TheCable

The gubernatorial elections scheduled for Saturday, August 9, has turned around the economic fortunes of Osun state, as business activities have received a tremendous boost dating back to the campaign period.

From small scale businesses such as recharge cards sale and commercial transportation to restaurant outlets and even hospitality, businesses have enjoyed the influx of people for the election.

A commercial cab operator who plies the Gbongan-Oshogbo route in the state capital expressed delight at the situation.

“I’m based here in Osogbo and I have been in this business for long. Apart from the period of Osun-Osogbo festival, I can’t remember the last time we experienced anything close to this,” said the man who identified himself as Baba Biu.

“I hope this will continue. The town is bubbling with different activities. People based in Ibadan, Ilorin, Akure and even Lagos are home and you know that they must must enter vehicles, so I am happy.”

A petty trader at Ilesa, about 20 minutes distance from Oshogbo, also has a good story to tell. The woman, a dealer in grocery items, stated that the wind of fortune growing across the state also rubbed off on her.

“Sales have been very dry in the past but the people who came into town in these past few days have come to our rescue.”

The story is the same at Mackson hotel located at Wole ola estate and Fingerlinking hotel, adjacent Old Governor’s Office, Oshogbo.

The director of one of the hotels complained about how “bad” hospitality business in the state had become.

“Things are so bad here that many hotels have closed down,” he told TheCable.

“It’s not quite 10 minutes that we arranged this bar and people have started coming in. We are very happy to have these strangers in our state. We only pray that the election turns out being peaceful.”

Food vendors across the state are not also left out of the brisk business. At the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), opposite the Osun state house of Assembly in Abere, a mammoth crowd surrounded the few food sellers there.

Food sellers at Okefia, where the government house and state police headquarters are located, were busy attending to a horde of buyers, which included security personnel deployed from other states.

However, not everyone is pleased with the present situation in Osun.

Olufemi James, a student in one of the tertiary institutions in the state, described the heavy presence of security personnel as traumatizing.

“What are all these people doing in a peaceful state like Osun when they should be in the crisis-prone areas of the country?” he said.

“They said Boko Haram killed many people in Yobe state yesterday. If only the president had deployed half of these troops there, who knows if the helpless citizens who lost their lives would have been saved.

“Osun does not need all these. We are not at war. Just because of election see how everywhere looks.”

A policeman holding a private conversation with his colleagues also frowned at the large deployment of troops.

“Let’s see if they can try this during the forthcoming election in Adamawa,” he said.

“During the election in Yobe, we were very few officers in the state and we performed well. Now see what they are doing here. Osun go see police tire.

“With the number of officers here, if they ask each of us to stay in all of the houses in this state, many will still be left with no house to stay. Wetin happen nsef?”

Activities are now drastically slowing down, as a directive restricting vehicular movement within and around the state commenced at 6:00pm, while banks already shut operations since 1:00pm.

Though the elections will be over in the next 24 hours and the people who have brought economic fortunes will depart, the memories will no doubt linger in the minds of those who benefitted from the windfalls of the election.