Tuesday with adewale858@gmail.com
The Executive Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola appears to be a gentleman but some people working with him are power drunks, political hyenas and crocodiles. Some years ago, my grandmother once told me that a lionness can not give birth to goats rather ‘cubs’.
Either my grandmother was wrong or His Excellency, Oyetola is a double-faced personality. With the recent happenstances in the state, Governor Oyetola and his aides have proved to us all that he is either an encourager of misuse of power or not in control of the state.
I do not want to assume that His Excellency, Oyetola is lacking in needed leadership traits to run his government or does not have the balls to control and lead a right his aides even the ‘warring ones’ but recent events in the state have continued to portray him as a weak, fragile, lazy and fearful leader whose subjects (aides) dictate for and does not know what’s right. I know the age of his Excellency, Oyetola and to say that he is acting childish with power would have been so disrespectful in a Yoruba setting.
Barely seven months ago, a first class traditional ruler in the state allegedly punched another king in the face. This shameful incident happened in the presence of government officials and police. Both the street fighter and casualty narrated different tales but the government officials and police who were there kept quiet. Till today, no investigation was launched by the state government and the incident forever remains a stain. Kids would grow up to read, listen and watch the interviews and perhaps would nod their heads in shame.
Have you forgotten the story of a ‘super’ commissioner used his position to harass, arrest and detain a citizen of the state because he raised some allegations of corruption against the ‘super commissioner’? When I saw the picture of the young man holding the legs of the super commissioner in prostration, begging for his life, I saw a measure of inflicted pain, frustration, fear and enslavement. He begged for his life in the hands of people who carefully use the power bestowed on a governor that does not care.
Some months ago, a citizen of the state was also arrested and detained for days during the Coronavirus lockdown. He was arrested and detained because he posted some updates on his facebook timeline to mock the state government and her fight against COVID-19. This citizen raised suspicions about the nature of cases, how the state handled it and laid more emphasises on the controversies, ‘the lies and falsehood’ and he was assisted by the graveyard silence of the information section of the government. He was later released after spending more than 24 hours in detention.
Do you remember the story of another commissioner who stormed one of the state hospitals with camera to do profiling of a patient and wailed for days because a medical practitioners cautioned and educated her on protocols? The threats, lamentations and gross abuse of office all died down without necessary action because we have a governor and they have a leader who cares not about discipline.
I will continue to uphold my clear positions that the state is under the control of some group of persons known as Cabals. Sadly, these Cabals are not policy makers rather they play the politics of anything that comes with power. They mock the sensibilities of the people at will and always take advantage of the slowness, inactiveness and laziness of the governor to do all what they think it’s right.
Yesterday, another repetition of abuse of office happened in Osogbo, the capital of Osun state. One of the super commissioners stormed streets with COVID-19 Taskforce officials. They planned to enforce the use of facemasks but ended up harassing the citizens through deflation of tyres among others. A journalist who was at the incident, tried to capture and film the incident but he was allegedly beaten up like a common thief on the order of the super commissioner.
Osun state is now an epicentre for abuse of rights and power in as much as you have the strength, wealth and connections. Just be a core loyalist of the Government or work with them, you have all the rights in this world to molest anyone in the state because we have a governor who is always in akimbo, watching and looking confused in every situation.
Power is transient. It is temporal and also expires just like life. Nobody has ever lived forever and no one has ever wielded power for so long; those who tried, sacrificed everything did not stay longer. It is my considered opinion that the first project His Excellency, Oyetola and his aides ought to embarked upon was how to behave with power responsibly but since they missed it, burying their ego, read more about power and put it in practicality is never too late.
Apagunpote Olayimika Chocomilo