Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has disclosed he went on self-exile after the 2018 governorship election to acquire a degree and prepare better for the 2022 polls.
Addressing the graduating students of Adeleke University 9th undergraduate and 5th postgraduate convocation ceremony held at the institution’s campus in Ede on Sunday, the governor said education makes a difference in human destiny, stressing that time does not impede being educated if one is fully determined.
His words; “Today marks a year since my election as the governor of Osun State. Four years before then, in 2018, I was rigged out and our mandate was stolen. I was subjected to the worst personality attacks and assaults in Osun political history.
“After a manipulated judicial process, I went on self-exile for two major reasons. Firstly, to escape the evil plot of enemies who were not satisfied with stealing the people’s mandate. Secondly, to complete my degree programmes especially as my educational qualifications dominated the 2018 campaigns.
“Dr Deji encouraged me to move ahead. Before I went for self-exile, he called me to a meeting; he said I have been subjected to a lot of things, that I am not educated, he then advised that I should go to America for schooling.
“He said the only thing I can do for Osun people if I am ready to be governor is to get educated, I must complete my education, without completing it, I should forget my governorship ambition. At my age then, 60. It was not an easy task but I did it.
“I successfully re-enrolled and completed my degree programme. I came back to re-contest in 2022 as a brand new graduate. The rest is now history. What is the lesson? Our age must never be a barrier to educational pursuit. What we need is commitment and passion to succeed”.
In his address titled; “Change Begins with You”, the proprietor and Pro Chancellor of the University, Dr Deji Adeleke counselled the graduands to start the change project with themselves in a bid to build a new prosperous country rather than blaming leaders for country’s problems.
” In Nigeria, we blamed the leaders. What about the followership? Citizenship comes with responsibility. Building a nation does not rest on leadership alone. When everybody contribute their quota, the nation grows and develop.
“You can start by holding your leaders accountable. Developed democracies are what they are because of active citizenship. Young ones can still build a new Nigeria. There are many reasons for my optimism. If you are determined to change the narrative, to make a difference, you can do it within ten to fifteen years.
“Look at Nigerians in diaspora. Best minds in American medicine are Nigerians. In IT, Nigerians are next to India. They do well because they function in a society where followership holds the leadership to account for good governance.
“Change the narrative. Let the change for a positive and new Nigeria starts with you. Let not have youth corpers colluding with election riggers. Let’s stop followers vandalizing public infrastructures. Let’s put an end to young graduates engaging in thoughtless money rituals instead of entrepreneurship”, he said.
In his convocation address, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Solomon Adebola said of the 537 first degree graduates, 53 bagged First class, 326 bagged Second class upper, 154 had second class lower while only 4 bagged third class.
He added that the University produced 31 Ph.D graduands, 39 with Masters degress, four with postgraduate diploma and one with Master of Philosophy.