Makinde: Making legends of leaders – Sulaimon Olanrewaju

Penultimate Saturday, the ancient town of Saki in Oke Ogun axis of Oyo State played host to an unprecedented throng of people as the remains of one of the town’s leading lights, Chief Michael Adeniyi Koleosho, were committed to Mother Earth.

Chief Koleosho was a man of many parts; the third son of Pa Samson Alamu Alaiyaki Koleosho and Mama Comfort Subulade Gbogbolomo Koleosho of Emi Abata Compound, Kinikini Area of Saki, was a consummate businessman, an impeccable public servant, an astute politician, a renowned manager of men and resources as well as a distinguished Yoruba leader. He served as a councilor in Saki, a member of the old Oyo State House of Assembly, a commissioner under Chief Bola Ige and later the Secretary to Oyo State Government from 1999 to 2003. He was a highly principled man, straight as a nail. He was a hardliner, but not a hard tackler. He was a statesman who rose above primordial sentiments. He was very friendly, very loyal, very considerate, very open and very gracious. Chief Koleosho touched many lives. So, in appreciation of his impact, the elite corps of the Nigerian political, business, religious and social classes led by Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, rose to pay the accomplished nationalist their last respects. The carnival-like ceremony lit up every part of Saki, leaving an indelible impression on the psyches of not just indigenes of the town but all residents of Oke Ogun zone of the state.

Given the huge number of family members, friends, associates and well wishers that stormed Saki to honour his transition, Babalaje, as the former Secretary to Oyo State Government was popularly known, must have looked down from above the clouds in the midst of Saints Triumphant and beamed with smiles, expressing satisfaction at the efforts put in place to make his passing memorable.
But beyond the colour, glamour and splendour of the occasion, the highpoint for Chief Koleosho must have been the action of Governor Makinde in naming the state-owned Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, as well as the 9.7km Saki Township Road after him.

Naming the institution and the road after Chief Koleosho means that though the former National Chairman of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) is dead, his memory lives on. The late business mogul will be remembered for as long as the school and the road remain. By naming the school and the road after Koleosho, Makinde did not only acknowledge the contributions of the political icon to his community, the state and the nation at large, he also conferred on him the status of a legend because generation after generation will be regaled with the exploits of the business titan that warranted such honour by the state government.

But honouring outstanding people is innate to Governor Makinde.
On September 29, 2022, Makinde named a new GRA and the Ibadan Circular Road after Senator Rashidi Ladoja, who while serving as Oyo State governor between 2003 and 2007, mooted the idea of having a circular road that would free the state capital, Ibadan, from the shackles of traffic snarls.

Speaking at the sod-turning ceremony for the Senator Rashidi Ladoja GRA and the official flag off of the construction of the 32km first phase of the Ibadan Circular Road, Makinde had said, “We choose to name this GRA the Senator Rashidi Ladoja GRA because of his great contributions to the growth of Oyo State. One of those contributions is conceiving the Ibadan Circular Road. There have been misconceptions as to whose idea it was to build the Ibadan Circular Road, some attributed it to the late Governor Lam Adesina. However, we have here with us today, the person who saw the future and thought of how to ease traffic congestion within the city of Ibadan. In a way, this event is about giving honour to whom honour is due.”

By so honouring Senator Ladoja, Makinde has ensured that the former governor’s name will not just be buried in history books but will be in the consciousness of the people. For as long as the Circular Road serves the people of Nigeria, Governor Ladoja will be as real to the people as the road named after him.
Similarly, Governor Makinde renamed the First Technical University, Ibadan, as Senator Abiola Ajimobi Technical University, in honour of his immediate predecessor. Ajimobi, a two-term governor, who passed on in June 2020, had established the university to increase university education access to Oyo State residents.

Announcing the name change during the second convocation ceremony of the university, Governor Makinde, who is the visitor to the university, had said: “This is another notable day in the history of the First Technical University, Ibadan, as you host the second convocation for students in the different programmes in the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences and graduate the pioneer set of Engineering students from this great institution.
“Looking at the progress this university has made from its humble beginnings. Today is a good day to honour my predecessor, who established the university. So, we have made the decision to rename this university the Senator Abiola Ajimobi First Technical University, Ibadan.”

By renaming the university after his immediate predecessor, Governor Makinde raised Ajimobi’s status to the likes of John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, both former Presidents of the United States of America, who have universities named after them. The name of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi will be on the lips of young and old people across the globe for as long as the university exists.
Similarly, Makinde has named the longest arterial road constructed by the state government after Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala. The Ogbomoso-born politician, who was a former council chairman as well as a former Deputy Governor, served Oyo State as Governor between 2007 and 2011. He died in 2022.
At the flag off ceremony of the 76.67km Iseyin-Fapote-Ogbomoso road, Makinde had promised to name the road after the former governor. He had said, “Somebody would have been here today with me for this flag off but God decided to call him before this date. I spoke to him and mentioned it to his church that day. This is someone, who had contributed immensely to the growth and development of Oyo State.

“The 76.67km road project, upon commissioning, will be named Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala Highway and we will put conspicuous signs every 10km from Ogbomoso to Iseyin that will show that this is Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.”
Makinde lived up to his promise by naming the road after the former Governor when it was commissioned.
In a similar vein, Governor Makinde renamed the dualised 3.2km Ibadan Airport Road as Omololu Olunloyo Road, in honour of Dr Olunloyo, a former governor of the old Oyo State. He has also named some Government Reserved Areas (GRAs) after prominent leaders such as Alhaji Yekinni Adeojo, Engr Lere Adigun and Chief Lateef Oyelade, among others in recognition of their contributions to the development of the state. Makinde also recently approved financial reward for the composers of the state anthem and also acknowledged the contribution of Mrs Florence Ajimobi, wife of a former governor of the state, in getting a befitting anthem for the state.
Makinde is adept at turning leaders into legends.

However, honouring predecessors is alien to the Nigerian political environment. As a matter of fact, most new leaders in Nigeria do everything to obliterate the achievements of their predecessors. Examples are too numerous to be recounted here. In some states in Nigeria, former governors were run out of town by their predecessors. In some other states, former governors were abused, harassed and declared persona non grata. In a couple of states, projects embarked upon by former governors were either abandoned or destroyed to rubbish them and diminish their influence. To some new leaders, a mere mention of their predecessors’ names or anything that has to do with them is sacrilege, while anyone who associates with predecessors is regarded as an enemy of the state. All these are symptomatic of a sense of insecurity. While secure and sure-footed leaders are inspired by the achievements of their predecessors and use same to set higher goals for themselves, jealous and insecure leaders feel threatened by others’ achievements.

Makinde is a departure from the norm, he is cast in a different mould; he is neither threatened by any of his predecessors’ accomplishments nor feels overwhelmed by them. Rather than demonizing past leaders, he is entrenching a culture of appreciating their contributions to the development of the state. Instead of castigating former leaders, Makinde is focused on delivering his promises to the people. He knows that while those who came before him have already written their history, Providence has handed him the opportunity to also write his own and leave his footprints on the sands of time. So, why should he waste precious time trying to demolish others’ achievements instead of working to make his own mark? Why should he attempt to make mincemeat of anyone’s contributions when he can expend the same energy on working to record unprecedented feats? Hence, right from his first day in office, Makinde has been on overdrive, working round the clock to liberate the people of Oyo State from the grips of poverty and set them on an irreversible voyage to prosperity.

Consequently, Makinde has been able to construct more kilometers of roads than any administration in the state, fix more schools than any administration, employ more teachers than any administration, support more farmers than any administration, support more small businesses than any administration, empower the vulnerable more than any administration, establish more regulatory institutions than any administration, complete more projects started by predecessors than any other administration, expand the economy more than any administration, and of course, elevate more leaders to legendary status than any administration. Now, if these are not phenomenal, then what is?
Only a phenomenal leader can make legends of people.

Dr Olanrewaju is the Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor.