Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet
USAfrica: Adeleke’s victory in Osun and lessons for Nigeria’s 2023 elections. By Kene Obiezu, contributor to USAfricaonline.com
It may yet be premature, but Nigerians might as well celebrate an emerging pattern. Or, at least, some lessons from the governorship election in Nigeria’s southwest Osun State, over this weekend of July 16, 2022. It has become a major, national point of interest as we witnessed Mr. Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party make a successful second run for the Osun State Government House. His tireless and relentless strides, against all odds, proved as adept and engaging with the voters as the dancing steps he became famous for.
In 2019, he gave Mr. Oyetola a run for his money and came up just short by a disputed handful of votes.
It would appear that in the four years during which he occupied the position of the office of governor, Mr. Oyetola was content with feeding into the general malaise plaguing the ruling APC-led government at the center and in many states, and achieving a pedestrian performance.
It appears he did not go out of his way to do anything to excite the imagination of the Osun electorate. He has paid dearly for it. A man who had such a formidable opponent breathing down his neck should have known that nothing short of an excellent performance would have guaranteed him another shot at the top job in Osun State.
Whether he took things for granted or the good people of Osun State just wanted some change after four years, there is no doubt that Mr. Oyetola has now been left to regret a missed opportunity.
An exciting pattern: A pattern appears to be taking root in Nigeria of where an elected public officer who has performed poorly or well below the expectations of those who elected him would lose out the very next time elections come around.
This would not just send a breath of fresh air coursing through the corridors of powers, but would send a clear message to those whose dedication to work and exertions cease once they get into office that it would no longer be business as usual.
Democracy`s delicate dance: Before he became Governor-elect, Mr. Ademola Adeleke represented Osun-west senatorial district between 2017 and 2019 and became known as the `dancing senator’ because of his dancing which excited many as much as it proved embarrassing to others. The dancing thing was not entirely surprising given that he counts as nephew famous Nigerian musician Davido who was heavily involved in his campaigns.
However, with the elections now well and over, Mr. Adeleke must now dance the delicate dance of democracy which is all about providing good governance to the people. It is a very serious business indeed, one which does not accommodate any form of theatric dancing.
If as Nigerians showed in the general elections of 2015, and have now shown in the just concluded elections in Osun State, any elected official who fails to perform in office will be voted out.
Come 2023, Nigerians will have to make a choice that will define the country, going forward. The choice should be an easy one. With the cataclysmic performance of the APC-led government in the last seven years which would be eight next year, Nigerians can have no doubts that the time has come to look elsewhere.
The treatment served the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015 when Mr. Goodluck Jonathan lost historic elections despite being the incumbent must now be reserved for the ruling All Progressives Congress, if not for anything but to emphasize that power truly belongs to the people. For Adeleke, the clock has begun to tick and if he fails to maximize the opportunity he now has , he will have to contend with the ruthlessness of the Osun electorate after four years.
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