As the winds of another political season begin to blow across Oyo State, one cannot help but notice a familiar trend the sudden reappearance of “leaders” and “friends of the people” who had long vanished when their voices were most needed. These individuals, both homegrown and foreign, seem to awaken only when ballots are near, parading themselves as saviours of the masses they abandoned in times of hardship.
It is a disheartening cycle that Oyo State and, indeed, Nigeria at large, have endured for too long. When hunger bites and insecurity looms, when schools crumble and youths languish in unemployment, these political opportunists are nowhere to be found. Their phones go silent, their convoys disappear, and their once-loud promises fade into whispers of absence. But let an election draw near, and suddenly they return in designer clothes, with rented crowds and empty smiles, clutching bags of rice as if charity can erase years of neglect.
Akika’s recent critique, “Where Are They When Hunger Bites?”, strikes at the heart of this hypocrisy. He challenges not only the emergent politicians who suddenly find their way back to their constituencies during campaigns but also the so-called “foreign allies” individuals and organizations who only show interest in Oyo State’s politics when it suits their selfish interests. These visitors appear with lofty speeches and token donations, disguising their ambition as goodwill, yet vanish as soon as the political dust settles.
The people of Oyo are wiser now. The era of deceit and selective compassion is fading. True leadership, as Akika argues, is not seasonal; it is consistent. It is measured not by how often one appears on campaign posters but by how deeply one feels the people’s pain in the quiet days between elections. Leadership must be lived daily in advocacy for the poor, in investment in education, in empowerment of the youth, and in the courage to speak truth even when it is not politically profitable.
Akika’s call is clear: Let us hold accountable those who remember the people only when it is time to harvest votes. Oyo deserves leaders who are present in both sunshine and storm those who walk the streets when hunger bites, not just when cameras flash.
The next election should not be a festival for returning strangers but a referendum on sincerity, empathy, and consistent service. The people of Oyo State must ask every contender: Where were you when hunger bit? Where were you when the people cried for hope?
For in the end, politics should not be about visibility during campaigns but about responsibility between elections. And to those who appear only when it is time for politics Oyo State is watching.
Oloye Benedict Akika is a philanthropist, Community & Sociopolitical Advocate for Responsible Leadership, Agba’Akin Ataiyse Oodua Agbaye and Agbaakin of Olorunda-Abaa and Mayegun of Akoboland
