'if an election is simply a one day snapshot of transient mass delusions, then democracy is not a very noble form of government". - James Bovard.
In dealing with people, a leader who has tasted the pie of leadership first is always considered to have made what Keats referred to as "a heard Melody which is very sweet". Sweeter still, are the unheard melodies. Explainably, If you did well as a governor, people still have the notion that another person, given equal opportunity, may still do better. On the other hand, If you tell them you want to emend some errors made while in office, they will remind you of WS who says "when corrections lie in the hands of those who committed the error, to whom are we complaining?". The only message that makes some sense to the people in this kind of circumstance, is telling them convincingly what you can do differently.
One fact that we can't controvert is that reality is relative to scheme. What count as real in one system may not be in another. It's for this reason that whoever seeks a second chance to make a first impression in a political environment has to be prepared to answer thorny questions - Former Governor Alao Akala on my mind.
One strong weapon that Gov Akala apparently banked on to sweep the carpet off other candidates is his experience as a former Governor. That probably explained why he found answers to some of the questions thrown to him using the past relatives "When I was, I did". To me this amount to a misjudgement of common perspective. The listeners are not waiting for seekers of a new mandate to over-theorised his past exploits. The general belief is that the strongest yesterday may not be strong enough today, the reason why the search for a political leader is said to be "an unending quest"
The former Governor did well by telling the public some of his selling points in his first term which he quite obliviated about to his advantage. But he didn't see any further need to tell us in parenthetical details the novelty he can bring to the system. And that is the unforced error.
In today's world, as the Americans say, only agile leaders beat the competition. In this context, agility is defined by the ingenuity of the leaders to innovate, renovate and be some miles away from others. What, in other words is called "keeping up with the Joneses". In modern system, old formular may not solve a new equation. This moral is probably lost on the former Governor.
To deny the purpose of thinking is to block the road of enquiry. If someone simply assured you that he will do something because he has done it before, he has robbed the listeners the right of asking "how differently". Everything in life obeys the natural law of change. A pragmatic listener will refer all thinking, all reflections to consequences and final test. The final test is the rationality. What Satre called "filtering the knowledge of the world through the principle outside the world. I doubt if former Governor Akala prepared for that as accentuated in today's debate.
For instance, One of the pertinent issues raised by Adelabu Adebayo of APC bothers on the imperative of maintaining peace and social order as a recipe for social progress and how previous administration before Ajimobi unabashedly embraced disorderliness thereby muddling the pool of the social contract they signed with the citizens. Even if the former Governor tried to change the fiesty days story by force, the listeners are more recondite to have forgotten so soon how their daily activities were interrupted with sporadic gunshots and unbridled display of rascality during that era. By all measure, Governor Akala's administration, was far from being sackless. This is too obvious for a new emphasis.
Talking of the duo of Senator Lanlehin of ADC and Princess Bola Sarumi of NIP, they merely used the occasion to tell the audience what they felt people wanted to hear. They said too little to convince majority of the listeners that they have a get-up and go mentality that modern governance system demands. The moderator, who apparently was not fully in charge, did little to grill his priced guests on their ability and capability. She apparently only used them to do a test-run of how to handle such task in future.
However, Oloye Adelabu Adebayo, made a difference. He did not come to impress anybody. Through his well articulated delivery one could easily decipher his unflagging zeal and determination to accelerate the pace of governance in Oyo state. He didn't only tell the listeners what he planned on paper, he explained in details, how the plans would be giving life on ground. He put into perspective his svelte vision for making Oyo state the economy-hub of the SW in no distant future. He also pinpointed how he has been taking care of the less privileged through his Bayo Adelabu Foundation and how he will re-erect the social system in a way that will favour both dorminant and disadvantaged group when voted into power. On improving IGR, he stated that his over twenty six years life has been devoted to generating money, thus it would be easy to replicate the magic formular in driving Oyo state to the next prosperous level. No wonder why others were building their castles in Spain during the interactive session, he just smiled and said "enu dun rofo"- it's a simple task to prepare vegetable soup by words of mouth.
Even when someone among the audience who probably could not differentiate policemen and the ordinary people in campaign train wrongfully accused him of allowing gun wielding civilians to follow him, he never lost his temper, he only dismissed the unfounded allegation and later enlightened the person why he has never and will never support any act of violence because he is a man of peace.
All told, Oloye Adelabu Adebayo has a family name dearer to his heart, he can be trusted never to do what will drag the name in the mud. He repeated this oft times during the debate. People trust him.
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