By Popoola Babalola: Dear Asiwaju,
I trust that
this letter will meet you in the best state of health and in highest
form of sound mind. I am also hopeful that your family is doing well in
all ramifications.
I will like to
congratulate you, on the success of the APC in the 2015 general
elections. No individual in modern day Nigeria has worked as much as you
did to get us to where we are. This is some considerable level of
success. Never in Nigeria’s political history has the progressive taken
control of the centre until now. I believe this would not have been
possible without your immense sacrificed and doggedness.
For this, I want
to thank you and express my profound gratitude for helping us in seeing
a matured democracy. Without mincing words, your role as a democrat and
a leader of a virile and strong opposition has helped us sustain our
democracy and build a solid nation.
Also of note is your role in the deliverance of Southwest from reactionary politics.
Since the year
1999, you have continued to provide vision and leadership to the region.
You have been able to guide us from the era of serial embezzlers to an
era of serial performers. The quality of leadership you have provided
has resulted into tremendous development within the region. Across the
Nation, Lagos has become the template for infrastructural development
and Osun has become the acceptable template in social welfarism. You
have redefined political leadership, and have put Southwest on the front
burner of Nigerian politics. This is evident in the emergence of the
Buhari/Osinbajo ticket, which defeated a sitting president and
demystified the power of incumbency.
As we set gaze
on the horizon for the dawn of the new administration birthed from your
struggle for a better Nigeria, I am taking the liberty of this medium to
call your attention to two salient issues. These issues are crucial to
our beloved Southwest. The timing of this letter is based on the recent
release of the proposed APC’s zoning formula. The choice of the medium
is founded in your open-mindedness and your positive attitude to
receiving different viewpoints and putting them into consideration for
decision making. The first issue bothers on the election of the
leadership of the National Assembly while the second issue relates to
nominations and appointments into the Federal Executive Council of the
incoming administration.
With the
inclusion of Prof Yemi Osinbajo on the presidential ticket of the APC,
the leadership of the party in the Southwest has set the tone for other
regions to follow. This inclusion meant that the South western axis of
the party is committed to putting credible candidates forward to
represent the region in the pursuit of national development. The
vice-president elect is an erudite lawyer and a man of integrity – whose
vast experience in legal practice and as the attorney general of Lagos
State speaks volume on the caliber of service he can render to Nigeria
in his new office.
It is on the
foundation of his inclusion on the ticket that I now seek to build my
discussions on the two (2) issues for which I write. Regardless of the
zoning of leadership roles in the national assembly or whatever
positions the party decides to zone to the Southwest, it is important
that the region continues to provide the best hands for such roles. This
is important because of the marginalization and the not-so-good
representation of the Yoruba race in the outgoing administration. Yes,
we were marginalized – the Southwest did not get enough quality roles in
both the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council. Where
Yorubas were appointed for roles in government, they were people of
questionable character and dubious history. How shall we describe the
role of Senator Hosea Agboola as a Deputy Majority whip of the senate?
Or how do we describe Jelili Adesiyan’s appointment as a minister of the
federal republic? These are men who cannot express themselves in a
logical manner and whose speech were never articulate. Or how shall we
classify Senator Musiliu Obanikoro’s role in the outgoing government?
These men, by
their roles in the outgoing government, have placed heavy question marks
on the sophistication and educational prowess of the Southwest.
Consequently, now that we have a voice in the national government, we
must put the best men forward, to bring back the southwest’s reputation
for being the intellectual brain box of our dear nation.
Specifically, we
must seek to provide representations with good quality in the
leadership of the lower and upper chambers by ensuring a merit-based
emergence of members as leaders. Based on house rules and practice,
members are appointed into leadership position based on their
legislative experience and their rank in any of the Houses. An analysis
of the newly elected Senators revealed that only the duo Senator Sola
Adeyeye, and Senator Jide Omoworare meet the said requirements. A
comparison of the legislative credentials of these two (2) lawmakers,
using legislative experience and performance in the chambers, points to
Jide Omoworare as the most qualified for a leadership position in the
red chambers.
Apart from being
young, Omoworare has a combined legislative experience of 12 years
covering his stints at both State and Federal legislature, making him
the Senator from the South West with the highest legislative experience.
In terms of performance, information has it that he sponsored about 9
bills on the floor of the Senate in the last four (4) years – the
highest of all the senators from the Southwest. Omoworare played crucial
roles in the exposure of the scam and fraud dubbed as “subsidy” in the
petroleum industry. He displayed so much unrivalled courage and bravery
in a PDP dominated Senate, and remained the only lawmaker to have called
for a division in the 7th Assembly. The call for division is a line
toed by only astute and recognized lawmakers in developed democracies.
The profile of this young man shows he is a qualified lawyer who holds a
masters degree in his profession. Truly, Asiwaju, I think he deserves
to occupy the highest leadership position coming to South West in the
8th Assembly of the Senate.
In the same
vein, the indefatigable Femi Gbajabiamila qualifies for the highest
leadership role zoned to the Southwest in the House of Representatives.
Like Jide, Femi has about 12 years of legislative experience and he is
also a seasoned lawyer. No one can argue against his effectiveness in
the 7th Assembly, first as a minority leader and later as the majority
leader after the formation of the APC. His stellar performance, quality
of delivery on the floor of the House and courage in front of a federal
government backed opposition has carved a pan-Nigerian outlook for him.
Of course, it is
certain that nothing I have stated in this letter will be new to you.
You know both of them – as a matter of fact they were under your
tutelage during your tenure as the governor of Lagos State. However, I
believe that it is only important that you receive an outsider’s
perspective and opinion of the legislators that the leadership of the
Southwest APC will tap for leadership roles in the 8th Assembly. As a
matter of fact, both candidates provide for a balance in the internal
politics of the Southwest region. While Jide hails from the Oyo-Osun
axis of the region, Femi represents the Lagos-Ogun Axis. It is my
projection that this selection will allow for more inclusive political
interplay within the region.
In the same
vein, the Southwest leadership should also nominate and support
credible, experienced and cerebral individuals for ministerial, federal
board and parastatal appointments. Federal appointments should be
merit-based. APC cannot afford to adopt the model of the outgoing party
were men of questionable characters were appointed as ministers just to
fulfill the wishes of some demi-god. How shall we classify the tenure of
Senator Ogunlewe, who was the Minister for Works at one time and could
not find a lasting solution to the Lagos – Ibadan expressway? Or what
was the impact of the late Haruna Elewi who believed that GSM is not for
the poor while serving in the ministry of communications.
Lastly sir, you
are revered by the people in my generation as the greatest manager of
human resources in Nigeria. We believe in your ability to spot talents
in people and put them in positions where the best of their abilities
can be used for the greater good. In the light of this, we have a firm
believe that you and the APC leadership will select people with proven
track and public records to take strategic positions in this new
government. Asiwaju, please, bring back our Southwest of intellectual
and effective political actors.
Let the best men represent us in the Buhari/Osinbajo government.
Dr Adedayo Yusuff
Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
Tshwane University of Technology
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