Rauf Aregbesola: A Rare Gem At 62

“This is no mean achievement. You walked the path, talked the talk and did the job,” Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to ex-Gov. Rauf Aregbesola during handing-over ceremony to successor Gov Gboyega Oyetola, November 27, 2018, Osogbo.

My first personal encounter with this enigma called Rauf Aregbesola was in year 2000, even if tangential. I had just quit my unchallenging career as a senior civil servant under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in Lagos by “retiring” myself in resignation, but this is a story for another day. I had just resumed as a manager in the conglomerate of Otunba Mohammed Jobi Fele, known as Jobitex Industries Limited, as the marketing manager. That was after a short stint with the multi-national, United Parcel Service, UPS. The business mogul and Chairman of Jobitex International, now late, Mohammed Jobi-Fele had invited the then Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, to come inspect a bad portion of one of the roads in Marwa Gardens, in Ikeja Central Business District, Lagos. Otunba had just opened for business, the Regency Event Centre situated on the said road now named after him and I was assigned to manage it. Being shrewd businessman that the late Chief Jobi-Fele was, and now with the benefit of hindsight, I think it was a strategy to drum it to the ears of the young commissioner to repair the muddy stretch of the road for good access to his business.

Anyway, Commissioner Aregbesola and entourage arrived on that wet morning for on-the-spot assessment. Meeting Rauf for the first time and from a safe distance, I saw a lanky, light skinned young man, with well-cultured beard. His dressing gave him away as a Muslim, spotting a long, snow-white Jalamia and skull cap to match. Anyway, he once said he’s not one to shy away from manifesting his religious inclination.

It was one of the briefest ceremonies I ever witnessed then. He briskly walked round, inspected the derelict road, and went back to his Alausa Government secretariat office, without the fanfare which his hosts, my Chairman and I, had prepared for him. Few weeks later, workmen from his ministry were seen with equipment, mending the road such that late Otunba Jobi-Fele, himself a man of high taste, was full of praises for Aregbesola and the Lagos government which he worked for. Such is the stuff the then Commissioner Aregbesola, who would later govern Osun, is made of: prompt and quality delivery.

It is impossible for such a figure not to have fables around to his person, just like the late sage Obafemi Awolowo would. Awo was said to be appearing and disappearing in the moon, which we kids of yore actually believed. Rauf has many to his person. I heard of a popular one long before becoming his aide. The fable is that Rauf is the Alfa, or prophet, to his party chieftains in AD, AC, ACN and APC, and that any decision that the party would take, especially on the choice of a gubernatorial candidates in Lagos or in southwest states, must first go through Aregbe, who has a powerful Alfa in Ilorin, and finally to Saudi, to go consult with another big Alfa over there. Funny? Maybe and maybe not.

Another myth claims that Aregbe is so tight-fisted that those who get largess from him are those who can be diabolic through engaging the services of strong babalawo, alfa or wolii. I once witnessed a certain young man from his Ilesha homestead, in 2014 after the election, who wanted audience with Ogbeni, and accompanied to Government House by a long-robe wearing bearded man holding rosary and a holy book. As the young man went inside to meet with Ogbeni, the Man of God (or god) started reading profusely from the holy book, definitely interceding for his client to have mother-luck with the Governor.

Many may not understand why Aregbesola is the undisputable alter-ego of the APC national leader Bola Tinubu, and why he is so dear to and trusted by the Jagaban Borgu.

Hear what Asiwaju once said of Rauf: “many people wonder why Rauf is so dear to my heart. Others just wonder. They think of the two of us as conspirators. Yet others believe he has an unusual hold on me and can easily get me to do anything he wants and vice-versa.

“The truth is we have a relationship of mutual respect developed over many years of struggle. This struggle takes place simultaneously at two levels: first is the never-ending struggle of myself and Rauf over ideas, the significance and purpose of mankind and the best strategy to use political power to bring out the humanity rather than the bestiality in men. Sometimes I win the battle by drawing arguments from and examples from the liberal-democratic values that my training and orientation in the matured democracies of the United States gave me and sometimes Rauf wins by his advocacy of dialectics and socialist principles….

“Once we disagree to agree, one thing is certain: you can be sure Rauf will execute with precision. There’s no doubt that when you have such a relationship, things get to a point when you don’t even need to argue over some matters because there has been some precedents we would have taken decisions on certain principles. In such instances, adherence to the rules of the game makes it easier to move to action. This meeting of minds is what is perceived as Control of Rauf by Bola or vice-versa by many people”.

Today, Rauf is looming large in Lagos, his adopted state, after having served his mother-state of Osun for eight straight years in selfless but struggle-entangled governance, which his entire life seems to manifest. Without sounding immodest, I can smell a selfless leader, even from the distance and Rauf is definitely one.

Ogbeni is a rare breed who usually and boldly confronts scourges such as corruption, bad governance and mediocrity in governance at any given opportunity. He says it as it is or as he feels without caring whose ox is gored. He is a pain in the neck of the Peoples Democratic Party, which he claims had run the country aground. He speaks out in bare when others try to be diplomatic with words or prefer the silence. This was manifested in Abeokuta during the last governorship campaign visit which had the President, Tinubu and other party chieftains in attendance. Aregebsola spoke out the minds of the party and refused to allow what he labeled Awon Alagabagebe, the hypocrites, to have their way without hot tirades and invectives poured out on them.

He refused to receive his pay for the eight years he served as governor; neither does he have any account in Nigeria or elsewhere. During his 61st birthday last year, his good friend based in Ile-Ife, approached me to provide the bank account of the then governor, for him to pay into as a present for the birthday boy. He couldn’t believe me when I told him Oga does not have any bank account, home or abroad. Then, how does he survive? The Oranmiyan once told us, his aides, that he survives on goodwill from friends, especially in Lagos and his position as governor provides him his basic needs of food, mobility and shelter. But despite this, the governor’s office in Abere and his official residence in Oke-Fia GRA could be compared to a market place whenever he is in any of them. People would come around for all manner of assistance, which I learn he often granted. There’s yet another fable around him that his highpoint of happiness is when he’s able to assist as many that seek his assistance. He’s said to be overjoyed whenever he sees masses of crowd. That’s a mark of a great leader-politician which he is.

As the Oranmiya Gbogbo Osun marks his 62nd year on earth, we join thousands of his admirers to wish him good health and wisdom to continue to serve.

Akinola, a publisher and media consultant is based in Osogbo