The Demonisation of Amosun

There seems to be a conscious attempt to demonise and reduce the person of the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun in the emerging power game, writes Olawale Olaleye

The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun isn’t your usual character in power, but one properly schooled in the art of politics, power and development governance. What can best define him, however, is style, which of course is what always distinguishes people from people. There is no doubting the fact that he had a clear idea what he wanted to do with his mandate as governor from inception.

As a prominent son of the state from Abeokuta, the state capital, his desire for a 21st century city was not questionable. He had a clear picture what model he wanted to adopt across the three senatorial districts of the state and from the word go, his eyes were set on the ball.

Thus, experimenting with his first term of four years, Amosun proved to both the cynics and the critics alike that there was nothing esoteric about governance and or delivering on electoral promises. His vision was evidently disturbing to the opposition. They said he was too ambitious. They didn’t see the vision in his mission because they were unable to relate with it – too deep for them to comprehend. Instead, it became a ground to launch futile attacks.

But the worst of his criticism was yet to come – in fact – the beginning of his demonisation by mostly the intimate and familiar enemies. The emergence of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency was soon to give him a different but condescending tag. While some described him as a sellout, there were those who preferred the word traitor because it suited their idea of him.

Sadly, whilst a majority of these political enemies are presumed to know the relationship between Amosun and the president, it is convenient for them to play it down because the fact about their engagement is not to stand on the altar of truth in assessing him, but to circumvent the very truth and deconstruct him.

The relationship between Amosun and the president, for the record, can be traced back to Buhari’s days as Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, when Amosun as an accountant provided professional services to the agency. It didn’t start during their association as politicians in the All Nigerians Peoples Party (ANPP), on which platform Amosun first ran his governorship election.

But how such a flourishing relationship suddenly became a threat to some interests in the new political era still beats the imagination of the discerning. How that is being interpreted to mean a betrayal of one of the leading political lights in the country, Bola Tinubu is evidently incomprehensible. How such a relationship now translates into selling out the South-west geo-political is to say the least, ludicrous and a cheap attempt at an already failed blackmail.

The Yoruba have an interesting but instructive illustration to a thing of this sort. They reckon that when one man walks out of a door, points at some people and declares them mad, there is something fundamentally wrong with the individual. The Yoruba seriously frown at such a blanket dismissal and would rather the one person is referred for some sanity check.

In this whole finger-pointing, something appears to be constructively missing and it is the fact that if indeed, all the one-time loyalists or godsons of Tinubu have suddenly fallen out with him for one reason or the other and about the same time, it points at something – something rather worrisome.

Are those allies truly the bad ones or something is inherently not right with that one individual with whom they have fallen out? That’s a very relevant question for the critical minds that can reason beyond the realm of blind loyalty, situate issues in context and ascertain that which is the fact.

This example suffices. Today, the governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola is generally known as the closest to Tinubu among others. There is this insinuation that Tinubu hardly takes any decision without bouncing it off Aregbesola and ultimately, his buy-in. Many of the decisions taken by Tinubu are believed to have been orchestrated and often implemented by Aregbesola.

His role in the recent Ondo State governorship election, even against the interest of Tinubu is well documented. He had his candidate, Olusola Oke and detailed a trusted aide of his, Bola Ilori to drive his campaign. When finally Tinubu’s candidate, Segun Abraham failed from clinching the ticket after Aregbesola’s candidate had successfully divided the votes he ordinarily should have garnered, Tinubu would later turn around to support the same candidate without as much as asking questions or querying why he put him up against his own choice in the first place.

That was not interpreted as betrayal against Tinubu or his closeness to Tinubu seen as discomforting to other allies of the former Lagos State governor, some of whom are known to be unhappy about the situation. Even where they were uncomfortable with his demeanor, no one has ever gone on the offensive to raise the matter or frontally accuse Aregbesola of anything. Yet, the trend continues with Aregbesola influencing everything and anything for as long as it is Tinubu-related.

Therefore, how is Amosun’s closeness to Buhari a problem or an act of betrayal, either to Tinubu or the Yoruba cause? It is all about interest and everyone is expected to align where their interest is best served and protected. But those who have a premeditated intention to demonise Amosun only see it their way and would not stop even though a majority of observers of the development have begun to see through their lies and the sheer victimisation.

A recently leaked audio of a meeting by Amosun with some members of the state and national assemblies, allegedly devised by a former speaker of the state only depicts the height of the desperation by these avowed enemies in their resolve to both demonise and stigmatise the governor. The issue is not that the audio was leaked, but the fact that his statement at the meeting was needlessly amplified for whatever intentions further exposed the sinister moves against him by no less some of his own.

Before this development was the mischievous reference to him as the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in South-west, soon after the Ondo election. There was no debating the intention behind this as one designed to pit Amosun against Tinubu since he was said to be itching to take over “his place” in the party and beyond.

Perhaps, this was the only time Amosun deemed it fit and justifiably so to respond and put the issues in perspective. He knew that such a ploy to rewrite history was evil and deliberate to create a wedge that could further undo his relationship with Tinubu. Whilst he did not dwell needlessly on it, he consciously set the record straight and the matter died almost immediately.

Hear him: “I have noticed, with consternation, the recurring misnomer and mis-description in political nomenclature particularly as they relate to the politics of the South-west, and, by extension, the country as a whole. I refer to the emerging tendency of referring to me and some other members of our great party as the ‘Leader(s) of the South West’ or ‘ New Leader(s) of the APC in the South West’.

“When that phrase was first brought to my attention, particularly during the weeks preceding the Ondo State gubernatorial election, my immediate reaction was to ignore same as yet another distractive antics of the opposition. Somehow, the misnomer stuck and it came to appear rather more frequently in several other fora and publications, including respectable gathering and media.

“Lies, and misconceptions, when told and asserted repeatedly with gusto, have the tendency to assume the toga of the truth. It is for these reasons that I have considered it of critical importance to set the records straight. As the Governor of an APC controlled State, Ogun, I am a huge stakeholder in my party.

“In all that I do, in the open and in privacy, the bigger interest of our party remains the guiding principle for my actions, decisions and alliances. I grew up in the old Western Region, where loyalty to corporate goal and party supremacy was the hallmark of a true party member, and, indeed, every citizen.
“True leadership cannot be by conjecture or wishful thinking. From the template that we inherited from our forbearers, it is usually earned. In political parlance, leadership also evolves. If we take this as our guide, even as governor, I have leaders from my state and at the national level.

“By the grace of God I currently serve my people as the Governor of Ogun State. My total preoccupation and commitment is to continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to the good people of Ogun State that the Almighty God used to give me the opportunity to serve them.

“We will not take the support of our people for granted. We shall work even harder to justify their confidence and, by the grace of God, leave the state better than we met it, and in a blaze of glory. These, rather than some insensitive, phony and imaginary leadership contest, are my aspirations,” he stated.

Interestingly, for a man who understands the art of politics and power, his idea of what is on the card is admirable. And as a tactician in his own right, he knows when to either move forward or retreat. That Amsoun has refused to dignify anyone with any more responses shows his capacity to think deeply, objectively analyse issues and critically determine what is true or false.

On the contrary, as a strategist that he is, he has concentrated on his development strides and would rather do a debate on how far he has come in his second term than waste precious executive time discussing character or matters that are extraneous to the development of the state.
Since his re-election on May 29, 2015, the “Mission to Rebuild” the state, using what he is quick to describe as the “Ogun Standard” has continued undistracted.

Still holding down his focus on Affordable and Qualitative Education, Efficient Health Care Delivery, Agricultural Production and Industrialization, Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal and Rural and Infrastructural Development/Employment Generation, Amosun is certainly not one to engage in a dog fight with his obviously idle opponents.

Political differences notwithstanding, the story of today’s Ogun State is arguably a distinct departure from what it used to be. While this is no veiled attempt to dismiss the efforts of his predecessors, the fact that he has set an all-new standard in politics, governance and power game is the reason his traducers have continued to have sleepless nights.

They probably didn’t expect the level of performance he has since put up, which seeks to transcend many generations and thus, to reduce all that he has contributed to both local and national politics – his demonisation appears the only answer to their fears.

There is, of course, the need for improvement in some of the sectors of the state’s economy as well as completing some of the prime projects he had initiated since his first coming in 2011. Sources close to the governor have also confirmed this, saying he has dealt with some of the distractions that have held down progress for some time and would certainly address all the critical issues before the end of his tenure.

His detractors do not have to demonise him to make their principal look good or elevate whatever their hidden project is, ultimately. Besides, demonising him is also not going to aid anyone’s ambition, either as a bonafide indigene of the state or one on transfer window from a neighbouring state.

These are issues directly in the hands of the people and owners of the state. Amosun has secured his place in history and it is a very good one at that. It is left to his detractors to strive to either catch up or surpass him. But any conscious attempt to demystify him is dead on arrival.

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The story of today’s Ogun State is arguably a distinct departure from what it used to be. While this is no veiled attempt to dismiss the efforts of his predecessors, the fact that he has set an all-new standard in politics, governance and power game is the reason his traducers have continued to have sleepless nights