By Debo Akinbami
By tomorrow, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa would be sworn-in as the 7th elected governor of Ondo State. He has served as deputy governor, acting governor and governor in the expiring regime that he inherited from his boss and former governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who died in December, 2023, after a prolonged illness.
He had taken over a rancorous, controversial and adversarial cabinet that he had to put down to forge a new front for the state under the circumstance. In so doing, he took tougher decisions to unclog the state for optimum performance. He was, at various times, misunderstood, misjudged and misinterpreted; but was, quite the same, an opportunity to experiment with power dynamics and to reintroduce himself in the letters he prefers.
About a year after bearing the banner of his predecessor- and its inherent burdens, as it were, he stood for election as the gubernatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 16th gubernatorial election and, in a landslide, won all the 18 local government areas in the state. It was a phenomenal win that constrained both analysts and ideologues to reexamine his place in the state’s political orbit.
When, on the morrow, he is sworn-in, he would, in effect, put behind him shadows of previous political configuration. He is expected to put together a team of healthy heads that would put the state ahead of self and actively join him to pursue the prosperity of the state; not self-seeking, self-serving actors who would ultimately distract the course of good governance. He has to raise the bar, for there shall be no tenable alibi for failing.
It looks good, starting out. The early signs are propitious and strongly supposing that Aiyedatiwa would do well for the state, if care is taken. Evidenced in the spirited continuation and completion of inherited projects and the blueprinted seven key-points programme tagged “Our Ease”, which, at closer gauge, speaks to the stern resolve of a leadership to remake the state for good.
Remaking the state is a task Aiyedatiwa cannot afford to fail. There is a crying need for public infrastructure within the southern belt as much as there is in the north; there is an emergent need for policy review within the education sector and new energies in the health sector. It’s about time Ondo harnesses her rich natural deposits, commits receipts to concrete investments and secure the state at any cost.
The Aiyedatiwa-led administration must use its means to defend Aiyetoro community from the recurring threat of ocean submergence and extinction; it must fix, forthwith, the persistent security flaw in Ose local government, make the state investment-friendly while continuing to prioritise the welfare of senior citizens. The needs are pressing, yet the new government is pressed for time, hence the wisdom to begin in real time.
As governance begins in earnest, the governor should appreciate citizens’ typical impatience. He should therefore anticipate criticisms, both the constructive and destructive, both as necessary political by-products; he should expect the entitled to become disgruntled along the line; he would do well to guard his loins against wonted political infiltrations that would, per force, raise their heads at some point, but he must keep his eyes on the ball, irrespective.
Aiyedatiwa has what it takes to lead this time. This, in fact, is not in doubt. Yes, there are those who hold the view that he needs to show the state, early enough, that he has sufficient political will to match his gifts. And I hope he will. He should, nonetheless, remember and be reminded, often, amidst increasing political pressures, that ordinary citizens are usually grateful for little things.
Akinbami is a teacher and researcher in the Department of Mass Communication, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko.
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