By Sunday Olugbenga Abire
Democracy is codified in the essential will of the people invested on the shoulders of carefully chosen individuals who must run the race for others. They take decisions in consonance with the yearnings of the people who have surrendered their will to their representatives in government. At all times, the ordinary people who hire dictate what is right or wrong and a deviance by those in power is always met with serious dissonance from the people. Although, guidance in leadership is a top priority of the leaders who must also listen to the led while creating values for them.
Akure, the capital of Ondo state and its inhabitants experienced Christmas earlier than the rest of the people of Ondo state with the removal of barricades popularly called the ‘Wall of Jericho’ erected to prevent the movement of people along Ọba Adesida market.
The ecstatic jubilation was akin to getting a favourable king who the people dearly love in a community that has suffered interregnum for decades. Everyone, old and young, trooped out to praise and pray for Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa whose singular decision to identify with the predicaments of the people along that axis by removing the barricades met them well. On a jocular note, they even took it for their Christmas present.
However, we cannot make a clear distinction between Hon Aiyedatiwa and his boss who erected the barricades for whatever convincing reason at that time. We must be careful not to be carried away by populism lest we repeat a sordid history of hate, vilification and resentment. You didn’t read that David had no problem with Saul until the people started a banal comparison? Oh well, Saul killed a thousand, David killed ten thousand as chanted by the people caused a needless rancor that led Saul into extreme wickedness and ultimately, destroyed him and his crown. While we see this win as one for the people of Akure and Ondo state, we must be careful not to create enmity for a wise Lucky who saw the plights of the people and brought succor to them without delay.
From the era of Alexander Baumgarten who coined the term aesthetics and summarily tilted towards the intellectual angle rather than feelings, there have been endless controversies on what constitutes beauty. Oscar Wilde, a 19th century philosopher didn’t even agree with him till date. Does this make anyone wrong or right? Things change. Laws are remodeled daily to meet up with developments that were never envisaged at the time of conception. This is probably a major reason why books are written in editions. Life itself is dynamic. Suffice to say what obtained when Aiyedatiwa’s boss conceived the idea of the ‘Wall of Jericho’ is no longer there today and it doesn’t make any of them right or wrong. This must be emphasized lest we feel one is deliberately obliterating the legacy of another. There will be no need for such bad blood in our state. Aiyedatiwa is holding the torch to perfect the legacies of his boss for the benefit of the people of the sunshine state who hired them in an inseparable ticket for the purpose of good governance.
Interestingly, that axis of Akure deserves barricades that befit 21st century town planning. The Acting Governor has taken a cue from what obtains in major cities of Nigeria and Akure should not be an exception. We must commend without delay his sensitivity to the yearnings of the people who hired this government to serve the ultimate interest of the majority of the people of Ondo state. This shows that the people are truly the kings in every democracy. Their voices must be respected and Aiyedatiwa scores so high on this. It is a low-hanging fruit for him.
There are many areas that the voices of the people have been and will be raised. This is a litmus test to the fact that the Ondo state Acting Governor listens, acts and respects the people who he has been chosen to lead at a critical time like this. I am persuaded that if Aiyedatiwa is encouraged by critical stakeholders and the ordinary people of Ondo state, he will make a lot positive impacts in the governance of Ondo state. May Aiyedatiwa succeed. May the sun shine in Ondo state.
