By Osaretin Osadebanwen
The African Action Congress (AAC) candidate in the just-concluded Osun State governorship election, Mr. Olajide Esan, has said he did not merely contest against political parties but also against what he described as “the ignorance of our people.”
Esan made the assertion during a Wednesday morning interview on Arise TV while assessing his party’s performance in the election and the challenges confronting Nigeria’s electoral system.
“I didn’t contest against a political party,” Esan said. “I contested against the current establishment, the ignorance of our people.”
According to him, the result did not reflect the quality of his campaign or the strength of his policy proposals, insisting that he believed his manifesto and programme for Osun state were superior to those of his opponents.
“Of all the candidates, I can say that I have the best manifesto and I have the best plan for Osun,” he said.
Esan attributed his poor showing partly to poverty and what he described as widespread vote-buying, arguing that economic hardship had left many voters vulnerable to financial inducement.
“People are trapped,” he said, explaining that many Nigerians were struggling to afford even three square meals a day and therefore could be persuaded to accept money during elections.
He said the problem went beyond individual political parties, arguing that the electoral environment had been shaped by a system in which voters were conditioned to accept whoever had the financial capacity to influence the outcome.
“We did our best,” Esan said, recounting how his campaign travelled across Osun State, visiting local governments and wards and conducting rallies and other programmes.
He, however, admitted that the AAC had failed to do enough in voter education.
“One of the lessons I have learned was that we didn’t do enough in the area of voters’ education,” he said, citing an instance in which members of the same family allegedly voted for different parties because of confusion over the party’s identity.
Esan said the experience reinforced his belief that political change required more than winning elections.
He also criticised what he described as the “mental conditioning” of voters, arguing that political leadership should be judged by intellectual capacity, understanding of societal problems and the ability to provide workable solutions.
“The capacity to lead has to do with the intellectual capacity, the mental agility,” he said.
Esan maintained that unless Nigerians collectively changed their attitude towards leadership and governance, electoral outcomes alone would not transform the country.
