*Photo: Prof Tunde Akanni*
“E lo f’okan bale”, President Tinubu keeps reassuring the nation. And truly, Ede people really are at peace. Victory is sweet, so sweet. Ede will will surely rejoice with you once it’s your turn.
But for what appears to be the infectious tendency of Edephobia tragically exhibited by a retired professor, this intervention would have been shelved. The professor, is an academic senior of mine whom I have known personally for a couple of decades and with whom I once related fairly well. We were actually once neighbours within official premises. I extended the undeserved courtesy of an olive branch to him but he chose to cling to his position.
The election is over. Yet, rather than allow political disagreements to recede into the normal contestation of ideas, some commentaries appear determined to keep alive a narrative that is unfair not only to Governor Ademola Adeleke but also to the people of Ede.
I had expected a better conduct from Professor Lakin Akintola. I also expected the curiosity to learn from history from Biodun Komolafe, an Ijesha man. He took advantage of the openness of The Nation newspaper for his sarcasm, “Long Live Edenisation” to give further visibility to what increasingly resembles Edephobia. Their criticisms seem to me to have misread the unprecedented physical development taking place across Osun State under Governor Adeleke.
This is not to say that a governor should not be criticised. Far from it. Public officials must be scrutinised, challenged and held accountable. The Constitution of the Federal Republic as Amended specifically enjoins that. But criticism should not become an excuse for vendetta, historical revisionism or the unwarranted vilification of a community.
Both the professor and Komolafe would do well to familiarise themselves sufficiently with history, that important realm of knowledge that teaches us to interrogate events in context rather than through the convenient prism of contemporary political disagreement.
What do they know about Governor Adeleke’s background?
His father, the late Raji Adeleke, former Balogun of Ede was a Second Republic senator and a frontline, genuine labour unionist. His journey into politics was not, as some cynical interpretations of public life might suggest, simply a quest for political spoils. He had established himself in labour activism and earned the confidence of his people before his bid for the Senate. His political trajectory was therefore rooted in a history of public engagement and community confidence. Man of the people, you would say.
And why should neighbouring communities not endorse the Ede man?
Few communities, believe this truth telling journo and academic, have the welcoming disposition of Ede. It is a town that has accommodated people from different backgrounds and made them part of its social fabric. This is precisely why Komolafe’s apparent hostility towards Ede is particularly difficult to understand.
Biodun, if you approached the matter with the thoroughness expected of someone writing about history and society, perhaps you would have paused before attacking a community that has been home to several Ijesha people for decades.
Many Ijesha people have thrived in Ede, attended our good schools, worked there, established businesses there and raised families there. Some of us grew up alongside Ijesha friends and classmates without ever being taught to see them as osomaalo.
Indeed, I make bold to say that you are unlikely to find as many Ede people in Ijebu-Ijesha as you will find Ijesha people who have made Ede their home. Incidentally, one of my very own brotherly friend, former NAHCON Chair, Ustaz Hassan, is a most adorable Ijesha man. Ede has historically been more interested in human fellowship than ethnic arithmetic.
Biodun, do you also know that the first daughter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, was my schoolmate? She grew up in Ede as a young girl and, to the best of my recollection, lived the life of a happy child without being subjected to the discrimination that your narrative might lead one to imagine is endemic to Ede. “Ajilala Oso, a ji f’ojo gbogbo dara bi egbin…” is how we are hailed. Please stop cooking bitterness against Ede for petty gains.
The truth which we recognize in Ede, however, is that some people appear to believe that their ethnic group possesses a monopoly on political intelligence and cultural sophistication. The 21st century of globalisation should have taught us better. Agidi adds no value to no one. Biodun, please shed off yours.
As for the retired professor, I make this point with some restraint because of his age, experience and my own relationship with him. He is my academic senior. However, I believed there were better campaign options available to him. Perhaps there were also better ways to make his arguments. But that election has now been won and lost. The people have spoken.
Governance should be judged by roads, schools, hospitals, water, infrastructure, economic opportunities, accountability and the quality of life of citizens, not by the birthplace of the governor.
There is also a historical lesson here. History repeatedly reminds us of the people who are comfortable wielding the sword when it is in their hands but become frightened by the possible consequences when the same instrument changes hand.
Some realities are only now becoming apparent to those who once assumed that political power would forever remain within a particular circle. Komolafe and his ilk should simply brace themselves to live with the democratic consequences of political change. For me, Governor Adeleke, I believe, has no reason to dispense hemlock to those who may once have planted it.
Consider, for instance, the history surrounding an Ijesha man who became governor of the old Oyo State. There were decisions associated with his administration concerning Ede that some people in Ede y found difficult to explain or reconcile with their expectations. That history should invite reflection, not ethnic recrimination.
Biodun Komolafe also raised matters that touch upon historical projects in Ede. Little did the young man know that the waterworks rehabilitation project in Ede during the Bola Ige administration was reportedly awarded to another Ijesha man. Adeleke established University of Ilesha and appointed an Ijesha man as vice-chancellor. Must he do that?
Governor Adeleke is governor of Osun State, not governor of Ede alone. His performance should therefore be judged across the state. Where his administration succeeds, let it be commended. Where it may be inadequate, let it be criticised. Where questions arise over expenditure, policy or priorities, let the relevant institutions investigate them. But please, leave Ede out of the crossfire.
There is nothing inherently wrong with celebrating one’s heritage. Ede ni mi tokantokan, just as Komolafe should be proud of his Ijesha heritage. But pride becomes dangerous when it requires the denigration of another community. Osun is too historically rich, too culturally intertwined and too socially interconnected for that kind of politics.That is the Osun we should defend.
So, who is afraid of Ede? Certainly not those who know its history.
Certainly not those who have experienced its hospitality.
And certainly not those who understand that a town’s political influence at a particular moment does not diminish the dignity of other towns.
Ede will remain Ede, pretty open, welcoming, historically significant and confident enough not to apologise for producing one of its sons who now occupies the highest political office in Osun State.
The answer to Edephobia is not another phobia.
*Tunde Akanni is a Professor at the Lagos State University, LASU, Nigeria.