Makinde And The Leopard’s Spots.
The Leopard will never change its spots.
The Leopard is an animal, one of the big cats.
It is a ferocious, yet very beautiful animal with black skin dotted with white spots.
The Leopard carries its white spots from infant till old age. The Leopard spots never changes, neither does it fade.
Usually, when a man is known with a particular attitude, he is often referred to as a Leopard which never changes its spots any time he exhibit the attitude he’s fond of.
Like the Leopard which will never change its spots, Governor Seyi Makinde’s penchant for betrayal and backstabbing is legendary.
Like the beautifully dotted skin of the Leopard, betrayal and backstabbing dots the character of the Oyo state Governor.
Until 2019, when a respectable High Chief of Ibadan Land and former Governor network a powerful alliance which made it possible for Seyi Makinde, not only to win the election as Governor of Oyo state, that victory was actually the first time Makinde would ever win an election.
It was the first time he won election not because it was his first time to be involved in an election as a candidate.
It was the first time because his earlier attempts to contest Elections as Senator and Governor ended in colossal failures.
In fact, in 2015 when he attempted to be Governor on the platform of the Social Democratic Party, (SDP), he came a distant fifth behind Teslim Kolawole Folarin of the PDP then.
In fact, despite being the biggest spender in that election, he was unable to ganer fifty thousand votes.
Having laid this background, it won’t be difficult to conclude that Makinde rode to office at the back of a solid coalition supervised by H.E. High Chief, Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja and nothing more.
Those who made sacrifices for Makinde included but not limited to the present Senator Sarafadeen Abiodun Alli who was gubernatorial candidate of the Zenith Labor Party (ZLP) at the material time, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Bolaji Ayorinde, a breakaway faction of the APC and some others.
It is believed that some gentlemen agreements were reached aimed at guiding distribution of political offices after the election.
Unfortunately, immediately Governor Makinde assumed office, he wasted no time in rubbishing whatever agreement he made with the coalition partners.
At first, he deployed his Aides to spread wicked rumors and make unsubstantiated allegations that those who were picking issues with him were doing so because he refused to surrender the state’s Treasury to them!
At another time, after he had decimated the coalition partners with wicked rumors and sponsored verbal assaults against them through some broadcasters in his payroll, he came out on his own and lavished insults on the individuals concerned.
In one of such occasion, he declared that a former Leader of the House of Representatives, who obviously played a vital role in his victory lacked the temerity to declare that she helped him win when she, herself lost the Senatorial election of Oyo North a couple of weeks before the gubernatorial election!!
I will never forget how the Governor, gently but recklessly declared in Yoruba ( ” won ni awon n’won help wa, eeyan to ba maa da aso fun yan…”).
Literally, what the Governor said is, they said they were the ones who helped us, if you want to give me clothes, won’t I look at the rags you’re putting on.
He said this of a woman who have won election and reelection and even rose to become the first female Leader of the House of Representatives when he, Makinde was failing to win elections.
On another occassion, Makinde said, ” they said they were the ones who supported us, they should go and support someone else now”.
That is the man Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was misled to support for a second term in office on March 28, 2024.
Today, Governor Makinde, in company of his Enugu state counterpart used the occassion of the commissioning of some Road in Ibadan to further lash out at the Federal Government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The man who awarded him an undeserved second term.
Makinde specifically rubbished the claim of the Federal Government that Federal Allocation to states and Local Governments have improved significantly to warrant better performance by state Governors.
Governor Makinde referred to such statements as “lazy”!!!
It has become habitual of Governor Makinde to take a dig at his benefactor and his Government this days.
I am not surprised.
What would have surprised me is if Governor Makinde had paid the president back with loyalty.
Makinde did have a fun time and his “olentelafas” added color to the event with the constant call on Makinde to come out and contest the presidency in 2007.
Isn’t that grand?
Makinde versus Tinubu in 2027!
GSM is indeed one sure bad market for the president and I think it is high time the president tasked those who sold Makinde to him from within the Oyo APC to convince him on whether they have not misled him
