Whether you believe in creationism or evolution, you arrive at a place in history where humans lived first as individuals, then as communities that soon required leadership. From the leadership of one man showed bravery in warfare or wisdom in handling a matter, humans created the dictatorship or the monarchy. Other experiments continued with forms of governance such as aristocracy, oligarchy, theocracy and even anarchy where one man who was popular or strong enough could seize the reins of government. None of these systems could however guarantee that the leader would perform in office and deliver good leadership for the benefit of the people.
And so, the Greeks invented Democracy as the surest system to ensure that leaders were directly and immensely responsive to the need of the people. The basic idea was that if the leader was elected by the votes of the people and dependent on them for another term in office – he would do right by them. Political thinkers through the ages – from Baron de Montesquieu to Thomas Paine to John Locke and so many others – took the thoughts behind Democracy further and concluded that although not perfect, no other system could guarantee service to the people as one in which they had the power to elect, re-elect, reject and even impeach their leaders through their representatives, as Democracy.Abe Lincoln captured the essence of Democracy by describing it as the government that is of the people, by the people and for the people: elected from among them, understanding of their challenges and empathetic towards them; dependent on the people for continuance in governance and for the people because the people can remove it at any time.
In advanced societies – political leaders will do anything to make the electorate happy, because they understand that their being in office is by the gracious votes of the citizens and that even where elections are still far off, there are means of removing a person from office in the electorate are unhappy. When the votes of the people count in elections, the result is a leadership that fully and solely serves the interest of the people. The degree to which the journey of the elected officeholder’s journey depends on other forces determines the extent to which he or she fully serves the interest of the people. If that journey partially depends on godfatherism, thuggery, military imposition, electoral manipulations, vote-buying etc –the service of that officeholder to the people is reduced.
Democracy only works for the people if the vote of the people counts.
In Nigeria, we have seen true democracy only very rarely. We know of politicians who are more loyal to their godfather than to the electorate: because they were bankrolled by a godfather to win popular support and the godfather still had to pull strings to get them elected. We know of officeholders who spend more time acting as personal assistants or Automated Teller Machines to forces in the presidency in Abuja: because that was how they got into office. We know of those who simply amass wealth into their personal coffers in anticipation of vote-buying, thuggery and INEC compromise.
This is why Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke excites me – his political trajectory is unique.
His elder brother was the late former Governor Isiaka“Serubawon” Adeleke who served for less than two years before the Third Republic was truncated in November 1993. Much beloved by the people of the state, Serubawon managed to establish the Osun State Polytechnic in Iree and completed the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation in his short time in office. Serubawon was then elected to the Senate in 2007, ousted in 2011, releected in 2015 and died in 2017. Ademola Adeleke’s own first election was merely to complete the Senate tenure of his elder brother but fate had other plans.
Senator Ademola Adeleke contested the 2018 gubernatorial elections against GboyegaOyetola and was allocated 255,023 votes to Oyetola’s 255,505. I was on ground for that election for the PDP. I witnessed the sheer robbery and knew that the victory for democracy was yet postponed again.
And Oyetola did not disappoint democracy. It is like marrying a person against their will – no matter how much you claim to love them, they would always resent you. Worse is that a part of you will know that your best efforts would never be enough to force them to love you. So sometimes you try, sometimes you give up and act selfishly. The laws of life can never be breached and so it is with democracy. You cannot expect an imposed leader to be beholden to the people if their votes are not what brought him into office.
For four long years, Osun stood by patiently, waiting for the next election to reaffirm their choice of Ademola Adeleke and contribute to his unique political trajectory. There was no godfather to fallout with or keep appeased. His own elder brother by blood was closest to that role and as a closely knitted family, they could agree and disagree but only internally.
I was on ground again when Osun spoke again: Adeleke won with a majority of 403,371 votes to Oyetola’s 375,027. The people did not rejoice alone but all of us democrats rejoiced too – confident that this governor would deliver for the people and for democracy.
Having no godfather to repay financially, having a direct personal love from the people, eager to protect the family legacy and cement the bond with Osun forever – Ademola Adeleke had no other choice than to deliver. And from all I have heard – he is on course.
Moving swiftly to pay salaries, emoluments and pensions, constructing and rehabilitating more roads than any previous government in Osun within the same time period, setting up an audacious NGN100BN infrastructure to construct roads, flyovers and schools, wading into unpopular traditional ruler disputes, undoing the legacy of “Hafusa” as the Osun workers call the wicked ‘Half-salary’ policy of APC – Adeleke is the perfect epitome of democracy and he fully understands the assignment.
Observing him from a distance, I remember his emotional and heartfelt “e kuiroju! e pele!” statement during the debate: this is a man who is empathetic and has a deep love for the people. And he loves to be loved by the people. He longs to please them. This is what Solon had in mind when he proposed democracy to the Greeks. This is what political scientists propound must be in place for democracy to function and deliver. Adeleke in Osun is the democratic ideal and the perfect epitome of democracy.
I have followed his trajectory very closely but with personal distance: my idea of him is therefore only what is reported in the news. I have met him on few occasions as political engagements coincided, but never extensively and neither have I witnessed his works firsthand beyond media reportage. Now I have come to see but must first purge my admiration publicly.
Because democracy demands a keen and objective eye for the sake of the people, for the sake of Gov. Ademola Adeleke himself and even more for the sake of the Adeleke posterity. Perhaps also for the sake of we his “Demola” namesakes too.
No good will come from my merely adding my voice to the plethora of sycophants that attend the ears of those in power. I have met and closely observed a few Governors in my days, seeing projects and sitting with them to understand the purpose. Only three ever immensely impressed me– Sule Lamido of Jigawa whom I call ‘My Father and Leader”, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo and Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa. What I looked out for was their philosophy of governance, beyond the grandiosity of their projects. I am from Isokun in Ilesha too and so my motive must be purified and emptied of all adulation, for the sake of our peoples in Osun. Only my grandmother’s pounded yam can now compromise my sight and voice, and Mama Alawo is long dead.
The democratic ideal has so far been observed in the present instance of Ademola Adeleke; now let us see if the political theories and evolutions of power that led to democracy, are accurate in saying that Ademola Adeleke must perform and deliver good governance for Osun.
‘Demola Olarewaju is a political media strategist, public affairs analyst, student of Nigeria’s political history, and currently a Special Assistant to H.E. Atiku Abubakar.
