(1) For me, Senator Adeleke Ademola has won the Osun State governorship election. Even when those 3,000 votes are cast and contend, I expect him to emerge victorious

(2) To be honest, the fact that the election was so close in itself has made the APC’s position untenable. They have been so fatally wounded that the only dignified course of action is to concede defeat. In saner climes, when an incumbent party is so fatally hurt by the electorate, they take the honourable course of action, which is to bow out. As we all know, such things simply do not happen in Nigeria

(3) However, I live in hope. Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the APC candidate in Osun may surprise us all do a Goodluck by bowing out gracefully. I am sure he must consider it a snub for a dancer and entertainer to get more votes than him in a state-wide election

(4) In a society where values, policies and programmes are the basis of electing public officials, Ademola Adeleke would not have been able to get more than 5% of the vote at best. His election just tells you everything that is wrong with us as a people

(5) Senator Adeleke should not even have been able to get more than 10% of the vote in the PDP primary, let alone clinch the ticket. Yet he won, beating candidates with five times his intellectual capacity, personal integrity, visionary outlook and managerial capability

(6) To make matters worse, Senator Adeleke showed utter contempt for the people of Osun State by not showing up for any of the public debates. In a sane society, such irresponsible and callous disregard for the process would render him totally unelectable

(7) However, we have to live in the world as it is and now how we wish it would be. Senator Adeleke is a reflection of who we are as a people at this moment in time. We are not yet ready for the battle of ideas to take us forward as a people. For now, we are content to be a consumerist society, enjoy our owambe parties every weekend, have state governments dependent on federal handouts and elect governors that borrow money to pay salaries

(8) Osun State is not economically viable as she spends about three times more than she earns from federal handouts and the paltry sums generated internally. I would have thought that this election would have been about how to address this matter but alas, economics was not even mentioned once during the course of the campaign

(9) Over the next four years, Osun needs something like 30% annual economic growth, the large scale diversification of its economy, a massive transformation of the ancient city of Ile-Ife into a global tourist attraction ala Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Ibiza, etc and the wooing of large scale manufacturers. None of this was debated and as far as I am concerned, Senator Adeleke is not under any obligation to deliver. It is not a crime to deliver what you did not promise!

(10) Please, nobody from Osun should come here and moan over the next four years. As things stand, civil servants and pensioners are owed about four month salary arrears, with there being no sign whatsoever that these will be cleared. When you have a budget of N173bn and only generate N55bn, it is clear that arrears and debt will only continue to grow. For me, this election has been a real eye opener. It has held a mirror to our collective faces showing us who we are and I for one do not like what I see!

Written by Mr Ayo.