Osun 2018, Akibade the Choice Candidate

By Amos Oladele

As the clock ticks, the governorship election in Osun State inches closer. In fact, the election is right at our doorstep. At the election, a successor to Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the two-term governor of the State whose final tenure is ending soon, would be elected. And, since the primaries of the various political parties contesting at the election have been settled, one way or another, the gladiators have thrown their hats into the ring. In fact, the tempo of the candidates campaigns is heightening by the day.

At the last count, 48 political parties have put forth their candidates for the election as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the umpire reportedly disclosed recently. But, then, it is always the case, in situations like this, that most of those contestants are pretenders.

Without doubt, the real contenders for the State House, Abere, Osogbo can be narrowed down to Alhaji Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola of All Progressives Congress, APC, the incumbent ruling party in the state, Alhaji Moshood Olalekan Adeoti of ADP, Alhaji Fatai Akinade Akinbade of African Democratic Congress, ADC, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Senator Iyiola Omisore of Social Democratic Party, SDP.

As it is in all climes and across the ages, elections are, both directly and indirectly, a recruitment exercise having the electorate as the recruiters and the contestants as the applicants or candidates. And in any serious minded organization, a recruitment exercise, especially for the vacant position of the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, who, in that capacity is the captain of the ship, the lead navigator, compass bearer and master mariner of the entity, is not taken lightly. This is simply because the health, the wealth, the strength and stamina, the safety and security as well as the peace and progress; and, of course, the future of the organization depends to a large extent on the choice. This is why, in the corporate world the recruiters, in most cases; go for a Candidate of Choice.

Now, no candidate of choice emerges by happenstance. Scholars and authors have developed a list of some characteristics which a choice candidate does possess. These, among others, include: He/she is well-rounded and so understands the business as well as the field of work; he get results, often in innovative ways; he is a builder who can help the entity to grow; he is open and willing to accept the ideas of others; he keeps his commitments and delivers what he promises; he is a team catalysts who supports group work and accomplishments; and is respected by his peers and the people who work with him.

Added to the above characteristics are three attributes which such a candidate must exude which include a hard-to-find skill that is critical to the success of the organization; a track record of sustained superior performance in the field; and a personality and outlook that align with the culture and values of the organization.

Lest we forget, the organization or entity, in this case, is Osun State whose electorate is in the process of recruiting the next Executive Governor who will double as the Chief Executive Officer of the state for the next four years.

And, at this moment in the history of the 27-year old state, there is a dire need for the electorate to deeply introspect and rigorously interrogate the immediate past years of its existence on the one hand and, at the same time, very carefully and very sincerely filter through the lead gladiators in the election that holds in a few days time as listed above.

To this writer, who, being not a partisan politician but someone who is old enough and is well acquainted with contemporary issues in the politics of Osun state, in particular, and Nigeria, in general; and as someone who has the mental capacity to hold the above characteristics and attributes as a prism to filter the contestants through, there is only one candidate who, at this point in time in the annals of Osun states history, fits the bill of a choice candidate for the exalted seat and office of the Executive Governor of the State of the Livingspring. And that candidate is none other than Alhaji Fatai Akinbade of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Summarily speaking, Akinbade is not a candidate with any alleged criminal case hanging on his head like the sword of Damocles; he is not a candidate whose primary qualification is being the spoilt brother of a departed leader; neither is Akinbade an offshoot and, by implication, an extension of an administration which visited and is still visiting executive rascality and administrative impunity on the citizens of this same state.

Alhaji Fatai Akinade Akinbade is, no doubt, a man of many parts and a respected stalwart in the politics of Osun State. For him, however, the rise to limelight was not a 100-meter dash. It has been long and winding. But, then, he is a man made of very stern stuffs, combining calmness and candour with courage all the time and all the way.

The prince of Agbowu from Ogbaagba in Ola-Oluwa Local Government Area of Osun State, was born 2nd April, 1955 and like many in his days, he was not born with the proverbial silver spoon. In fact, after his elementary and secondary modern school education, young Fatai was in Lagos between 1973 and 1974 in search of white-collar job but ended up as an itinerant salesman, hawking pharmaceutical drugs in then notoriously popular molue buses which for ages were a mode of transportation peculiar to Lagos. This was after a failed attempt to secure a job as a factory worker with one of the industries in the Ikeja area of the Lagos metropolis. This same man was later to become a trained and highly successful civil engineer whose signature construction projects still dot the landscapes of several states in the Nigerian Federation, particularly Osun, Kaduna and Plateau states.

A grassroots politician per excellence, Alhaji Akinbade’s political odyssey has seen him

joining forces with men and women of political like minds in the defunct National Party of

Nigeria (NPN), National Republican Convention (NRC), the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN) as well as the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party in the current civilian democratic dispensation in Nigeria.

He has served in many capacities both in his political parties and in the governance of Osun

State. Such positions include chairman, Youth Wing, Iwo North Local Government of the NPN and as a chairmanship candidate of NRC in Ola-Oluwa Local Government in 1990; Osun State Commissioner for Works, Transport, Lands and Physical Planning, a position in which his integrity enabled him to serve three consecutive military administrations in the state, spanning a period of four years, a record which no one else has equaled in the state to date.

At the inception of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, Akinbade pitched his tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and eventually became its Osun State Chairman;

while he became the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, when PDP got to power in the state in 2003. He has since taken some shots at the Number One citizenship position in the state and has kept that fire on till now that Destiny is beckoning on him to rise to the occasion to wrest this state from the hands of political predators.

Instructively, a writer, while contributing to this same subject matter recent, described Akinbade as A Cut above Other Contenders, saying, There are many positive attributes that make Akinbade tower above other aspirants wishing to rule the State of the Living Spring.  These qualities equally singled Akinbade out to be considered as the flag bearer of African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the September 22 gubernatorial election Osun State”.

The writer quoted extensively the National Chairman of the ADC, Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu who, when announcing the choice of Akinbade as the flag bearer of the party in the state, described him as a grassroots politician with satisfactory knowledge of local politics and outstanding leadership qualities. He explained further that the flag bearer is loved by the people of the state due to his masses-oriented philosophy, which includes volunteerism, integrity, and endearing humanity, which in his words corresponded with ADCs ideology.

The chairman went on, He has served the state in different capacities as SSG, Commissioner, and the Chairman that led PDP to victory in 2003. Well loved by the states civil servants and teachers. He has the needed clout to win the coming election and re-engineer the state to a lofty heights and concluded that Judging from the candidates being paraded by other parties in the coming election in the state, we can readily beat our chest that we shall coast home to victory at the Osun gubernatorial polls because Akinbade stands a shoulder above all of them”.

On a personal note, Akinbade has always said that his administration would be an inclusive one. He is of the view that the tripod of good governance is: accountability, transparency and due process; and he promised that these will be the pivot on which his administration will rest and operate, confidently declaring, “I have what it takes. I had been a Secretary to the state government, a civil engineer, a contractor, a works commissioner and a consultant, among many”.

To make his candidacy tick and delightful, Fatai Akinbade is paring up with retired Justice Olamide Oloyede, as his deputy governorship candidate in the September 22 gubernatorial poll in Osun State. The judicial Amazon is seen in many quarters as a courageous and incorruptible individual and a very credible personality; she is a human rights fighter, a factor that recommends her very strongly to the masses of Osun people and someone they could vouch for. It is a stoutly credible combination!

The team has rightly been christened The Rescue Team and it has already put in the public domain its Rescue Agenda. All that is left is for the Osun electorate is to put money politics to shame and, in the words of Roy T. Bennett, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party and author of The Light in the Heart, Choose wisely. They should look at the Light in their Hearts (like the title of that book indicates) which, no doubt, would shine very brightly on Alhaji Fatai Akinbade. And, they are being reminded of the words of Thomas S. Monson, an American religious leader, author, and the 16th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Choose your love (which is Akinbade) because, like the man further states you will Love your choice(of Akinbade); and not forgetting the immortal words of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. an American statesman and writer who served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 who was reputed to have said, In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

God bless Osun State and its people.