Agbelere Is Not To Blame, By Hammed Adedayo Said 

The recent controversy surrounding the Ilorin East Local Government Chairman, Mallam Lukman Agbelere, and his public outburst against a federal hospital project facilitated by Senator Saliu Mustapha has generated considerable uproar across Kwara State and beyond.

However, while such outrage is understandable given the implications of halting a federal intervention meant to serve the health needs of ordinary people, it is important to go beyond the surface and interrogate the deeper context of Agbelere’s behaviour.

In interrogating the Agbelere’s outbursts, one must not stop at merely the open theatrics, for to treat his action as the isolated misconduct of one local government official, would be to miss the larger point, that the chairman was, more or less, a victim of a deeply entrenched political culture that rewards not competence or vision, but sycophancy, aggression, and blind loyalty.

The signs have been there for some time. Since ascending to power in 2019, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has built a political structure that thrives not on intellectual capacity, nor on ideas for development, but on personal loyalty as defined by how far one is willing to go in demonstrating enmity towards perceived political adversaries.

It happened between the Governor and Lai Muhammad; between the Governor and Hon. Bashir Bolarinwa; between the Governor and Hon. Abdulganiy Olododo-Cook; between the Governor and Senator Yahaya Oloriegbe and of course , between the Governor and Senator Bukola Saraki, among others.

In that ecosystem, neutrality is dangerous, moderation is weakness, and silence is treachery. An aide or subordinate must be seen to be fighting the Governor’s perceived enemies “tooth and nail,” regardless of personal beliefs or the long-term implications of such hostility.

It is in this environment that Agbelere operates. He did not wake up on his own and decide to oppose a hospital project. What he did was perform a duty, not to the people, but to the political family that demands constant demonstrations of loyalty. That’s why you would observe that a majority of the political actors that sat in the hall that day clapped to the unfortunate outbursts.

In Kwara today, you are not considered loyal unless you raise your voice. You are not loyal unless you are loud, dirty, and reckless. If you are not abusing, you are not loyal enough. If you are not combative, you are not loyal enough. And so, young men, desperate for political survival, put their dignity on the altar of blind obedience.

That’s why we must look beyond Agbelere and face the system that demanded that performance from him. Let us ask ourselves: what kind of politics turns a local government chairman into a town crier of hate? What kind of power structure forces a man to shout against a hospital, yes, a hospital!, simply because it was facilitated by someone outside the governor’s current circle of affection?

Indeed, had the video not leaked and gone viral, there is every reason to believe that Agbelere would have by now taken his badge of ‘honour’ within the AA political family. That he is now in retreat is not because his action violated the structure, but because it exposed the structure for what it truly is.

But the bigger concern, particularly for Kwara, is the long-term damage this brand of politics is doing to the psyche of the people. When leaders punish moderation and promote extremism, they create an environment where the only path to relevance is belligerence. This is not sustainable.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq must, therefore, take responsibility. Not for what Agbelere said specifically, but for the political culture that incentivized it. A governor who truly seeks to build a legacy must surround himself with people who can speak truth to power, not merely those who can insult his enemies in public. The Governor has to know that a structure built on hate cannot endure. A government that rewards bile will choke on its own toxicity.

Agbelere’s action is not honourable, but it is explainable. The structure that shaped it is the real concern. And if it is not corrected, we may soon see more public officials sabotaging the very people they are elected to serve, all in the name of loyalty. That would be a greater tragedy than a stopped hospital project.

They say a word is enough for the wise. I drop my pen here, until further notice.

Hammed Adedayo Said is a journalist, public affairs analyst, and media consultant.