Leaders are judged not just by their looks and schools attended. Practical governance case studies are the laboratories for governorship assessment. The #EndSarsProtest and the #EndBadGovernance protests are two strong case studies that should interest students of public administration, especially from comparative perspectives.
In the two instances, two governors ruled, one, Mr Gboyega Oyetola, defeated at popular election, and the other, Senator Ademola Adeleke, an incumbent boss of the state of the living spring. Analysts have been slow at embarking on this route of comparison, but it is a worthy venture to reward innovative leadership and rebuke mediocrity at the helm of powers. We must acknowledge that leadership competency deserves an open test without political bias.
It is incontestable to affirm from the beginning that Governor Adeleke, without apology to anybody, scored over 90 percent in his demonstration of statesmanship in the management of the ongoing national protest. His predecessor, Minister Oyetola, was a total failure in the handling of the #EndSars protest, rated below 30 percent by even members of his own party. This categorical assertion I will justify in the following paragraphs.
The first test of a leader is the capacity to foresee governance conflict before occurrence. On this count, Asiwaju Adeleke soundly beats Minister Oyetola. As early as February this year, Governor Adeleke was the first Nigerian governor to set up a state food security committee. This can be verified in the minutes of the National Economic Council.
In other words, he foresaw the hunger crisis and assembled a team of experts. That report with an action plan was under implementation even before the current protest erupted.
On the contrary, and as confirmed by mere desk research, Mr Oyetola was deaf and dumb on the #EndSars crisis. The state under him has no pre-conflict plan nor any crisis resolution agenda. The state was caught napping, and the Governor himself was on an occasion held hostage in his office, while for several days, the capital was on violent lockdown. It was a total leadership failure.
For Governor Adeleke, he devised a crisis management plan that targeted the peaceful value chain in the protest project. With a team of conflict resolution experts working day and night with security commanders, the entire state was mapped out with a focus on maintaining peace while at the same time not trampling on the rights of the citizens. His target was not to buy up any protesters but to secure a stakeholders’ consensus on a template for the protest that would not undermine the stability and security of the state.
Hence, the governor initiated a pre-protest dialogue with protest organizers who were indeed shocked by the olive branches. The meeting, which had almost four hundred participants in attendance, allowed for cross fertilization of ideas and an understanding by parties on the minimum conditions for mutually acceptable exercise of protest rights. The organizers attested to the sincere purpose of the state government, and they had no hesitation to launch to the field within the framework of the dialogue.
Under Oyetola, the scenario was handled differently. As the governor had no pre-crisis plan, the state entered the #EndSars protest with a high dosage of hostility. The state government, having displayed unacceptable insensitivity, had no partners for peace making. The state lost several billions of naira and state governance was disrupted.The ruling party itself became part of the crisis and on an occasion, rival ruling party factions exchanged gunfire, adding petrol to the already burning endsars protest.
Unlike the failure of leadership under his predecessor, Governor Adeleke manifested deft craftsmanship by successfully managing clandestine plots by opposition operatives to self inflict arson as a way of heightened tension in the state. The government supported by security agencies was every inch of the way ahead of the evil dark forces. All anti-people plots failed. The openness demonstrated by the state leadership was one of the best examples of crisis management in Nigerian history.
Again, Mr Oyetola failed woefully to the extent that residents had to storm and loot essential foodstuffs being hoarded by the state government.The looting of the warehouses marked the height of leadership failure under the former Government. That Oyetola and his team could hoard much needed food items infuriated so many protesters, thereby raising the tempo of demonstrations for weeks afterward. Leadership insincerity and duplicity were exposed by angry mobs of disenchanted citizens.
Of equal importance for students of comparative studies is the Current Conflict Management (CCC) template adopted by Governor Adeleke. There was a step by step monitoring mechanism implemented by stakeholders to enforce peace while respecting constitutional rights. For Mr Oyetola, he lost control before the conflict even started. Throughout the #EndSarsProtest, the state was on autopilot with the governor lacking any curtailment idea.
Something unique must be pointed out. Of all the 36 states, Osun presented the best model in conflict management ahead of Lagos and others. Osun is the first state where organizers voluntarily announced the end of the nationwide protest. This is a golden record that will hunt Mr Oyetola and his party in the 2026 election.
Worse still, Oyetola party men were caught by security intelligence trying to fuel the crisis. Despite the best pressure from the opposition caucus, the organizers voluntarily called off the strike. APC in Osun came out of the conflict deeply damaged and reputationally injured with the presidency.
Applying whatever yearstick, the development strikes a positive chord right up to the presidency. There is an unspoken acknowledgment of Governor Adeleke’s proven leadership acumen. The general review is that the Osun Governor is truly competent, efficient, and closely affiliated with the citizenry.
The preceding presents an opportunity to remember that Mr Adeleke had floored Mr Oyetola not just on the electoral field but in day to day governance of the state. More comparative articles will soon be published, such as contrasting reviews of pension matters by the two administrations, among others.
For now, on the tale of two protests, it is safe to submit that the incumbent is a better manager of state conflict than his predecessor. There is a superiority of conflict management and forecast as well as a demonstration of sincerity, transparency, and firmness in stakeholders' engagement.
● Mason Crux is of the Government Media Center, Osogbo.
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