By Oloroogun Sola Ajisafe
I have read Dr. Akinbami’s latest essay. It is long on poetry and short on conversation and performance. For weeks the conversation in Ondo has been about governance, reconciliation, and the future of our party. The answer we got was about “lying birds”, “wandering widows”, “fetus charlatans” and others. That is not communication. That is deflection.
The election is over. Whatever conspiracies existed before 2024 have been settled by the ballot. Governor Aiyedatiwa was elected. That deserves congratulations. But the question before us now is not who fought him yesterday. The question is what he has done with power today.
We asked for proof, not prose. Where is the scorecard? Where are the verifiable milestones in health, education, roads, agriculture, and security that the people can see and relate to? This is a government we know has no funding problem. A government in that position should not be in the business of excuses. Show us the projects. Show us the numbers. Show us how it has touched the price of food in the market. Show us why our children in AAUA and OSUSTECH are at home and their lecturers are hurting. Except for those who are beneficiaries of other people’s sweat because they are on sabbatical in political haven.
You also spoke of reconciliation. Let us be clear. When you abused the elders of our party and called them “renegades” and “pawns”, we provided the names. Over 60 of them. Men and women who built this progressive house from Action Group days. By Yoruba Omoluabi ethos, the decent thing would have been for you to apologise to them, and for embarrassing your principal. Instead you doubled down and accused us of lying and being paid. Tell us the lies and how much. Prove it with facts. Give us the truth with evidence and I will personally apologise to your god and benefactors.
Governance after an election is about healing. Which leaders in the party who were opposed to the governor have been reconciled with? Which elders has he sat down with? Instead what we see are appointees who speak as if they run private houses or businesses. We see members of the party hierarchy in Abuja abused on air. We hear statements that the President will suffer political defeat in Ondo. That is not how you mobilize for the President towards 2027.
We asked for leadership, not complaints. A governor is the leader of the party in the State and that comes with huge responsibility. Why are support groups set up the governor left unfunded while one man’s ingenuity alone is keeping about 20 of them alive? Why does the Commissioner for Finance not honour the State’s obligations after approval by the governor? Why does the Attorney General prefer press conferences and the podium to the inside of a courtroom? These are questions of governance, not personal attacks.
We also asked for consistency. We condemned violence in Ondo and we condemn violence anywhere in Nigeria. Democracy does not make room for threats and self-help. Leaders must model the behavior they expect from citizens. A lecturer who teaches in a university must learn how to hold arguments with scholarship and prudence not rethorics laced with abuses.
My dear brother, the people of Ondo are not looking for intellectual grandstanding or sophistry. We are looking for roads that work. We are looking for hospitals that have drugs. We are looking for schools that have teachers. We are looking for a party that is united.
Ajasin built. Adefarati built. Agagu built. Mimiko built. Akeredolu built. We are waiting for Governor Aiyedatiwa’s scorecard and his bragging rights. Let it not be that a man came and passed like a snake on marble floor with no trace, no footprint and no measurable legacy.
I have said it more than once, no amount of personal insults, abuses, or blackmail can derail us. We have a history of progressive agitation and engagement in this country and in Ondo State. Aiyedatiwa will not be the first and will not be the last. We will not yield place to official inanities or crooked mendacities by overzealous and disrespectful aides of a governor that rely more on excuses and blame games than performance.
The truth is this, as an intellectual, what would you tell your students when you return to class soon? Whatever, please tell your principal that four years will soon be over. The people are waiting. Give us facts. Give us figures. Give us effective governance. The era of stories is over. The era of proof has begun.
Oloroogun Sola Ajisafe, lawyer, journalist, decorated Student Union, pro-democracy and human rights activist writes from Akure
About the Author
