Pelumi Olajengbesi’s Fantasy, Adeleke’s Failure, and the Lie of Competence

By Bolaji Akinola, PhD  

Pelumi Olajengbesi’s essay reads less like political analysis and more like a lullaby sung to soothe a failing administration. It is a triumph of prose over substance, of sentimentality over sense, and of wishful thinking over political reality. One searches in vain for facts; what one finds instead is incense burned before an underperforming governor and cheap sophistry deployed to diminish a man whose record speaks far louder than Olajengbesi’s florid paragraphs. 

Let us be blunt, since subtlety is wasted on intellectual dishonesty. Ademola Adeleke is not a misunderstood saint of governance; he is a spectacularly underwhelming occupant of the Osun Government House. His tenure has been defined by shallowness, theatrics, policy emptiness, and a desperate addiction to optics over outcomes. Dancing is not governance. Smiling for cameras is not development. Loud sentiment is not leadership. Osun State has not moved forward under Adeleke; it has staggered sideways, distracted by carnival-style politics while serious governance languishes. 

To describe Adeleke’s approach as “service, legacy and passion” is either wilful blindness or outright mockery of the intelligence of Osun people. What legacy? Collapsing fiscal discipline? Stalled infrastructure? A government more invested in viral moments than verifiable progress? Adeleke’s only consistent policy has been stage performance, not administrative competence. 

Now to the more offensive sleight of hand in Olajengbesi’s piece: the cheap attempt to downplay and denigrate a highly respected leader, His Excellency Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, CON.  

Olajengbesi’s piece is not analysis; it is lazy insult masquerading as commentary. It betrays either ignorance or malice. Dr. Oyetola does not need volume to prove capacity. His record as Governor of Osun State is concrete, measurable, and enduring: infrastructure expansion, road networks, health sector reforms, workers’ welfare, security stabilisation, and a governance style rooted in planning rather than populism. The voters did not “emotionally move on” from Oyetola; they were temporarily deceived by noise and novelty. Osun politics has corrected that illusion before, and it is in the process of doing so again. 

More importantly, as Nigeria’s pioneer Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Oyetola has been nothing short of exceptional. In a newly carved and strategic ministry, he has brought structure, policy clarity, and investment focus — quietly laying foundations in maritime security, port efficiency, and blue economy value chains that Nigeria has ignored for decades. Serious people in serious rooms know this. Abuja knows this. The maritime sector knows this. Only partisan propagandists like Olajengbesi’s pretend otherwise. 

The suggestion that Oyetola is driven by bitterness is projection at its crudest. If anyone is acting from desperation, it is Ademola Adeleke — desperation so acute that he is desperately shopping for APC membership, hoping to launder his failures with federal proximity. Let it be said clearly and without ambiguity: Ademola Adeleke is not welcome in the APC. No amount of whitewashing, backchannel lobbying, or paid opinion pieces will change that. He has *nothing* to add to the party — no ideas, no structure, no electoral value beyond his current seat, which he knows is slipping away. His interest in the APC is not ideological; it is purely survivalist. He wants a second-term platform because he knows he does not deserve one — and will not earn one. Osun people have seen through the act. The music has stopped. The applause has faded. 

And unlike Olajengbesi’s romanticised fiction, the numbers are merciless. A recently concluded opinion poll conducted by the reputable Standard Post shows exactly where Osun stands today. The people have spoken with clarity: APC’s Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO) leads the poll by 52% while Ademola Adeleke has a paltry 38%. This was not a backroom whisper or partisan guesswork. It was an open online poll conducted recently, featuring the major candidates in the off-cycle election. Osun residents will vote overwhelmingly for the APC candidate on 8th August because they are now wiser. They recognise “one-chance” governance when they see it, and they will not fall for it twice. 

So spare us the sermon about “quiet strength” and “cooperation without insecurity.” What Olajengbesi is really mourning is the collapse of a convenient narrative. The truth is uglier and simpler: Adeleke is an underperformer heading for electoral defeat, trying to cling to federal shadows for relevance. APC, under *Oyetola’s respected, disciplined, and sensible leadership* , will reclaim Osun State on August 8. Bola Oyebamiji’s lead is not accidental; it is the natural consequence of competence versus comedy, substance versus spectacle. 

No amount of falsehood peddled by Pelumi Olajengbesi, his ilk, or their paymasters will rewrite reality. History is not written by praise-singers; it is written by results. And by that unforgiving standard, Adeleke does not belong in the same sentence — let alone the same class — as His Excellency Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, CON. 

Osun has had enough. The exit door is already in view for Adeleke. 

Dr. Bolaji Akinola is Special Adviser to the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.