Victor Ogunyinka
It was like a champions league final with two legs on the same ground. Only Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah can tell the feeling of revenge before it happens.
They were becoming sworn enemies. In fact, Senator or Governor Ademola Adeleke said on national television a few days before the July 16 cracker that his mandate was stolen in 2018.
Of course, outgoing Governor Isiaka Oyetola refuted it. Not much hassle, the battling was drawn and the cards were kept to their chest. Thunder would not strike a second time, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was ready to go pound for pound… they did.
The Osun election was special for some reasons; it was a dress rehearsal of some sought for the much anticipated 2023 general election.
Nigerians want a system that works, they want an electioneering process where votes count. President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to give a seamless, free and fair election. On this one he delivered.
Yes, he did. Music sensation and nephew to Governor Adeleke, Davido, commended President Buhari for providing a levelled-playing ground.
Some said it was victory to INEC and that the recently passed electoral law played a major role too.
But let us talk about the Osun people’s devotion, turnout, involvement, protecting their votes and watching it count.
They were resilient, focused and determined to make their votes count. Where it mattered, they rejected any form of manipulations and it was satisfactory in the end.
Of course, no election is without cracks, not in Nigeria, no, not in Africa, the good thing is it was better than the last one, and much better because security agencies present were more alive to their duties.
Anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was on the ground to stop money exchange, and armed uniformed men were on the ground to resist thuggery and ballot snatching.
Did you also see that senior citizens came out to exercise their civic duties? For all its worth, no voter apathy was recorded.
How can we talk about the Osun election without mentioning the music force? It was one on each side. The emergence of the self-acclaimed trouble, Portable on the side of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, and Davido leading the opposition attack.
He was on the losing side in the 2018 election, Portable wasn’t even a name to reckon with back then, well, he said he has over 400 songs before his street banger, Zazu, let’s just say he enjoys listening to his own voice alone and that was why it took us this long to find out about a single track.
Portable is the replica of a certain politician that an ex-president once said “just give him money”. Portable doesn’t hide his own, he has only one assignment, eradicating poverty from his generation, he speaks about even more than a motivational speaker, he brags about it even more than the richest man in the world would. “I am not born rich, but I made my father rich…”
He made his first dollar notes through a gift, he was all over, he appreciated it, he prayed and almost cursed at the same time; it was the weight of money and even so, the heavier weight of poverty.
But then, he almost chopped the hands that gifted him off because he switched sides. He went all out for Davido, He didn’t stop there, without an audit firm request, he analyzed how he spent the $3,000 OBO gave him.
But for Davido, Portable was a small fry, his eyes were fixed on the prize, Oyetola, Tinubu and the APC were bigger headaches for David, from the Bible days, he has been fighting giants, Portable wasn’t in that league, he cared less. Not one reply was given to the mad singer (werey olorin).
The social media has struggled to fit into real-time election participation. We have seen candidates with several thousands of massive followers lose to people without social media accounts.
It is now confusing, but that is changing, it is true. Some showed off their marked thumb to show that the social media warriors now have permanent voters cards (PVC), they also have wards and polling units.
It has given INEC more tasks recently as the numbers of registered voters keep swelling. Mostly youths. It has been reflected in the Osun election.
Age brackets 18 to 49 constituted about 72.2 per cent of the total votes in Osun; that is a huge statement.
Youths are ready to be leaders, first by taking full responsibility of the votes they cast.
They were emphatic about it; “we voted for Ademola Adeleke not PDP, come 2023, we will pick personality over party,” some said.
In Ekiti, the story was similar. PDP killed their own chances because of the power game; their best candidates at the poll went to a lesser party, a former governor, who evetually came second, and PDP finished a distant third.
The PDP were the biggest losers in that one.
In Osun, the all-star movement of a presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, many governors and more party bigwigs, and about 23 state speakers of the party too weren’t enough to give Oyetola a second chance in office. To the people, the party must go, Adeleke sounded like a better name they can relate with.
Apart from family history, not many things are known about him, of course, he dances his way to glory, that is one leg of happiness guaranteed for the Osun people. They can hope for the other when the Adeleke government hits full throttle.
It is warning for all state players. President Buhari has a lifeline to provide a well-coordinated environment for free and fair election, INEC is on a redemptive path to make election votes count, the people are well motivated to vote for leaders they can hold accountable.
Two major experiment concluded, 34 more to go, things may never remain the same again.