All Is Set For The Governorship Election Race In Osun State, Nigeria.
RACE for the government house in the forthcoming 22nd September 2018 governorship election in Osun State Nigeria is gathering momentum. The prestigious position in the state will be contested for by fourty eight(48) candidates.
Statements gathered from the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje just last week indicates that fourty eight different political parties have been officially registered for the governorship election. He confirmed to Journalists that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has completed all preparations for a free, fair and credible election in the state. He affirmed that adequate security preparation has been made for a peaceful and hitch free election. He called on all registered voters who have not collected their PVC to do so immediately so that they will not be disenfranchised from performing their civic duty as citizens of the state.
He observed that just a few days to the election, in a state with a population of about three point five(3.5) million people, only about one point two (1.2) million registered voters have collected their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) while about six hundred thousand voters are yet to collect their PVCs for the election. INEC for the success of the election he said, has trained appropriate number of Election supervisors, Ad hoc staff, technical staff, Electronic Card Reading machines, Transportation for staff, sensitive and non sensitive materials, Ballot boxes, Voting cubicles etc for the number of wards and voting centers where election will be held in the state.
The different political parties in the state recently conducted their primaries to nominates their candidates or party flag bearers for the governorship race and it is envisaged that whoever wins the ballot box battle amongst them will be the peoples’ choice and mandate to replace the incumbent All Progressives Congress(APC) ruling party governor, Engineer Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, whose two terms in office ends on 27th November 2018.
Political parties in the state have commenced public rallies and campaigns in towns and cities covering the thirty (30) Local Government Areas of the state. Party rallies in the state were very colorful with many party National Chieftains and state Executives in attendance and attracted a huge crowd of their supporters and the general public. Rallies enhanced the opportunity for parties to present and introduce their candidates and his deputy to the public. They all at the campaign podium greeted the audience, expressed what motivated them to vie for governorship, establish their competence for the top post in the state and presented blue print of their manifestos to win support and votes..
Since the commencement of public rallies by political parties in the state, notable parties that have made meaningful impact and created awareness amongst the people are: Social Democratic Party(SDP), Action Democratic Party(ADP), Peoples’ Democratic Party(PDP), All Progrssives Congress Party(APC), Labour Party(LP), Acoord Party(AP), Restoration Party of Nigeria(RPN), National Rescue Movement Party(NRMP) and quite a few of the young newly formed parties in the country.
All the candidates in their speeches in rallies made pledges and promised the people they will solve the issues or crises facing the people and the state if voted into power.
Many political observers and analysts within and outside the state of Osun do not share the view that the APC ruling party should be allowed to return to power as is the intention of members of the party thaier candidate for the election will win and build on the achievements of the out going governor.
Contrary to peoples’ believe that Mr. Aregbesola worked hard and achieved a lot for the growth of the state during his tenure, many critics however strongly oppose the way he treated civil servants in the state with his modulated salary policy, late payment of salaries to works in the state, the issue of unpaid pensions to retired civil servants and their patient and cry for justice did not attract any solution from the state government.
In the area of health care, many said he performed poorly as many government hospitals in the state are without drugs or appropriate working facilities for the different categories of professional medical staff and this is attracting massive brain drain in the state.
Many applauded his model secondary school building program in the state, but blame him for not addressing the falling standard of education in the state. Many believe that government schools in the state lack trained professional teachers, lack appropriate teaching facilities and many of thestudents perform poorly in external examinations.
Critics see Mr. Aregbesola’s ‘Oyes’employment program in the state as inappropriate with poor salaries for graduates of tertiary institutions expected to be gainfully employed in Industries, Teaching and working in research Institutes conducting research for technological development of the state, are seen been engaged in sub-standard jobs ment for the middle age, aged, primary school leavers and illiterates.
People did not like the way local government councils in the state were striped of power during his tenure. As the third tier of government and their proximity with the people at the grassroot, people want the powers and autonomy of the local government councils in the state to be returned back to enhance building, repairs and maintenance of roads, streets, street lights and other public facilities provided in wards for the people in each LGA in the state.
Many, despite the fact that the state has thirty(30) good working refuse disposing vehicles and well trained sanitary inspectors, they still raised eyebrows that waste disposal system for a healthy environment in the state is poor. They want more sanctions to be put in place in the state to curb the excesses of market women and tenants in residential buildings in the state who block well built drainages with market, home or kitchen wastes which causes floods with loss of lives and properties with heavy rainfall.
People of the state of Osun want a visionary and focused leader, who will be friendly, compassionate at all times to solve the problem of the masses, who will be transparent and will be accountable to the people in his service for the development of the state. We need a leader that will mend all cracked walls in governance that have in the past marred the progress of people and the growth of the state.
We need a leader that will make policies that will improve agriculture in the state to provide food and raw materials to established and yet to be established industries in the state. The people are praying for a leader that will harness the natural and cultural potentials of the state to develop the Tourism industry to generate revenue and above all must be a leader that will use his personality and wealth of experience to attract local and foreign investors to reduce unemployment and move the state forward.
The cry in the state is also loud for a leader who will spend within his means, improve the civil service as the power house of the state and reduce to minimum workers’ unrest in the state. We need a leader whom God will give the wisdom to work together as a team with his chosen executives, plan and work hard to increase the Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) of the state, reduce burrowing with federal government subvention or allocation to the state fund laudable projects for the social and economic development of the state.
Contesting party candidates in the state have in different radio and public debates organized by concerned institutions in the state, answered important questions as to their competence, how and what they wish or hope to do differently to solve the enormous administrative crises facing the state particularly the ownership and funding of Ladoke Akintola University Of Technology, Ogbomoso(LAUTECH) which will be taken off the shoulders of the incumbent governor when he finally leaves office this year.
The multiparty system of democracy in Africa pose great threat to peace, transparency and acceptability of election results and has always brew crises amongst the people in many nations in the continent where elections are not properly conducted. Politics the English adage says is a dirty game. This notion makes everybody involved (The candidates, Electorates, Party Agents, Security Agents, Observers and most importantly the independent government Umpire) in the ballot box process of choosing a leader to shun all forms of compromise, they are usually nervous and unfriendly until election results are officially announced.
The cost and rigors of electioneering in multiparty system is much. However, many party members fund candidates to lessen their burdens, majority of the candidates in the newly formed parties are new to politics and the opportunity of their effort in public campaign may be limited by funds.
In the coming Osun state governorship election, political observers however foresee the possibilities of parties merging or forming alliance or electorates voting for the candidate of any of the popular political parties, if he or she is competent and qualified to lead the state for the next four years.
Many domestic and international observers, Television and Radio media organizations from within and outside Osun state are expected to cover the election.
The state of the living Spring people are praying with great hope that the election will be peaceful and people will make their vote count and will choose a good leader who will rewrite the history of the state.