There are certain things a politician and state governor should never say. What message is Adeleke sending to Northerners? If Northerners follow his lead and vote en bloc for Atiku, where would Tinubu be? This statement from Adeleke is poor strategy.
Secondly, dissatisfaction with Tinubu contributed to Adeleke’s re-election. If the people of Osun State had loved Tinubu that much — if Tinubu had truly made their lives better — they would have voted his party, the APC, back into power. On the contrary, apart from Tinubu’s insensitive economic policies, which are designed to impoverish the people while creating more cash for politicians to loot, Tinubu directly waged war on the people of Osun State by seizing the state’s Local Government Allocation. No doubt, this was meant to inspire a grassroots revolt against Governor Adeleke. It backfired. Adeleke has not shown sufficient sensitivity toward his own people, who chose to stand by him rather than by the oppressor.
Thirdly, as I have continued to warn state governments, they face the risk of losing everything should Tinubu remain in power after 2027. Adeleke in particular would be in severe and immediate danger. It would be foolish of him to think that Tinubu’s smile at this time signals acceptance of two consecutive defeats at Adeleke’s hands. The same applies to Adeleke’s other internal enemies in the state — they will not rest until they see him out.
With that in mind, Adeleke would be wise to remember Governor Fubara of Rivers State. The cane of a Declaration of a State of Emergency is still hanging from the roof of Aso Rock.
Furthermore, if Adeleke could so openly disregard the brave resistance the people of Osun mounted against the oppressive use of power by Tinubu and his team of APC governors — resistance that cost them about 28 lives to keep Adeleke in power — the people might just decide to swallow the toad whole: swing to Tinubu completely and support a move to impeach Adeleke.
It is very likely that Adeleke’s open declaration of support for Tinubu was inspired by a desire to “stoop to conquer” in the battle to secure the release of Osun’s Local Government funds. I agree with a diplomatic approach to resolving that issue. However, Adeleke could have been far more subtle about it. I understand the desire to massage President Tinubu’s bruised ego — but it should not have come at the expense of the unity of purpose shown by all Nigerians in Osun State who kept him in the Governor’s seat.
Let me make this point clearer. The religious and ethnic cards were played up to the maximum against Adeleke by the APC. A journalist appeared on national TV to amplify the religious dimension of the campaign, claiming Adeleke’s opponent had built over 77 (or was it 7,000?) mosques across the state. Adeleke’s mixed Igbo/Yoruba parentage and marriage were similarly weaponised against him.
The question is: where would Adeleke be today if the people of Osun had said, “We will vote Muslim because we are Muslims, and we will vote pure Yoruba because we are Yoruba and want no Igbo influence in the Osun State Government House”?
Adeleke has acted most insensitively. I hope he realises this and takes corrective measures.
Published by Chuks Nwachuku
