There is a certain sound Nigerian politics makes when elections are still far away but anxiety has already set in. It is loud, restless, and oddly familiar. In Oyo State right now, that sound is everywhere.
Long before anyone is meant to be thinking seriously about ballot papers, the opposition has gone into full campaign mode. Not the kind built on ideas or alternatives, but the kind powered by suspicion, exaggeration, and relentless talk. If it feels like something we have all seen before, that is because we have.
Many Nigerians still remember the period leading up to 2015 election that ousted the then president. The endless attacks on former President Goodluck Jonathan were not really about policy or economic performance. They were about tearing people down. About planting doubt and confusion.
About repeating accusations so often that truth no longer mattered and lies are dressed up as truth to the undiscerning public. Years later, many Nigerian wished they could turn back the hands of time back to 2015 because regret has become a quiet national companion. That same mood is gradually creeping into Oyo politics.
Governor Seyi Makinde has suddenly become the centre of a carefully choreographed storm. Every decision is questioned, not with curiosity but with hostility.
Every achievement is dismissed as propaganda. When facts become inconvenient, they are ignored. When silence is kept, it is labelled weakness. When explanations are offered, they are mocked as excuses.
Yet, daily life in Oyo State keeps telling a different story, of a people living a better life amid national economic and security challenges.
People drive comfortably on roads they once avoided. Communities that had been forgotten for decades now show signs of deliberate planning.
Schools and hospitals no longer feel like abandoned government property. Workers and even pensioners are paid with consistency. Security is handled with coordination rather than bravado. Investors talk about Oyo with interest, not pity.
This is not perfection. No government offers that, and so, it must be made clear that there may be recorded policy mistakes by the Makinde led government. But it is progress that people can see, touch, and measure.
And that is exactly the problem for those who do not have much to show in comparison.
Most Nigerian politicians are academically sound but intellectually weak. In a 21st century society amid all efforts and achievements recorded, how possible is it to trust the words of those who do not even acknowledge anything good in a government just to prove a point that they’re the better alternative?
What manner of people just swallow political tantrums from opposition leaders who in the face of physical and measurable achievements, refuse to acknowledge and appreciate good works done in areas where they have been recorded?
This thought makes me conclude that some people do not just criticize because they see flaws. They critique because praise, when it is not credited to them, feels like a threat, and so, positioning oneself as an alternative by trying to erase what already exists is not confidence. It is the fear that comparison, if allowed, would not be kind to their public image.
So the strategy then becomes confusion. If you cannot challenge performance, distract from it. If you cannot offer a better plan, question motives. If you cannot win the argument, change the subject. Politics then becomes noise, hoping that people will get tired of thinking, embrace the repeated false propaganda as truth.
But voters are not as forgetful as politicians may sometimes assume.
Many Nigerians are still living with the consequences of decisions taken in moments of collective anger due to calculated lies being propagated.
The excitement of “change” has long faded, replaced by tough realities and difficult questions. Those lessons were expensive. They should not be ignored or regrets may become inevitable. The people must learn from the Jonathan era.
Oyo State at the twilight of 2025 with few days into 2026, a year political activities may hit its peak, now stands at a familiar crossroads similar to 2015. One path demands patience, memory, and honest evaluation.
The other thrives on outrage, shortcuts, and recycled talking points. One asks people to judge governance by measurable results. The other asks them to vote based on fear born out of lies dressed up as truth.
Criticism is undoubtedly healthy for every system where democracy and democratic governance hold sway. Opposition is necessary and integral to such system too but opposition role does not imply being blind to the truth or being agents of false propaganda just to be in power.
Democracy depends on both opposition and criticism but there is a line between holding leaders accountable and deliberately trying to confuse the public.
When politics becomes nothing more than a shouting match and game of political blackmail just to confuse and gain advantage over political narrative, everyone loses, especially the masses. This is why inclusive participation of the public should be encouraged by all government.
Objective criticism by the public should not be mistaken as anti government, such perception by any administration or political leader would amount to the height of insensitivity and political immaturity.
As 2027 draws closer, the real power still rests with the people of Oyo State to choose who to lead them for another dispensation. Certainly not with those who shout the loudest. Not with those who manufacture controversy. But with citizens who remember where they were, notice where they are, and think carefully about where they want to go.
Moving forward is hard work, moving backward is easy, and history has already shown what happens when people mistake noise for truth and anger for wisdom. No one should have to learn such lesson twice. No one.
Henry Odeh the publisher of Westernmirro.com.ng