TOUTED as the cradle of wisdom; the source of civilisation and the root of the Yoruba, Ile-Ife is supposed to have an aura of difference in
culture, comportment and conduct. Ile-Ife it was where Oduduwa Atewonro berthed to complete the work of creating the earth, some historians say. Ile-Ife it was where the entire Yoruba race came from and it is considered as the headquarters of the Yoruba race, but this development couldn’t have been the reason the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Dr Iyiola Omisore, chose to visit it as the last port of call during his house-to-house campaign started over one month ago.
The journey to the length and breadth of Osun State had taken Omisore, a host of PDP leaders at the national, regional and state levels to the 30 local governments and the area office, Modakeke, on voyages that were tiring for the body but lifting for the soul. Moving The PDP entourage visited every ward of the state, with Senator Omisore sharing his vision of a better Osun State with young and old.
On this particular occasion, Omisore, who says he is on a ‘rescue mission,’ appeared to have fulfilled the campaign slogan, Oduduwa de, fun irapada Osun, meaning Oduduwa is back for Osun’s redemption, as the people of Ile-Ife trooped out, happily chanting Ife lo kan! meaning it is Ife’s turn to be governor. Omisore, a prince of Ife, like a prophet with a difference, was honoured among his own people, with young and old on the streets of Ile-Ife showing glimpses of what makes Ile-Ife different during every political dispensation—massive support and mobilisation. With the heavy turnouts that have greeted the party’s visits to the 28 other local governments, no one could doubt that there would be a huge crowd in Ile-Ife, but no one could have envisaged the turnout on Wednesday, where young and old in Ile-Ife stood withstood the sun to show solidarity for what Omisore described as a movement for change.
From Ojatutun along Obalufon road, where Omisore promised the market women a new lease of life to Modakeke, where he cleared the air about his intention for the people of the community, it showed signs of being a long day. While at the palace of the Ogunsua of Modakeke, Oba Francis Adedoyin, who warmly received Omisore, contrary to speculations from opposition circles that there was no love lost between the politician and Modakeke community, Omisore received royal blessing.
With the final rally billed to take place at Enuwa, a sea of supporters were waiting in the sun as early as 2.00 p.m., singing and chanting, but Omisore and his entourage only managed to enter the Ooni’s palace after 6.00 p.m.
While inside, where the crème-de-la-crème of the party in the South-West, including the national secretary, Professor Wale Oladipo; Ekiti State governor-elect, Ayo Fayose; chairman of the South-West PDP Mobilisation and Contact Committee, Prince Buruji Kashamu; South-West PDP caretaker chairman, Chief Ishola Filani; Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun; former Minister of State for Defence, Chief Olusola Obada, Osun PDP chairman, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa; Senators Omisore and Hosea Agboola, Omisore’s running mate, Honourable Adejare Bello and a host of others converged to pay homage to the foremost monarch, it was clear why Ile-Ife came last on the list of cities visited by the party.
Speaking at the palace, Fayose stated that the visit was to appreciate the Ooni for his support, saying: “We have only come to say thank you, Kabiyesi, because God, the ancestors and everyone who want the good of the land have commanded us to go and overcome as we did in Ekiti and to bring the crown. When I came to Ife, you told me that the work is concluded; now I see the evidence sir.”
Professor Oladipo described the Ooni as a father who took care of his children, recounting the political sojourn of Omisore since 1998 and how he had always stayed true to the cause despite being let down, while Olaoluwa also appreciated Ooni for his support.
Also speaking before the Ooni, Omisore appreciated the Presidency, the national leadership of the party, Fayose, Kashamu and all the leaders and party loyalists who had sacrificed everything for 30 days to visit the nook and crannies of Osun State with him.
He also appreciated the Kabiyesi, noting that “we are not here to speak, but to say thank you, Baba. We have been to every nook and cranny of the state and we have seen your hand; we were well-received and accepted and they assured that they are going with you. Every Osun indigene sees this project as a movement and they have seen that change is imminent and have keyed into that change. Your accommodating spirit and insightful leadership has given us hope,” he said.
In return, the Ooni, through the Obalufe and the Lowa Adimula, offered royal blessing to Omisore, with the traditional Ife shouts of E e se, meaning ‘amen,’ resonating in the hall.
While speaking with Sunday Tribune, the Director-General of the Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation (IOCO), Chief Lere Oyewumi, said they had groups of people collating the needs of each community, noting that that was the reason IOCO did not fix campaigns for weekends, which they used to compile the development needs of each community.
“At the end of our campaigns, we will do a compendium that will consists of the needs and challenges of our people, community by community and this is what we will present to the government after our victory on 9 August,” he said, adding that these needs were apart from Omisore’s eight cardinal programmes.
Some of the following issues, which bear semblance with Omisore’s cardinal programmes, have dominated the campaign so far.
“We’ll restore the dignity of education”
If there was any theme that resonated in Omisore’s words at every stop during the campaigns to words and units in the state, it was the expression of a better tomorrow for the education sector in Osun. Across the state, Omisore was never slow to point out to how the incumbent government’s education policy has destroyed education in the state. From the controversial school merger to the single uniform policy, and indeed, the Opon Imo, Omisore was always quick to point out the flaws in what the incumbent governor pride as its achievements. While Opon Imo, in the APC circles, remained the best thing to happen to the state, the PDP candidate at several times, noted that its error rate was more than 80 per cent and that the award of the contract to the governor’s son, as well as the deceit that over 150,000 units would be distributed whereas the government has only managed to distribute less than 2,000 units, which it recently began to withdraw.
Gainful employment
He has also continually sent words to another category of youths—the unemployed. For Omisore, the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme of the incumbent government, which hands N10,000 to youths monthly and has been erratic in payment was an aberration, as he noted that the youths deserved better and would get a better offer under him. Omisore revealed that the youths would be a major focus of his government, promising to give adequate attention to youth development.
Apart from the youth, the PDP candidate had continually sympathised with civil servants, pensioners and artisans in the state over what he described as the harsh situation in which they found themselves since the beginning of the Aregbesola administration. Described as indispensable to the success of any government, the civil service in Osun State has had different treatments in the hands of successive governments, with some of them saying they were passing through another phase under the incumbent government.
However, the workers have become one of the main campaign subjects of the PDP, with each opportunity used to assure them of better life when and if the PDP takes over the state. At every stop, Omisore was always quick to reach out to workers, urging them to vote out the incumbent government, “which has maltreated them for so long”. According to Omisore, maltreating workers is APC’s stock in trade, as he noted that Chief Bisi Akande, the “role model of this government” did the same when he was in office, even as he said he and the workforce had been together for long.
The other categories of residents of the state, which the PDP has continued to appeal to in its campaign, are the traders and artisans.
Road infrastructure
Another issue that has dogged the Omisore campaign is the poor condition of roads in the state, especially those leading to rural communities. The PDP candidate had made a point of the deplorable roads leading to rural agrarian communities, which he visited, giving the settlers a message of hope that his government would not abandon them.
Agriculture, food security and rural development
In all his speeches, Omisore’s active references to farmers’ welfare, the existence of large scale hunger in Osun State and the neglect of rural communities by the incumbent government had always been balanced with his promise of a better deal for the people of the state.
While speaking at Araromi Oke Odo and Mefoworade in Ife South Local Government; Isinmi Olootu and Oyi-Ayegunle in Ifedayo; Idi Odan in Oriade and a host of other rural communities, the PDP candidate expressed his readiness to uplift the condition of farmers and their communities, saying his vision of wealth creation has deep connection with agriculture.
tribune.com.ng
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