As we welcome Arakunrin back to Alagbaka House, our prayer is that affliction will not arise a second time and that wisdom will be granted him in the quest for the best leadership for the state as he prepares to complete his tenure. May he always be endowed with the strength and courage to stay true to the God that has kept him to complete his mandate and further the cause of sacrificing for the growth and development of his people.
“The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.” “So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.” – Genesis 6: 5, 6 NLT
For many years I’ve been an ardent student of the nature and the purpose of man’s existence here in this physical and tangible realm. Humans have never failed to intrigue me. The recent imbroglio in Ondo State during the absence of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the governor of the State, who was on a medical leave, is a study in human behaviour and should be a research project for students of psychology and psychoanalysis.
The parties involved in the drama were those saddled with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the state in his absence. Barely had he turned his back when the infighting commenced. We could categorise the various responses from the players into different behavioural patterns. The famous psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, believed that behaviour is mainly a result of a person succumbing to various sets of urges.
The behaviour patterns that were elicited amongst the players in Arakunrin’s wider sphere of experience can be analysed by utilising various psychological concepts. If we have to consider two types of behavioural concepts, molecular and moral behaviour, we will see how the actors fell into these two different patterns. Moral behaviour can be described as a situation in which a person takes a specific action after pondering the circumstances, while molecular behaviour is more instinctual.
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The drama that took place in the state during this period spewed up participants who easily fell into these different categories. It was very easy to recognise where each actor fell.
Human behaviour is a remarkably complicated operation that runs the gamut from emotional to mental to physical manifestations, and it includes genetic and environmental factors. These factors can equally comprise attitude, authority, culture, ethics, morals, perceptions, religion, science, and societal demands, as well.
As I observed these various actors, I couldn’t have been more interested in how the Deputy Governor, Honourable Lucky Aiyedatiwa would handle the situation and which psychological category would he fall into. To my utmost delight, he responded according to character and obviously fell into the moral category.
I met the Deputy Governor for the first time in the year 1994. I had started worshiping in the same church in Lagos then, where he was also a member. We later became quite acquainted with one another as the years proceeded. Honourable Lucky Aiyedatiwa came out of very humble surroundings and was influenced by a dimension of Christ’s teachings that is accurate and sound, yet unpopular. One of the fundamentals of the faith in which Lucky Aiyedatiwa was raised is faithfulness, which is the springboard of loyalty. The two are not mutually exclusive, but inextricably bound.
When the accusations of domestic impropriety were alleged against him, those of us who know him from the early days and who know the values that shaped his thinking, knew immediately that this was a “deep fake”. The biblical statement quoted at the beginning of this script, reveals the state of mind of the fifth columnists involved in the allegation, and their sponsors. God, if He regrets anything at all, regrets that He has created the likes of such humans. Certainly, they fall into the molecular category. They are instinctively wicked.
Honourable Lucky Aiyedatiwa whom we know, is a man crafted by the Lord, who has been financially self-sufficient as far back as the late nineties. He is a man of integrity in all his dealings, who many surrounding him in the corridors of power in Ondo State find strange to deal with. He cuts against the grain and is not your typical politician. His sense of loyalty to constituted authority cannot be questioned, neither is his humility. We who have known him for decades still relate to the Lucky we’ve always known. We all know that when Nigerians move up the ladder of seeming success, they abandon those who were their contemporaries and friends when they were nothing. This is not the case with him.
The case of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu has again reiterated a fundamental truth and taught us that God rules in the affairs of men. He lifts one up and casts another down. Just as He was instrumental in the fate of the baker, so was He instrumental in that of the cup wine bearer. We know how everything was thrown at Asiwaju, including the kitchen sink, that he will not be president, despite that, we can see destiny unfolding right before us. What we also know is that for Lucky Aiyedatiwa, it is not a do-or-die affair. This is what has informed his response to all that transpired during the brief departure of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
Ondo, a homogenous state, consisting of highly educated people, deserves to have leadership that will build on the success of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, while remaining on the trajectory of human development that will meet the aspirations of the people. It will be a tragedy if we allow the helms of leadership to be taken over by a self-conceited absalomic type of mentality that those driven by greed have portrayed during the absence of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. Our hope is that this will not happen, but that future leadership will build on the goodwill of Arakunrin.
As we welcome Arakunrin back to Alagbaka House, our prayer is that affliction will not arise a second time and that wisdom will be granted him in the quest for the best leadership for the state as he prepares to complete his tenure. May he always be endowed with the strength and courage to stay true to the God that has kept him to complete his mandate and further the cause of sacrificing for the growth and development of his people.
Adedayo Adesugba is the Oversight Coordinator, CongressWBN, South-West Nigeria. Email: adesugba@protonmail.com
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