By Mark Adebayo
A few minutes ago, I came across a deliberately distorted report of what purportedly transpired at a stakeholders’ meeting of the Ogun Central Senatorial District, which was held at the Hilltop residence of former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba.
The tone of the particular report, published by one obviously biased blog, reveals nothing but a hatchet job by apologists of detractors on a “pull-him-down-at-all-costs” mission against former Governor Ibikunle Amosun.
To say that Amosun, who never arrives at any event venue in Ogun State, much less Ogun Central, without a thunderous welcome not even accorded a sitting governor, was embarrassed by “a jeering crowd” outside the venue, connoted nothing but the glaring warped thinking of whoever the author was.
No matter the circumstances being portrayed by the sponsors, the former governor’s political image has grown beyond such dirty attacks.
For the avoidance of doubt, no politician in the history of Ogun State politics, has close to Amosun’s crowd and acceptance in Ogun Central.
The generosity of the former governor, popularly called Ajiri omo oye, even outside office, which has endeared him to his people, across religious divides, in a very special way, cannot be rivalled. I say this sincerely and firmly.
No matter how his detractors try to rewrite history, probably as a result of dementia-induced hazy memory, his footprints of achievements in Ogun Central and Ogun State at large are too significant to be erased.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not earn the accolade – master strategist – by chance. With his probably unmatched political sagacity, which has kept him strongly relevant in politics for 16 years without a specific portfolio, no one can misrepresent the political environment to him. He sees clearly and knows who can deliver.
Forget the noise, forget the imbecilic self-adulation, forget the propaganda and deliberate distortion of history by spineless political desperadoes, even the blind can feel Amosun’s intimidating capacity to deliver in any election.
I am not a member of the APC, and I have never met Amosun, one on one, but as a stakeholder in Ogun State and the central in particular, I don’t have to rely on sponsored reports and social media posts. I write based on first-hand information and undiluted field assessment.
I find it hard to keep quiet when people deliberately try to rubbish the legacies of those who have paid their dues in any field.
Even the party’s consensus governorship candidate in the state, being a student of the Jagaban school of politics, knows better than discarding a political figure with strong name recognition and loyal voter base.
Anyone can be paid to do a dirty job against a paymaster’s presumed political opponent, but even while at that, the contractor must execute the contract with sense lest he ends up embarrassing himself more than the target.
Amosun is not one to be pushed aside in Ogun State politics. He has paid his dues. I may not be his greatest fan but I know we don’t have two of his kind in Ogun Central.
Just for the Senate 2027 ticket, and all these shenanigans and atrocious tantrums are being thrown at him? Maybe those orchestrating this have shielded themselves away from the grassroots because the public opinion favours the former governor, 100 per cent.
The first lesson taught in politics is that “there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interests”. So, why are ignoramuses and hatchet jobbers crying more than the bereaved?
Anyway, eyi o wu kawi, t’Ọlọrun l’aṣẹ”.
*Adebayo is a published author, public affairs analyst, newspaper columnist, and immediate past national spokesperson of the Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP.
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