By Asiwaju Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo
– THIS PHASE SHALL ALSO PASS
This phase shall also pass. Unlobbied appointments of Dr. Festus Adedayo has always faced the kind of frivolous opposition that we are witnessing now.
In June 2011, when the Immediate Past Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi appointed Dr. Festus Adedayo as his Special Adviser on Media, the former Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina (of blessed memory) and the then Action Congress in Oyo State bitterly and fiercely opposed the appointment and prevailed on Senator Ajimobi to drop Festus.
Their grouse with Festus then was that he was too critical of Alhaji Lam, his government and the party in the state. Also, that Festus is not from Oyo State.
The Gov, Senator Ajimobi stood his ground and defended the appointment on the sole ground that his sole consideration for appointing Festus was MERIT and not those primordial sentiments and emotions.
It is on record that Festus lived up to the Governor’s expectations and served Oyo State excellently well just like he excelled meritoriously in his similar office in Enugu State where he served diligently as the Special Adviser on Communications to Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, the then Governor of Enugu State.
Alhaji Lam Adesina later became one of the ardent readers and admirers of Festus till the Great Lam breathed his last.
Festus is a detribalised Nigerian and one can see the evidence of this in the names he gave his children which cut across the major ethnic groups of Nigeria.
Festus is also fiercely loyal which loyalty,however, is not blinded, but for good causes ,public good and interest only.
Festus is always conscious and mindful of his readers’ reactions and comments to his column. He loathes and avoids situation whereby his writings would pitch him against the people as he writes for the people especially to advance the cause of the downtrodden and humanity.
Some of us that are Festus’ nucleus friends- Prof. Wale Adebanwi of Oxford University, Prof. Adeolu Akande of Okada University, Emeritus Hon. Babatunde Oduyoye, the CEO of Farms Support and my humble self have never shirked in our responsibilities to act as the constant “watching the watcher” of Festus’ Flickers and his other professional activities to ensure that he remains the vintage and quintessential Festus Adedayo that we know as we regularly critique and discuss his regular pungent releases either online and offline.
I urge the Senate President to ignore the tantrums and lullabies of those political jobbers calling on him to drop the best appointment he has made so far because Dr.Festus Adedayo is not only a round peg in a round hole, but he has been tested and trusted in Enugu and Oyo States where he served meritoriously and without blemish. His competence is second to none.
Asiwaju Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo is a former Attorney General of Oyo state. He writes from Ibadan, the state capital.
