Showing posts with label sun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola. Show all posts

Thursday, March 25, 2021

What Do Yoruba People Want?

 By Olusegun Adeniyi

Even with a mask practically covering his face, I saw the expression of surprise when I posed this question to the Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola. Seated directly in front of his desk at the Osun State Government House in Osogbo, I was observing every gesture.

                        *Awolowo 

After a long pause, he said: “That is a very difficult question but I will answer it.” Another long pause followed during which he was apparently processing his thoughts. Then finally, the governor responded: “What Yoruba people want is a peaceful, secure and prosperous region in a just, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria that every citizen would be proud to call their country.”

The governor was candid as he explained the challenge of insecurity in the South-west, the process that led to the establishment of ‘Amotekun’, the operational guidelines and structures that are still evolving from state to state and the need not to mix security with religion or ethnicity. At the end, I left Oyetola better educated about the problem South-West governors are trying to confront and the stand of the Yoruba nation within a diverse Nigeria. The governor also explained how he was able to defuse the crisis in the Osun education sector as well as the financial engineering and alternative project funding that has helped the state to rid itself of the notoriety for non-payment of salaries while still embarking on a number of infrastructural projects. These of course are issues we will come back to another day.