OLUSEYI MAKINDE, Governor Elect, Oyo State |
If you try once, twice, thrice and the fourth time, the last time, 4th here can just be your lucky day, so it seems for the PDP Governor Elect in Oyo State in the person of the 51 year old Engineer and Philanthropist per excellence, Mr. OLUSEYI MAKINDE, who incidentally is a Christmas day boy having being born on December 25, 1967. He would be 52 by the end of the year.
Even if anyone wants to ascribe his comprehensive victory to luck, we would like to tell all those in that school of thought that far be it, this is one sweet victory that was won via hardwork, discipline, dedication, perseverance and self belief. It is one victory that was a long time coming. What this victory just attests to is that, whatever good you lay your hands upon to do, remain consistent in it, irrespective of whether you are seen and acknowledged for it, the time that the good would speak and begin to yield result and good tidings would come some day. God is never mocked, whatsoever a man sows, that also shall he reap!!
Seyi Makinde is not a flash in the pan at all and that's why his victory also is sweet, because it is one that's well garnished, well cooked, therefore it is now well served. All over the large expanse Oyo State his hand of goodwill has touched so many lives in their thousands for many years till date. He didn't just start a year ago or even 5 years ago, but for a longwhile now, the plight of those who does not really have, has been uppermost in his heart and he has never shied away from doing it. Even on the eve of the elections itself, the Mogajis attested to that as they gave him their full support. To have the support of the Mogajis (family heads), is like having the tacit support of the Olubadan-in-council. Imagine again that the highly respected Alaafin of Oyo even prayed for his success, before the election. Doesn't that say much?
Apart from his love for charity, the humble man is also a brilliant man to the boot. A graduate of electrical engineering from the famous University of Lagos, who upon graduation served at Shell Petroleum, one of the biggest oil and gas multinationals in Nigeria and from serving there, he was retained as a pupil engineer. It was at Shell and some other companies that he cut his teeth for 5 year, showing his brilliance and becoming a Field Engineer/Field Manager before resigning to set up his own company at the age of 29 in 1997. If that's not preparation for future leadership position, then we don't know what else one needs.
For more than 2 decades now, he has honed his skill, pushing through in the kind of terrain that can break the back of the most hardworking and the strongest. In the adjoining years he added other professional certificates too, he even went to one of the most prestigious schools in the world in America, that's talking about the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA better known by its initials MIT.
For one to better understand the man's doggedness, he had twice vied for Senatorial positions over the years and on both occasions 2007 & 2011) he lost. But he was never perturbed as he still believed that is time would come. Just like the Nigerian President, PMB who had tried till the 4th time before the good came his way. Jettisoning his ambition to become a lawmaker (Senator), he tried for the Governorship of Oyo State for the first in 2015, though he had a great chance, but he was robbed of the opportunity to represent his party the PDP then by the same party, so in protest he dumped the party and stood for the Governorship on the platform of the SDP, though he did his best he still lost. Again though he was disappointed by the outcome he wasn't still totally deflated.
This time around, his party the PDP knowing they had done him bad went abegging. They understood the fact they needed to close ranks, so fences were mended and he again tried for the primaries and this time again won and he was allowed finally to represent the PDP for the Gubernatorial election in 2019 and now the rest is history.
Truth be told one of Seyi Makinde's strength is his love for his people and the people too have now reciprocated back in kind. Here was someone who without ever been in Government before at any level had cared so much for the welfare of hos people. There are the countless number of Oyo state indigenes under his sponsorship. He is not seen as being high up there, with his nose held high up, unapproachable. Not the type that does things for people as a favour. He has been there done that and we repeat again not a flash in the pan, who only came into his people's consciousness a year or 2 ago and only because he needed the people to become something.
One of the things that also endeared Seyi Makinde to his people and that led to the massive support he has gotten is also his legendary humility, a far cry from the arrogance of the head of the outgoing Government of the ruling party. That arrogance also might have pushed many of the people away from the APC, to support a man that is seen as a man of the people.
So at the election on Saturday, March 9, 2019 across the whole of Oyo State, the citizens spoke with their votes, which was the only power they could wield. Not only did they vote massively for the PDP Gubernatorial candidate Seyi Makinde, they also voted massively for the PDP state house of assembly candidates too, thereby sweeping the elections showing they wanted a totally new style and party at the helm.
At the end of the day, Engineer Oluseyi Makinde of the People's Democratic Party PDP, polled a total of 515,621 votes to massacre the APC candidate, who got a total vote of 357,982 winning by a margin of 157,639 votes. So having polled the majority of the votes and having satisfied the requirements as stated by the electoral laws, Mr. Oluseyi Makinde was declared the winner and the Governor elect of Oyo State 2019. The humble son of a teacher turned accountant, who rose by the dint of hardwork, discipline and dedication to his position today in life, would by the grace of the Almighty God, run the affairs of the pacesetter state for the next 4 years. Oyo State is in for 4 exciting new years ahead.
He deserves our accolades and we gladly from the bottom of our heart give it to him by saying "take a well deserved BOW".
With this victory now, the likes of former Governor Christopher Alao Akala, outgoing Governor Senator Abiola Ajimobi have all totally lost their political relevance, what a shame!!!!
Hey very interesting blog!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading through this, very good stuff, regards.
ReplyDelete