Ijesa North 2019: Where Do You Stand?

IJESA NORTH 2019: WHERE DO YOU STAND?

By. Pelumi Olajengbesi, Esq.

It is today 241 days left to the 2019 general elections. As I set my thoughts on paper I am steadfastly mindful that we move closer to the day and time when we must go as one to cast our votes in expression of our choice and confidence in a variety of elective offices. That time is as much with us now as it will be next year when we exercise the power of our franchise for good and for competence.

Barr. Pelumi Olajengbesi

According to the INEC Timetable, party primaries for the Federal and State Elections would begin on August 18 to end on October 7, 2018. This period is scheduled to cover party primaries and all internal resolution of disputes within political parties arising from the primary elections.

For our dear state of Osun, perhaps as a reflection of our peculiarity, the employ of our PVCs as a tool to re-engineer and reposition the state for better would be coming up on the 22nd of September, 2018. Much more sooner than the general elections but indubitably significant and portentous. On said date, the people of Osun would be on the queue to vote in a new governor and the agenda is to get it right this time and make our votes count.

To say Osun state and its people have wallowed in penury and misery for many years would be to undermine the state’s longest years in abject lack and directionless leadership. We as a people are going through not just a difficult time but an almost impossible one to survive in. People work without pay, invest without profit, plant without harvest and everybody seem to be stranded owing to failure of leadership. Survival has become a sacrilege.

Our succor today is that there is a set date to how long our people should endure. September 22nd, 2018’s gubernatorial election in Osun State will no doubt signal a new narrative in the life of our people. It is a date with a profound significance for the state as a new course would be charted by the people for progress and transformation.

The mission before us is a rescue mission, this must be the imperative of our choice at the poll; a simple choice between visible failure and reliable progress, between strife and rescue, empty promises and real action, staying stagnant in suffering or taking steps away from suffering. By September 22 of this year, the people must cast their vote for the credible alternative represented by the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).

The PDP in Osun State is currently parading courageous patriots who evidently have an unadulterated desire to liberate the people. Our governorship hopefuls are people with intimidating credentials and seals of excellence. It will not be about politics stimulated by religion or primitive sentiments this time around but service and competence. The atmosphere is really harsh, Osun needs a fresh air.

That fresh air, good and needed as it is for Osun state and Nigeria as a whole, is particularly needed in Ijesa North. Ijesa North needs a new direction, a new and effective schematic for development and growth. Ijesa North needs a fresh understanding of leadership, an alternative to what we have experienced for almost 20 years. We need a rebranded quality representation in the National Assembly and we must take a stand now.

I have said severally that progress is evidenced and not professed. If we as a people clamor for change then we must evidence it in our words and actions. We must walk the talk now that it matters and be counted now that it counts. We must try new measures and ways of doing things now that it is clear that we are not where we should or could be. As with most decisions in life, we always have alternatives. I present myself as that alternative, sworn to the rescue mission much needed across board.

It has been said that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men and women to stand by simply looking. In our political context, by refusing to get involved in the political process either by speaking up or voting we lose the right to complain when things go wrong. The exercise of one’s franchise is one of a citizen’s most patriotic duty to his or her country in a democracy. Once one has made the conscious choice to get involved, the next responsibility is to make the right choice armed with the truth about the competence, selflessness and records of those contesting.

Simply said, take a stand today for good not for bad, for a system that values ideas and not worship wealth, for an ideology that envisages progress not stagnancy and for a choice that is most interested in creating a legacy of success and development. Politics is not a place of wealth, but of service and dedication. Take a stand today for the right values and ethics.

I must conclude this brief note with a purposeful reminder of my candidacy in the race for the House of Representatives seat for Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency. I have presented myself for service driven by the conviction that we are surely not where we should be and so must move eagerly in the direction that we must for progress. I place premium on the people and what the people want and need. This is my abiding creed, to be selfless and dutiful, to have no priorities outside the desires of my people and to serve and not be served.

I ask for your support for my candidacy in recognition of the fact that I can only do this with your support. At the general elections next year, particularly in the House of Representatives election for Oriade/Obokun, I implore the men and women of Oriade/Obokun; men of craft and letters, mothers, fathers and our effervescent youths, to go all out and vote me in that we may begin the urgent work of repositioning our constituency and state for greatness. The Itura Agenda is the people’s mandate with the blessing of God.

Alot of people see the primary election as the next challenge, but I do not look at that because it has been taken care of. We now only look forward to the proper election where everyone’s vote will and must count. I have taken my stand, what is your stand?

Barr. Pelumi Olajengbesi is an Abuja based lawyer, rights activist and an aspirant for the House of Representatives Seat, Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency.
Osun State.