A two-term contender for the Oyo State governorship seat, High Chief Ademola Ayoade, shares his thoughts with The Punch on Ibadan political dominance in the state, among other issues
Which part of Oyo State are you from?
I’m from Igbo-Ora. I contested the Oyo State governorship election in 2003.
Your group, the G22 Renewed, has been agitating for rotational governance in Oyo State. What do you think is wrong with the current political setting?
We are not agitators; we are asking for our rights. Let me walk you down memory lane. In 1979, Chief Bola Ige was the governor of Oyo State. While preparing for the 1983 election, the Unity Party of Nigeria adopted him as their candidate. Then, the Ibadan people came up with a witty slogan: ‘Omo wa ni, e je o se’, which translates to: ‘He is a son of the soil, let him proceed.’ However, they also made sure that the National Party of Nigeria picked an Ibadan indigene, Dr Omololu Olunloyo, as the party’s standard-bearer to contest the election with Bola Ige.
After the NPN picked Olunloyo as their candidate, the Ibadan people again came up with another slogan: ‘Omo wa ni, e je o se e, a wa ni a ma se’, which translates to: ‘He is our son, let him proceed; it’s now our turn to govern the state.’ That was how Olunloyo became the first governor in Oyo State.
Ever since, Ibadan has dominated the political landscape of the state, except for the period when the late Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala served as Oyo State governor for four years. So, we are unanimously demanding a governorship candidate from the other zones — Ibarapa, Oke-Ogun, Oyo, or Ogbomoso.
Eleven local government areas of Oyo State have been dominating 22 other areas. Is this not an injustice? If it’s not justice, we are asking for our rights, equity, and fairness. So, we are not agitators.
Are you saying other zones are marginalised?
If a particular section of the state has been at the helm of affairs for 26 years, what do you want to call that? Is that not marginalisation? Ibadan has been governing the state for 26 years, and it’s not fair; it’s injustice. So, it’s time for the people of Oke-Ogun, Oyo, or Ibarapa to produce the governor of the state, and we are serious about it. We mean it, and we will use all legitimate means to get the governorship seat, by the grace of God.
Our group, the G22 Renewed, has the numerical strength and the voting pattern, and we are going to use that to get the governorship seat. Go through INEC’s records and check the data, and you will see that the population of Ibadan indigenes is just 30 per cent. The remaining 70 per cent of the population comprises non-indigenes and people from other zones who are insisting on governing the state this time around. This means Ibadan is just one-third of the population of Oyo State.
Events have proven over the years that in any general election in our state, the votes from Oke-Ogun determine the final winner. So, in a nutshell, we are asking for equity, justice, prosperity, peace, and progress in Oyo State. We do not have an anointed candidate for the governorship position. The governor can come from Ibarapa, Oke-Ogun, Oyo, or Ogbomoso, and we will mobilise our sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers to vote for any candidate that emerges from the G22 zones. I can assure you that we are united, but I won’t reveal our strategies here.
How do you want to manage the emergence of a candidate from the zones?
I believe the various political parties will determine the candidates deemed qualified for the Oyo governorship race. But what we want from these parties is to look inwards and pick their governorship candidates from the 22 local government areas in Oyo State, making up the G22. We will vote massively for whichever party chooses our son.
You mentioned the emergence of the late Chief Alao-Akala, a former governor of the state, as accidental. How do you mean?
You are aware of what happened then. Alao-Akala was used to settle a rift between the giants of the PDP who were at loggerheads in those days. I won’t say more than that.
Can you share your experience as a two-term governorship candidate in Oyo State?
The first time I contested the Oyo State governorship seat was in 2003. That was the first time a non-Ibadan indigene contested for the governorship. I canvassed for votes, but many people didn’t take me seriously. They thought I was just part of the number participating in the election.
I took part in debates organised for all the governorship candidates and performed very well. But there was such a gang-up that nobody from Ibarapa could become governor. Even people from Ibarapa didn’t believe I could make it. I received reasonable votes only from Oke-Ogun proper, where I got 7,000 votes. From Ibarapa Local Government Area — the three Ibarapas — I got 650 votes, 200 of which came from my polling booth. They doubted that a non-Ibadan indigene could become governor.
Again, the mindset of the people is that you must be wealthy to contest an election. However, I made it clear to them that I would prioritise their interests if I became governor, being a grassroots politician who knows where the shoe hurts them.
What does governance mean to you?
Governance is a call to service, and anyone aspiring to contest an election must understand what is happening in the corridors of power. I had the rare opportunity of being a Special Adviser on Security Matters in Oyo State to two military administrators: Col (Ike) Nwosu, who later became a Brigadier, and Col Ahmed Usman. I knew what it takes to be a governor and what goes on in government.
The position of security adviser also allowed me to know Oyo State inside out — its needs and how to satisfy the people. One of the critical needs is a good road network, particularly in Oke-Ogun, Ibarapa, and Ogbomoso, which are our food basket. If they produce food and there’s no good road to transport it to markets, it is wasted effort.
Another crucial need is security, because Oke-Ogun, Ogbomosho, and Ibarapa share boundaries with the northern part of the country. So, the influx of cattle grazers and herders remains worrisome for them.
Credit: The Punch
