The Governor of the state of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola, popularly known as ‘Ogbeni’ is no doubt one of the most outspoken governors in the camp of All Progressives Congress APC as far as Nigeria is concerned today. Aregbesola became a household name when he ran for Governorship of Osun in 2007 elections, but before this time; he was Lagos commissioner for works and infrastructure when he ran for election in April 2007 on the Action Congress Platform ACN, which later merged with some other political parties and became the APC- the opposition party that swept the People’s Democratic Party PDP off their feet in the just concluded elections that brought in General Muhammadu Buhari. Although, the PDP candidate in the person of Olagunsoye Oyinlola was declared the winner of that April 2007 elections, Aregbesola in his die-hard spirit appealed the decision and on 26 November 2010, he was substantially declared the winner by the Justice of the Federal appeal court, ordering that he be sworn in by noon on 27 November, 2010. This marked the beginning of Ogbeni’s popularity, as fondly called by some people; and the many challenges of his administration in the near future.
Aregbesola was widely accepted by many people in Osun state and this also gave birth to a lot of expectations from his administration. The previous administration of Oyinlola left little or nothing undone for the state. State roads were in deplorable states, the school administration were messy. In fact, in the words of Olufemi Oluwaseye, Oyinlola’s 7 years plus administration in Osun state was nothing short of “a dull and somber government”. The people needed a sort of a change and some kind of new way of doing things. It was on these grounds that Rauf Aregbesola unleashed his ‘populist’ programs, which many at first hailed him for, but in the long run brought the state into a financial mess- which the governor himself attested to that the situation now is beyond his control. Today, it is no longer news that the state of Osun is one of those states in Nigeria that have been unable to pay workers’ salaries for the past 8months. Aside from Osun state, there are over fifteen more states in this same mess. But the question is- why is everybody demanding the head of ‘Ogbeni’ for is inability to pay workers? Why are people not talking of other state governors in the same mess?