Until a certain explosion that rocked part of Lagos, I never knew there is Ejigbo in Lagos State. I was however opportune to visit the area when I was redeployed to Lagos in November, 2016. But the Ejigbo I am about to talk about, is the one in Osun State.
Ejigbo had the Speaker of Osun State for eight years. Yet, the road leading to the town was never fixed. Somehow, as the then Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola , decided to fix the 20km Ejigbo-Ara-Ede road.
Good enough, the day the Governor inaugurated the 20km Ejigbo-Ara-Ede road and 2.1km Ede township road was the same day he flagged off the reconstruction of 3.8km Ejigbo township roads.
I wrote about these laudable interventions, and some of my brothers from Ejigbo called for my head for reproducing what Ambassador Adejare Bello, who incidentally is a former Speaker in the State, said concerning the project. He had said Oyetola fixed in less than two years what the three former number three citizens from the Osun West Senatorial District could not do in 20 years. Since then, I began wondering what kind of orientation some of the young minds from the area has. However, that mindset changed when I came to realise Adedayo Oderinu , a cerebral broadcast journalist is from the area. My encounter with Abdul Gaffar Blessing Sulaiman , a digital media mastero, further reinforced the fact that those who called for my head were just political jobbers who would do the most inane and ludicrous thing to defend their pot of soup.
When I thought that was all, Facebook gave me Abbas Faruq , a lawyer and politician. We are yet to meet physically, but we communicate once in a while. Faruk Abbas however told Abiola Jimoh about me and by Monday, Abiola Jimoh and I met in Abuja.
Like his friend, Abiola Jimoh is also a lawyer. But he is currently the CEO of XChangeBOX, a licensed payment platform providing payments, financing and credit access to Agro Suppliers, MSMEs and Rural Traders across communities, leveraging on partnerships with Financial Institutions. Their job at XChangeBOX is simply to enable trading and access to financing for traders in last mile communities to enable financial inclusion.
I find Abiola Jimoh very interesting. In the course of discussion, he introduced me to his colleague, who I found to be one of my responsible in-laws from Ede, also in Osun State. He is Damilola Adeyemo, and he is the Chief Financial Officer at XChangeBOX. Who says Osun is not blessed!
I am proud of my sojourn in Osun. I am grateful that God, through Oyetola, made me work in Osun. My Osun experience remains a turning point in my quest for a place in Journalism, advocacy and leadership.
I am happier that all the young minds I have come across like Abiola Jimoh do not indulge in irresponsible and petty dancing, which today remains the signpost of governance in Osun State.
Don’t get it twisted. Being exceptional in dance craft is a talent, no doubt. But responsible dancing too requires strategic thinking and planning. In irresponsible dancing however, one could wake up anytime to respond to the lyrics and songs without any adequate preparation and strategy. In fact, one could continue to change the dancing steps until one finds the movement that really suits the music being played. This is not the same with providing good governance that requires strategic thinking, planning and execution.
Unlike irresponsible dancing, to provide good governance, one cannot just wake up to say one would do A, B, C and D without adequate preparation for the strategic thinking, planning and execution. I rest my case for now!
