Following the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Edo State Governorship Election a few weeks ago, the National Chairman of the party and former Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, went lyrical, gloating about the victory his party bought with tax-payers’ money.
He was quoted to have said that the APC would win Ondo, Osun and Oyo states in that order. On Saturday, 16 November, 2024, Alhaji Ganduje’s vainglorious boast became a reality. He had declared boldly that his party would win Ondo State, but people who still believed in democracy didn’t take him seriously. What he didn’t tell the newsmen was that the APC would win at all costs. That it would buy its way back to the Alagbaka Government House. You must have seen a video from TVC’s now popular report where an old woman said ‘gbogbo wa lati dibo, a de ti gb’owo…’ Of course, what happened in the election had been foretold by Ganduje.
Sadly, the victory in Ondo has emboldened Alhaji Ganduje. He has come out to declare that the APC would ‘capture’ Osun and Oyo states in future elections. Many national dailies and online media platforms that used Ganduje’s arrogant and garrulous celebration of APC’s win in Ondo presented it in different slants through their headlines. Gazette Nigeria headlined the news with this: “Governorship Elections: APC will do everything to win Osun, Oyo, Ganduje declares.” But I love Daily Trust’s slant; “Ondo Victory: Plot to capture Oyo, Osun on course – Ganduje – Daily Trust.”
Through Daily Trust’s prism, we could see Ganduje and APC’s desperation to win at all costs, even if they have to steal the victories. Alhaji Ganduje didn’t think about the rights of people in Osun and Oyo states to freely choose their governors. No. His party must ‘capture’ the states in order to fulfil what he described as ‘homogeneity of the South-West.’
Pray, what is homogeneity to a hungry and angry man? Of course, APC and Ganduje are not planning to capture Osun and Oyo states by all means possible because they love the people; they want to do so to enlarge the scope of suffering and tears already being experienced by Nigerians under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The APC knows that it did not play by the rules in Edo and Ondo. It is planning hard not to play by the rules in Osun, Oyo and all other states where it is now plotting to take over to fulfil its ungodly ambition of turning Nigeria to a one-party state. But to what end? To what end does the APC’s Ganduje seek the homogeneity of the South-West? What did the South-West gain when the six states of the South-West were under its control? Yes, you read that right. There was a time that the forbear of APC (ACN) had all six states of the South-West in its kitty, with Governors Babatunde Fasola (Lagos), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi of blessed memory (Oyo), Raufu Aregbesola/Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Rotimi Akeredolu of blessed memory (Ondo) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti).
A practical example of how the touted homogeneity of the South-West is a ruse can be drawn from the case of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso. The university experienced its roughest patch on the watch of former Governors Ajimobi and Aregbesola/Oyetola, with now President Tinubu as Chancellor. The trio could not save the university’s descent despite being of the same APC fold. But Governor Makinde of the PDP was able to work with former Governor Oyetola of the APC to facilitate the sole ownership of LAUTECH, a development that has helped to bring back the university’s glorious days. Today, LAUTECH is rated as the best state university, while the Osun State University has also been thriving because the owner state is not burdened with having to fund two state universities. So, who does Ganduje’s homogeneity help?
Another clear example of the touted homogeneity of the South-West being a bogus excuse to stifle democracy and multi-party system can be drawn from Makinde’s Oyo State. The Governor Makinde administration applied to the Federal Government to fix the 34km Oyo-Iseyin Road because it is considered vital to the government’s agribusiness revolution and it got the approval. Today, the road has been fixed, with a new Odo Ogun Bridge standing side by side with the Federal Government’s dilapidated bridge, showing the superiority of ideas from the governor. Why didn’t ‘homogeneity’ play a role in fixing that road when Governor Ajimobi was governor and former President Muhammadu Buhari was president?
Also recently, Governor Makinde commended President Tinubu for granting approval to Oyo State to upgrade the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport, Alakia, Ibadan to an international airport. Works have since commenced on the project. The governor also declared that the Federal Government has approved that the state should fix the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Oke Ado, Ibadan (Liberty Stadium). All these approvals have not been affected by party differences. So, who does Ganduje’s homogeneity help?
In any case, what can Ganduje tell anyone about homogeneity? He should highlight the gains he and his colleagues brought to the North-West when all its governors were APC. What unforgettable change did the APC bring to his North-West for him to be rambling about homogeneity in the South-West? Today, the North-West is facing the challenges of rising terrorism. This is apart from the perennial challenges of poverty, hunger and deprivation. Why did the homogeneity of the North-West in APC under a North-Westerner Buhari as president of Nigeria not change the story of the region? Why is Alhaji Ganduje trying to sell to the South-West a drug that didn’t work in the North?
Well, the APC National Chairman deserves commendations. At least, he has warned residents of Osun and Oyo states as well as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governments in the two states of the coming storm. Being a trueborn of Oyo State, I am certain that the people of the state cannot be bought over with peanuts.
They didn’t succumb to money and the onslaught of federal might in 2019. They rebuffed the hurricane of religious sentiments and ‘homogeneity fraud’ in 2023 to re-elect Governor Makinde. The people of the Pacesetter State have a history of calling the bluffs of ruling parties and a track record of not being slavish to money. I know that they will rise to the occasion when the time comes.
When that time comes, the people of the state will also remember the eight years of APC in Oyo State, the cosmetic road projects done only in city centres and how the projects caved in within a year or two. The Isokun-Owode Road in Oyo and the Takie-Federal Government College Road in Ogbomoso are unforgettable emblems of the APC in Oyo State. The people will also remember the hardship that the Tinubu-led Federal Government has brought to bear on all Nigerians.
In contrast, Oyo State residents will remember the over 500km of road projects done by Makinde’s PDP government; they will remember the prompt payment of salaries to workers and especially pension and gratuities to retirees who APC’s Governor Ajimobi described as the dead among the living. I am certain that Oyo State residents will remember how Governor Makinde grew and is still growing the state’s IGR; how he changed the story of the education sector with free education and recruitment of close to 22,000 teaching and non-teaching staff, among other efforts.
As I said earlier, Alhaji Ganduje deserves commendation. The former governor has made his boast and I am sure that the people of Osun and Oyo states have taken this under advisement. But let me quickly tell that vainglorious Ganduje that ‘Oyo ni won npe’bi’ and that ‘iyi ti won ba yi odo, won kii yi ikoko…’ No, Ganduje should not expect an interpretation; of course, he can buy an interpreter with the remainder of the ‘d’ibo ko se’be’ bounty from Ondo!
Alao is the Special Assistant (Print Media) to Governor ‘Seyi Makinde.
