By ‘Gbenga Ogunremi
‘’In a battle of wicked intentions versus God’s will, God wins all the time…God’s will cannot be thwarted by human designs..’’
THE above Biblical narrative could be likened to the political trajectory of Ademola Adeleke, the incumbent governor of Osun State whose resilient march to his manifest destiny experienced a bit of a stumble when he lost the 2018 governorship election which he obviously won. Nonetheless, he was undaunted by this temporary setback, but remained steadfast and in fact seized the opportunity to perfect his academic qualifications in order to fulfil all righteousness and most importantly silence the opposition that was trying to make a big deal out of something that wasn’t a significant matter, making a blister on one’s heel look like a broken leg.
Not too long thereafter, God’s will came to manifestation when he won the 2022 governorship election in a landslide manner and the rest as they say is history. But as expected, a lot of people were deeply sceptical about Adeleke’s ability and capacity to perform well in office. They deemed the whole scenario as a mere transition from a dancing Senator to a dancing Governor with nothing to offer more than to dance the four-year term away without any concrete achievements to show for it.
What the sceptics, however,r failed to realise was that the zestful and energetic leader was ready and well-prepared for the onerous task ahead long before the opportunity to serve his people came calling. The saying ‘’When preparation meets opportunity, success is inevitable’’ must have been his guiding principle in thinking outside the box to come up with a blueprint, a dynamic document full of novel, transformative, people-centred ideas and policies christened the 5-Point Development Agenda designed to effectively tackle and solve perennial and bedevilling problems of poverty, illiteracy, diseases and poor infrastructure and subsequently move Osun State from perpetual darkness to enduring light.
With this blueprint, Adeleke practically set himself up for success. It was a perfect launch pad for the self-assured and effervescent governor to come out with all guns blazing, hitting the ground running at full throttle with great enthusiasm. And today, there is an emerging new vision of governance which has not only raised the bar of good governance, but also set new standards and redirected Osun State to a glorious path.
What’s more, the highly receptive, accessible, consultative and responsive governor places strong emphasis on cultivating a people-first culture that helps shape bold solutions to improve livelihoods of citizens and residents and ensure high quality of life. In fact, the urge to uplift the people and constantly address their needs individually and collectively on a regular basis has been quite remarkable and yielding great results.
For example, Adeleke’s insatiable quest for wealth creation and its equitable distribution led to the adoption of a local content policy, a pivotal theme of his 5-point Agenda, which has not only been empowering a large number of Osun people, but also building a more resilient community and local economy. The trend has been government patronage and empowerment of local talents, skilled artisans and home-grown businesses, a move that effectively forestalls capital flight but ensures that Osun money revolves within Osun state’s economy.
In addition, the Adeleke administration strategically expanded access to financing for artisans and small businesses through cooperative societies with several millions of naira advanced to the state cooperative movement as revolving loans, the first time since the First Republic.
Another major component of the explicitly defined 5-point agenda and perhaps the most important one because of its all-encompassing nature is the State’s ambitious Infrastructure Development Plan which was designed to arrest the long standing infrastructure and policy deficit across the state in transportation, health, education, agriculture, education, environment, water, information technology, commerce and industry.
With a grit mindset, the governor has been executing the N100 billion Infra Plan proactively and diligently without compromise on quality and procedure. And to date, indisputable factual reports have it that over 150km of intra and interstate roads across the state have been completed, while dualization of Ilesa township roads, three fly-over bridges in Osogbo and Ile-Ife are on-going and nearing completion, while over 90 rural roads have been upgraded. These are apart from other massively funded remarkable interventions in other sectors of the economy such as health, education, agriculture, among others, that cannot be captured in this article for want of space. For a fact, this article is just a scratch on the surface when it comes to narratives on Gov Adeleke’s sterling achievements in the last two and a half years in Osun State.
There is no doubt that Adeleke who is affectionately addressed in so many sobriquets or appellations such as the ‘People’s Governor, ‘Promise Keeper’, ‘Talk and Do Governor’, ‘Dancing Governor’, ‘Mr. Infrastructure’, ‘Alanu Mekunu’, among others, has added depth and dynamism to governance, exhibiting best practices in a compelling and inspirational manner to the extent that one can safely conclude that his two and a half year-old administration has been quite exemplary with hardly any reproach.
In fact, his stellar debut have so far proved beyond any reasonable doubt that his ‘Imole De’ campaign theme and strategy was not just a gimmick to achieve a specific end of winning the governorship election, but in concrete terms a huge blessing to the entire people of Osun State who have truly seen the light and are daily relishing full-flavoured dividends of democracy.
A second term for him would just be perfect in order to complete the good work of taking Osun to the next level of greatness. So once again, Adeleke’s second term as governor of Osun State is God’s will for Osun people and as such, whoever is not in support of this God’s own project will definitely be swimming against the tide of divine intentions and the fervent wish of the people. God wins all the time though.
Last line
It’s been two and a half years of result-oriented hard work, good and inclusive governance, robust service delivery and ecstatic dancing. For Adeleke, spontaneous break into song and dance at both formal and social events is not just an enduring passion and a coping mechanism for combating stress, but an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness and for being the anointed one to take Osun State to the Promised Land. And that is why he would always sing and dance to a particular gospel song at almost every occasion …Emi nikan loye, ko le ye enikankan, idi ti mo fi ‘n’ yin Baba, emi nikan loye.. (I am the only one who understands why I always praise God, no one else can understand, I am the only one that can comprehend the reason.)
The much-loved governor continues to form stronger bonds with citizens and residents who see him as an efficient, hardworking and trusted leader. Everywhere he goes, he is greeted by the cheers of an elated and appreciative crowd, which is why he remains one of the most street-credible governors in Nigeria.
