Evidently, the strategic engagement tour, recently embarked upon by Governor Gboyega Oyetola, to all the Local Governments Areas (LGAs) in Osun State, was a veritable look-back mechanism, which afforded him a rare empirical assessment of the public administration journey so far. It was a good opportunity to have a peep at the status of his performance profile. Also, it was an assessment of reality, a very robust and truthful interaction with the people, and a sociological opportunity to evaluate, first-hand, and undeniably, the impact of his administration on the governed. It is sociological in that the electorate would remember that…
Author: Abiodun Komolafe
Of a truth, Nigeria’s major predicament is that those who occupy the driver’s seat in her public administration have masked their interest to appear as if it is the public interest. Of course, the pursuit of this interest is to the advantage of those leaders and their cronies while the led bears the brunt. Regrettably, this informs the types of policies being churned out by the leaders which, in turn, inform the outcome of our peculiar public administration and … our brand of politics. As the saying goes, the wrong we see are oftentimes symptoms of a deeper ailment! Well,…
In the last three years, the alleged hostilities between Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State and Rauf Aregbesola, his predecessor in office, stayed only in the realm of speculations. But, in a week or two ago, the cat was eventually let out of the bag when the Minister of the Federal Republic openly confessed that there ‘are now two factions in the State Chapter’ of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Thenceforth, the battle line seemed to have been drawn. But, while the shadow boxing lasted, it is on record that Oyetola has remained focused, unmoved by the display of inanities…
Osun APC and the lyrics of reconciliation The National Reconciliation Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came to Osun State, recently, in a long-overdue effort to reconcile aggrieved members of the ruling party in the State. Going by words on the streets, media records and all that, the expectation of Nigerians was that aggrieved members would be open to truce in the objective interest of the ruling party and government. It’s also hoped that the openness would enable the Committee to midwife genuine reconciliation among members of the same political family. Under the Concept of Negotiation and Reconciliation, where…
The Year 2022 is here and Nigerians have a reason to praise the Lord for bringing us this far. While thanking God for His mercy, let’s go straight to say that the New Year is pregnant with all kinds of possibilities. One of them is that there will be a change for the better! Barring unforeseen circumstances, it is also the year of the proposed full deregulation of the oil and power sectors. It may sound strange, but, matter-of-factly speaking, 2022 is a year loaded with the acrimonious broth of primitive politics, disguised interventions, vain repetitions and inconsiderateness to the…
Fellow Nigerians, if reports emanating from the grapevine are anything to go by, then, interesting times beckon in 2022. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Nigerian government is expected to fully remove the “unsustainable and economically disingenuous” fuel and electricity subsidies next year. In simple terms, the dreaded full deregulation of the oil and power sectors will most likely take effect next year, to pave the way for “market-based”, “cost-reflective” pricing mechanisms. However, government is said to be ‘forgivingly’ planning a “well-targeted” N5,000.00-a-month social intervention scheme to cushion the biting effects of poverty on about 40 million vulnerable Nigerians. So far,…
Talking philosophically, the seed of tomorrow is always said to be planted today. In other words, whatever actions that are taken today will certainly be giving definition to the future. If, ‘whoever defecates on the floor will later have to contend with flies’, then, it behooves the people to always bear in mind that, in taking political decisions; even for the government in power to implement a particular policy, its consequences beckon, if not now, assuredly, later! It is all about posterity! When the late Obafemi Awolowo started ‘Free Education’ in the First Republic, that eventually became the tonic needed…
Mahatma Gandhi once remarked that “those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is”. However, Frank Herbert was of an entirely different opinion. According to him, “when religion and politics ride in the same cart, the whirlwind follows.” While Vinoba Bhave also described religion and politics as “obsolete”, and called for “science and spirituality to take over”. In Sam Erwin’s view, “political freedom cannot exist in any land where religion controls the state, and religious freedom cannot exist in any land where the state controls religion.” Arising From the foregoing, one can safely conclude that the contest for space between religion…
Since time immemorial, Commerce has been seen as the mirror that depicts the economic reality of a given people. The buoyancy or otherwise of the economy of a given people, which is called Commerce, is certainly indicative of an improvement or otherwise of the mentioned economy. We may start saying stuffs that are oftentimes off the curve, but, if there are no tangible economic indices on ground, then, that economy has not grown. A regular visitor to Osun State in recent times will find out that the level of economic activities has increased in every nook and cranny of the state.…
On September 29, 2021, the Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola clocked 67 years on Planet Earth. It is therefore fitting to congratulate him on this significant milestone. As we have seen over the years, one defining attribute of Governor Oyetola is that he is quiet. Of course, this rare-but-much-coveted attribute of leadership, which has become somehow emblematic of his persona, has gone a long way in affecting public administration in Osun. The shrewd administrator is also patient, attentive and meticulous. Beyond the shadow of a about, his penchant for details makes holistic planning feasible for him. He is a…
Politics, ultimately, is about the people. Policymakers always allude to the interest of the masses as the raison dètre of their policy contents. It therefore goes without saying that all policies appear to be people-friendly until their implementation, when the real and intended beneficiaries are exposed. At the outset, every administrator tells the people that the policy he or she is making is tailored towards the betterment of the lives of the citizens. So, we are familiar with the expression, ‘on behalf of the masses.’ Due to the peculiar nature of politics and public administration, especially, in Nigeria, policies are…
Commends Governor Oyetola for prompt payment of workers’ salaries Lauds Governor Akeredolu for signing anti-open grazing bill into law Calls for Sunday Igboho’s release The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ijesha North, Rt. Revd. Dr. Isaac Oluyamo, has called on factions within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State to stop creating a crisis between Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, his predecessor in office. The Bishop said that, since the governor has come out to say that there is no rift between him and the former governor, who is now the Minister of Interior,…
Let me start by making a categorical statement: this intervention is not aimed at apportioning blame to any of the factions, so to say, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) currently at daggers drawn in Osun State. On the contrary, it is intended to be a gentle nudge on all the aggrieved persons from both sides of the disputations towards a viable alternative option of peaceful resolution of thorny issues. It is also aimed at dwelling on why reason must, as a matter of necessity, prevail in Osun politics, especially, among members of the same political family. Thinking deeply, orun n ya bo, kii se oro enikan’ (The sky is falling, is not a matter limited to a person). Already, the situation is…
Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, will not stop amazing Nigerians! In yet another in the series of what could be described as ‘speaking truth to power’, Obasanjo recently berated the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for mismanaging the country’s diversity. According to him, “old fault lines that were disappearing have opened up in greater fissures and with drums of hatred, disintegration and separation and accompanying choruses being heard loud and clear almost everywhere.” Well, Obasanjo may, perhaps, have made more than enough enemies – in and outside this country – for himself, it will be unwise to ignore the ‘weighty message’ bothering on nation-building and survival, which he has brought up…
Wole Olanipekun! Remember him? Yes! Everybody talks about him in glowing terms: he is gifted and God-fearing. As a matter of fact, everybody marvels at how the accomplished technocrat, who rose to the pinnacle of his career as Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) about three decades ago, is able to navigate between different camps without hurting them. Still, he gains their confidence! That, of course, speaks to the hallmark of the character of a man. Recently, Olanipekun wrote a beautiful Tribute to Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, who died on June 4. In the eulogy, published in The Nation, July 8, 2020, the legal practitioner detailed what the late politician and former governor of the old Ondo State did as well…
Experts have predicted that COVID-19 may remain a crisis much longer than 2022, with “up to 70% of the world’s population” becoming infected. Amid this mess, elections are billed to hold in Nigeria in 2023, in line with constitutional provisions. If, in the worst-case scenario, COVID-19 subsists beyond 2022, what then does the future hold for the dear country? The more reason Nigeria’s politicians, as at today, should worry about how to ensure that we have a country still populated with human beings. Impliedly, it is better to find a solution to COVID-19, which has no specifics and has not been seen…
Thursday, May 14, 2020, will mark Leah Sharibu’s 17th year of existence on earth. By that day, she will also have gone deeper into her 3rd year as a captive in Boko Haram’s custody, ministering to the needs of the terrorists in an unfamiliar desert terrain. Lest we forget, Leah was abducted, alongside 109 other female students, from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi in Yobe State on February 19, 2018. While most of the girls have since been recovered and reunited with their families, the poor girl was denied her freedom after refusing to renounce her Christian religious faith…
Nigeria’s decision to ‘unwind’ the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in the capital, Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States refers. As we strive to “balance the need to protect health while also preserving livelihoods”, can we safely say that the worst of the pandemic that has unleashed more than 2,170 cases and over-68 deaths on the country is over? If we take a chance when the pandemic is still ravaging our land, how safe are we? If we are not safe, where then lies the sunshine in dark times? With porous borders and a compromised security system littering Nigeria’s geopolitical landscape, how far…
“Lockdown has immediate ramifications for individuals who live on a hand-to-mouth basis, and for the networks of their dependents. If people cannot eat, they will not obey a lockdown, nor is there any reason, practical or moral, for them to do so.” – Alex Broadbent, ‘Lockdown is wrong for Africa.’ Once again, the lockdown in parts of Nigeria as a way of mitigating the coronavirus, aka COVID-19, pandemic, is a step in the right direction. At least, for those who believe, disease pandemics are signs of the end of the age (Matthew 24). That settled, it is obvious that COVID-19 has come to…
“We must make sure about two things, namely: that our principles are just and that our methods are practical; for nothing destroys her ends as unjust principles and impractical methods and approach.” – Obafemi Awolowo. Twenty-three years ago, yours sincerely authored an article on one of Nigeria’s never-ending development Plans. The intervention, entitled, ‘Vision 2010 Hath No Fury’ (Nigerian Tribune, May 27, 1997) particularly frowned at the vagueness, inconsistency and lack of capacity to follow through that have attended such efforts in the past. It, therefore, urged Nigeria’s leaders to embrace pragmatism, pay systematic attention to detail and concentrate on basic directions and…
To Nigerians, that the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has been dethroned is incontrovertibly established. However, the nuances and the sociological imports of his dethronement should not be lost in society. To start with, the allegations made against the deposed Emir were, up till now, neither substantiated nor provided credible and sufficient reasons for his removal. Yet, the man was summarily removed in a hurry by a government that appears to be hiding something. In recent times, the pronouncements of the Emir have no doubt been acerbic and critical of the Nigerian government. Sanusi did not take any prisoners! With deviant profundity, he…
Rumours are rumours! But, if, indeed, there is any substance or element of truth in the rumoured presidential ambition of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then, he will have to take some serious steps for it to become a reality. Charity, they say, begins at home! For him to be sellable to the majority of Nigerians, Tinubu must metamorphose into that political leader and presidential candidate with the most intense national outlook, farthest outreach, and most acceptable leadership character! He has to start working on the homogeneity of the Yoruba aspirations for a start. And there is only one thing that can unite the race, which the late MKO Abiola got…
To a casual observer, the philosophy of maize signifies that the process of life is gradual. The first thing you see in maize when it is growing is the root, followed by the shoot before the leaves eventually appear. What this simply means is that, when Gboyega Oyetola came on board as governor of Osun State, he had three notable groups of Nigerians to contend with. The first comprised a cross-section of the people – the agitated, who were banking on the wholesale application of the ‘philosophy of what works’, to demand change ‘with immediate effect.’ To the second class of people, ‘life itself…
Have you watched the video clips of the gruesome execution of Lawan Andimi and Roypvil Dalyep by Boko Haram? Have you ever imagined what it feels like to take one’s loved ones away with hopes of reuniting with them waning with each passing day? Have you for once paused to ponder the pains and the trauma of Nigerians who have become widows, widowers and orphans as well as those whose means of livelihood have been destroyed by some senseless and evil elements in the Nigerian society? At least for once, put yourself in the shoe of Reuben Fasoranti, the 94-year-old Nigerian,…
I hope it would not amount to ‘Hate Speech’ to make some confessions, especially, with a particular reference to Nigeria’s sociopolitical landscape. First and foremost, let’s not deceive ourselves: Muhammadu Buhari has seen it all as one of Nigeria’s luckiest few, favoured by God. So, he has nothing to lose again. Having been privileged to serve Nigeria in various capacities, ranging from Military Governor, Federal Commissioner, Head of State, to a two-term tenure as president, among others, the only life that is meaningful to Buhari, going forward, is the royal life. Let the president just be fine and okay with…
It bears repeating that Nigeria’s continued existence will be at risk if the rich and the wealthy are not receptive to the clear warning of anger and poverty-induced disillusionments in the land. First, Aisha Buhari’s warning that most of Nigeria’s leaders, “as a result of a long time of injustice done to” the mass of the people, “cannot go to” their “villages and sleep with” their “two eyes closed” is an indication that governance in Nigeria has failed; nothing is working! Her passionate plea to Muhamadu, her husband; and those working with him to “fear God, and … know that, one day, we will all return to God and…
Those who are familiar with the history of the Israelites will understand why their story in the wilderness will not be complete without a mention of how, at a stage, they had preferred being “slaves in Egypt” to being subjected to mass ignoble deaths “in the desert.” With the pathetic state of our country, it is unfortunate that such hopelessness and uncertain reality now define the lots of many Nigerians. Sentiments apart, Muhammadu Buhari is a good man and Nigerians have to appreciate God for a man of his ilk as Nigeria’s president. He has done ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘and the other’, all in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. Forget the fact that the government, which he heads,…
It is eighteen years since Bola Ige, Afenifere chieftain and former governor of the old Oyo State, departed this wide, wild world of war, courtesy of some yet-to-be-identified assassins. Ige was the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation at the time of his death on December 23, 2001. Close to two decades after the gory incident, Solemilia Court, No 8, Akinlabi Sanda Close, Bodija in Ibadan, Oyo State, where this foremost nationalist breathed his last on that fateful Sunday evening, still wears a mournful look, save for some few-and-far-between movements in and out of the compound. Credible sources revealed that the…
It is neither a bad idea for the Federal Government to take measures aimed at bolstering the total revenue accruable to its purse, nor was it ignoble or less productive for its Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to compete and struggle to outdo one another. However, all competitions for relevance by the MDAs must be done in accordance with the stipulated laws of the land. A case in hand is the Stamp Duty collection which, if not well-managed, may set two prominent agencies of the government on the warpath. The cost of collection is the issue here! Conservatively, the government expects to…
The 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II recently told a moving story of how a mother watched her sick child die while waiting to ask the Emir for financial assistance, because she could not afford to buy prescribed drugs of N3000.00, which, in context, was less than $10. Since “he who feels it knows it”, the ‘Aristocratic banker’ was overwhelmed, and the croaky, breaking voice of the eminently affable Emir, betrayed his emotions! Well, Emir Sanusi’s address to the United Nation’s meeting on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been appropriately documented for posterity. However, Nigerians ought to salute his…
