Lanre Aminu 
“The difference between a good and a bad government sometimes lies in the number of obstacles we can remove from the path of our citizens or put before them.”- Al-Makhtoum “Great minds have purpose, others have wishes,” says Washington Irvin. Also, in the words of Charles De Galle: “Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they determine to be so.”
There is a strong link between leadership and sustainable development. The destiny of any nation or people is inextricably tied to the quality of its leadership. The history of many great nations is basically the history of its leaders, charismatic men and women of vision who led with sincerity of vision and who were not afraid to take decisions, no matter how unpopular, so far as they believed it is the right thing to do. Leadership is the only reason why in spite of our material and human resources, Nigeria remains one of the poorest nations of the world. In his book, the problem with Nigeria, Chinua Achebe submitted that the problem with Nigeria is squarely that of leadership.
Not a few will agree with this writer that the problem of leadership is doubly so in my beloved state, Osun. Prior to Gboyega Oyetola’s assumption of office as the governor of Osun State in November 27, 2018, the scandalous performance of successive governments with rare exceptions, should be one of the criteria to be used by the electorate to decide who get their mandate. There is no gainsaying that Governor Oyetola, God’s rare gift to Osun is like Halley’s comet, who appears but once in a nation’s firmament.
To the good people of Osun State, Oyetola has too much to show as credentials for a new leadership. According to Warren Bennis, “the new leader is one who commits people to action, who converts followers into leaders, and who may converts leaders into agents of change. Today in Osun State, Oyetola has set standards for future governors and most of the Nigeria political class. He has demonstrated that there is nothing as good as a leader writing his name in gold in the hearts of his people by keeping faith with them.
There is no gainsaying that Oyetola has performed creditably well in the last three and half years. To live in the age of giants and tower above them is indeed a claim to greatness, one that is seldom witnessed in the history of mankind. It is on record that Oyetola inherited a moribund state and a forlorn citizenry when he assumed office. After several years of dashed hopes, the governor has within a period of three and half years stabilized the polity and consolidated democratic governance by instituting meaningful social and economic progress through the rehabilitation and construction of hitherto ruined rural and urban infrastructure.
Oyetola owed his triumphant success in speedily and effectively developing the state to a combination of qualities. The development of the state in all sectors is driven by the urgency to ameliorate the pains of the long-suffering people. In achieving this, the governor has proved to be creative, humane and humanitarian. In Osun state today, the saying holds true that salus populi suprema lex, that is, the welfare of the people is the supreme law.
While Pharaoh Rameses was widely noted to have persecuted and oppressed his people, particularly, the Israelites, just like some of his predecessors did to the people of Osun state, another king of the same nation, Pharaoh Amenhotep1v, just like Oyetola , in the last three and half years, believed the glory of a king is the welfare of his people.
For him, “the welfare of the people is the directive principle of government policy.” He does fervently believed that leadership ought to be about service, comfort and happiness for the greatest number. There is no iota of doubt that Oyetola symbolizes selfless, sacrificial, visionary, courageous and determined leadership that we bad need to move Osun nay Nigeria forward. It is safe to say that he is service, sympathy and empathy walking on two legs! The foregoing is attested to by the peaceful environment, prompt payment of wages and salaries of civil servants, continuation of various governments programs for youth empowerment, meeting the healthcare needs of the people through renew and massive investment in primary healthcare and the consolidation of the mega school initiative of his predecessor, all this he has demonstrated in the last three and half years of governing Osun. Since November 27, 2018, Oyetola has used the instrumentality of government to empower the poor.
In today’s world, a major plank for measuring the success (performance) and failure (non-performance) of any administration is how it has successfully meets the needs of its people in the provision of modern social amenities like education and healthcare delivery, the twin antidotes to poverty and incendiarism. Good governance, according to James Callaghan, is one’s ability to perform and deliver, in line with the yearnings and aspirations of the people. The strength of great Nigerian leaders like Ahmadu Bello, Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe was in their ability to do what their people wanted.
Their ability to provide what their people desires, their ability to see their own people from their own perspectives. They were not selfish, they did not seek wealth and above all, they had high spiritual investment. They have genuine love for their people.
This is the reason why they had such a large army of truly committed followers. There is no gainsaying that Oyetola is one of the few leaders in the present political dispensation, who shares the progressive ideals of these great leaders. The foregoing explains why he continue to receive deserving laurels for his refined and honest approach to governance, focus on socio-economic development and practical provision of solution to age-long problems.
Every where he has been to, Oyetola has earned a lot of respect for his leadership skills and strong character traits which has won the state a lot of developmental mileage. As a state with almost arid financial profile, there is no doubt that the greatest assets of the state are goodwill and its human resources. Osun is very blessed this time, to have a man who understands the needs of the people and enjoys immeasurable level of goodwill nationally and internationally.
There is no gainsaying the fact Oyetola governs Osun State with exemplary commitment and uncanny humility that evidently borders on deep-rooted fear of God. To state that the success of Oyetola administration is as a result of good parental upbringing, deep-rooted fear of God and his bull-like determination to pursue people-driven cause is to state the obvious.
He was in the noblest sense of the term a servant leader. Going forward, do we need any one with power of clairvoyance to know the future promises an exciting moment for the people of Osun if Oyetola is re-elected? There is no iota of doubt that the appreciative people of Osun State who can compare the present Oyetola era, when they are empowered with the era of successive administrations, when they were pauperized, will obey the law of reciprocity in deference to saying that one good turn deserve another. | No doubt, Osun don’t need an experimental governor that lacks the vision to tackle the myriad of challenges facing our beloved state.
Aminu writes from Ilobu, Osun State
