OGUN 2019: THE YEWA-AWORI CONNECTION AND THE YAYI PHENOMENON
By: Deacon Tobiloba Akinbola
As the race to who succeeds Senator Ibikunle Amosun in 2019 after his constitutionally guaranteed two terms in office gather momentum in Ogun State, all eyes are on Ogun West Senatorial District of Ogun State to produce his successor in the interest of justice, fair play and equity. Since the creation of the state some 42 years ago, the driver’s seat as Ogun State governor has always been occupied by Ogun citizens from Ogun Central and Ogun East Senatorial districts of the state to the exclusion of Ogun West. Before the advent of this present nascent democracy in 1999, the Ogun East and Central occupied the position with Chief Bisi Onabanjo of blessed memory and Chief Olusegun Osoba respectively.
Again with the return of democratic rule from the military interregnum which further saw an Ogun East Citizen in the person of General Oladipo Diya as No.1 in Ogun State, the people of Ogun West has continued to play second fiddle with the ugly effects that the area is the least developed in terms of infrastructure and other indices in the state.
It was not for want of trying that the people of Ogun West have been denied a right in a tri-podal arrangement that is Ogun State. From the time of Chief Onabanjo, Ogun West people had always thrown their hat in the ring with many personalities like Chief Tunji Otegbeye, Professor Afolabi Olabimtan, late Dele Arojo, General Tunji Olurin (Rtd), Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, Prince Gboyega Isiaka and a host of others. With successive attempts, it seems the people of this deprived senatorial zone, learning from experience are getting nearer to the seat with 2019 look good for the zone. This agitation is further bolstered by the incumbent governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s public declaration of his support, whether genuinely or otherwise, as well as that of General Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd), for the zone in the 2019 race for Ogun state governor.
However issues have been raised on which major sub ethnic group in the zone should have the slot at the first instance. We have majorly the Yewas (Egbado) and Aworis predominant in this 5 LGAs senatorial district with other groups like Egun, Anago, Ohoris etc as further sub ethnic groups. Till date the major group agitating and mostly presenting aspirants has been the Yewa people located in 4 LGAs out of the 5. So naturally as the race opens again for 2019, it is argued that the Yewa people from 4 LGAs should have the first shot much the same way Ijebus had the first shot before the Remos in Ogun East and Egba Alake before the Owus in Ogun Central. As said the reason for this are varied. The first has been mentioned in terms of the Yewa people mostly championing and presenting previous aspirants in time past.
Secondly in terms of LGAs and Federal Constituencies, the Yewas far outnumber the Awori who are found mostly only in one LGA, Ado Odo Ota. In this wise, if the matter were to be decided on the basis of LGAs and federal constituencies, then Yewas that stretches even into Ogun Central in such areas as Ibara in Abeokuta South LGA and Abeokuta North in the Oke Ogun area should have a first shot at the frontline in the 2019 race.
Expectedly, there has been a rash of aspirants showing interest in the race from Yewa axis than the Awori so far. This may be a reflection of the above multiplicities of LGA and Federal constituencies for the Yewas than the Aworis. While some have argued that the huge voting population of the single Ado Odo Ota LGA should commend itself to the Aworis having couple of aspirants like the Yewa, such argument failed to take into reckoning that the huge population of the LGA are not indigenous to the LGA in the sense of being all Aworis. Indeed after Aworis, the major indigenous ethnic group is mostly Yewas who settled here from all parts of the Yewa heartland. Many are Nigerians from other states who settled here for business or in transit to other parts of Nigeria. Besides such huge population is mostly a factor in the general election and not in the process leading up to political parties’ selection of candidates. In the later, the Aworis would be out numbered, all things being equal at the ratio of 4:1.
So this leads one to the prospective aspirants from Yewa axis of Ogun West. So far none have made open declaration but from consultations and mobilisation ongoing one prominent aspirant in the race is an APC Senator from Lagos , Solomon Olamilekan Adeola aka Yayi who came pre-2015 to contest for the Ogun West Senatorial District seat but was frustrated by the incumbent and surprisingly picked the same seat in the largest senatorial district in Nigeria, Lagos West. The Senator who had won elections consecutively for 4 times from state legislature to the House of representative and now a Senator is regarded as a grassroots mobilizer which he amply demonstrated in the run up to the 2015 election in Ogun state in what is obviously a paradigm shift in the way politics is done in Ogun state. He is equally reputed to have a deep purse to pursue the ambition of becoming Ogun state governor which has been a major impediment to previous and even current aspirants from the areas, a fact that always lead to the accusation of “Yewa o le’yan” meaning that Yewa people lack those well connected and qualified persons able to finance the project of becoming governor. So far Yayi has laid that derogation to rest in the way he operates and has entrenched himself in Ogun state politics. Another factor working for Yayi is the fact of his support base is not based on the fact of just letting the Yewas have it for once in the 42 years history of Ogun State. It is increasingly a pan Ogun state support for one they hope will replicate a model of effective representation he is noted for as a legislator and the good governance and development experience of Lagos State over the years of which he is a constant player.
So far he has been able to garner critical support from other senatorial districts of the state rooting for his yet to be declared ambition. Such support is coming from the former speaker of OGHA, Rt. Hon. Tunji Egbetokun, from Ogun Central, the APC senatorial chairman of Ogun Central Hon. Kunle Adesina, Hon Osibote, a former member of House of Reps from Ogun East, Hon Tunde Kope, a former consultant to Governor Amosun, the former council chairmen and woman respectively of Ijebu Ode and Sagamu, Hon. A. Daada and Hon. Funmi Efuwape and many others in that category across the state.And there are many political party stalwarts from PDP, SDP and even UPN that are rooting for his emergence as Ogun governor of Ogun West descent in 2019. In this connection of being firmly rooted in the two other senatorial districts with key political figures, one can say no other Yewa aspirant have such a support structure across the state beyond Ogun west at present.
Other notable APC aspirants from Yewa axis like Hons. Abiodun Akinlade, Kunle Akinlade, Rt. Hon. Suraju Adekunmbi, present Speaker of OGHA, Tolu Odebiyi, the Chief of Staff to Governor Amosun and Kolawole Lawal Moboluwaduro,(KLM), a commissioner in the state, all have one thing in common: they are all closely associated with the incumbent Governor, an association that is not entirely a plus in the calculation towards Ogun 2019. Indeed it is almost a tradition in Ogun State that voters have antipathy towards any aspirant associated with the incumbent in general elections. It is also not clear how the multiplicities of aspirants in the camp of the incumbent will react to the envisaged endorsement of one of them by the incumbent. The ‘fratricidal’ fall outs of such preference may be the undoing of any choice from that camp beyond the aforementioned antipathy toward installing successor by incumbent in Ogun State. The only other notable aspirant from Yewa in PDP is Prince Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka, GNI. His major claim to the slot is the fact of contesting for the seat on two previous occasions but he faces daunting challenges now on the issue of party affiliation and resources to face other aspirants in PDP. It is known that PDP in Ogun State now is firmly under the control of Hon. Ladi Adebutu from Remo, and it is no secret that Hon. Adebutu intends to run for governor in 2019 with PDP in his back pocket. How GNI is going to overcome this challenge is what puts a question mark on his aspiration as a Yewa Awori flag bearer.
With Senator Yayi, it seems the Ogun West people may be putting their best foot forward towards attaining the elusive 42 years goals in terms of a qualified candidate, with requisite political experience which many agreed is needed in Ogun state for even, sustainable and all inclusive development as well as structure that is well oiled unlike previous experience when Yewa candidates will wait for handouts from willing and unwilling godfathers with agenda of their own. But as of today Yayi will have to contend with the factor of a GNI and any aspirant thrown up in the multitude from the camp of the incumbent. Whichever way it goes it is paramount that the history of injustice, inequity and unfairness in the running of the affairs of Ogun state in the last 4 decades and counting will end in 2019.
Deacon Tobiloba Akinbola, is a retired teacher from Igan Okoto in Yewa North LGA, Ogun State.
