Open Letter to Senator Ajayi Boroffice – A Call To Statesmanship and Honour

I write this letter with a sense of sincerity and a lot of hope in my heart. A hope, that after reading these words from a concerned kinsman that I am, you, dear Senator and Professor, Robert Ajayi Boroffice, will for the sake of posterity, see reason in walking back to a deserved place of honour which you have deserted, following the debasing intrigues that have plagued your uninspiring and shocking governorship ambition in Ondo state.

Yes, our dear state is in a state of shameful woe, in every ramification; and Akokoland is the most hit by these plethora of woes. It is even clear to a blind man, that the present PDP government of Governor Olusegun Mimiko in Ondo has failed to lift the state out of economic and infrastructural squalor, and this has set an interesting precedent for the Progressives to come in with an attempt to reverse the rot.

I am happy that you belong to this party of Progressives that has been presented with a shot to transform our state, and it was my expectation, like many others too, that you, a serving Senator, will employ every influence within your capacity to ensure that a rightful and competent person is chosen/elected to fly the party’s flag in the November 2016 election.

Most of us in Akokoland even expected more from you, especially as the natural default of fairness (not zoning, as some would claim) has favored Akokoland to produce the next Governor, we believed that as our Asiwaju (traditional leader), you’d champion the process to produce a befitting Akoko son or daughter to redeem Ondo, but, you disappointed us all. It was quite shocking to hear that you really did put yourself forward to be Governor, just few months after you usurped our support to represent us at the Senate for a second term. Without doubt, apart from painting you as a confused cum greedy career politician, this  gubernatorial aspiration of yours has planted you in a heap dishonour, especially amongst your own in Akokoland, with telling effects across Ondo.

Sir, it seems you underestimate the fact that you’ve got a very important role to play in Ondo, both politically and ecosocially. Maybe I should take you through the picture Sir, permit me.

At the moment, you hold two quite prestigious offices. One, as the Asiwaju of Akokoland, and two, as a Senator representing Ondo North senatorial district.

When the odds were even, I mean, when you weren’t the only competent choice, you were made the Asiwaju of Akokoland, you were entrusted with the mantle to make Akokoland a pride in Ondo state, you were vested with the reputable responsibility to ensure that Akokoland grows in bounds just like past Asiwajus like Rufus Giwa had done; Sir, you were charged to even do better.

As Asiwaju, you are supposed to be the dean of peace and a doyen of unity in Akokoland, but Sir, this your unsung and uninspiring and shocking ambition to be the governor of Ondo state has put you on a short course towards dishonour and disrepute. Your job is to lead the search for that bright, experienced and committed Akoko child to make us proud, to govern and trasnform Ondo state, but no, you decided against honour to squabble for a gubernatorial slot while still a serving Senator, even worse, you have been repeatedly tagged the Black Sheep (not Dark Horse) among the aspirants from Akokoland, reportedly causing needless trouble, as the violent attack by your sworn goons on another aspirant who visited our local government in Oka vividly suggests.

This is utterly shameful Sir, if you don’t know. This is dishonour staining your “white garment” with your full consent, and I think you need to reassess your role in order to redeem your reputation.

Any 5-year old in Akoko knows and acknowledges the leadership role vested on that title, “Asiwaju of Akokoland”, and how a lot of responsibility is expected from anyone that holds that office. But, dear Professor Boroffice, from Oka, to Supare, to Ikare, to Isua, to Iwaro amd even as far as Akunnu, all that 5-year old now hears about a supposed Asiwaju of Akoko is how you intend to ditch representing them at the Senate, and how you intend to usurp your role as Asiwaju to gnarl at a gubernatorial ambition. How disappointing! how demeaning! how confusing! and how misplaced!

Also, to many in Ondo who possess hindsight, they have not forgotten in a hurry, the shame that was heaped upon Ondo state because of the infamy that happened on your watch as Ondo’s ministerial representative; we launched a satellite as any other country would do, but, unlike these other countries, we made history by losing ours till date, all under your watch, while you, a Professor of Zoology, was made a Minister of Science and Technology; that occurrence brought irredeemable shame to us all in Ondo. So, when Ondo you rode on the back of opportunist politicking to become Senator for the first time Sir, many were paranoid about your ability to deliver, but, some like me believed that you were being presented with another chance to represent Ondo and redeem the stained reputation by doing the right things, that is, focusing on making impactful laws and bringing complementary development to your constituency. But, while we still await the fulfillment of these terms in tenable ounces, I for one, wasn’t expecting that you’d fail our faith in you so soon into your 2nd term by cutting it short for another of your seemingly personal and merely political ambition(s).

Many times I’ve engaged some of your ardent foot soldiers online, in an attempt to establish reasonable talk, all to no avail. In their premium ignorance, they respond by chronicling a list of Nigerians who have satisfactorily and successfully held various political offices in a bid to justify your gubernatorial ambition; but, unknown to all of them, their responses have consistently painted your inconsistencies, they have portrayed you as the greedy political chameleon who swaps his political colours to suit his next personal ambition.  Dear Professor Boroffice, this is not good at all…ohun ti o da, ko loruko meji Sir!

You’ve been the Asiwaju of Akokoland since 2010 or so, and a Senator representing the entire Ondo North senatorial district for a whole 6 years, and it is unarguable that the people you represent and stand for are still expecting deliverables from these dual role you hold, they are still waiting to feel your impact from the centre, so, it is understandable that a majority among them including my objective self, and by extension, in all of Ondo, have tagged your shocking governorship ambition as an ambition of dishonour.

My honest plea via this open letter is simple. Sir, apart from being my Asiwaju and apart from being my Senator, you are also my kinsman, a kinsman I’d love to see win back honour among his own. A kinsman I’d love to see truly practice charity from home. And, to this end, I plead with and to your sense of statesmanship, if there’s any strand of it in you Sir, to honorably withdraw from this 2016 gubernatorial race, and focus on making true impact in the two existing roles you already hold at the moment. I plead with you to withdraw and focus on joining hands with the elders in Akokoland to present a befitting Akoko child to lift our state out of this present mess.

There’s still a whole lot you can do in the remaining part of your tenure as a Senator, and in your reign as Asiwaju of Akokoland, a whole lot. Sir, you can still enact laws that will have direct positive impact on the people, you can still employ your influence as a Senator to champion developmental causes towards Akokoland and Ondo as a whole. You can still be that Asiwaju that will be eternally loved and revered by his people for his sacrificial, statesmanlike and honourable actions and not disliked for his personal and phoney ambitions.

Dear Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice, if you heed this deeply sincere plea of mine by embracing honour and respectfully withdrawing from this 2016 gubernatorial race, I assure you that it won’t only be your garment that will be constantly white, by so doing, you’d have succeeded in making your reputation eventually white too.

God bless Akokoland,
God bless Ondo state,
and, God bless Nigeria.

Yours sincerely,
Ifeoluwa Olasogba
Oka-Akoko, Ondo state, Nigeria.
iolasogba1980@gmail.com