Your Excellency,
I am compelled to write this open letter to you when I got the hint that you wanted to proceed to the Supreme Court as an aftermath of the Court of Appeal judgment which has upheld Sen Ademola Adeleke as the governor of Osun State.
Before going further, let me first express my knowledge of Yoruba culture lest cynics who may choose to read this open letter upside down accuse me of teaching an ‘elder and a leader’ what is right.
In the Yoruba culture, elders do not make mistakes. Their words are considered to be full dose of wisdom and adequate knowledge. Even in the event that what an elder does is the direct opposite of what is right, in Yorubaland, you still do not say it is a wrong.
I am sure Your Excellency will agree with me that no man is an encyclopaedia of knowledge in the present day, and that is especially true in politics. The best advice, nay counselling, can come from anybody or the least expected quarters, hence this open letter from me to you.
Why am I making it open when I could easily have called you to offer it? My response would be this. While the contents are for your consideration, other influential, sane and politically sound minds around you will assist in further expatiating my points when discussing this letter.
Your Excellency, though the final decision is yours but my advice to you will be to stop further court processes and allow sanity to prevail in our polity.
Apart from the waste of time and money on either side that the exercise would entail, the mounting hostility, unwarranted apprehension and insidious tension it is causing the people that you love are beyond imagination.
Should you be the one to heat-up the polity? No, not at all. You are too gentle and pious not to accept the will of Allah as occasion and circumstances would have dictated.
You have been blessed above thousands of your contemporaries and have been a blessing to humanity.
The history of Osun State would be incomplete without your tenure and persona occupying a whole chapter, to say the least. In Nigerian politics, and at the Federal level, some roles still beckon. In the much-vaunted axiom of our elders: He who carries on his head a whole elephant must not be seen to be scratching the ground for crickets.
In Osun State, having done your best, it is about time to leave the rest and indeed time to rest your case.
Sir, there may be reasons to fight or challenge a course, or a cause for that matter. However. it is advisable to set a limit and expiration period. After all, he who fights and retreats as due is not a coward, but that who wants to strategise for a future battle. 2027 is around the corner for a rerun.
Whatever is happening in Osun APC is about you and yourself. The unseen ones that may be encouraging you (push may sound rude) to fight on are the people we call ‘users’ in political parlance. In most cases, it is the leaders that use the followers but in situations like this, the followers always want to use the leader. Sir, show them that you are wise.
Your Excellency, please be introspective as this time calls for a sober reflection. May your name and image not be sacrificed to satisfy selfish and egocentric politicians.
In your quiet moment, lock yourself in a room and ruminate, think in retrospect, dissect, review and reflect on your political fortunes, the unfortunate circumstances that caused the present misfortune.
It is only when the cause of a sickness is known that an appropriate medication will be prescribed. I want you at this stage to project into the future with the mindset and believe in Allah that you will definitely rise up after this fall.
As a student of politics, I know that election is about the people and politics is played as a game. The cumulative effects of a discord between you and your predecessor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is worthy of your consideration as a factor for APC’s calamities.
As you rightly know, a house divided against itself is bound to fall, and the inhabitants are bound to perish in the debris.
The APC in your camp are not the type that will sing a song for the masses to echo, they have bastardised the ethos and ethics of good governance and presumably are the bunch of opportunists that are now encouraging you to proceed to the Supreme Court.
The cumulative effect of APC elders’ and leaders’ panorama in addition to the endearing love for the Adeleke dynasty paved way for a destined and determined Sen Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke to emerge as the governor-elect.
It does not require the Biblical wisdom of Solomon to know this is the simple summary of what played out in Osun elections.
It may interest you to know that while the ‘war’ was on, Adeleke remained focused. He was scheming and planning his strategies with the best heads and various professionals in his campaign team. This paid off and he is now the Governor-elect, daily performing wonders through the delivery of good governance and dividends of democracy.
People who did not vote for him at the gubernatorial poll have come to openly apologise and affirm his election as God's venture that can never be an abandoned project.
His Ede abode is now home to the governed from all across Osun State and beyond. He seats and eats with them and as a politician never cared if they use his fanciful curtains as napkin. Such is his level of tolerance and simplicity.
Your Excellency, you may not be aware, your ardent supporters in the state have silently crossed over and shifted base because of exceptional performance of your successor. This is also reflected in the outcome of the House of Assembly election where the only place your party won was Ifelodun constituency.
Is it really worth being a Governor in the midst of a mammoth PDP-controlled House of Assembly? This is why I think it is not worth it proceeding to the Supreme Court.
I believe further that challenging the outcome of the election and the recent Court of Appeal judgment will give a wrong impression about your personality to the generality of Nigerians who are keen observers of the happenings in Osun.
The tendency is there to perceive your challenge as querying God. This I believe is not your person. You are genuine and gentle like a dove.
You and I know the consequences of losing face and respect when a person is tagged to be a desperado, a cheat, an opportunist and above all an oppressor.
This is not my wish for you.
Those who made attempts at disputing God's authority in one way or the other often lose their voice and relevance. Again, this is not my wish for you.
The rejection of APC in Osun State is confirmed. The recently concluded elections were messages; they are indeed some unspoken words of wisdom meant for you to decode.
I am not one of the people who believe that you are not appreciated in Osun state.
To garner 375,027 votes is a good show only that the majority of 403,371 preferred your successor, Sen Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke.
My honest advice is for you as a major stakeholder in Osun is to rally support for the governor-elect so that Osun State can move forward.
To insist that their wish must be wished away through “technicality” or back door arrangements, using extra-presidential power is wrong, ungodly and totally unacceptable.
You will remain an hero if after reading this letter you put a call through to your brother, Sen Adeleke and congratulate him. You may wish to sample opinions, he is making you proud; success without a good successor is a failure.
President Goodluck Jonathan is much younger that you in age and wisdom. He did the uncommon thing by congratulating President Buhari to teach an inherent lesson ensconced in the spirit of sportsmanship. You win today, you lose tomorrow, it is never the end of life, it continues.
We know the respect accorded Jonathan globally for displaying maturity and respect for the wish of the electorate as is known in a functional democracy.
Your Excellency, kindly replicate this good gesture in Osun and have your name recorded in history as our hero that deserves a resounding ovation.
May God guide you right.
Ẹ kú òùngbẹ, sir, and my utmost regards to the family.
Yours sincerely
Diran Odeyemi