various reasons which include the ridiculous and the altruistic. The
election, like the bulbous aquatic creature, octopus, could be hinged
on eight legs. What do the Osun election and the octopus have in
common? The octopus has eight legs just as Osun governorship election
is taking place in the eighth month of the year. Considered as the
world's most intelligent invertebrate, the octopus has a wide range of
techniques through which it thwarts attackers. In like manner, the
Independent National Electoral Commission has devised some strategies
to thwart plans by unscrupulous politicians to rig the election as
INEC chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday vowed that the Osun
election cannot be rigged. The virtue of the octopus was brought to
the fore at the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa when Paul, the
Octopus, made stunning accurate predictions that brought him global
attention as an animal oracle.
Unlike Paul the Octopus, proffering an accurate prediction for the
all-important election would be a Herculean task but a little journey
down history lane and a look at emerging political issues could open a
window into where the pendulum might likely swing on August 9. The
eight legs of the octopus include:
The real battle
Although Osun is the epicentre of the election battle, the
battleground is Nigeria and the ultimate prize is the Presidency. The
election is about Jonathan and Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the likely
presidential candidate of the APC. The election is about the North
seeking to reinvent itself in a reordered Nigerian polity, where it is
fast losing hold on power. Jonathan, however, seems to be having an
edge with the gale of impeachments hitting APC-controlled states, the
North-East insurgency diminishing the possibility of conducting
elections in the region and the recent victory of the PDP in Ekiti.
South-West perception
The Jonathan presidency is largely perceived by the Yoruba as
anti-South-West with the lopsidedness in federal appointments against
the people of the region. Only, the post of the Chief of Staff, a
non-constitutional and non-executive role, is the highest a Yoruba
ever got in the Jonathan presidency. Leaders like PDP Board of Trustee
member, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, have dismissed the insinuation that
the president had treated the Yoruba with disdain, insisting that the
President has appointed some Yoruba persons into important offices.
Speaking during his defection on Tuesday, Oyinlola lamented that
Jonathan did not appoint a Yoruba into any of the top posts in the
country. He also said, "Omisore is greedy. I don't know who killed
Bola Ige o. The person nominated by Omisore to replace me as national
secretary of the PDP was with him in prison (when he was standing
trial for Ige's murder); the person he nominated as minister of police
affairs, (Jelili Adesiyan), was with him in prison too. The person who
is being nominated to run for Osun-Central senatorial district post
(Kunle Alao) was also with him in jail. The state chairman of the
party, (Gani Olaoluwa) was also with him in jail? It is only his
deputy governorship candidate (Adejare Bello) that did not go to jail
with them. Are we saying that if you don't go to jail you can't lead?
The inability of the Jonathan administration to solve the problems of
insurgency and insecurity has become an albatross for the PDP.
Osun political history
Historically, the emergence of Isiaka Adeleke in January 2, 1992 as
the first executive governor of Osun State on the platform of the
Social Democratic Party, a party peopled by self-styled progressives,
and the ascension of Bisi Akande to power as governor in May 29, 1999
on the ticket of the Alliance for Democracy set the political foot of
Osun on 'progressive lane.' But when Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a former
Military Administrator of Lagos State, whose father was an ardent
Action Group supporter, emerged governor in May 29, 2003 on the
platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, the political landscape of
Osun was set to be dominated by the 'conservatives,' an appellation,
by which the PDP is largely called. However, there is an insignificant
line of difference between the ideologies of the PDP and the All
Progressives Congress as defection by politicians from both political
parties is as easy as stepping through a door. Actions by politicians
of the two leading parties depict lookalike Siamese twins.
PUNCH
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