bane of socioeconomic advancement and clog in the wheel of progress of the state in the last one year thus, leaving citizens to ponder who is truly in-charge of the affairs of the state.

It is apparent that since the emergence of the current administration, the style of governance had abysmally changed. Clannishness has taken the centre stage, nepotism is at its peak and god-fatherism has come to stay.

If truly, a governor is made to be responsible for all that happens under his watch, thus, it is psychologically correct to say that many of the decisions, if not all, were taken by the de facto governors with little or no input from the incumbent Governor.  

The hypocritical claims of the governor’s elder brother, that the emergence of Governor Adeleke would put an end to the era of god-fatherism in governance has shown clearly that the whole thing was skewed to elevate Adeleke’s political dynasty.

Meanwhile, in the next few days, the administration of Governor Adeleke would be marking a year in office, with little or no tangible achievement to showcase.

But we should be all reminded that a year is gone in four years. Observers are observing. Commentators are commenting and posterity is beckoning. The end justifies the means.

May God heal our land.