There is a question that has lingered beneath the politics of Oyo State for decades, rarely asked directly and even more rarely examined without emotion: why has Oyo town, the city whose name the state carries, never produced a governor of Oyo State?

It is a question that sits somewhere between history and modern electoral mathematics. It is also a question that must be asked carefully, because the popular assertion that “Oyo people have never become governor” is not historically correct. Oyo State has produced governors from different parts of the political space. What is striking, however, is that since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Oyo town itself has not produced an elected governor.

That distinction changes the entire conversation.

There has never been anything constitutionally or politically improper about an indigene of Oyo town becoming governor of Oyo State. The state was created on February 3, 1976, out of the former Western State, and its name was drawn from the historic Oyo political tradition. But the modern governorship is not a traditional office attached to the city that gave the state its name. It is a constitutional office won through votes across the state.

The name Oyo therefore does not automatically translate into political power.

And that is where the story becomes interesting.

When Oyo State was created in 1976, it inherited a political geography that had already been developing for decades. Ibadan was not simply another city inside the new state. It was the administrative, commercial, educational and political centre of the region. British colonial administration had helped consolidate that position, and by the time Oyo State emerged, Ibadan already possessed the institutional depth that modern politics requires: government offices, businesses, professional networks, educational institutions, media organizations, political personalities and, most importantly, a large concentration of voters.

The new state was therefore born with an unusual political imbalance.

The state carried the name of Oyo, but its political capital was Ibadan.

That distinction would become important in every subsequent electoral contest.

The first governor of the newly created state was not from Oyo town, nor was he from Ibadan. David Jemibewon was a military officer from Iyah-Gbedde in present-day Kogi State. He governed from 1976 to 1978. He was followed by Paul Tarfa, another military administrator, before Nigeria returned briefly to civilian government in 1979.

The first elected governor of Oyo State was Bola Ige. Born in Esa-Oke, now in present-day Osun State, Ige governed from 1979 until the military coup of December 1983. His election alone demonstrates why birthplace should never be confused with political power: the first civilian governor of Oyo State was not from Oyo town and was not an Ibadan-born politician.

Victor Omololu Olunloyo followed after the 1983 election and became governor in October of that year. He was born in Ibadan, but his administration lasted barely three months before the military returned to power in December 1983.

Then came years of military administration, during which governors were appointed rather than elected. The names changed repeatedly—Oladayo Popoola, Adetunji Olurin, Sasaenia Oresanya, Abdulkareem Adisa, Kolapo Ishola during the short-lived Third Republic, and later military administrators including Chinyere Ike Nwosu, Ahmed Usman and others. Their presence in the state’s political history should not be mistaken for evidence of electoral dominance by any particular city. Military governors were products of federal military appointments, not statewide electoral coalitions.

Everything changed again in 1999.

The return of democracy brought the governorship back into the hands of voters, political parties and political networks.

Lam Adesina, born in Ibadan, became governor in 1999 under the Alliance for Democracy and served until 2003. His emergence reflected the strength of the AD political structure in the old Western Region and the importance of Ibadan within Oyo politics.

Rashidi Ladoja succeeded him in 2003 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. Ladoja’s personal origins are more complicated than the simplified descriptions sometimes found in political discussions, but his political career was deeply connected to Ibadan’s political establishment. He later became the Olubadan of Ibadanland, reinforcing his historical association with the city and its traditional political structure.

Then came the development that should prevent anybody from arguing that Oyo State is simply a political possession of Ibadan.

Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala came from Ogbomoso.

He had served as deputy governor under Ladoja and became governor during the political crisis surrounding Ladoja’s removal in 2006. In 2007, Alao-Akala won the governorship in his own right and remained in office until 2011.

His victory is one of the most important pieces of evidence in the entire argument.

A candidate from outside Ibadan had won.

The political walls were not impenetrable.

Ogbomoso had demonstrated that it was possible to produce a governor.

Alao-Akala’s story also reveals something deeper about Nigerian electoral politics. He did not become governor simply because Ogbomoso had enough people to elect him. He became governor because his political career had moved beyond Ogbomoso. He had built relationships, occupied statewide political positions, entered a major political party and participated in a broader coalition.

That is precisely the lesson Oyo town must study.

The problem may not be that Oyo town lacks political relevance.

The problem may be that it has not yet converted that relevance into a statewide political machine.

After Alao-Akala, Abiola Ajimobi became governor in 2011. Ajimobi was born in Ibadan, represented Oyo South in the Senate before becoming governor and subsequently won re-election in 2015. He served until 2019 and became the first person elected twice as governor of Oyo State.

In 2019, Seyi Makinde, also born in Ibadan, defeated the incumbent Abiola Ajimobi’s party candidate and became governor. Makinde was re-elected in 2023.

This is where the argument about “Ibadan dominance” becomes difficult to dismiss—but equally difficult to exaggerate.

The Fourth Republic has clearly produced a strong Ibadan presence in the governorship. Lam Adesina was from Ibadan. Ladoja’s political career was deeply associated with Ibadan. Ajimobi was born in Ibadan. Makinde was born in Ibadan and has now won two consecutive elections.

But that is not the same as saying Ibadan has controlled Oyo State continuously or that politicians from outside Ibadan cannot win.

Alao-Akala disproves that.

Bola Ige disproves it.

The military period makes the argument even more complicated.

The more accurate conclusion is that Ibadan possesses a structural political advantage.

It is the state capital.

It has a much larger metropolitan population.

It has a concentration of political institutions.

It has a long-established professional and business class.

It is home to a substantial portion of the state’s media and political elite.

And political parties naturally invest heavily where there are large numbers of voters and influential political networks.

That is not necessarily a conspiracy against Oyo town.

It is electoral geography.

A politician who wants to become governor must eventually win votes in Ibadan. A candidate who ignores Ibadan is essentially volunteering to make the mathematics harder.

This is why the political future of Oyo town should not be built around the idea of defeating Ibadan.

It should be built around the idea of becoming politically indispensable to a statewide coalition.

That is a very different strategy.

The question Oyo indigenes should be asking is not, “Why has Ibadan prevented us?”

It should be, “Why have we not yet built a political structure strong enough to compete statewide?”

That question places responsibility where it belongs.

Political organization is one part of the answer.

A governorship campaign cannot be constructed from Oyo town alone. It must have relationships across local governments, wards and communities. It must understand the political interests of Ibadan, Ogbomoso, Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa. It must know the concerns of farmers, traders, professionals, students, workers, business owners and young voters.

The candidate may come from Oyo town, but the political message cannot stop at Oyo town.

There is also the question of money.

Nobody should pretend that Nigerian politics does not require substantial financial resources. Modern campaigns require transportation, communications, media, legal support, polling agents, grassroots mobilization and organizational infrastructure.

But Oyo does not necessarily need one billionaire to rescue its political ambition.

That would create dependency rather than political strength.

What is needed is a network of legitimate financial support from professionals, entrepreneurs, businesspeople, community leaders and Oyo indigenes in the diaspora who are prepared to support a long-term civic and political project.

Money can fund a campaign.

It cannot manufacture credibility.

It cannot manufacture competence.

And it cannot guarantee votes.

The most serious issue may actually be political fragmentation.

If every prominent Oyo politician sees himself or herself as the only acceptable candidate, the movement will collapse before it reaches the rest of the state.

A successful Oyo political project must eventually answer a difficult question: who is the most electable person, not merely the most powerful person in Oyo town?

That requires political discipline.

It also requires patience.

If Oyo is thinking about 2031, the work cannot begin in 2030.

It has to begin now.

The 2027 governorship election comes first, and INEC has scheduled the next governorship and State House of Assembly elections for February 6, 2027. But a serious 2031 project should be thinking beyond one election cycle.

A future Oyo-born governor must build a record before asking the people of Oyo State to trust him or her.

That record could come from public service, business, education, community development, technology, agriculture, professional leadership or elected office.

The candidate must be known for something beyond ambition.

That is particularly important because the electorate is changing.

The younger generation is increasingly less interested in the old language of political entitlement. They want employment, infrastructure, education, security, healthcare, technology, investment and opportunity.

A candidate who tells young people that “it is Oyo’s turn” without explaining what that means for their lives may win applause in Oyo town and still lose the state.

The stronger message would be that Oyo town is ready to produce leadership for the entire state.

That is the difference between identity politics and statewide politics.

The first says, “Give us power because we are Oyo.”

The second says, “Judge our candidate by what we can offer Oyo State.”

The second message has a chance.

The first probably does not.

There is another mistake Oyo must avoid: turning its legitimate political aspiration into an anti-Ibadan movement.

That would be politically self-defeating.

Ibadan is part of Oyo State.

Its people are part of Oyo State.

Its political establishment is part of the state’s political reality.

An Oyo-born governor would have to govern Ibadan just as much as he would govern Oyo town.

The successful candidate therefore cannot enter the Government House as the governor of Oyo town.

He or she must enter as the governor of Oyo State.

That is why the most powerful political coalition Oyo could build would not be Oyo against Ibadan.

It would be Oyo with Ibadan, Ogbomoso with Oke-Ogun, Ibarapa with the rest of the state—a coalition built around competence, fairness, development and political inclusion.

The historical irony is that Oyo town’s challenge today is almost the opposite of its earlier political experience.

Oyo once projected influence outward.

Today, Oyo town must build influence outward.

It cannot depend on the symbolic power of its name.

It must build modern political power.

And modern political power comes from people, organization, credibility, resources, relationships and votes.

This is why the question of whether Oyo can produce a governor should not be answered with pessimism.

It has already happened elsewhere in the state.

Ogbomoso has done it.

Candidates outside Ibadan have won.

The historical record does not show an impenetrable political wall.

What it shows is that the candidate who wants to break through must become bigger than his hometown.

For Oyo town, that is the challenge.

Can it produce a politician whose political network extends beyond Oyo town?

Can it produce a candidate who is acceptable to Ibadan?

Can it build alliances in Ogbomoso, Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa?

Can it mobilize its professionals and diaspora without turning the project into a private club?

Can it raise legitimate resources without becoming dependent on one wealthy individual?

Can it settle internal rivalries before they destroy the campaign?

Can it develop a candidate with a record of service rather than simply a record of ambition?

And can it persuade the rest of Oyo State that electing an Oyo-born governor is not about correcting an historical grievance, but about choosing the best person to lead the state?

Those are the questions that matter.

Because the name of the state does not belong exclusively to Oyo town.

The governorship does not belong to Ibadan either.

Both belong, constitutionally and politically, to the people of Oyo State.

History may explain why political power developed where it did.

Population may explain why Ibadan has such weight.

Political networks may explain why some candidates have been more successful than others.

But none of those factors makes the future inevitable.

The next governor can come from anywhere.

Including Oyo town.

The question is not whether Oyo town has the historical right.

It does not need one.

The question is whether it can earn the political trust.

And if Oyo wants to make history in 2031, that is where the campaign must begin—not with the slogan that “it is Oyo’s turn,” but with the harder and more compelling proposition:

Oyo town is ready to offer Oyo State a leader capable of governing everyone.

That is how a hometown candidate becomes a statewide candidate.

That is how political history changes.

And that is how Oyo can finally move from asking why it has not produced the governor to preparing the candidate capable of winning the governorship.

History does not give political power to a city because it once possessed it.

Democracy gives it to the candidate who can build the widest coalition of trust.

By Jide Adesina | 1stAfrika.com