He is the most loyal person in his private and public life. He rarely challenged his political friends. The respect for Bola Ige is unbelievable. He must have fallen because of the killing of Bola Ige. He believes that the killers of the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice are known to the government. He despised protocol in governance, apart from improving the quality of governance.
Pa Bisi Akande turned 84 on January 16. Like his role model, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Bisi Akande was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He strives to achieve greatness through strong determination, self-discipline, hard work and dedication. By all standards, he would have been a statesman, a hermit and an extraordinary politician who gave leadership at the highest level to political parties in their formative years and nurtured them to victory at the local, state and federal levels. But he is not the type to spend money or subscribe to the general idea that money solves all problems. Indeed, in this respect he is not a popular politician. He does not like the culture of money in politics. However, they prefer to deliver social services to the electorate rather than stomach infrastructure, an idea popularized by former Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. They prefer not to spend government money in ways they will not use. As governor, he was stingy with public spending. When he was sworn in as governor in 1999, he refused his aides’ requests that he hold a lavish inauguration ceremony. He only spent N50,000 of his own money. Throughout his tenure as governor, he jealously guarded the need to separate private expenses from public expenses, even in private social celebrations.
He is the most loyal person in his private and public life. He rarely challenged his political friends. The respect for Bola Ige is unbelievable. He must have fallen because of the killing of Bola Ige. He believes that the killers of the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice are known to the government. He despised protocol in governance, apart from improving the quality of governance.
His philosophy of power is about what can be used to advance the interests of the majority. His politics can be said to be low profile, because he prefers to talk about government rather than politics. For him, the campaign to seize power was deceitful and unethical. They prefer to make campaign promises, rather than build castles in the air during campaign rallies. He was frank with the voters. Elections are not contests and should not be won by any means. If you call him Mr. Governance, you will die. If you visit the Bola Ige House in Osogbo, an architectural masterpiece, you will not believe that the Akande government never borrowed to execute such a huge project. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at the commissioning of the secretariat, marveled at how Akande did without borrowing. How do you explain Akande’s achievements as governor? Her main assets are her admirable ethics and simple approach to this fleeting life. He is a conservative fund holder. Being wasteful with public funds is not for him. But he can be an embarrassment to the typical Nigerian politician, with his flamboyant and extravagant nature.
In the words of Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, in his Introduction to Bisi Akande My Participation: “Power hates the truth … Power is involved in creating images, burning images, stealing credit, indeed, fabricating images … (but in the hands of Bisi Akande) power is visible ….”
A serious politician who is Bisi Akande, he is not familiar with brown envelopes to process media practitioners. As the governor of Osun State, he refused to favor his wife as First Lady and never provided funds for the office. When she was accused of not being gender friendly in the administration, her response was that the office of First Lady is not mentioned in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended.
To break the power and expose the phenomenon, Bisi Akande is very easy – you would hardly recognize him as a guest if you expect him to be heralded and taken to his place in a convoy of expensive jeeps. In and out of government, Baba Omokeke (as his admirers refer to him) remains alone.
No matter what the situation, Pa Akande always talks, no matter which cow is gored. They rarely do media packaging. He may have been truly cruel when, speaking of the former deputy governor, he said that the man “… crept into my life like a silent, malignant cancer.” He must have been full of regret. That he is now in the same party as his former representative is a sign that Akande can develop his political skills if needed.
Without a doubt, President Muhammadu Buhari will not hesitate to give ministerial office to former Governor Bisi Akande, but Akande is not the type who is desperate to occupy any office at his age. They are only fighting others to usurp power in the Buhari administration.
His life was devoted to the service of the common good, and nothing private. At the age of 84, Pa Bisi Akande must feel good that he has forged a strong alliance between the Yoruba in the south-west and the Hausa-Fulani group in the north-west. Without doubt, Akande is hopeful that his political investment in fixing a ‘progressive’ government will be rewarded in the election of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu next month.
To the gentleman politicians and ‘rebels’ (with apologies to Professor Azeez Olaniyan, in “Bisi Akande Phenomenon?”) in government, I wish you a happy birthday sir.
Lai Olurode is a retired professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos (Unilag) and a former National Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission.
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