When Osun Humbled A God‎

Osun, second wife of Sango, after whom “the state of Osun” is named holds a special place in the pantheon of Yoruba mythology‎.

 

Osun, goddess of fertility, was a great cook. She‎ held Sango in her thrall with her cooking. That was the power she had over him. She was also very clever. She wheedled Oba, Sango’s first wife, into cutting off her ear and preparing a meal with it for the lightning god. Oba, a goddess, fell from grace after obeying Osun’s tempting whispers.

 

Last Saturday, the progeny of Osun‎ showed they were a chip off the old block in the “inconclusive” election.

 

A few weeks before the election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu went to the state to do some braggadocio‎.  He said the state did not have his kind of money, and that he had anointed Gboyega Oyetola, the APC candidate, to take over from Rauf Aregbesola for the progress of the state.

 

But the people of Osun showed their impregnability to the sweet and cocky talk by casting more votes for the PDP candidate than Tinubu’s anointed one.

 

Perhaps, they thought that since 2003 they have been under the cumulus of Tinubu and the APC, then ACN, but with nothing to show for their loyalty and trust.

 

The state has not paid its workers in full for 34 months. It has a high debt profile, but with little to show in terms of infrastructure ‎and human capital development. It is also tumbling in education and health rankings.

 

The fact is, the outcome of the election, albeit inconclusive, is a deft protest‎ to the status quo. The people have obviously grown weary of the noose, and they would not remain under the principality of a hegemon without bread. They are ready to swim with Ademola Adeleke, the underdog, who was terribly underestimated.

 

‎It is clear to me now that politics to the Yoruba is all about the “wellbeing of all” not about a ‘god-father’. The late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, was able to command a religious following in the south-west because of his “welfarist programmes” targeted at the common people. This is what is obviously lacking in the Tinubu-sphere.

 

‎The Osun election, whichever way it goes at the end of the day, has shown that Tinubu is man after all, and that adversity can make mortals dare the gods.

 

Fredrick Nwabufo is a media personality.