9.Aregbe: A man of the people
As I moved from place to place, I conducted some sort of survey. I wanted to know the mind of the people, who they wanted, why and what they would do. It was unmistakably clear that the people wanted the governor to continue. Little children were urging their parents to vote for him. The bike man wanted him. Drivers of the mini-buses, popularly called Kurugbe, wanted Aregbe. The market women and food vendors. There was a clear direction that Aregbesola was a very popular politician who had won the people over.
But not everyone liked him. A woman operating an odds-and-ends store at Woleola estate, opposite old governors office, said she was a civil servant and just doing the business on the side. She jeered at the jubilant crowd who were celebrating as result trickled in from various polling units. “’Omi’ won in Ife and some parts of Ede, not only Osogbo votes can make him governor,” she said.
She would not say what she had against the man drawn to so many, but his reelection would be a deep source of worry. But those in her ilk are very few, as the people trooped out when he was declared winner of the election on Sunday. The city of Osogbo erupted and you could feel the connection, the bond, the passion; and as he made to thank his supporters at Freedom Circle in Osogbo, they kept yelling, screaming. It was so clear; the people had spoken. Osun people stood by him; they were not cowed by the armed security men, the masked and unmasked. They wanted the governor to continue and they succeeded. The will of the people is supreme – any time, any day.
Osun election was peaceful. It was free and fair, just like my stay there. I want to be in this state again.
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