The Agba-Osun social security fund for the elders remains a concept to study. The guarantee of adequate security for the people by which Osun remains one of the most peaceful States in the country in the last four years has enabled residents to sleep at night with two eyes closed. The popular transportation service by railway made available to the people during public holidays is unprecedented. The economic development of the State by way of improved internally generated revenue; massive provision of infrastructural facilities; unprecedented opening up of the State to foreign investments; massive human capacity building and development; generation of agricultural wealth through incomparable investment in agriculture etc, etc. have combined to make Ogbeni the darling of the electorate second to Awolowo and non-pareil in many respects in comparison with his contemporaries.

Ogbeni is a genuinely humble personality with uncommon love for the masses. He blends in an unpretentious manner with market women, dances with labourers in a show of love, explains in lucid language to the average consciousness and intelligence without a feeling of superiority or official arrogance. His monthly walk-to-live programme in which thousands of residents in different Local Government Areas participate is a down-to-earth exchange of love and confidence between the government and the people. The grandstanding effects of political power never cajole him and his campaign against corruption in and outside government is magisterial in substance. He is a goal-getter whose understanding of clinical economics is devoid of empty theories but full of practical knowledge and achievement of developmental progress for the people. All these make him the apple of the eyes of the people for whom their untiring love is never in short supply.

There is no way such a leader would not be loved by his people. There is no way such a leader would not be appreciated by the people whose mentality in the past many decades have been victim of immeasurable abuse in the hands of various tyrannies that have paraded the corridors of power in this country. In these days of shortage of qualitative and corruption-free administrations, Ogbeni has proven to the people that no service is better appreciated than one rendered to the betterment of humanity.

He exhibits undaunted courage in the face of adversities. His message of bravery to the people during the election bolstered the flexible spirit of the hoi polloi who have a tendency to immediately flee in the presence of terror. He mobilised his people for the task ahead in the usual manner of revolutionary activists the life of which he has lived for long. He eschews religious bigotry and gave meaning and expression to the right to religion as contained in Section 38 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered).
All these genuine show of affection for public good have guaranteed him victory long before the election was held.

LESSONS FROM OSUN
In all these, how fared our great party, the All Progressives Congress? What role did we play? Can the victory be said to have been won by the party? What lessons are there for us to learn?

I remember a brief conversation shared between a foremost leader of our party and a notable human rights activist. Immediately after the declaration of results on the 10th day of August, 2014, the said activist called to congratulate the said leader of our party and the leader said “Our party won the election”. The activist promptly retorted: “No, your party did not win the election. Ogbeni won the election.”
As strange as that may sound, I want to assure you it is the truth. Shortly before the election, we conducted house-to-house interaction with the electorate trying to persuade them to vote for our party. On many occasions I personally heard people complaining that it was Ogbeni they wanted to vote for and not the Party. This is not strange to me as so many reasons advanced by them are not far fetched. The poll conducted by the Party equally reflected the same thing that Ogbeni is more popular than the Party. Thus, the mass appeal came from the performances of Ogbeni and not from the activities of our party leaders in whom many did not see any reason to continue being loyal to us. One fundamental reason for this attitude is the absence of internal democracy within our party. This brings us to the first lesson derivable from the Osun governorship election of August 9, 2014.

Lesson No. 1: Internal Democracy and Popular Candidates

Talking of how best party structures are organised, we still have a lot to learn from the great sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Professor Richard Sklar, talking about the Action Group, described it as “the best organized, the best financed and the most efficiently run party in Nigeria.” Today, our own party has been reduced to a shrine of personality cult where party members do not see themselves as democrats; where aspirants do not see any reason to patronise their constituencies in winning party tickets. All roads lead to one leader or the other. These personalities plenipotentiary posses the almighty fiat to determine who is the next councillor in every ward, who is the next chairman of each and every Local Government, who secures the ticket of the party to go to the House of Assembly, House of representatives or the Senate; who is the next governor of the State by whatever machinations possible.