TheCable

2. The peace-loving Osun people

Despite the harassment of some top politicians by security personnel, there were no acts of violence across the state. The only known incident that could have created tension was the misunderstanding between agents of the two main parties – All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – in Gbongan, a town few kilometers away from Osogbo, the state capital. An agent of one of these parties had slapped the other and the situation almost got out of hand, as members of the party tried making a retaliatory move but the intervention of security personnel prevented the situation from spiralling out of control.

Even Prof.  Bamitale Omole, vice-chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, who was the returning officer of the election admitted that there were hardly any reports of violence. He made reference to this shortly before he began announcing the results. Though many might attribute this to the heavy security presence, the people also played a major role in ensuring that peace reigned. There could have been trouble in areas of lesser security presence, but Osun people chose to be law-abiding in the interest of the nation. I cannot but doff my heart for the ‘good’ people of Osun state.