• Home
  • Featured
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Crime
  • More
    • Celebration
    • Interviews
    • Health
    • Investigations
    • Metro
    • The Parliament
    • Opinion
    • TGN Award Night
    • Religion
    • Security
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • World

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi

February 4, 2023

Videos, Photos As Finals Of Kayode Opeifa-sponsored Handball Competition For Sec Schools Hold

February 4, 2023

Naira Policy: Arewa Youths Attack PDP, Atiku For Playing Politics With Nigerians’ Hardships 

February 4, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi
  • Videos, Photos As Finals Of Kayode Opeifa-sponsored Handball Competition For Sec Schools Hold
  • Naira Policy: Arewa Youths Attack PDP, Atiku For Playing Politics With Nigerians’ Hardships 
  • I’ll Continue To Campaign For Tinubu, Buhari Declares In Lafia
  • Photos As Finals Of Kayode Opeifa – Sponsored Handball Competition For Secondary Schools
  • In Lafia, Buhari Declares Tinubu As Next President Of Nigeria; Nigeria Will Recover From Challenges – Tinubu 
  • Huge Endorsement For APC In Ojo As Alaba International, Alaba Rago Markets Promise Support For Party’s Candidates 
  • Yinka Egbeyemi-inspired Agege Molebi Forum Distributes 12,000 Free Exercise Books, Pens To Pupils Of 12 Primary Schools In Agege
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
The Gazelle NewsThe Gazelle News
  • Home
  • Featured
  • News
    Featured

    APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi

    By The Gazelle NewsFebruary 4, 20230
    Recent

    APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi

    February 4, 2023

    Videos, Photos As Finals Of Kayode Opeifa-sponsored Handball Competition For Sec Schools Hold

    February 4, 2023

    Huge Endorsement For APC In Ojo As Alaba International, Alaba Rago Markets Promise Support For Party’s Candidates 

    February 4, 2023
  • Politics
    Featured

    APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi

    By The Gazelle NewsFebruary 4, 20230
    Recent

    APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi

    February 4, 2023

    Naira Policy: Arewa Youths Attack PDP, Atiku For Playing Politics With Nigerians’ Hardships 

    February 4, 2023

    I’ll Continue To Campaign For Tinubu, Buhari Declares In Lafia

    February 4, 2023
  • Business
    Featured

    Policy Advocacy Platform Tasks Nigerian Govt On Recovery Of Gold Assets In Mining Sector 

    By Olamide ObayemiFebruary 1, 20230
    Recent

    Policy Advocacy Platform Tasks Nigerian Govt On Recovery Of Gold Assets In Mining Sector 

    February 1, 2023

    KACRAN Asks For Emefiele Sack, Extension of Withdrawal of Old Note Till December 2023

    January 24, 2023

    LIRS Reaffirms January 31 Deadline For Filing Of Annual Tax Returns By Employers of Labour

    January 22, 2023
  • Entertainment
    Featured

    Leaked Sex Tape: Court Awards N5m Damages Against Singer Oxlade; Says His Action Is Despicable, Horrendous, Distasteful, Classless

    By The Gazelle NewsFebruary 3, 20230
    Recent

    Leaked Sex Tape: Court Awards N5m Damages Against Singer Oxlade; Says His Action Is Despicable, Horrendous, Distasteful, Classless

    February 3, 2023

    ArtsForChange Talent Competition’s Winner Emerges

    January 30, 2023

    Kwara Gov Has Vision, We’ll Partner With His Govt – French Ambassador 

    January 25, 2023
  • Education
    Featured

    Yinka Egbeyemi-inspired Agege Molebi Forum Distributes 12,000 Free Exercise Books, Pens To Pupils Of 12 Primary Schools In Agege

    By Soffiyyah OlamideFebruary 4, 20230
    Recent

    Yinka Egbeyemi-inspired Agege Molebi Forum Distributes 12,000 Free Exercise Books, Pens To Pupils Of 12 Primary Schools In Agege

    February 4, 2023

    NHRC To Hold Gubernatorial Town Hall On Human Rights In 18 States

    February 1, 2023

    Zulum Unveils Chibok Water Project; Opens Schools In Damboa, Askira 

    February 1, 2023
  • Crime
    Featured

    MPAC, Al-Mu’minaat Demand Prosecution Of the rapist

    By Soffiyyah OlamideFebruary 3, 20230
    Recent

    MPAC, Al-Mu’minaat Demand Prosecution Of the rapist

    February 3, 2023

    ICPC Secures Conviction of Company Director, Firm over N13m Contract Fraud

    February 3, 2023

    Hunger, Anger, Devil Made Me Killed My Wife, Says Man Who Poured Petrol On His Wife, Set Her Ablaze 

    February 3, 2023
  • More
    • Celebration
    • Interviews
    • Health
    • Investigations
    • Metro
    • The Parliament
    • Opinion
    • TGN Award Night
    • Religion
    • Security
    • Sports
    • Technology
    • World
The Gazelle NewsThe Gazelle News
Home»News»Aregbesola: Governance As Festival Of The Mass
News

Aregbesola: Governance As Festival Of The Mass

The Gazelle NewsBy The Gazelle NewsAugust 6, 2022No Comments6 Mins Read
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email
By Owei Lakemfa
WITNESS to history. Animated discussions. Banters. Back slapping. Roaring laughter. Seeming riot, but orderly. Various groups, including the elderly and children. Then the crowds burst into songs and dances. They herald the arrival of the host. He is clad in white with a traditional white dog-eared cap.
He flashes his white teeth, raising a two-finger victory sign. Yes, he is the Governor of Osun State, or as his government prefers to call it, The State Of Osun. But the crowds, and protocols do not refer to him as His Excellency, he is simply Ogbeni, the Yoruba word for Mister.
As he walks in, it is announced that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola  has arrived. No, he is not a unique person, he says he is simply at that material time the elected leader of the state. Traditional drumming and songs take over. He breaks into a dance with the fine dance steps of an accomplished traditional dancer. The crowd breaks into a frenzy, dancing as if it were a traditional festival. People do not rush to shake his hands or press against him.
They see him quite often, sometimes in the streets. So he is like a familiar neighbour. As he dances, the edges of the crowd seems to be bursting with wild dances, including by street toughies called the ‘State Boys’.
Then he raises his hands to signal a stop. The drummers go silent, the songs taper off. The Master of Ceremony tries to take control. Then one of the market women breaks into a popular song. It is about the market women being the soul of society. The Governor’s mother, Madam  Saratu Aregbesola, known as ‘Iya Olobi” (Kolanut merchant) was a market woman. So the women have a pride of place in the state.
Aregbesola shakes his head as if resisting the temptation to stand up. But he has no choice, the crowds are getting back to their feet, the drums come back to life. He is again on his feet with traditional dance steps. The frenzy is on again.
Then after some songs, Aregbesola takes the microphone, faces the market women and sings: “She bi omo oloja niwa…”(Aren’t we the children of market people?) The rest of the crowd take over and the market women take centre stage as the most honoured group; they are the mothers who ensure natural and economic reproduction and production, take care of the family and make society run. While leading the vocals, Aregbesola seems transported to the past when his mother was his world.
 Soon, the songs and dances come to an end. It is like the opening glee of the traditional Yoruba Alaarijo (Itinerant) drama groups who perform a musical (opening glee) before beginning their stage plays. Although it is a state function, but the sweating crowds are at ease. There are no security details pushing anybody around. It was like a family meeting or a communal reunion. In a sense, part of the attraction to state functions are these collective dances and songs which the famous Palm Wine Drinkers Club in Nigerian tertiary institutions would call “gyration”.
What the Aregbesola government did in the state was to incorporate the traditional system of Village Square meetings into governance, giving the people, a sense of collectivism, communality, consultation and mass participation in governance.
When the university system began in Nigeria in 1948, there was a sense of alienation between the ivory tower and the populace. There were strenuous efforts made to bridge the divide between ‘Gown and Town’. Part of the efforts were  building  cultural centres like the Mbari Mbayo in Oshogbo and the Ori Olokun in Ife.
However, the alienation between government and the people was far more pronounced. But what the Aregbesola government did was to put the people at the centre of governance and try to involve them by demystifying state events and turning them into festival-like ceremonies in which the governor and the governed, the high and the lowly  interact. With the dances and songs over, the National Anthem which promises that: “The labour of our heroes past, Shall never be in vain” is played.
Then the ‘State of Osun  Anthem’ in Yoruba is rendered. It is a patriotic and Pan-Africanist anthem which emphasises  hard work. In part, it tells the populace: “There is work to be done for our land, for our fatherland…Our belief is that everyone is born equal. We need to work, to work and work to create wealth…Yee children of Oodua, rise and take your rightful place. You are the light of the entire Black Race.”
The crowd recites this like a pledge. Then, Christian, Islamic and African Traditional Religion prayers are offered. The  Special Adviser to the Governor, Biyi Odunlade, then takes over, rendering enchanting panegyrics in Yoruba to which the crowds nod, snap fingers and concur as they soak in the poetic lyrics which sometimes take the form of chants.
Finally, the programme begins. When it is the turn of the governor to speak, he begins by breaking into songs, the dances resume, the drummers heighten the tempo and more bodies are soaked in sweat.
Finally, his speech, often laced with proverbs and wise sayings, is delivered. Quite often, the speech is interrupted by somebody from the audience breaking into a song and the crowds, as if on cue, join. On such occasions, the governor rocks from side to side, breaks into practised dance steps, then like a skilled conductor at the opera, weaves the songs to a stop and continues his address.
Sometimes, as the crowds quieten, he raises his own song and the dances resume. Speeches and programme over, the governor takes his leave, sent off with dances and songs. Various persons move to talk with him; he seems to have time for everyone. He rapidly gives appointments with aides taking note. Sometimes, it is a mother trying to cope with feeding her children. Such cases are quickly attended to.
On this particular day, November 26, 2018 as the programme reached a climax, the Ooni of Ife (The Cradle of  Yoruba Civilisation) Oba Adeyeye Enitan  Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, in fitting into the atmosphere, sprouts into instantaneous creativity. He teaches the crowd a song he crafted while sitting in the audience:
 Aregbe wa so Osun (thrice)
Osi fara sinlu o.
Se lama ranti O (thrice)
 Fun ise rere Ogbeni
  “Aregbe came to Osun.
He served with commitment.
We shall always remember
The good works of Ogbeni”.
In  Osun State, a cultured, warm and hardworking people, blended with a charismatic and committed leader. Under Aregbesola, it was indeed, ‘governance unusual’.
This Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Aregbesola who has moved from Osun State to central politics as Interior Minister, turns 65.

Related

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
The Gazelle News
  • Website

Related Posts

APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi

February 4, 2023

Videos, Photos As Finals Of Kayode Opeifa-sponsored Handball Competition For Sec Schools Hold

February 4, 2023

Huge Endorsement For APC In Ojo As Alaba International, Alaba Rago Markets Promise Support For Party’s Candidates 

February 4, 2023
Don't Miss
News

APC Members Kick Against Planned Delegates Congress in Kogi

By The Gazelle NewsFebruary 4, 20230

Some concerned members in the Kogi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have…

Videos, Photos As Finals Of Kayode Opeifa-sponsored Handball Competition For Sec Schools Hold

February 4, 2023

Naira Policy: Arewa Youths Attack PDP, Atiku For Playing Politics With Nigerians’ Hardships 

February 4, 2023

I’ll Continue To Campaign For Tinubu, Buhari Declares In Lafia

February 4, 2023
Stay In Touch
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Vimeo

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

Most Viewed Posts
  • APO Press Releases
  • How Olori Ajoke Found A New Life Outside Oyo Kingdom
  • Wig-wearing Women to pay Tax
  • Exclusive: Drama At GAC Meeting As ex-Dep Gov, Senator, Others Tackle Speaker Over Alleged Attempt To Impose LG Chairmanship Candidates 
  • After DNA Tests Proved All Three Children Were Not His, ex-Aston Villa Striker Regains Possession Of 7-bedroom Mansion From ex-Wife
About Us
About Us

Your source for the lifestyle news. This demo is crafted specifically to exhibit the use of the theme as a lifestyle site. Visit our main page for more demos.

We're accepting new partnerships right now.

Email Us: tgnews2013@gmail.com
Contact: +234-802-304-5855

Most Viewed Posts
  • APO Press Releases Views: 50209 August 27, 2020
  • How Olori Ajoke Found A New Life Outside Oyo Kingdom Views: 42216 November 5, 2020
  • Wig-wearing Women to pay Tax Views: 37020 September 5, 2020
  • Exclusive: Drama At GAC Meeting As ex-Dep Gov, Senator, Others Tackle Speaker Over Alleged Attempt To Impose LG Chairmanship Candidates  Views: 28725 May 25, 2021
Search
New Comments
    Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
    • Home
    © 2023 The Gazelle News. Designed by DeedsTech.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Please wait...

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Want to be notified when our article is published? Enter your email address and name below to be the first to know.
    SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTER NOW