AKEREDOLU VERSUS AKEREDOLU: IS THIS DÉJÀ VU?

Akeredolu should do the right thing by handing over to his deputy, argues Joshua J. Omojuwa

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu is a brave man. Long before he eventually became the governor of Ondo State and even after, he was always the sort of person to take a stand on issues where you needed a courageous person to speak. Many will say that that defiance is what ultimately led him to clinching the APC ticket and eventually winning the election to become governor. He is not known to bite his tongue.

When I struggled between subject matters for this week, the choice eventually turned out to be an easy one. Because anyone who has been paying attention to the governor will tell you that he’d have chosen to prioritize writing on the debacle Ondo State is currently entrapped in. If he was not the subject matter that is.

I have heard different stories from various political interests in Ondo State whilst mostly treating each side with suspicion. Politicians have never been known not to defend their side. Those who expect anything different are more irrational than whatever suspicions of irrationality they have of these politicians. Despite being repeatedly prodded by X/Twitter users, I simply chose to look away whilst hoping that the leadership challenge in Ondo State will resolve itself. Months on, it hasn’t.

Whilst everyone is free to pick whatever side of the divide they belong, there must remain room for intersections. A space where everyone must agree, if not as a collective, at least as individuals, that it is not normal and it is unacceptable to have a governor who wouldn’t resume work in his state for months and who insists on neither resigning nor handing over power to his deputy.

We have been here before — precisely on the 8th of December 2009 — and my position on the matter will be led by the following words, “The prayer of the association is that the President should recover fast, return to his office, and resign. No matter how much you love your country, it should not be at the detriment of your health. It is not your party or your wife that will decide whether you are capable of handling state matters; it is only your doctors that can decide that. The bar is not asking the president not to come back and take his seat, but the right thing must be done”. These are the words of the then NBA President, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, whilst addressing the absence of then President Umaru Yar’Adua who had taken ill and could not resume as president.

We need not go too far as to what Governor Akeredolu ought to do at this time, he offered the template at a time he had no reason to be biased one way or other, except his commitment to the rule of law, order and propriety. Akeredolu was right in 2009.

Today, Ondo State is where Nigeria was in December 2009: an ailing leader who is not able to carry out the duties of his office and has refused to formally hand over to his deputy governor, so there’d at least be an Acting Governor in the state. Instead of just a governor who can’t act. Interestingly, the deputy governor is in more danger of getting impeached than the Governor is. It is another manifestation of the machinations and anomalies of politics in Nigeria. Akeredolu was right in 2009.

If it was based on political interest, I should be defending Akeredolu’s end. I’ve got friends on that side that I do not have on the side of the deputy governor. The governor also graciously posed with my book when one of those friends gifted him a copy. However, this is not a choice between Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa, it is a choice between what is right and what is wrong. It is a choice between standing with those who would want Nigeria burdened with an ailing president who couldn’t resume office and those who stood with Akeredolu when he bravely made the call for the president to do the right thing. Akeredolu was right in 2009.

I do not care for Aiyedatiwa’s politics. Never interacted with him nor attempted to. This is beyond the fact he stands to gain more than anyone else were the governor to resign or formally hand over to an acting governor. However, this is beyond the politics of personalities, it is about the essence of governance; to always do right by the people. Akeredolu was right in 2009.

I wish Governor Rotimi Akeredolu full recovery. I believe in miracles and our country is better of with Akeredolu in it, healthy and strong. His priority and that of anyone who genuinely cares about him should be to take care of his health and not be distracted by anything that does not advance his recovery. I am not naïve. I know that there are people whose livelihood and political interest are hinged on Akeredolu holding on to power. I understand this lot. It is the nature of humans to seek their own good. Even though their choice is more about them than it is about the well-being of the governor. In a sense, they are holding the state hostage and denying the people governance by capturing power through a governor who clearly needs time and space to heal. Akeredolu was right in 2009.

In 2009, Akeredolu asked that the president should recover fast, return to office and then resign. In 2023, I’d say Governor Akeredolu should continue to work on his recovery. When he returns to office, he can continue to govern without resigning. Until then, he should hand over to his deputy governor. Put the people first. This can’t be too much to ask of someone who asked more of another leader. Let it be said of you, that when the time came to live by the words you declared, you did exactly what you asked of others.

Akeredolu was right in 2009, the right thing must be done. If he is the one taking these decisions, there is no better time than now, to do the right thing.

 Omojuwa is chief strategist, Alpha Reach/author, Digital Wealth Book