My Egbon, Comrade Olufemi Lawson ‘Cadre’, wrote a very lengthy response to an argument I did not make. I never said Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is Governor of Ondo South alone or that development should be sectional. My argument is that when political power rotates, the developmental opportunity that comes with it should be meaningful to the region whose turn it is. Listing roads does not answer that question, just as proposed investments and ongoing discussions do not amount to visible development.
Governor Aiyedatiwa has been in office since December 23, 2023, following the death of his predecessor. If there was a genuine plan to transform Ondo South, almost three years later, we should be discussing completed projects, functioning industries and measurable outcomes, not a proposed $4 billion petrochemical plant, discussions around a Deep Sea Port or plans for coastal tourism.
Cadre also said it is unfair to compare Aiyedatiwa with Governors who spent four, seven or eight years in office. But Aiyedatiwa has a one term mandate! That makes time even more critical, not less. The Southern opportunity may not return for another decade or two. If this tenure is spent planning what should have been delivered, the cost will not be borne by Aiyedatiwa alone; the entire South will live with the consequences. Asking what he has actually delivered is therefore not sectionalism. It is accountability.
Cadre said the Governor should be judged by “facts, figures, projects and results.” I agree but he perhaps missed the point I said I left roads out of the discussion. Let us now separate completed projects from proposals, delivered investments from discussions, and measurable results from political announcements. I am not asking the South to reject its son. I am saying it can’t defend him merely because he is our son. Give us a record worth defending and we will defend it. Give us a legacy worth celebrating and we will celebrate it. Until then, the South has every right to ask the simplest question of the man entrusted with our turn. We will ask what he is doing with the opportunity we gave him!
