Ogun 2027: Yewa's quest for equity and justice
By Adewale Edun Every political ambition carries within it a measure of personal aspiration, strategy, timing, and calculation. That is not a flaw in democracy; it is the very nature
By Adewale Edun
Every political ambition carries within it a measure of personal aspiration, strategy, timing, and calculation. That is not a flaw in democracy; it is the very nature of it. Politics, by design, is a contest of interests — personal, regional, ideological, and collective. To suggest that any candidacy emerges untouched by ambition is to romanticise a process that has always been rooted in human drive and negotiation.
The recent comments by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo regarding Senator Solomon Adeola (Yayi) frame ambition as though it is inherently suspect. Yet ambition is what compels individuals to step forward, to campaign, to persuade, and to seek mandates. Without personal ambition, there would be no candidates — only spectators. The real question is not whether ambition exists, but whether it can be aligned with the broader good.
Convenience and calculation are also not strangers to politics; they are instruments of survival and strategy. Alliances are formed through calculation. Movements are built on timing. Even reform agendas require strategic positioning. Across Nigeria and indeed the world, political actors make decisions based on opportunity, viability, and structure. To isolate one aspirant as uniquely driven by these forces ignores the universal mechanics of political engagement.
However, beyond personalities and rhetoric lies a deeper issue that Ogun State must confront — equity and justice in leadership distribution.
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For decades, the governorship of Ogun State has rotated within familiar blocs, leaving Yewa largely outside the circle of executive power. If democracy is truly about inclusion and representation, then the conversation must expand beyond who is ambitious and focus on who has historically been excluded.
Equity is not charity. Justice is not sentiment. They are stabilising principles of governance. When a region repeatedly contributes to the political, economic, and cultural fabric of a state yet remains absent from its highest office, the imbalance becomes structural. Supporting a candidate from Yewa would not merely be a political choice; it would be a corrective act — a signal that Ogun State belongs to all its people.
Democracy thrives not by pretending ambition does not exist, but by ensuring that ambition serves fairness. Every aspirant calculates. Every politician strategises. The question before Ogun is not whether ambition is present — it always is — but whether this moment offers an opportunity to align political ambition with historical equity.
If the state is to move forward in unity, then justice must be part of the calculation too.
So please, let's not digress from the main subject, if I can borrow the words of the Jagaban himself - "Awà loʻ kàn"
