Coming on the heels of the maiden meeting of the South West Campaign organisation of the Jonathan/Sambo 2011 presidential bid two weeks ago in Abeokuta, another meeting of the organisation took place on Thursday, October 21, 2010, at the operational base of the organisation at Asoludero Court, Sagamu.
The Sagamu meeting, just like the one held two weeks ago, was presided over by the coordinator of the campaign in the South West and Governor of Ogun state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.
President Jonathan cannot afford to loose the support of any of the PDP governors in the South West in view of the apparent opposition in most parts of the North against his candidature. The calculation is that if he could win the PDP primaries in all the six South West states, all the six South-South states, all the five South East states and half of the Northern states, he is certain to emerge as the party's flag bearer in the 2011 presidential election.
As at today, power resides with the governors in the states. Therefore, all aspirants at all levels, be it for the position of president. Senator, House of Reps or House of Assembly, will have to bow to the power of the Governors. This is because however powerful your position may be, you will still have to come back home to seek nomination for elective office.
The question has gone beyond why President Jonathan picked Otunba Daniel as his coordinator for the South West zone. The pertinent poser is: how could the South West be delivered for Jonathan!.
So, nobody of analytic reasoning would be bothered why a not too successful politician like Alhaji Adegbenga Kaka( the former Deputy Governor of Ogun state in Chief Olusegun Osoba's administration) is not happy about the ostensible success of Otunba Daniel on the political turf.
Alhaji Kaka was recently quoted on the internet as saying that Jonathan will fail in the South West for choosing Otunba Daniel as his coordinator. Kaka's diatribe against Otunba Daniel is not surprising for two reasons; (1) He contested the 2003 governorship election against Daniel and lost.(2) He challenged Daniel's victory at the Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal in Abeokuta and also lost.
Therefore, Kaka will stop at nothing to bring down the victor as his latest attack was not the first time he would vent his spleen indirectly because his defeat in the 2003 polls.
For those that care to know, President Jonathan could have chosen Otunba Daniel because of following factors:
(1) Otunba Daniel is the only PDP governor in the South West with a 100 per cent record of victory in the 2003 general election. Ogun state is perhaps the only state in the federation where the ruling PDP has won all the counsellors' seat, all the local government chairman's seats, all the 26 seats in the state House of Assembly, all the nine seats the House of Reps and all the three seats in Senate, the governor's seat and the presidential election.
(2) Otunba Daniel is not haunted by any litigation in respect of his victory at the 2003 polls.
(3) Otunba Daniel is a fighter of common causes, especially those concerning political equity and justice.
(4) He is a man of strong character and social values. So, if he appears to be stubborn, it is because he wants to uphold certain values such as fairplay and equity. Some people tend to see this as intolerance. This is CAPITAL NO.
(5) He is brilliant, right from primary school days through secondary school to the university. He represented his schools in quiz competitions and literary debates thereby collecting prizes. It is worthy of note the he was not like a lost sheep; his brilliance in school has been translated to excellence in the governance of Ogun state
It is these factors that Otunba Daniel will combine with the resources available to garner the essential votes for Jonathan in South West. One could conclude therefore that no reasonable politician (and I believe President Jonathan is reasonable) will look at the above-mentioned attributes of Otunba Daniel and dismiss them.
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