Pst Dipo Alaje:
When Governor Ibikunle Amosun was campaigning for the governorship of Ogun State about eight years ago, he had a very prophetic slogan couched in vernacular ‘Eyi o hun wa awi ti oluwa ni ase’ meaning we can say whatever we like, it is the will of God that will be stand.
When he eventually emerged the Governor, most people concluded that perhaps it is the will of God that actually came to past. He confirmed God had a hand in his election with his outstanding performance during the first term of his tenure. As the helmsman of Ogun State. He brought in technocrats as commissioners instead of professional politicians. The state witnessed a financial engineering that made its revenue to skyrocket, investors started going to Ogun State in droves. Statistics has it that Ogun has the highest number of investors’ inflow in the country in the last seven years or thereabout.
Ogun State has since witnessed an unprecedented infrastructural development that transformed the state capital, Abeokuta to a modern city. Many are however not happy with the attention given to some other parts of Ogun State. Many of the roads that link Lagos and Ogun State are in bad shape. Save for the efforts of the Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, it would have been total hell for those who traverse Lagos and Ogun on daily basis. Some of the places like Lambe-Akute end of the state, the Ayetoro and Agbara are nightmares for motorists. Many had wondered why he abandoned roads in places that have concentration of industries that could have enhanced the economy of the State and instead spent fortunes in places that are not economically viable.
He is not known to have done anything meaningful in the health and education sectors of the state. At a point salaries of teachers were being owed. He was accused of taking money from cooperative society of teachers. The hospitals in Ogun State are in shambles while critical infrastructure in certain government parastatals continue to suffer decay
On the political front, Governor Amosun became very influential. His influence soared when Mohammadu Buhari became Nigeria’s president. His cordial relationship with the President is traceable to their days in All Nigeria’s People Party. President Buhari is known to value friendship and rewards Loyalty. Governor Amosun was believed to be his Right hand man. This was confirmed when his nominee Kemi Adeosun emerged the minister for finance.
With the modest achievements of the governor so far in office, many analysts believed he was at the verge of making history. For some he had radically brought transformation to Ogun state. This was saliently acknowledged by even his worst political rival because what is seen cannot be denied. Some may however not buy this position as they still feel neglected in the area of infrastructure in Ogun State.
The point however is that Governor Amosun probably may have forgotten his campaign slogan ‘ Eyi o hun a wi ti oluwa ni ase’ which means whatever we may say, it is the will of God that will be done. He forgot that it is God that gives POWER to whoever he wants and can equally withdraw it whenever he likes.
He has since began to play god. During one of the Muslim festivals, Governor Amosun went to pray at the prayer ground. As he was leaving the place, journalists approached him and asked questions on his political future and he arrogantly told them that during the next Muslim festival next year 2019, he would come to the prayer ground with his successor. This meant he had made up his mind on who would succeed him and that the person would be a Muslim.
This, for many people is biting too much on the part of the governor. He had forgotten the God factor.
That spurred a lot of people to begin to pray, asking God to overrule his personal agenda. The answer to their prayers emerged when Governor Amosun began to take series of missteps. He started by gathering party members together and single handedly shared all the political offices by allotment. He announced who the next governor of the state would be and concluded by saying he was on his way to Abuja to seal the deal. He never knew that the game has changed. He never knew he had walked beyond a safe haven. Things began to happen in torrents. When it was time for the primaries, the National Working Committee of APC pulled the rug from his feet and Dapo Abiodun Emerged APC gubernatorial candidate.
Even with the emergence of Dapo Abiodun as the APC candidate, Governor Amosun boasted that he would upturn the verdict to favour his anointed candidate and went to see the President several times within a space of two weeks. When he was not getting the desired result, he took some Royal Fathers with him to see the President yet nothing changed…. He forgot that nobody can win a battle against the wish of the people.
As it is, Governor Amosun may be embarking on a journey to ignominy if the results of the 2019 governorship elections does not favour his preferred candidate. He started well when he acknowledged that the will of God would always prevail. But the moment he became self-conscious and started exerting his own will, things took a new turn. This may well be the end of his political dynasty. Time will however tell.
