Opinion: Is Governor Seyi Makinde Unraveling?

If you are an ardent follower of Nigerian politics, you cannot claim not to know the new but not-so-new Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, the billionaire politician whose strides since he was sworn in has left citizens oohing and aahing.

In a political landscape where elected officials hardly deliver on their electoral promises, Governor Makinde’s start has been brilliant and unusual. Hence, the furor around him.

For starters, running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, a party that looked seemingly dead after the Presidential election loss of 2015 was a daring move for the Governor but it would appear as if the indigenes of the state had had enough of former Governor Ajimobi and Makinde was a welcome relief.

His decision to appoint a younger man as Commissioner for Youths and Sports against the will of political stakeholders in the state who wanted a loyalist endeared him to many. And that’s not forgetting the fiasco with banning NURTW and other bold moves.

The hailings and praises notwithstanding, it would appear as though the Governor may be unraveling and getting ahead of himself.

It started with being caught in a lie about the state of the finance of Oyo state. Yes, a number of people understand that the state was not run properly but the new Governor may have slightly overblown how bad it was. When called out, to his credit, he apologized.

The recent one was in the appointment of Taye Currency as Commissioner for Culture and Tourism. The latter has littered the state with billboards celebrating achievements. For a Governor in the early months of his first term, that looks like a parade taken too far and the noise from the indigenes confirm this.

As it stands, while there have been calls for the Governor to run for the Presidency after his term as Governor, those calls may prove too early seeing as the initial acts of the Governor may be fading out.

Whichever way it goes, one thing is certain, the Governor needs to sit up and return to working or watch all the goodwill gained blown away.