Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has pushed back against critics questioning his governance style, declaring that his administration’s performance over the last three years offers the only valid metric for assessment.
Speaking on Sunday at the grand finale of the 2025 Iwude Ijesha carnival in Ilesa, the Governor asserted that effective leadership is defined by tangible delivery of dividends of democracy rather than the disposition of public officials.
He challenged detractors to focus on his outputs across all sectors of the state rather than engaging in superficial critiques.
Adeleke, who assumed office in late 2022, argued that governance should not be a master-servant relationship characterised by stern-looking leaders parading the corridors of power.
“Governance is about making a direct positive impact on the lives of the people,” Adeleke told the gathering of monarchs, chiefs, and Ijesa elites.
“Your delivery as a governor is the best judge of your performance and capacity to lead. Judge me on my records, outputs, and agenda as a governor. These are the globally accepted parameters to measure leadership.”
The Governor used the occasion to present a scorecard of his administration’s interventions in Ijesaland, noting that he had fulfilled and exceeded the requests made by the late Owa Obokun Adimula during the 2022 gubernatorial campaign.
He highlighted the successful take-off of the University of Ilesa as a crowning achievement. According to Adeleke, the institution is now fully operational with close to 100 accredited courses, managed by an indigenous Ijesa Vice-Chancellor and Council Chairman to ensure local content and commitment.
On infrastructure, he pointed to the completion of the dualisation of the Ereja Palace junction to the Brewery junction, which has been fitted with solar streetlights.
Adeleke also detailed his administration’s efforts to sanitise the mining sector, which he described as having been plundered without accountability prior to his tenure.
He cited the environmental degradation and pollution of underground water in Ijesaland as legacies of the past that his government is actively correcting through a river clean-up project manned by professionals.
“Our administration launched a mining sector reform. Today, Osun’s shareholding within the Segilola Gold Project is secured, and a concerted war is being waged on illegal mining,” he stated.
Addressing the long-stalled Ilesa Water Project, the Governor alleged that the scheme had become a centre of corruption under the previous administration.
He announced that his government had successfully reviewed the project, implemented anti-corruption measures, and secured the necessary processing by the Islamic Development Bank for work to resume.
Emphasizing the integral role of the Ijesa people in his government, Adeleke noted that key portfolios including Agriculture, Environment, Health, and Local Government are held by commissioners from the region.
Looking ahead, the Governor unveiled an ambitious industrialisation agenda in partnership with the Palace of the Owa Obokun.
He revealed that the state’s upcoming airport project would have a strategic footprint in Ijesaland to boost trade, with future plans to link Ilesa and Ile-Ife to the national railway line.
“When combined with a nearby international cargo airport, the Osun East senatorial district will thrive as an industrial hub for Osun State,” Adeleke assured, urging the people to resist any “political and developmental setbacks” that could derail the state’s progress.