Tag: Osoba

I recently did a piece in this column titled  ‘Development Democracy and its Discontents’ in which, I weighed in heavily on the side of the Ogun State governor, Senator IbikunleAmosun, in his running battle with the former governor, AremoOlusegunOsoba and some other politicians within the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. The reason for my position was simple. I had witnessed first- hand the phenomenal developmental strides achieved in diverse sectors in Ogun state under Amosun, a fact widely testified to within and outside the state. It was my view that, no matter the personal failings and weaknesses of Amosun as a mortal, he ought not to be distracted from his worthy service to the state for partisan political reasons. I argued that democracy could only promote progress and development when high achievers like Amosun are seen as assets to be supported rather than pulled down particularly by forces and tendencies within their own parties.

I received scores of reactions to that piece. Some gave uncritical support to my rather harsh criticism of Amosun’s opponents within the Ogun APC. It is not impossible that these were hard core and, thus possibly biased supporters of the governor. Some others, however, were of the view that I ought to have been more nuanced in my analysis. They reasoned that all the blame could not be laid at the door steps of Osoba if many other key politicians in the state’s APC are equally at loggerheads with Amosun.

Since then, the crisis in the Ogun APC has steadily deteriorated. Last weekend, Governor Amosun uncharacteristically granted extensive interviews to several national dailies. Before this he had given the impression of preferring to allow his undeniable achievements speak for him. While articulating the policy conceptualisation, implementation, challenges, projections and attainments of his administration, Amosun also spoke on his relationship with AremoOsoba. He affirmed that he would never fight Osoba whom he respects as his leader. This in itself is an indication of things not being well between the two. On his part, it is speculated strongly that AremoOsoba is set to launch a new political party, the Action Group, to thwart Amosun’s re-election for a second term.

Of course, the conflict between ex-office holders and incumbents, godfathers and godsons has been a recurrent feature of Nigerian politics since the first republic. The face- off between Chief ObafemiAwolowo as party leader of the Action Group (AG) and LadokeAkintola as Premier of the Western region resulted in the implosion of the party and ultimately the collapse of the first republic. There are indications, that despite Akintola’s perceived perfidy, Awolowo with the benefit of hindsight wished the intra-party crisis had been handled differently. Thus, in the second republic, he insisted that the UPN governors must also double as the state chairmen and leaders of the party. He had come to realise through bitter experience that there must be a healthy balance between the desirability of party discipline and loyalty and respect for elected wielders of executive authority on the platform of the party.

Should the crisis in the Ogun state APC have been allowed to degenerate to this level? Would this unsavoury situation have been averted through the adoption of the ‘Lagos model’? And what is this model? In 2007, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu quit office after serving two terms. He was succeeded by Mr BabatundeRajiFashola (SAN) a focussed, no-nonsense technocrat. Not being a politician, Fashola had no political structure of his own. Of course, he could have used the immense powers and resources of his office to either hijack the existing structure or create one of his own. Several governors had successfully done this obliterating the political edifice of their predecessors and benefactors. Fashola chose a different course. He refused to be distracted by politics. He focussed in an unprecedented manner on governance leaving the time and energy consuming intricacies of politics to his predecessor. There thus evolved a healthy division of labour – the governor focussing on development, Tinubu managing the politics.

Did BRF, through this attitude, not take an undue risk making his political future vulnerable to forces beyond his control? On the contrary, his spectacular performance made him an invaluable asset to the party. The defunct ACN could not have credibly and logically denied him a second term. Yet, Tinubu could also take tremendous credit not only for laying the foundation for BRF’s attainments but also for the prescience of correctly identifying and assessing his successor’s exceptional leadership qualities. Were things always rosy and smooth-going between Tinubu and Fahola? That would have been humanly impossible. But I believe that mutual respect, wisdom, tact and the overriding party and state interest were always the balancing factors.

Could this model have been adopted in Ogun with Amosun focussing on governance and Osoba managing the politics? The answer, unfortunately is no. Unlike BRF, Amosun already had a solid political structure before becoming governor. Amosun was an elected Senator between 2003 and 2007. His structure is acknowledged to have played a pivotal role in OtunbaGbenga Daniel’s emergence as governor in 2003. He made a spirited bid for the office against OGD in 2007. His formidable political structure was a major, pragmatic consideration in Amosun’sbeing chosen to fly the ACN governorship ticket in 2011. The first problem was that Amosun had to play a delicate balancing act between his own political structure coming in from the ANPP and the existing ACN structure on the ground. Neither Osoba nor Amosun could have realistically abandoned control of the political terrain entirely to the other. It could not be a win-win situation for both.

The second complication was Amosun’s decision to adopt a technocratic approach to governance. Thus, his cabinet largely comprises technocrats rather than hard core politicians. Thus, his critics contend that at least five local government areas are not represented in his cabinet. Again, the sheer ambitious scale of the projects embarked upon by his administration has drastically reduced the funds available for political patronage. This may be good for governance but it is dangerous for politics. For, the implication is that disenchanted and demotivated politicians will readily gravitate towards Amosun’s opponents either within the APC or in other parties.

Amosun’s media interviews indicate his confidence that he will win re-election on the basis of his impressive performance record. But then, why go into an election with a divided house? Yes, the governor is justified to be concerned and preoccupied about winning a second term to consolidate on his current efforts. But he also has a historic responsibility to do all in his power to bequeath to posterity a progressive party platform that is stronger and more cohesive than he met it. That is the best way to ensure that his legacy endures and is sustained beyond his personal tenure in office.At the end of the day, Amosun and Osoba do not have to like each other. But it is in their mutual interest to work together or self-destruct separately. Surely, it should not be impossible for Amosun to demonstrate respect for Osoba as his political leader not just in words but also in deeds. And AremoOsoba is politically mature and experienced enough to know that an incumbent governor also deserves a reasonable degree of respect and operational latitude. In the final analysis, the crises in the Ogun, Oyo and other chapters of the APC indicate the absence of an effective conflict monitoring, prevention and resolution mechanism within the party that must be addressed urgently.