In the build up to the 2022 governorship election, Senator Suraju Ajibola Basiru, popularly known as SRJ, built the image of a ‘General’ with the wand of victory. As the Director-General of the Gboyega Oyetola Campaign Organisation, Basiru was confident that the All Progressive Congress (APC) will no doubt “retain power in Osun State in the coming election,” emphasising that “I don’t have any doubt at all that Governor Oyetola will win again.”
This was several weeks before the ballots were casted. But when the tally of votes were eventually sorted, Osun people rejected the APC resoundingly. Interestingly, Basiru could only savage a win for his party in two out of 10 local governments in Osun central senatorial district even as the incumbent senator from the district. And nine months later, Basiru failed to secure re-election into the Senate, losing in eight out of the 10 local governments that made up the district.
If the two scenarios tells us anything, it is that Basiru’s standing among the electorate, particularly in the Osun central senatorial district, is quite low and a far cry from the image he consistently try to project. But Basiru seems to struggle with this reality and this was apparent in his latest stunt on the 2026 governorship seat.
Leadership, anywhere, is a practical thing and the best guage is looking into the past. And good enough, Basiru have had a lot of opportunities to prove himself in the past. From 2010 when the emergence of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as Governor threw up Basiru in the Osun political space, he has had series of opportunities to prove his leadership credentials.
In fact, I was hoping that he would use the subtle declaration for the Osun governorship seat to remind the public of his capacity to impact lives more using the previous offices he occupied as basis. As a former Senator, Basiru should have lot of things to tell the people as a justification for entrusting him with public offices in the past.
But it appears he was not proud of his past records in public offices or maybe, what he achieved is intangible to sway supports. That must be why he is resorting to flaring emotion, playing up Osogbo sentiment as the only basis for his aspiration. But the question that must agitate minds will be that, what exactly has Basiru done for Osogbo to leverage it for political capital?
Looking at the past, it would be hard for any objective mind to point to any. Let us, for a moment, assume that he may have excuses for having no tangible achievement to his credit in Osogbo for the entire time he served as the Attorney-General of Osun state, what can he point to as his achievements in Osogbo as a Senator for four years?
Basiru’s notable achievements as a Senator was the installation of subpar streetlights, which earned him the popular ‘Senator Solar’ nickname, an apparent rebuke of his gross underperformance in office. Yet, this same Basiru make it a habit to deride the remarkable infrastructural renewal that Governor Adeleke has undertaken in just two years in office in Osogbo.
At the moment, Osogbo is the envy of all as critical infrastructures embarked on by Governor Adeleke has completely transformed physical outlook of the ancient city. The spectacular scene that the recently installed solar-powered streetlights adds to the nightlife of Osogbo, particularly on the recently constructed Old Garage–Lameco dual carriageway, is heartwarming.
In the same Osogbo, Governor Adeleke is building a 10-span Oke-Fia overhead bridge and another 4-span overhead bridge at Lameco, both tailored at expanding the infrastructural base of the state capital and enhance economic activities. With these are more than 15 road projects in different locations of Osogbo, aimed at opening up the state capital for increased economic activities and improve the lives of residents. Lest I forget, projects in Osogbo that were abandoned by Basiru’s political ally were taken up by Governor Adeleke and now completed.
All of these are just in two years, with the prospect of many more in the second half of the first four years of the Adeleke administration. Beside, Governor Adeleke has invested in renewing public schools and health centres infrastructure in Osogbo, bringing them to a state where they can better serve the purpose they were meant to for the people. By all measures, what Governor Adeleke has done in Osogbo, and by extension, the whole of Osun state, in two years, far outweighed what his predecessor could ever claim to as achievement in his four years in office.
Glaringly, nothing other than selfishness can explain the deft move to exploit Osogbo in the manner which Basiru did with his aspiration. Because, as the records clearly indicated, Governor Adeleke has done exceptionally well in upgrading the infrastructure of Osogbo– something that the previous administration, which Basiru defiantly stood by, failed grossly to achieve.
Although, Basiru may choose to fight this truth as usual, however, the people who uses most of these infrastructures can attest to their existence and the impacts they have on them. And this is more reason why Basiru will find himself alone in this narrow politics because Osogbo people, and indeed, the entire Osun people will not allow one man’s insatiable lust for power to disrupt the wheel of progress for the state under Governor Adeleke.
In all of these, one truth about Basiru can no longer be hidden and that is his flawed sense of fairness and equity. In the piece promoting his suitability for the Osun governorship seat, there was a clear disdain for the people of Osun West as they were totally ignored in Basiru’s political permutation. Almost everyone in Osun, except for Basiru, recognises the gross injustice that Osun West had suffered in the past, and believes it should be given the opportunity to administer the state as other zones had done.
That is fairness and equity, which is the foundation of progress and development in any society. But that doesn’t seem to be the interest of Basiru, because the clear inference in the piece projecting his aspiration appears not to see Osun West as deserving of fairness and equity. So bad and what that tells us about Basiru is unpleasant, something I am sure will hurt Osun, rather than benefit. In short, it is not a route anyone who wants the best for Osun will want to tread.
- Sarafa Ibrahim is a Special Assistant to the Osun State Governor on Print Media and writes from Iwo, Osun State.
