The Road from Ibadan: A Conversation About Skimeh

In politics, just as in everyday life, when you fear your opponent too much, you tend to make irrational decisions.

Just last Friday, I was returning from Ibadan. I was sitting in the front seat with the driver, fully donning my cap with “SKIMEH” boldly written in front of it.

The driver, who had been glancing at me repeatedly immediately after we took off from the Ojọ Bus Terminal, eventually quipped: “Mo ro pe ẹ̀yàn Skimeh ni yín.” I answered in the affirmative.

He then started telling me how certain politicians had recently been moving around Oyo with millions of naira. According to him, although people were collecting the money, their decision to vote for Hon. Akeem Adeniyi Adeyemi, popularly known as Skimeh, had not changed.

He gave examples of two or three places where the “emergency money spenders” had visited and explained the reactions of the people after those distributing the money had left.

However, the driver expressed a concern.

“Even though I will vote for Skimeh, why are you, as a person, so confident that he will win?”

As he asked the question, we were approaching Fiditi. I told him I would answer his question with classical examples.

I started with a particular female student of Fiditi Grammar School, Aleem Aishat, who emerged first in the Oba Adeyemi Mathematics Competition and is currently on scholarship at the prestigious University of Ilorin, courtesy of Hon. Skimeh.

I explained further that the NECO examination she took, which helped her secure admission, was also paid for by Hon. Skimeh. Following her exceptional academic performance, the young lady also received a brand-new laptop.

I then asked the driver a simple question:

Out of all the millions allegedly being moved around by the emergency money spenders, could they give Aleem Aishat’s parents enough money to make them forget the opportunity and support their daughter has received through Skimeh?

As we were leaving Fiditi, I sighted Methodist Secondary School and told the driver that the school on our right now has an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre, courtesy of Hon. Skimeh.

When we got to Jobele, I told him that the town had been in darkness for roughly two years. I pointed towards the turning beside the Afijio Local Government and told him that Skimeh provided the transformer that restored electricity to the community.

I also reminded him that Skimeh facilitated the drilling and commissioning of a borehole in Jobele in 2024.

After leaving Jobele, we arrived at the Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo Staff Secondary School, popularly known as SPED International.

I gladly informed him that the ICT Centre the school now has was also facilitated through Hon. Skimeh.

We continued towards Owode in Oyo. Immediately after leaving Labamba Hotels, I pointed to Ladigbolu Grammar School on the left and told him that the school currently has an ICT Centre provided through Skimeh.

By the time we got to the front of Dynasty FM, I pointed towards Olivet Baptist High School and told him that Skimeh had also facilitated an ICT Centre there.

At that point, I rounded up my conversation with the driver and the other three commuters sitting at the back.

I told them that everything I had been pointing out on both sides of the road, from Ibadan through Fiditi, Jobele and Oyo, were not mere campaign promises or political slogans. They were physical, verifiable interventions running into millions of naira.

I then asked them whether the so-called “Emergency Money Spenders”, who are now allegedly moving around with cash, could buy the intelligence of Oyo voters with money.

We are even hearing that they are gathering five or six communities together, bringing their millions, and after the money is distributed, some households reportedly receive as little as ₦3,000.

😂 Is that what they intend to use to buy the votes of sophisticated Oyo people?

The truth is simple: when you fear your opponent too much, you begin to make irrational political decisions.

How do you intend to use ₦3,000 to buy the vote of someone whose daughter now has access to ICT facilities in school through the intervention of Hon. Akeem Adeyemi?

How do you intend to buy the votes of people in Jobele who have regained electricity supply through a transformer donated, installed and energised through Skimeh?

How do you intend to buy the loyalty of Aleem Aishat’s parents, whose daughter is currently benefiting from Skimeh’s scholarship, with ₦3,000?

🤷‍♂️

Whoever advised these people—the so-called Emergency Money Spenders—that the only way they could defeat Skimeh was by moving around with raw cash gave them the wrong advice.

But we don’t pity them.

Oyo people will collect your money, and they will still vote reasonably and intelligently, just as they have always done.

Ẹ gba owo wọn. Ṣugbọn ẹ fi ibo sọrọ.

Take their money. But let your vote speak.

Ọ̀yọ́ Aláàfin ni ibi yìí, kì í ṣe Ọ̀yọ́ Mother and Son Limited. 📌

Hammed Okikiola Oyelekan Transcend
Writes from Oyo Alaafin.