Since our party left government in Oyo State in 2019, many things have happened to us as individuals and as a political family. We have lost fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, associates, political generals and great comrades. Many have also endured tremendous psychological, mental, emotional and productivity pressures.
These experiences have affected our ability to function, participate and engage as actively as we once did as a political team. Being in government naturally creates greater opportunities for political engagement, interaction and mobilisation. Being outside government for this long has presented us with a different reality, and we must honestly acknowledge the toll it has taken on many of us.
At this point, we need to pause, reflect deeply and ask ourselves an important question: What have we lost, and what must we do to rebuild what we once had?
The recent primaries and selection processes may have created different expectations, disappointments and disagreements among us. But the primaries are over. Elections will come and go, and political opportunities will continue to emerge. In the next few years from now, there will be another primary or selection process at different levels again. What matters now is whether we allow temporary disagreements to permanently damage a political family that has taken decades to build.
Many of us have benefited, directly or indirectly, from the progressive method of selection at different levels, be it at the national, senatorial, federal constituency, state, local government, ward and unit. We should therefore understand that no individual can win every time, and no individual can lose forever. Political seasons change. Opportunities come and go.
What must remain constant is our relationship, our loyalty to the party, our respect for one another and our commitment to the greater goal.
Almost eight years outside government is not a good omen for any political party or its members, particularly when we genuinely believe that Oyo State will be better governed under our leadership because of the programmes, policies and ideas contained in our blueprint.
This is therefore the time to bury our swords, soften our hearts, forgive one another and rebuild our team.
Let us put aside personal grievances, factional differences and the disappointments of yesterday. Let us stop seeing one another as enemies simply because we supported different interests at a particular moment. We can disagree politically without destroying the bonds that unite us as brothers, sisters, friends and comrades.
Our ultimate goal must be bigger than any individual ambition.
We must return to our wards, local governments, cells and units. We must reconnect with our people, rebuild our structures and restore confidence in our political family. We must work together with discipline, humility, tolerance and mutual respect to deliver our candidates at every level from His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for a second term, to our Senatorial, House of Representatives, Governorship, and State Assembly candidates, including Senator Sarafadeen Alli and all our candidates.
The road ahead requires concentration, sacrifice and teamwork. We cannot afford to remain divided while those who depend on our collective strength are waiting for us to rise again.
Let us remember where we came from. Let us acknowledge what we have lost. Let us learn from our mistakes. Let us forgive one another. And most importantly, let us rebuild together.
The past should teach us, not destroy us.
The primaries should not divide us permanently.
Our differences should not become our destiny.
And our individual ambitions must never be greater than the collective goal.
It is time to heal.
It is time to organise.
It is time to rebuild.
It is time to unite.
Together, we can make this party great again. Together, we can regain the confidence of our people. Together, we can return to government. And together, we can once again be proud of what we have built.
Our greatest strength has always been our ability to stand together. Let us find that strength again.
Together, we can be proud again.
Agbaakin Niyi Adeagbo