……….As campaigns warm up, a viral cartoon forces Ondo voters to ask “Are we electing leaders or loyalists?”
By Lola Adedeji
A single cartoon is currently doing what a thousand campaign speeches cannot. Shared across WhatsApp groups from Akure to other parts of the State and beyond, the image of “Government House Chapel, Alagbaka” used metaphorically, has become an unofficial manifesto for the forthcoming Ondo State elections.
In it, a towering figure depicting the number one citizen of the Sunshine State, in white stands arms folded before the chapel doors. At his feet, the architecture hopefuls of democracy kneel in anticipation of a plight, individually.
“Assembly Hopeful” prostrates: “I am loyal sir! I need your support, Your Excellency!”, that of the “Senate” joins him: “We need to lobby hard o!” Reps Hopeful, SSAs, PAs, Commissioners, the entire chain of representations, echo the same refrain: “I’m your loyal servant, sir… Please sir, don’t forget me… Anything for me, Sir?”
The chapel, draped in party colours, bears a cross. But the worship here is not directed upward. It is horizontal, transactional, and total.
What This Cartoon Says Without Words
This is not an attack on any one man. It is a mirror held up to a political culture Ondo State knows too well. Every election cycle, we debate roads, schools, and security, but this image asks a deeper question: What happens after the ballots are counted?
The Death of Independent Institutions:
When the Assembly kneels, oversight dies. When Senate lobbies not for constituents, but for personal survival, representation becomes a theater. A democracy where every arm of government faces the Executive instead of the people, is a democracy in reverse.
The Gospel of Loyalty:
The chapel setting is deliberate and damning. It suggests that politics has become a religion, but one where loyalty to a man outweighs loyalty to the constitution, to conscience, or to the over 3.5 million Ondo State citizens and residents.
The most dangerous phrase in a democracy is not “I oppose you.” It is “I am loyal Sir.”
The Voter’s Complicity:
These men kneel because kneeling works. The cartoon indicts not just the powerful, but the system that rewards prostration over performance. If we keep electing people whose first qualification is “he’s my man,” we cannot feign surprise, when the House of Assembly becomes a House of Amen and the “YES have it”.
Ondo 2027: Beyond Party, Beyond Personality
As INEC’s timetable ticks toward the 2027 election, this image should haunt every stakeholder.
The Open Field and The Clenched Fist:
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was unambiguous with the party leadership: “Let the field be open. Let the people decide.” That was not a suggestion, but a presidential order against the tyranny of consensus by corridor. Yet while the ink on that order dries, another list is being penned in the shadows of Alagbaka.
Across Ondo State, aspirants who sold land, emptied savings, and crisscrossed wards to earn their constituents’ trust now receive midnight calls: “Step down. Take Assembly instead of Reps. The man in the saddle has decided.” What a cruel irony to, buy a nomination form with your sweat, only to be told your ambition is subject to another man’s permission.
This is not party discipline; this is political slavery draped in agbada. If Abuja declares an “open field”, but Akure digs trenches and plants landmines for every aspirant who won’t kneel, then we are not practicing democracy. We are staging a selection dressed as election.
The Chapel of Loyalty cartoon was no prophecy; it was a live broadcast, and the most dangerous thing in that chapel is not the men kneeling, but the god who demands it. Tinubu cannot preach Renewed Hope nationally, while his lieutenants auction Renewed Handcuffs locally. An open field with a clenched fist above, it is not a field, it is a decorated grave for democracy. Ondo 2027 will not be won by the loudest “I am loyal sir.” It will be won by the bravest “I am loyal to Ondo State.”
Until then, until the Assembly in Idanre and the Reps hopeful in Okitipupa reach the ballot by the strength of their pact with the people, not by prostration before power, the cartoon remains our indictment. Ondo must choose: bury the politics of kneeling, or spend more years watching its lawmakers whisper “Anything for me, Sir?” while the state bleeds.
To the aspirants: Will you demand lawmakers who stand, or loyalists who kneel?
A governor needs commissioners who can say “No, Your Excellency, the data says otherwise.” Does your leadership style permit that?
To the Assembly, Senate, and Reps hopefuls: The cartoon is already campaigning against you. Your only rebuttal is to show Ondo State people a record of independence. When last did you move a motion that embarrassed your party, but served your people for the current serving members and for the hopefuls, can you dare to do the will of the people, as against your principal?
To the electorates:
The man in white will change. The party may change. But if the culture of kneeling remains, Alagbaka will remain a chapel of loyalty, not a house of service. The 2027 ballot is not just about who governs, It’s about how we are governed.
The most profound prayer that can be said in that Government House Chapel is not “Anything for me, Sir?” It is “Anything for the People of Ondo State, Sir?”
Until the Assembly stands up, the people remain on their knees.
Ondo decides 2027.
Editor’s Note: This piece is a commentary on the political culture, inspired by a viral cartoon in circulation. It does not allege wrongdoing by any specific individual. The goal is to elevate the discourse as Ondo State and Nigeria approaches another election cycle.
Cartoon Credit: Whatsapp
