APC Osun Rally: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IWO

Finally, a call came through from one of the major political parties in Nigeria requesting I attend their campaign rally, and witness the mammoth crowds which trail them everywhere, showering support and promising thumbprints. I'd received this phone call at 9:14 am, Tuesday 17th June, and the rally was kicking off at 10 am, same Tuesday, 17th June in Iwo, Osun State...I was in Lagos.

Getting a feeling this timing was strategically plotted to inconvenience me from going, so I decided on the very opposite: I went to Oluwo Stadium, Iwo, Osun State for APC's Rauf Aregbesola's campaign rally, and there's a lot to share.

Iwo seemed like a rural town, and the Iwo Road leading to it from Ibadan is similar in state to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The houses and schools were no different from those in any other community in rural Nigeria, except that the schools were more numerous, so I started to wonder, why Iwo?! Well, I got to know that Iwo is the most populous Local Government Area in Osun state, therefore, most likely inhabited by the largest number of voters.

Perhaps the line-up of celebrities which included Weird MC, Sir Shina Peters, LKT, and KWAM1 may have been an attraction for a lot of residents of the town, as verily, the multitude present at the venue of the rally was beyond my comprehension. By the way, there was no distribution of rice, garri, or Naira. To my surprise, it was the people who were spending their own money to purchase "Re-elect Aregbesola" hats, posters, and audio CDs.



Amongst the political titans who were present at the rally were Senators, and Representatives from Osun state, and uncle of multi-award winning artist, Davido, in the person of, Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke who recently decamped from the PDP. I took the opportunity to put the camera of my new Nokia Lumia phone to the test, and here's the result:

The rally was quite impressive for me, except for some issues I noticed, which I must definitely raise. The first of them is  on subliminal statements made by a couple of speakers at the event in reference to the Governor's key opponent. From the random sampling I carried out in Oshogbo back in April, and again in Iwo this June, possible votes accruable to Omisore are negligible, are next to zero, so I therefore do not understand the attacks on his person. What Aregbesola's campaign team should embark on instead is a campaign of "No Votes Lost" in Osun State.

An even more severe matter is that of violence which started at the fringes of the crowded area. Members of another party, who had already attacked some women supporters on their way to the rally, took it further by insisting they enter the venue, and this led to some skirmishes at the less crowded end of the so-called stadium. I really can't fathom why members of a different political party would want to enter the grounds of their opponents' campaign. My main concern however was the way the police personnel, despite their adequate number, were caught off-guard. Security has to be better managed at these sorts of places.

All in all, I had good experience, and I met one of my very special Twitter followers at Bowen University. I hope to attend other rallies, especially by other political parties, and I hope also, that the Governor would agree to the LIVE Social Media Q&A we requested. THAT'S ALL FOLKS!