Where Are His Famous First Eleven?

By Maroof Asudemade

Governor Seyi Makinde has boasted that he has a formidable first eleven, his first eleven. The expression conjured an image of a governor with a cadre of lieutenants, trusted and proven in their competence, loyalty and political value to him.

But as the succession battle raged, one wonders, where are the famous first eleven? If Makinde really has a first eleven whose members are of exceptional political quality, why has he apparently failed to find his preferred governorship candidate among the very people who have helped him run Oyo State?

More puzzle is the fact that none of these celebrated players have presented themselves as his choice for deputy governor. Are the members of the first eleven good enough to run the machinery of government but not good enough to inherit the political structure they have helped build?

Politics is a game of loyalty, competence and calculation. A governor is not necessarily obliged to anoint a member of his cabinet as his successor. However, when a leader repeatedly celebrates the quality of his team, the public is entitled to question the apparent disconnect between that boast and his succession choices.

The controversy becomes more interesting with the resignation of Ogunwuyi, Makinde’s former Chief of Staff and one of the prominent figures associated with his administration. His departure raises questions about the state of relationships within the governor’s political establishment and whether the much-publicised unity of his team is as solid as it appears.

If a prominent member of the governor’s inner circle can walk away, what does that say about the strength of the political arrangement Makinde has built around himself? Perhaps the bigger question is whether Makinde’s famous first eleven was ever about building a team capable of sustaining his political legacy or simply about assembling loyalists to serve his administration.

A first eleven that cannot produce a convincing successor raises questions about the quality of the team, the confidence of its leader, or both. Makinde may have his reasons for the choices he has made, but the contradictions are difficult to ignore. He celebrates the strength of his team, yet the search for a successor appears to have taken him beyond the very circle he once presented as his strongest asset.

In the final conclusion, leadership is not measured merely by the number of loyalists surrounding a governor. It is measured by the quality of people he develops, the confidence they inspire and the legacy he leaves behind.

For a governor who prides himself on having a first eleven, the unfolding succession politics presents an uncomfortable question: If his first eleven cannot be trusted with the next chapter of his political project, what exactly makes them his first eleven?Indeed, Governor Seyi Makinde is increasingly becoming a bundle of political contradictions.

To be continued in Makinde’s Contradictions III.