A critical core of democracy in every society is predicated upon competition for political power with the masses as free agents, no wonder they say the ultimate power under democracy lies with the people, this must be a justification for a philosophical saying that “every state deserves the kind of leader it has, either good or bad” because the power to choosebetween good and bad rests solely on the shoulder of the people but to avoid driftingfrom our main focus let’s leave that as a topic for another time.Prior to the 2019 governorship election, some political analysts based on the notionthat within the Nigerian political system, it may be difficult if not impossible for a candidate without any strong backing from a political godfather or godmother to contest and win a governorship election in Oyo state and by extension, Nigeria. This notion however, is not peculiar to Oyo state politics but all states in Nigeria as it was almost becoming a norm within the Nigerian political landscape.It is a public knowledge that the role late baba Adedibu played in the emergence of former governors Rashidi Ladoja in 2003 and chief Adebayo Alao Akala in 2007, late chief Lam Adesina also former governor of Oyo state, joined force with Bola Tinubu former governor of Lagos state and APC national leader as political godfathers to defeat Akala for senator Abiola Ajimobi as governor of Oyo state (2011-2019) before engr. Seyi Makinde in 2019 without any political godfather defeated the APC and itsentire federal might including influences ofPresident Buhari and Bola Tinubu. Well, mylittle knowledge of law tells me that to every general rule there is an exception, this became manifested when Engr. Seyi Makinde, the executive governor of Oyo state against all odds won the governorship election and was declared winner of the 2019 governorship election, an emergence which has since ushered in immediate impactful policies and programs by governor Makinde’s administration with many already touting the governor as a potential president in thenear future if zoning favours the south west region.Governor Makinde upon assumption of office quickly settled down for work having done a thorough homework on how to solve the many challenges bedevilling the state including human imposed problems. This saw the birth of his newly designed leadership model tagged “An All Inclusive Government,” which literally implies that qualification to serve the state is not restricted to PDP alone. Ofcourse, many priviledged past governors in their inaugural speeches attempted to convince the people through a well crafted but deceptive speeches in similar tone that their administrations were open to all but lacked practicability. The core of an all inclusive governance lies with the ability to bring on board anyone with the requisite qualifications and skills to help the governor actualize his blueprint in the Oyo project without discrimination against anyone regardless of political party affiliations, religion, or age restriction.Makinde’s free and quality education for allpublic primary and secondary schools in the face of very scarced resources became the first shocker to the greatest dismay of all opposition parties in the state, this singular act does not only earn Makinde a reference for good governance status in Nigeria but opposition party has started emulating him, example is governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state who just recently declare free and quality education for all primary and secondary schools, this is quite a healthy political competition with the people as the main beneficiary. Another example is governor Abdulfatah of Kwara state, governor Abdulfatah in his bid to emulate governor Makinde cleverly nominated 26 year old Joana Nzazua Kolo, a2018 graduate of Library Science from Kwara state university as commissioner nominee and if confirmed by the Kwara Assembly, will become the youngest commissioner in Nigeria and in the history of Kwara state, breaking Makinde’s record of 27 year old Seun Fakorede in Oyo state as the youngest commissioner in Nigeria. No wonder the holy Bible says that when a man’s way pleases the Lord, He makes his enemies to be at peace with him.Governor Makinde like Awolowo now runs a leadership model which revolves around building a strong and formidable foundation upon which a prosperous Oyo state will be built such that will be impossible for successive administrations to deviate from, which even the All Progressives Congress (APC) now emulate, this is why i quite agree with the fact that political party name is mere nomenclature because people make the party.The wind of healthy political competition currently going on between Oyo state and Ogun state is such a desirable one, it is anticipated that other policies such as stateanti graft laws, prompt payment of workers salaries on or before 25th of everymonth, public declaration of assets, enablement of more access to personal loans by civil servants from state governments, and many other people centered policies of governor Makinde will be emulated by all other states so as to foster regional cohession in term of human development and economic growth.
