Alaafin to Aregbesola: Choose and Impose Your Successor

By Olabode Abolaji

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi has urged Governor Rauf Aregbesola to choose the next Governor of Osun State so as to build on his legacies.

Aregbesola is expected to leave office on November 26, 2018 after completing two terms of eight years since 2010.

Speaking at the governor’s 60th birthday Colloquium in Osogbo on Thursday, Oba Adeyemi told Aregbesola to “single handily choose the person to occupy the Governor’s seat when he leaves.”

The first class traditional ruler in Yorubaland opined that the decision is borne out of the need to complement and protect the various legacy projects of the Osun helmsman.

The Alaafin of Oyo said “I was at a programme in Lagos, then the former Governor of Lagos, Babatunde Fashola was berating Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for imposing candidates on Lagosians. I was initially afraid but when Tinubu rose to speak, he said, Do not mind Fashola, If we did not impose, how would he (Fashola) would have become Governor in the first instance.”

“So, I am urging you (Rauf Aregbesola) to pick who comes after you because you have legacies that must not be tampered with in the annals of history. I pray that you will live long for God’s manifestation of his wishes for you.”

Also, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II showered encomiums on the Governor, urging him not to relent in his job of transforming Osun.

The Ooni of Ife also presented a portrait to the celebrator in honour of his significant contributions to the peace and harmony of the state and the Yoruba race at large.

Other speakers at the event including the Minister for Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, Former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Sen Olusola Adeyeye, Prince Tunde Ponle, Prof Fagbenle commended Aregbesola’s zeal and commitment to the course of human development through physical infrastructure.

They submitted that the multi various achievements of the Rauf Aregbesola government would in no distant time yield results for the prosperity of the state.