At first, while reading through the declaration of commitment of Chief Bayo Adelabu for the coming 2023 gubernatorial election, one would want to raise a question of how Oyo State people, by whatever means, chose the incumbent Seyi Makinde above him in 2019. There has not been any conscious mind that has not questioned the idea of choosing a ‘complex-problematic’ man to a developmental one in Bayo Adelabu of Oyo APC.
Going further, with the speech of hope, progress, and development from the former CBN Deputy Governor during his widely reported press conference, one will further understand that Oyo State must not miss the chance of having a 21st century-thinking governor in Bayo Adelabu with the hope of having excellent governance in the Pacesetter state.
Why are we here? Where are we going? The two questions are very loaded and deep-rooted when it comes to dissection.
But the events and experiences of the declaration rally, will go a long way in making the practice a greater one.
We know we are presently in a derisive state in Oyo where things are falling apart from all phases of governance, in the hand of a directionless leader who has a high interest in politics than the real business of governance. That then is a pointer for all to know where we are going next?
Oyo State should, in Bayo Adelabu’s voice, head to a state of a reciprocated principle of mutual dependence and reciprocal interest, which forms the basis of a government that means business.
That is one reason why Bayo Adelabu posited that government business is divided into ministries, agencies, and departments; where the Ministry of Education provides services to Oyo State humanity in the education sector, and the same goes for others in their respective areas of concentration, and his keen interest to instill these principles into operation of government in the interest of all.
If the above was the core interest Bayo Adelabu has to have rekindled his interest in contesting for the governorship election under the All Progressives Congress (APC), why are we still searching/shopping for the unavailable options to replace a good striker on the field? For the interest of APC, Bayo Adelabu is ‘eran jobojobo’ which must not be allowed to slip away.
His emergence as party flag bearer will be a unifying factor of Oyo APC and lead the party to a victorious show in the coming general election, but to echo this, Bayo Adelabu has deep interest in governance that will benefit all, and not politics as some think in some quarters, as he has sorted out the politics for the interest of good governance.
Akintunde Yusuf writes from Ibadan.