OPINION: Way To Development Hegemony

By Olakunle Abimbola

Twenty years, down the line from 1999, Lagos is an exciting national reference.

Under Governor Babatunde Fashola, SAN, it led Nigeria to facing down and checkmating Ebola.  Now, under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, it is leading the country, with the same sure-footedness, against the Coronavirus pandemic.

Lagos may be the Nigerian epicentre of COVID-19.  But hardly anyone frets. The public feels it is being well handled –just as Fashola proved, during the Ebola threat.

But both Fashola and Sanwo-Olu (with the short-lived Ambode, between them) were no accidents.  They were — and are — logical results of a lodestar, ignited under the Bola Tinubu governorship (1999-2007).

That star has re-made the Lagos horizon, earning it a nationwide awe and sparkle, only a few could have imagined, way back in 1999.

Some 10 years from now too, counting from 2010, Osun may well be commanding regional, if not national, awe; in development hegemony (read mass prosperity), that would have vaulted it, above its South West peers.

But that too wouldn’t be an accident, if it happened.  Rather, like Lagos, it would follow logical cresting, from a lodestar dating back to the Rauf Aregbesola governorship (2010-2018), which revolutionary fervour gave Osun politics and policies a rare re-birth, and even rarer people-focus.  Even then, every subsequent governorship, from Oyetola down, would have consolidated on the Osun progressive deal.

But this sweet logical progression would be tragically aborted, were the children of that development revolution to fall upon themselves.  That fear is real, given the level of needless dissonance, in the Osun ruling coalition.

Osun, far more than any of its South West peers, appears primed for a sweet people-focused future, should it maintain and deepen its present development momentum.

I remember seeing the facilities at the Anthony Udofia Elementary School, Osogbo, encased in its enchanting decor, and wishing I could regress into childhood, to join the lucky kids — in a quality public school, where I (well, my parents) wouldn’t pay a dime!

Its neighbour, the Osogbo Government High School, has already produced, in Abdullahi Akanbi Akintade, the 2020 best teen scientist in all of Nigeria, besting teen competition, from the other 773 local government areas nation-wide.  Pre-2010, both schools were not there.

Of course, the elementary school kids from lowly homes, daily fed free and nutritious meals — a programme Osun has gifted the country, in a momentous push of the progressive credo at the Nigerian centre — can never forget a state that cared so much for them, in their formative years.

That somewhat reminds you of ancient Sparta.  Sparta took extreme care of every child.  In return, every child grew up a staunch patriot.

That classic love of country climaxed at the tragically glorious pass of Thermopylae, in 480 BC at the Greeco-Persian War, where King Leonidas, and his 300, fought to the last man, for the honour and glory of dear and treasured Sparta.

But not even these children alone: their parent-caterers that plugged in as vendors to boost own home economies; their parent-farmers that supplied the raw foodstuffs; their parent-poultry and animal farmers from whom chicken, beef, fish and other forms of protein were bought; suppliers of pots and pans, for the new business of feeding Osun’s future flowers; and other Osun denizens that plugged into the new opportunities — none of them would forget that exciting epoch, of vibrant opportunities, to banish poverty, by gainful and productive work.

That was novel strategy in state-citizen bonding, particularly with the majority poor and vulnerable, despite Osun’s cash challenge.

Of course, there were futuristic roads, of exquisite and exciting designs, never before seen in Osogbo, the Osun capital —  just as there were aggressive rural access and mobility projects (RAMP), in roads and bridges, to link the rural farming centres to urban markets; aside from rural health and electrification projects.

RAMP, to be sure, is no monopoly of Osun, since it’s a World Bank/international development partners’ concept, into which many states plug though again, Osun, from 2010, greatly leveraged it to boost its rural economy and wellbeing.

Still, only a few states (if any) could match the Osun rare combo of premium investment in its people and in physical infrastructure, so much so that international development agencies gave the state rave ratings, on key human development indices: poverty reduction, education, health, employment creation, and social safety nets — all areas post-2010 Osun has excelled, despite the harsh economic situation.

Of course, it wasn’t all gains, there were pains too! — the most explosive of which was the civil servants salary crisis, which some locals cynically dismiss as “afsa” (half salary).  It was a most trying time, which not a few civil servants, and even a part of the political appointees, may still hold against the ancien regime.

Viewed holistically however, those pains were no more than labour pains, for a state transiting from a so-called “civil service” state, of a few comfy government workers, to investing the common wealth, in the bulk of the people.

True, that transition was painful and highly emotive.  But Osun would appear stronger for it.  Besides, future generations would look back, and fulsomely bless the strong breed that paid the price, and made that difficult transition happen.

But again, the lodestar, ignited in 2010, which signified the new era, blazed by Governor Aregbesola, would pop up.

Still, what really was the Aregbesola governorship and how is it different from the current Gboyega Oyetola administration?

Well, Ogbeni was governor.  Oyetola was chief of staff, some gubernatorial policy streamliner and clearing house.  Charles Akinola bossed the Office  of Economic Development and Partnerships (OEDP), the link between the Aregbesola governorship and international development partners.

The OEDP was that administration’s incubator for economic governance, which bossed the Aregbe-era vibrant innovations in social safety nets and allied direct citizen intervention investments.  That was more or less the nerve of the ancient regime.

And the current government?  Oyetola is governor.  Akinola is chief of staff, taking over Oyetola’s former policy suites, under the old government.  The current government is still committed to the key development temper of the Aregbesola era.

So, what really is the definitive difference between this six and half-a-dozen?  How can key players from the two administrations, virtual policy Siamese twins, fall upon themselves, in needless bickering; when strategic thinking dictates they band together and consolidate their development hegemony, to the long-term glory of their state, and own progressive ideological persuasion?

That more or less, in troubling Technicolor, is the folly of such in-fighting.  More: it constitutes a grave danger to the Osun progressive promise, a far better deal contrasted to the previous conservative era — and the radical development push, between 2010 and now, is ample proof.

Aregbesola has laid the painful foundation, just as Asiwaju Tinubu did in Lagos.  Now, Oyetola is building on that solid foundation.  His aggressive policy in commercial mining, to further open up the Osun economy, is a logical follow-up to the Aregbesola-era massive investment in physical and social infrastructure.

True, Oyetola’s temper is as placid as Aregbesola’s is mercurial.  But so was Fashola’s governor-as-policy-wonk, different from Tinubu’s all-round virtuoso: comfy in the policy suite as he was fizzy on the bubbly political street.

The sum total is Lagos as Nigeria’s post-1999 reference in governmental excellence, a legacy Sanwo-Olu is still deepening, with his masterly handling of the COVID-19 emergency.

In 10 years or even less, Osun stands the golden chance of becoming the development model for all of Nigeria (including Lagos), with no less than 14 states (again, including Lagos) already looking into replicating the Osun social safety net policies.

That golden destination compels a marathon of fierce, deliberate and consistent focus, on the Osun strategic developmental goals.  So, away with reckless bickering and ruinous ego!

That would be a fitting birthday gift to Ogbeni; and a sure path to Osun’s development hegemony, bound to birth an Osun Renaissance.