Ajimobi is just another Nigerian politician; arrogant and entitled

For most of 2016, the students of Ladoke Akintola University had their lives and aspirations put on hold because of the irresponsibility of the two governments responsible for the management of the University.

The students decided to stage a protest to the Oyo State Government House, and the Governor came out to address them.

This is where it gets interesting.

Sahara Reporters was present and documented the interview in a video, and everything that came out of the Governor’s mouth was not only shocking, it was embarassing. Most of his statements are in Yoruba, but we’ll translate anyway.

He said:

“You complain that your school has been shut for 8 months. Am I the one that closed your school?”

This came from a Governor, who is responsible for the management of a very important University in Nigeria.

“If this is how you want to speak to me, then go and do your worst. If you want to cause trouble, I’m ready for you. Let’s see what happens then”

Here, the governor is daring the students, and depending on how you look at it, challenging them to respond with disruption. This is incitement.

He went on to say:

“You’re supposed to have some respect for constituted authority.”

Someone from the crowd interrupted him while he spoke, saying school had been interrupted for 8 months. This is how a sitting Governor responded;

“It’s nothing new for a school to be closed. So what?!”

He criticised their Aluta cries, saying there’s no way the student can make things difficult for him. When a student’s distinct voice challenged his statement, he asked that the student be brought forward by the police. It wasn’t until that student was shielded by other students, that the governor asked that he be left alone.

This is bullying, by all standards.

The rest of the video is just him talking about how he deserves to be shown respect, and how they need to respect the authority even he was failing to respect.

This is the problem with Nigerian politicians. The arrogance in them is strong in the way their arrogance has detached them from the realities of the people they’ve been elected to serve.

Nigerian leaders need to understand that public office is not a royal position, but a position of servitude. It is the poor understanding of what leadership is that leads them to believe that questioning their mediocrity is seen as disrespect.

The governor needs to remember that the same people who he refuses to respect. While his shameless statements can not be taken back, he should at least issue an apology.

Oops. This is Nigeria. Politicians don’t issue apologies. They only blame the opposition, and the people, and the economy. Anything but taking responsibility.

Watch the full video below.