The soundness and logic of presentation adopted by a feminine columnist with Punch Newspaper, Abimbola Adelakun
in her bid to dissect the mindset and psyche of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, the governor of Osun State, on responsible leadership and good governance resonate the passion and power of critical journalistic sense.
She rather unfortunately exposed the lopsided appointment of media handlers of the governor, in which many conscious observers have queried the state of mind of Mr Oyetola in his choice of media managers.
Adelakun, analysed the notion behind the statement made by Oyetola while paying tribute to his late Chief of Staff on General Administration, Mr Jare Adebisi, in which he reportedly submitted that if not for the outbreak of ravaging coronavirus, his late aide whould have been flown abroad for better medical care.
She then positioned Oyetola as a scapegoat among the Nigerian ruling elite, with disgusting penchant for medical tourism at the peril of health infrastructure at home, flaying the governor for demonstrating lack of quality leadership and sensitivity in governance .
Adelakun’s review of the governor’s statement further revealed that Oyetola, like many of his counterparts have no genuine intention for turning critical infrastructure around in their various states, especially sensitive sectors like health, in which the survival and well-being of the citizenry predicated upon.
It also means that, many political leaders of Oyetola’s status and orientation simply play deceptive politics by saying one thing to deceive the people and in the same breath conceiving another to satisfy parochial interest.
Another salient question in the minds of many citizenry in the state is the destination of $20, 000000, the state accessed , courtesy of the former Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, to revamp it’s health sector and make it more functional.
Conversely, it is very pertinent to discuss the role played by Oyetola’s media team, especially his Chief Press Secretary, one Ismail Omipidan, who, despite years of experience he claims to have in Journalism still displayed juvenile tendencies and total incompetence in the management of his principal.
It beats every imagination that Omipidan, who should ordinarily understands the mood of the nation and perception of Nigerians with regard to medical tourism, coupled with expectations of the people on the inherent lessons of COVID-19 in the power corridors, still went ahead to quote the governor glorifying foreign medical facility as better alternative to that of his state.
One wonders what manner and type of media manager will out of paucity of knowledge and deep thinking expose his principal to ridicule in that magnitude.
In reality, governors’ media managers primary serve as gatekeepers for their principals, to guide against such contents that could elicit public resentment and outcry.
That Omipidan, a former political editor at Sun Newspaper, could sit down in his conscious state of mind and write such statement made by his principal for public consumption gives him out as misfit and less tactical, he lacks every quality of managing government’s media structure in that level of governance.
Sorry o, governor Oyetola,’ isu yin lo towo yin bepo, idan owo Omipidan lo fi ko yin sin panpe oro lowo Adelakun’.
Sincerely, the governor must have a rethink and do something fast about his media team, this is the government that is parading the most incompetent and weakest Commissioner for Information in the history of the state, alongside sleeping and docile Chief Press Secretary of crude exposure.
Segun Ojo writes from Ilesa, Osun State.
