Author: Abiodun KOMOLAFE

When the history of Osun State is written for posterity, one of the critical areas of intervention where Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s name will be written in gold is education. While other areas of his Midas touch are already in the public domain for inquiring minds to behold, the recently-upgraded College of Education, Ilesa to the University of Ilesa necessitated this piece. On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, Governor Oyetola assented to the law seeking to upgrade the College to a full-fledged institution of higher education. According to the governor, the “carefully conceived as a thoroughly entrepreneurial and innovative” University of Ilesa…

Being a former British Colony, Nigeria had the political misfortune of being bequeathed with a public administration system that was based on a ‘Migrated Social Structure’; and it could not have been otherwise. After all, it’s the only systemic public administration structure known to the British. Consequently, and right from the outset, the tools of public engagement at all levels, in particular, struggled with the norms and values of Nigerians. Absent the domestication of the intrinsic norms, ethics and usage of the colonial administrative system over a period of time, the emergent system acquired a life of its own; deformed,…

Let me start this rather short Tribute by stating that the story of my contact with Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and my eventual employment at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) are already well-documented in the manuscripts of my future book. Let me also confess that this event-filled connection was the culmination of the timely interventions of men like the retired Archbishop Olukayode Akinyemi of the Anglican Archdiocese of Kwara; and Oba Oladele Olashore, the late Ajagbusi Ekun of Iloko-Ijesa in Osun State, in the affairs of my life. When, even with the possession of entry requirements, all hopes of…

The Osun Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) has announced October 15, 2022 as the date for Local Government and Local Council Development Area elections across Osun State. According to the Commission, “all the inhibiting factors and circumstances against the conduct of the elections have been ameliorated.” However, the Osun State Chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to boycott the elections because they would “be wasteful” as well as run afoul of “the provisions of Section 28 of the Electoral Act 2022.” From the look of things, Osun PDP seems to be a lone ranger as other political parties…

When we were growing up, we were treated to the fact that, whether things were convenient or not, elections, globally, were contests; that membership of a political party was a thing of pride; and that, in a contest, ‘you win some, you lose some.’ We were told that, in every contest, a candidate from a pool of aspirants would always emerge; and that, ‘while those who win end up thanking their stars’, losers would always go back home, most likely looking forward to fighting another day. Well, these contextual explanations become necessary, especially when one considers the experiences of the…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)-monitored party presidential primary elections have come and gone and, as the saying goes, the rest is history! With various candidates pushing private agenda, diverse groups’ interests being articulated, and differing institutional preferences already being canvassed, all eyes are now on the 2023 General Elections. In all, interesting times await Nigerians! That said, it is no longer news that, no matter how difficult it is to measure the impact of religion or religious beliefs in politics in Nigeria, it remains contestable in the public domain. However, the interesting thing is that the candidates of the…

In 2018, I wrote a piece on the then governorship candidates of the leading political parties in Osun State. In the article, entitled ‘Osun: Picturing into the future’ (ref: The Nation, September 18, 2018), I tried to showcase each candidate’s quality as well as what his candidature meant for the peace and progress of the ‘State of the Virtuous.’ The election took place on September 22, 2018. Evidently, a lot has happened within the last four years: one of the candidates eventually became the state governor and he is almost completing his first term in office while another has gone…

In a matter of weeks, voters in Osun State will again cast their ballots to elect a governor who will run the affairs of the state for the next four years. With governorship candidates drawn from different political parties fighting hard to occupy ‘Bola Ige House’, July 16, 2022, promises to be a battle of wits between diverse contenders: the incumbent with experience on the one hand, and the political greenhorns, on the other hand, all jostling for the highest office in the state. Without a shred of doubt, it will most certainly be a clash of supremacy between unpretentious…

The political formation, which eventually secured Nigeria’s independence, was powered by the ideals of independence, and Nigerians expected that the country’s domestic affairs would be wholesome. However, immediately after the independence issue got sorted, her internal socio-political contradictions and grey public administration dynamics became manifest. To put it mildly, things that were hitherto not so observable, even by the political gladiators, were evident to the public, especially the educated Nigerians. The transfer of power was just a ceremony; the government’s policy contents and implications on the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day administration became dawned on the people onto whom the power…

The Osun State APC Governorship Primary, won by the incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola, has come and gone; a winner has emerged and losers have also started licking their wounds. So, the rest, as it is often said, is history. But, just like any other contest, there are lessons to be learnt. First is the issue of crisis management in political parties. In fairness to posterity, the structure and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State deserves commendation for its ability to prevent the feud from escalating. That Osun APC showed firmness and leadership skills in…

The strategic engagement tour, recently embarked upon by Governor Gboyega Oyetola, to all the Local Governments Areas (LGAs) in Osun State, was a veritable look-back mechanism, which afforded him a rare empirical assessment of the public administration journey so far. It was a good opportunity to have a peep at the status of his performance profile. Also, it was an assessment of reality, very robust and truthful interaction with the people, and a sociological opportunity to evaluate, first-hand, and undeniably, the impact of his administration on the governed. It is sociological in that the electorate would remember that the governor…

Of a truth, Nigeria’s major predicament is that those who occupy the driver’s seat in her public administration have masked their interest to appear as if it is the public interest. Of course, the pursuit of this interest is to the advantage of those leaders and their cronies while the led bears the brunt. Regrettably, this informs the types of policies being churned out by the leaders which, in turn, inform the outcome of our peculiar public administration and … our brand of politics. As the saying goes, the wrong we see are oftentimes symptoms of a deeper ailment! Well,…

In the last three years, the alleged hostilities between Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State and Rauf Aregbesola, his predecessor in office, stayed only in the realm of speculations. But, a week or two ago, the cat was eventually let out of the bag when the Minister of the Federal Republic openly confessed that there ‘are now two factions in the State Chapter’ of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Thenceforth, the battle line seemed to have been drawn. But, while the shadow boxing lasted, it is on record that Oyetola has remained focused, unmoved by the display of inanities by…

On September 29, 2021, the Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola clocked 67 years on Planet Earth. It is therefore fitting to congratulate him on this significant milestone. As we have seen over the years, one defining attribute of Governor Oyetola is that he is quiet. Of course, this rare-but-much-coveted attribute of leadership, which has become somehow emblematic of his persona, has gone a long way in affecting public administration in Osun. The shrewd administrator is also patient, attentive and meticulous. Beyond the shadow of about, his penchant for details makes holistic planning feasible for him. He is a compassionate…

Politics, ultimately, is about the people. Policymakers always allude to the interest of the masses as the raison dètre of their policy contents. It, therefore, goes without saying that all policies appear to be people-friendly until their implementation when the real and intended beneficiaries are exposed. At the outset, every administrator tells the people that the policy he or she is making is tailored towards the betterment of the lives of the citizens. So, we are familiar with the expression, ‘on behalf of the masses.’ Due to the peculiar nature of politics and public administration, especially, in Nigeria, policies are…

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and Olugbenga Babatunji are two leaders in their own right. While Oyetola is the Governor of Osun State, Babatunji is the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Osun. Through their talents and efforts, they are also two of a kind. While the former, representing the State, superintend the public administration of the State as well as political needs of the good people of Osun, the latter, a Religious Authority of the Christian Clergy, ministers to the spiritual needs of the adherents of the Anglican faith, in particular; and the Christian religion, in general. Recently, the paths of…

The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ijesha North, Rt. Revd. Dr. Isaac Oluyamo, has urged the factions within the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), in Osun State to stop creating a crisis between Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, his predecessor in office. The Bishop said that, since the governor has come out to say that there is no rift between him and the former governor, who is now the Minister of Interior, members of the party should bury their hatchets and join hands with the two leaders to help the state grow. Bishop Oluyamo made these…

Let me start by making a categorical statement: this intervention is not aimed at apportioning blame to any of the factions, so to say, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) currently at daggers drawn in Osun State. On the contrary, it is intended to be a gentle nudge on all the aggrieved persons from both sides of the disputations towards a viable alternative option of peaceful resolution of thorny issues. It is also aimed at dwelling on why reason must, as a matter of necessity, prevail in Osun politics, especially, among members of the same political family. Thinking deeply, orun…

Both time and moments are separate but distinct realities. They are both real but, at a point, one ceases from the realm of conscious reality. Whereas time is a reoccurring phenomenon, moments are recorded in time. Still, it lives on in the inner recesses of our minds. The important thing to note here is that one must take moments seriously. Time will reoccur but the moment won’t represent itself. The way out? Let us be time-conscious and use the time to make the best of the moment. A year ago, my father, Pa Sunday Alaba Komolafe, was alive on Planet…

All in the name of playing politics, people churn out information that is not only bogus and vague, but also injurious to the body politic because they lack credibility. On the pages of newspapers and broadcast media, opinions of Nigerians have swayed to and fro, back and forth, concerning the political economy of the State of Osun. While some say that the state is in huge and crippling debt, others have argued that, despite the financial challenges of the ‘State of the Virtuous’, the prudence and zero waste tolerance approach of the current managers of its economy will see Osun…