Mr. Rotimi Makinde’s latest essay, “If We Cannot Trust the Stage, How Will We Trust the Bridge?”, raises an interesting question. However, before attempting to draw lessons about stewardship, competence, and handover notes, it is important that we first examine the messenger as carefully as the message.
For a man now speaking about accountability and public trust, one would have expected a little reflection on his own political journey. Mr. Makinde should be the last person lecturing anyone about loyalty, competence, or political stability. The people have not forgotten how close he came to setting his own political house on fire when the issue of a party ticket did not go his way. When ambition clashes with principle, history records the choices people make.
What is even more surprising is that a man with so much to explain about his own years in public office has chosen to become an examiner of others. Before questioning the records of anyone else, Rotimi Makinde should first answer a simple question from the people of Ife Federal Constituency.
Beyond the frequently celebrated ODUA FM project, can he mention ten concrete and enduring projects, legislative interventions, empowerment programmes, or developmental initiatives he facilitated during his tenure in the House of Representatives? Can he identify ten achievements whose impact is still being felt across Ife Federal Constituency today?
Can he point to ten legacy projects that transformed communities? Ten interventions that changed lives? Ten initiatives that remain visible years after he left office?
These are not hostile questions. They are the questions every former public office holder must answer.
Public office is not measured by the number of articles one writes or the frequency of political commentary. It is measured by tangible impact on the lives of the people. Leadership is judged by results, not rhetoric. The true test of representation is not how loudly one speaks after leaving office, but what one leaves behind while in office. Governance is measured by budgets, projects, policies, and outcomes.
It is therefore ironic that a former lawmaker whose scorecard remains a subject of legitimate public inquiry now seeks to evaluate the stewardship of others. The people deserve more than political sermons; they deserve accountability. They deserve answers. They deserve a clear account of what was achieved during the years entrusted to him.
And since Mr. Makinde appears fascinated with handover notes, perhaps he should begin with his own. The people of Ife Federal Constituency deserve a comprehensive report card of his years in office. They deserve to know what became of the promises made, the opportunities available, and the mandate entrusted to him.
Perhaps this is why the real conversation is not about who should prepare a handover note. The real conversation is whether Rotimi Makinde can provide a convincing scorecard of his stewardship beyond ODUA FM and explain why the people should remember his tenure for more than political commentary years after leaving office.
Public office is temporary, but records are permanent. Before asking others to write handover notes, Rotimi Makinde owes the people of Ife Federal Constituency a report card of his own service.
That conversation is long overdue.
By, Kenneth Kaunda
Ife North
