The football world has been thrown into mourning following the tragic death of former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger, who reportedly died at the age of 48 after his car was struck by a train. According to multiple international media reports, the incident occurred at a railway crossing in Austria, where Manninger’s vehicle was hit in a devastating collision. Emergency responders arrived swiftly at the scene, but efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful. Manninger, a former Austrian international, enjoyed a distinguished career across Europe, featuring for top clubs including Arsenal and Juventus. He was part of the Arsenal squad under Arsène Wenger during the late 1990s, contributing to the club’s domestic successes and earning admiration for his composure and professionalism. Tributes have begun pouring in from across the football community, with former teammates, clubs, and fans expressing shock and grief over the sudden loss. Wenger, who managed Manninger during his time in Nort...
A tale of unequal rewards, fractured loyalty, and looming political reckoning: how sidelining multitudes for a favoured enclave shadows Osun’s leadership and 2026 elections.
In the high-stakes arena of politics, as in life, loyalty is earned when rewards are shared fairly, but what happens when allegiance becomes a heavy chain, binding not to trust and unity but to exclusion and resentment?
Osun State stands at such a crossroad under Adeleke, where a once-celebrated leadership has unwittingly sown divisions by favouring a privileged enclave over the broader populace.
Every part of the whole is important. Every member of every team stakes something for the victory. In community hunting, several hold the Dane gun, few hold the club, and yet it falls upon only two or three by fate or skill to deliver natural shots at the game.
Even at that, everyone in the hunting parley would share in the bounties. Everyone would smile and be happy. Every member, no matter their role, contributes to the success and deserves to share in the spoils.
When this happens, trust grows. When next the gong reverberates through the forest, more souls will rally gladly, believing in the process.
Reward and loyalty, like Siamese twins, depend on one another. When one weakens, the life of the other is threatened. The survival of leadership itself hangs in the balance. After all, the man on the floor has conquered the fear of falling. He is apt to spill the milk!
The Adelekes played God. Ede FC's model of governance and politics is their albatross! How can we have 30 local government councils and 1 area office and take on the semblance of having 2 states in one? Ede vs. the rest!
We shouted, warning leadership about the dangers of alienating others at the table. The common patrimony has, alarmingly, become the birthright of a few.
A visit to Ede from Akoda Junction to Awo Junction, not to mention the needless roads that were tarred into Agbooles in Ede, would leave one speechless. Yes, the Governor deserves the right to accord his place of birth due attention. He can indeed do that without making other parts of the state look stupid and outcast. Inequalities are boldly written on their chests.
Every compound in Ede got SA or the other! Obokun and Oriade got 1.5 kilometres of road each! Is that what Ede Lgs got? Better roads and political appointments concentrated in Ede.
As if these weren't enough, he was dethroning Obas left and right! He kept stirring communal crises across the state. Ido-Osun and Ido-Ayegunle would come to the fore; one suffered the transfer of an agelong federal presence to Ede, and the other was thrown into the crisis of a chieftaincy battle as if the Ilobu/Ifon-Osun crisis were not enough to put a truce!
A day like this metaphorically re-echoes the Yoruba didactic lyrics of "Ibi E Gbe Amala De, Ni E Jo De." Every local government is important and deserving of its rightful share of development in the state. Every member of the party that played key roles also deserves rewards and relevance in the schemes of governance.
This is the albatross of their political navigation. The belief in the fact that money does everything and the winners-take-all philosophy has shot doors around them to make inroads to the APC. No one could trust them again with power! The only lifeline they could have saved was carelessly dealt with; his bond dissolved like salt in stormy seas by taking their erstwhile saviour, Aregbesola, to the laundry and throwing the key that could unlock such a relationship again in the future to the tempest and bottomless sea.
Now, their attempt to climb the tree from the apex to land on the roof of the APC met a brick wall. The defection process, badly midwifed by a neighbouring Governor who cannot determine his successor in the next gubernatorial election in his state, crumbled like a house of cards. So sad the tragedy wrought by ego and reckless faith that money alone conquered at all times!
Yet this is merely a minor battle compared to the real war awaiting the Governor and his handlers at the poll. Little can one blame the innocent Governor, who appears to act in proxy for others. He would be wishing 2026 comes so quickly so that he can take his deserved rest!
A day like this is coming. The Governor would surely curry more votes from his enclave, where he concentrated his efforts.
But whether these shall ferry him to a sanctuary of safety in Abeere remains a tale that time alone shall tell! A lesson that will be told by the historians in the 53 weeks to come.
What used to be proudly trumpeted as country home power has morphed into a grievous burden!
What began as hope and promise is now unravelling into fractured loyalty and simmering discontent, casting a long and ominous shadow over the 2026 elections. This is the story of the day Adeleke never thought would come, when the price of favouritism would turn political allegiance from an asset into a burden.
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