Human beings are the most ungrateful creature among all the living things God created.

Whenever we are favoured, we believe it’s our power. When things go contrary to our expectations, we go berserk, forgetting that we are travellers on earth and we are not supposed to cultivate enmity to our route because, at some point, the route will curve, hilly, thorny, narrow, wide, smooth or coarse. Therefore, to get to our destination, we must adapt to the conditions of our route.

On Monday, 20th of September 2021, I read that some aggrieved members of PDP gathered somewhere to protest and pass vote of no confidence in Governor Seyi Makinde. They hinged their grievance on the excuse that Makinde did not honour the “agreement” between him and them. Wonderful!

When I was listening to their spokespersons, I was expecting such statements as “GSM has failed Oyo State in terms of provision of good governance ”, “Makinde has reneged on his electoral promises to the people of Oyo State” or “What Seyi Makinde is doing presently is not what PDP has for Oyo State. These are issues that can appeal to logical sense in Oyo State today. Alas! All these were not said by the aggrieved members.

The question now is, what is that “agreement” between him and them that could warrant such tactless error – dog eating dog? That he should abandon the much expected “good governance” he is providing and facing them? Or he should allow those bad and rebellious – minded appointees whose interior motive is to sabotage his efforts to continue their escapades, all in the name of “untouchable coalition nominees”?

We, residents of Oyo State, thought that the primary aim of your coalition with Seyi Makinde was to join forces with him to clear all the recurring rot perpetrated by the previous administration of APC before talking of “personal aggrandizement “. This is really unfortunate, going by the level of trust, hope, and confidence that Oyo people have in today’s PDP.

Let’s briefly go back to the drawing board and ask this question: Whose personality won the 2019 gubernatorial election in Oyo State and on what basis? I want those protesters to answer the question as honestly as possible.

What saddens the heart of the people of Oyo State is that, it should not have been you. Does this mean that if any of you became the governor in 2019, it would have been continuity of recurring rot? God forbid!

My message to you is simple. As PDP members, it is illogical and tactless to have engaged in this type of child’s play, when everybody is thanking you (PDP) for bringing life to Oyo State after almost a decade of political decay in Oyo State.

Now that you have passed vote of no confidence in him and his Administration, what next and what exactly do you want? Are you going to remove him as the governor or you want the State Assembly to impeach him, or you want to send him away from PDP? Please, answer as genuinely as possible.

Now, may I humbly call your attention to the implications of what you have just done?

First, you have just made Governor Seyi Makinde more popular than ever. Since yesterday, his popularity is soaring going by people’s reactions.
2. Now, people do not see you as a stumbling block to Seyi Makinde, but a stumbling block to the progress and good governance in Oyo State, thus becoming enemy of the entire citizenry, not that of Makinde.
3. People are now wondering whether you actually mean well for the State, going by your frivolous excuses for attacking Makinde – These are some of people’s reactions, anyway. The question some teachers, retires and civil servants were asking in their discussions this afternoon was: Do these people want to throw us back to Ajimobi era again?

My candid advice here is that you should choose the path of honour to demand your agreement” from the governor. You are all popular, credible and experienced politicians who could be called upon to broker peace in any part of the country. Remember, it is only small minds that discuss people; average minds discuss events; but great minds discuss ideas.

You are all great minds in the PDP, so discuss issues and ideas with probity. No matter how genuine your course is, the way and manner you express it is rebellious in the eyes of the world.

For God’s sake, can you present this to teachers and civil servants who have just been promoted, or retirees who are now comfortable with regular payment of pensions and gratuities, or the youths who are being gainfully employed and empowered, or the students and their parents who are now greatly relieved of burden of exorbitant tuition fees and incessant closure of schools, just to mention very few.

Let’s reason logically together, and move the State on please.

 – Akin Alawode