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GOVERNOR Adegboyega Oyetola of the State of Osun has come under heavy criticisms and chastisement over what has been described as ‘over politicisation and personalisation’ of the 30th anniversary of the creation of the State of Osun.
Political analysts who observed the Osun @30 award programme described it as a sham and reflection of petty politics being played by Governor Oyetola.
The State Government had on Thursday held a 30th anniversary Banquet and Awards Ceremony, where some former military administrators and governors, as well as other notable indigenes of the state were honoured.
However, OSUN DEFENDER noted that the first civilian governor of the state, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke and Oyetola’s predecessor and erstwhile boss, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola were not honoured.
At the award ceremony, OSUN DEFENDER noted that apart from a minute silence held for Adeleke, nothing was said of him throughout the programme.
This is just as Aregbesola’s name was not even mentioned at all at the programme.
A political analyst, Mr. Johnson Amusan, a legal practitioner said: “Nobody can overrule the contributions of those two former governors to the development and growth of the State of Osun, irrespective of their shortcomings. Nobody is perfect.
“We have to stop this politics of bitterness. In this age, politics of bitterness can never encourage development in any society. For whatever reason, this present administration should not have ignored Adeleke and Aregbesola.
“Whatever is between the immediate past governor and the current governor, Aregbesola should not have been ignored at all. It is a terrible lapse on the part of the current administration.
“We call it celebration of the creation of the state; it should not be used as an avenue to settle scores for whatever reasons. It is unfortunate that this administration lost that opportunity. Honour should be given to whom it is due.”
According to another political analyst, Oladimeji Iyiola, the refusal of the State Government to acknowledge and honour Adeleke, the first civilian governor and Aregbesola, the first two-term governor of the state is a politics taken too far by Oyetola.
Iyiola commented that both Adeleke and Aregbesola are in vantage position of history in the State of Osun, stating that there is no reason for their names to be missing among the awardees.
Commenting on the programme, a socio-political group, the Osun Progressive-Minded Forum, urged Governor Oyetola to grow beyond petty and bitter politics that have so far characterised his administration.
The Coordinator of the group, Sunday Oriowo, in an interview with OSUNDEFENDER yesterday, said the refusal of the governor to honour Aregbesola confirmed his group statement that Oyetola is responsible for the crisis within the All Progressives Congress in the state.
According to Oriowo, a governor looking for ways of settling the crisis within his party would have used the award opportunity to reach out to Aregbesola, and by extension, the people of the former governor of the state.
In a sharp reaction to the award programme, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state said it is unpardonable that Governor Oyetola would refuse to honour Adeleke.
According to the opposition party, Oyetola’s posture on the Osun @30 programme is a reflection of how parochial he is in administering the affairs of the state.
The PDP, in a statement issued by its Director of Media, Mr. Oladele Bamiji and obtained by OSUN DEFENDER yesterday, said: “What we had in that commemoration anniversary is a typical of the way the present administration is handling the affairs of the state, being parochial and hollow in doing things.
“The present administration, particularly, the governor sees the state as a personal estate. I expect him to be broader in his thinking and handling of events like this. There wouldn’t have been any kind of state without history. One of the historical events that had taken place in this state is that there had been other governors before him.
“So, one will expect someone in the class of the present-day governor of the state to be wider in reasoning, especially in handling such an event. The late Governor Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke was the first civilian governor of the state. So, he had a pride in the history of Osun State.
“So ordinarily, one will expect, with commonsense that someone who played a part in the affairs of the state would be at the utmost priority; at the top of whatever list the Governor put together towards that 30th commemoration.
“Omitting the name of the first executive governor of the state is a proof of the kind of person Mr. Oyetola is. We always say that he has a mindset of a person on a business trip to a particular market. So, Osun is like a market to him. We call on the governor to be gubernatorial in thinking.
“What the Governor has done is unpardonable to the good people of Osun. Osun State is everybody’s affair. For the present Governor to have left out Adeleke’s name is unpardonable. It is an intentional insult on the historical event of our dear state and I hope the Governor would retrace his step.
“A governor at times should move out of the hollow comfort zone of political reasoning; you have to be a kind of statesman, gubernatorial and behave like father of all. We understand that of his former boss, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; that is another laughable thing. Why should that happen? That is the person that gave him the baton to be where he is today. So, it means this present Governor is chronically parochial.”