Dilemma of A Patriotic Ondo Assembly Speaker
The last six months has not been the best of time for the Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji. Troubles of this lawmaker representing Ondo East Constituency is not far-fatcheted from the struggles for power between the factions of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and that of his deputy, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Unfortunately for the Ondo Assembly Speaker, he got elected at a time that Aketi was already having serious health challenge and he therefore got emtrapped in the crossfires of the two factions. He has since been flowing with the political current of Ondo State without showing showing loyalty to any of the factions.
While the seeming cold political war in the Sunshine State rages, Oladiji has considered it necessary to only show loyalty to Ondo State instead of any of the two factions. It may not be out of place that the Speaker may have tilted towards showing sympathy to the cause of Aketi because of the obvious fact that the governor played important role in the speaker’s emergence. We are all witnesses to the fact that Landmark, as the Speaker is popularly known emerged Ondo Speaker because of the support and endorsement of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
It should however be noted that Oladiji has thus far done what were expected of him; after all, he takes direct instructions from the Governor who was highly instrumental in his emergemce as Ondo Speaker. Even if the political of Ondo State tide was turned, Landmark would have still displayed the same level of sympathy and support for Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Even in the midst of political storm that the Speaker has found himself, he has been able to draw a clear demarcation line between loyalty and sympathy. Without doubt, Landmark has thus far remained loyal to Ondo State and he has been doing all within his powers to ensure political stability and guide against constitutional crisis in the Sunshine State.
Shortly before President Tinubu invited concerned parties in Ondo State to a peace meeting in Abuja, close allies of the Speaker were already considering the need to activate Section 190 subsection 2 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria. This is a section that provides for empowering the deputy governor as Acting Governor with the simple majority of members of the state assembly. However, the intervention of President Tinubu has since incapacitated allies of the Speaker from pursuing the path of constitutionality.
One of the fallouts of the Abuja peace meeting was the demand that Lucky Aiyedatiwa should write an undated resignation letter and submit same to President Bola Tinubu. Who knows whether a similar unconstitutional commitment had been obtained from Rt. Hon. Oladiji; in case he fails to show expected level of sympathy to the cause of Aketi. Without doubt, Landmark is evidently a patriot who mean well for Ondo State.
Perception in certain quarters of Ondo State is that Oladiji has been working against Lucky Aiyedatiwa. This perception is wrong and ill informed after all. Individuals peddling this unfounded rumour seem to be unaware that most of the actions taken against the deputy governor in the name of the speaker may not have been initiated by him. The question that ought to be asked by those fanning the ember of political disharmony in Ondo State is that what does the Speaker stands to gain if Lucky Aiyedatiwa is impeached ?
The situation of this Ondo Speaker can at best be likened to that of a tragically unfortunate mullato who is neither classified as a black nor white. This seems the case of Olamide Oladiji because the Akeredolu faction sees him as having sympathy for Lucky Aiyedatiwa, while the deputy governor’s faction also sees him as doing the bidding of Akeredolu. Few days ago, some groups within the Akeredolu’s faction accused the Speaker of being bought for a price to confer Lucky Aiyedatiwa with the powers of a governir in acting capacity.
Meanwhile, the State Assembly eventually reconvened on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 without anything like resolution to make Lucky Aiyedatiwa an Acting Governor on its agenda for that day. Rather, a list of Caretaker Chairmen for the 18 Local Government Areas and Interim Management Committee for the 33 Local Council Development Areas were transmitted to the Speaker for screening and approval.This issue raised a lot of dust and the dust had hardly settled before the Speaker was again wrongly accused of make plans to enforce the resignation of the deputy governor.
In view of all of these, it can be clearly seen that Ondo State Assembly Speaker is only being made a pun in a political game of blame and succession. It will nonetheless be wrong to see the successful businessman from the perception of ongoing political horse trading; rather, Landmark should be seen from the perceptive of the bills so far churned out by the Ondo State Assembly and which have in turn impacted the state and lives of the citizenry.
If not for the sheer desire to serve, someone of the status of Olamide Oladiji should have no business with vying for any position in Ondo State House of Assembly. He joined partisan politics as a multi-millioniare who has attained enviable level of success in his chain of businesses. He is the proprietor of Landmark Group of Schools in Lagos and of course, one of the best schools in the Centre of Excellence. He is also the proprietor of Landmark Polytechnic in Ogun State. Oladiji also owns petrol several stations in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt. This is in addition to his flourishing automobile and hospitality businesses.
In all, the people of Ondo State should know that the Speaker has unfortunately turned out a victim of the political battle between the factions of Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa. He also has nothing to gain and as a matter of fact has not gained anything from the raging supremacy battle. Clearly, Oladiji of course occupies number three position in the political hierarchy of Ondo State; but, his position should never be envied by anyone because he is more or less a cannon fodder in the battle of political supremacy in the Sunshine State.
