My Diary: Aregbesola’s Remarkable Entry Into Abere Office

MY DIARY: AREGBESOLA’S REMARKABLE ENTRY INTO ABERE OFFICE
-By Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 is memorable. It marked the entry of the old and the new governors of Osun, into the structure where the office of the Chief Executive of the state is situated.

The new Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola made his first ever entry into the Bola-Ige House, the building that has the offices of the Governor, the Deputy Governor, the Secretary to the State Government, the office if the Chief of Staff to the Governor, among other ones.

Aregbesola is stylish in his approach of doing things. The implications is that he doesn’t rush into actions. When he starts one, he strives to see it through according to initial plans. So he had consciously planned to record a remarkable entry into the office of the governor of the state of Osun on a Tuesday.

Tuesday relates to a part of collections of Yoruba myths, especially the one belonging to the particular cultural tradition of victory. So Aregbesola’s entry into his office on January 18, 2011 symbolises double victories: one, for himself, the new Osun governor, and the other victory for his leader, the old Osun governor- Chief Adebisi Akande.

“Baba Akande”, as popularly referred to, is the brain behind the construction of the Osun Secretariat. As a matter of fact, he galvanised resources from everywhere, including influencing Osun workers in the success of the construction of the sprawling secretariat. Osun never had any befitting one before Akande’s advent.

However, this leader of governor Aregbesola never used the office for one day. He lost the 2003 election that would have given him a second reign in office; wherethus he would have run his second administration from the brand new Abere secretariat that he built.

So it was remarkable that the new Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola asked the old one, Akande to join him in the fresh and first ever entry into The Office of The Governor.

Several other activities took place on that day which the foregoing is not meant to relate. However, a particular incident occurred later in the day. And that is the crux of the matter.

Much after Akande had left, and Aregbesola had started some official matters, including meeting some people, the experience ran into evening.

By 3.30pm or much earlier, some workers in the state secretariate had started leaving for their homes. They trooped out by 4pm, even as it was the first day of Mr Governor in office.

The attitude of Osun workers to work, pre-Aregbesola advent, is best captured in a popular social orientation jingle run on Osun Radio, OSBC. In the short drama jingle, a particular civil servants is rebuked for leaving office before closing time. The worker feigns presence at his duty post by hanging his jacket on the wall; while, actually, he was not going to adorn the material anyway. “He is far away” from his workplace! And the jingle would end with the admonition on diligence at work so that earned monies could be blessed.

Ineptitude and laziness grew brown horn in the Osun civil service before Aregbesola’s advent. Workers had no reason to stay in office till late hours. The situation was actually a top-down infection. The head would leave office earlier, followed by the subordinates.

So, on that day Aregbesola entered his office for the first time, many of the workers had left as usual. They were not smart enough to imaginge that every twin siblings are not identical. That the occupier of the office Aregbesola just assumed did not run evening schedule did not hold same for this workaholic Ogbeni.

In fact, Aregbesola is a night worker. So, by 6.30pm, there was no light in the surroundings of the governor’s office. Almost everywhere was dark. The bulbs and flouricent lights were bad. So the heads at the Cabinet Office of the governor had to run helter-skelter; making phone calls to their workers to come back to office. They were told to prepare to work into much later in the night because Ogbeni was still in office.

By 7.30pm, everywhere had been lit-up after several years of darkness. And the lights have remained so in Abere seventh year running. That is how taste, interest and style of a leader affects and run a system.

The picture above is a microcosm of pre-Aregbesola’s Osun. Today’s Osun is a narrative of remarkable developments which are literarily visible to the sighted, audible to the deaf and palatable to the dumb.

Looking around the streets of Osun, particularly Osogbo, the state capital, during the day is beautiful. However, the colours are breathtaking at night.

In the same sense that Aregbesola’s entrance on Tuesday, January 8, 2011 into his office in Abere as the new Osun governor lit up the Osun Secretariat, the entire state has been brightened up in all ramifications.

In the same manner that Osun workers left office before four o’clock prior Aregbesola’s advent, streets of Osogbo, the state capital, closed at sundown. Residents went to bed immediately at dusk. After all, the streets are dark, thus providing covers for the devil-hands to operate. Hence people took cover in their abodes immediately sun set.

It is apt, therefore to say that security and economic initiatives of Aregbesola, among other ones, started on that ‘victory-day’, when he entered his Abere office. Activities, including such that relates to economy came alive, just as security of lives and properties got assured. Who says tastes and lifestyle of a leader do not impact good governance.