By Akanmu Eletiofe

History is often kind to executive administrators who govern with clarity of purpose, discipline, and an uncommon attention to detail.

In Osun State today, many observers agree that the Governor, His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke fits that description. His tenure has been marked by prudence, calm leadership, and a visible attempt to rebuild trust in governance. From fiscal discipline to orderly public service management, his administrative style reflects someone who understands that government is not a theatre of noise, but an engine of steady service.

The Governor’s strength lies in structure and solid infrastructure. Files move. Processes are respected. Institution hierarchy, rather than impulses, appear to guide decisions. In a political climate where drama often substitutes for delivery, this restraint has earned His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke respect across party lines from PDP, APC and now Accord party. Even critics concede that Osun has enjoyed a measure of administrative stability under his watch.

Yet, as history also teaches, the greatest danger to a capable leader is rarely his own intent i.e. it is the conduct of those who operate closest to him.

Quietly, almost imperceptibly, a different narrative has begun to circulate in the corridors of power around His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke. It is not a story about the Governor’s decisions, but about the ambitions of some of his aides. Individuals who were meant to be extensions of his vision now appear, in whispers and murmurs, to be pursuing personal agendas. Influence is allegedly traded, access monetized, and loyalty measured not by service to the state, but by proximity to power.

More troubling is the method by which these ambitions are said to be shielded. Rather than acting openly, some aides reportedly cloak their actions in borrowed authority, invoking the name and perceived influence of the Governor’s elder brother, Dr. Adedeji Adeleke. The tactic is subtle but effective: it intimidates dissent, silences questions, and creates an illusion of untouchability. In doing so, it blurs the line between genuine authority and manufactured power.

This is where the danger lies, not necessarily in proven wrongdoing, but in perception. Governance thrives on trust, and trust erodes fastest when people believe that unseen hands are benefiting under the cover of respected names. Even if the Governor remains personally above reproach, the actions of overzealous aides can stain an otherwise commendable legacy of four decades built by His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke.

It is important to be clear: leadership is not judged only by policies executed, but by the ecosystem allowed to flourish around it. Aides who hide behind family names, real or imagined, do a disservice not just to the Governor, but to the State itself. They convert public service into private opportunity and weaponize proximity as a shield against accountability. Imagine the Osun State Government initiating lots of legal actions without even the knowledge of the Attorney General of the State nor the approval of His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke. And yet, the Governor is handicapped and cannot query the veracity of their actions, because the external solicitor is working for state actors with shielded personal ambitions within the corridors of power. If the court cases go south, the legacy of the Adeleke built over the past four decades goes up in shattered flames while if the court cases go well, only these state actors masquerading as loyalty are the beneficiary. Head or Tail, there is no benefits to His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke nor his family.

Does this gamble befit His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke and his family? Pitching His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke against Federal Institutions in court? Everyone knows the court cases are not in the interest of the Governor nor the State. The benefits are only for the masked personal ambition of few aides.

The irony is striking. A Governor known for order and discipline risks being undermined by disorderly ambition within his own camp. History is replete with examples of good leaders whose legacies were weakened, not by their failures, but by the excesses of those who spoke in their name.

Osun deserves better. The Governor, His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke deserves better.

It is a top-secret that each of the masked state actors who are proponent of the court cases on behalf of the present Governor, are clandestinely visiting the APC Gubernatorial candidate in wee hours, to wet the ground in case Accord Party lose at the poll in August 2026. Using the court cases as a pretense of loyalty. Only the Attorney General of the State knows the real truth and how they ridiculed his office, but these masquerading state actors and the external solicitors have silenced him and creates an illusion of untouchability. He will only be able to tell his own story, maybe after the shame has dawned on all. A case of external solicitors being made to be a boss over the Attorney-general of the State by the masked personal-ambition masquerade state actors.

If his administration is to be remembered for the right reasons, then sunlight must be allowed into the inner rooms of power. Clear boundaries, transparent processes, and zero tolerance for influence-peddling: real or imagined must be enforced. Family names should never be gambled upon by masquerading state actors and personal ambition must never be allowed to ride on the back of public trust.

It is top secret that His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke might not win second term since many influential politically powerful figures within and outside the State are very much offended and have grudges against the Governor because of the disrespectful actions of these state actors but they prefer to be going with the political flow because these same aides have spark ugly court actions using the Governor’s name without his knowledge nor approval and they know the Governor cannot tamed them.

His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke is going into the election ring with pretense-infested aides who have used the name of the Governor to cause havoc to the brand of His Excellency Senator Jackson Ademola Adeleke and his family.

In the end, the true measure of leadership is not just how well a Governor governs, but how firmly he ensures that no one governs in his shadow.