Originally this experience I am about to share came from a Nigerian citizen, who described himself as “proudly Ekiti”. He has a name but the introduction cannot be more than I have given, as I have decided to adopt, for my WAKE UP opinion article column, the modeling experience he had with former Ekiti State Governor, Engr. Segun Oni. This adoption was not without prior consultation. Excerpts:
“We started the meeting and the first thing he had to say is ; Opeyemi, don’t ever take politics as a job instead , see it as a hobby. Because, if you see it as a job, you will become aggressive since it’s your means of livelihood but if you see it as a hobby, then you will not care so much about the outcomes especially if they are dissatisfying.”
I have had direct and indirect encounters with Fayemi, Fayose and Oni but my encounter with Oni baffles me tremendously – Let me share!
While SEGUN Oni was serving as the APC Nat South VC, a PDP national leader referred me to him as the most upright candidate he can vouch for regarding the advice I needed at the time. Just imagine a PDP person referring you to an APC person!
I proceeded to meet up with SEGUN ONI at his residence in Ifaki, Ekiti State. I was able to locate the house through the help of the Okada riders along the road.
Truth be told, I was expecting a very massive building but then I only saw a gate keeper unguarded, dressed in mufti , opened the first gate then proceeded to open the second gate and boom I arrived at the entrance of the white colored painted bungalow of SEGUN ONI .
My emphasis is not to speak about his humble nature or the kind of building he lives in but to take my readers along on my experience to meeting SEGUN ONI for the first time.
It was a Nissan Altima 2.5L and I had just driven from Ibadan to meet up with him alone.
I met few people sited in the compound waiting to be attended to and I also humbly took a seat and sent him a text that I am around.
Few seconds after, he came out, greeted everyone and welcomed me into his living room.
If you know SEGUN ONI very well, he is mostly dressed in Jalabia whenever he is in his space. He said how are you Opeyemi and I replied I am very well sir and you?
We were just about to start our meeting and then, the electrician came in to give him quotation for repairs in the house. This is the moment I need us to pay attention to – in short, it’s the main reason I wrote this story!
Yes, the electrician continued in yoruba mixed with Ekiti dialect saying, the total cost is about 150,000 naira to fix everything. SEGUN ONI listened to all he said and asked him the following technical questions; how many rolls are you buying? And what kind of circuit breakers are you using this time? Have you removed the previous cable totally? What’s the cable size and what’s the estimated power around that particular channel? After a very detailed analysis, himself and the electrician agreed on a better way of resolving the problem and the new price was cut down by 40%.
That day, I was so blown away! I am like, this is a practical engineer and outstanding manager / leader. He looked at me and asked if I was surprised – obviously I was thrilled at his skills.
We started the meeting and the first thing he had to say is ; Opeyemi, don’t ever take politics as a job instead , see it as a hobby. Because, if you see it as a job, you will become aggressive since it’s your means of livelihood but if you see it as a hobby, then you will not care so much about the outcomes especially if they are dissatisfying.
Ekiti is blessed with great people trust me and I am not condemning any of the three leaders I mentioned earlier. Fayemi has a robust skillset and is very vast, Fayose is full of energy to activate and execute, Oni is full of discipline, diligence and strategic management capabilities. How I just wish, we can all align one sustainable goal in the interest of the people and not party!
Deep down, we know what is good for Ekiti! Let’s leave the rules and face the reality. Should we have to compare the current candidates at hand, Oni stands a more probabilistic weight of success than the others – so, why can’t we just push for a leader and not a party leader or party itself? Why can’t we leave the selfish interest and focus on bringing back Ekiti through a common goal.
– Why do we have to abandon projects the other government started?
– Why do we have to give appointments as compensation in exchange for people’s life and living standard
– Why then are we called Ekiti Parapo?
We were first Ekitarians before Party, Religion, LGA came in. We didn’t inherit Ekiti from our ancestors, we borrowed it from our children!
*WAKE UP is the opinion article column of Bashir Adefaka, Lagos based Journalist, publisher and media and publicity consultant, who is Prince of Isolo, Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. Meet him via his email: omope72@gmail.com.
