Makinde and the Barren Logic of “First 11” | Timilehin Kolade

Timilehin Kolade

Governor Seyi Makinde has often presented his administration as a government built around competence, professionalism and the deliberate recruitment of some of the finest minds available in Oyo State. His description of his cabinet as a “first 11” suggests a team carefully assembled from individuals with professional expertise and the capacity to contribute meaningfully to governance.

But that description raises a fundamental question about succession: if Makinde’s administration is truly populated by some of the best brains in Oyo State, why did the governor look outside this celebrated “first 11” when considering who should succeed him?

The question is not whether Abimbola Adekanmbi is qualified. He has a substantial administrative and professional record. He served as Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning under the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi and has experience in banking, consulting and public administration. His credentials therefore provide a legitimate basis for considering him a serious political figure.

The contradiction lies elsewhere. If the strongest argument for Makinde’s administration is the quality of the people he assembled, then succession should naturally provide an opportunity to demonstrate the depth of that quality. A government that has spent eight years showcasing its human capital should ordinarily be able to point to a succession bench within its own governing structure.

This is where the “first 11” logic becomes barren. A football manager who constantly celebrates the quality of his starting eleven would naturally be expected to have a succession plan emerging from that team. If the player eventually selected to lead the team is recruited from another squad, the question is not whether the new player is talented; the question is what happened to the celebrated bench.

Perhaps the answer is simple: governing competence and succession suitability are not the same thing. A person can be an excellent commissioner without necessarily possessing the political reach, grassroots connection, coalition-building ability or leadership temperament required of a governor. If that is the argument, then it should be stated clearly. There is nothing inherently wrong with finding a successor outside the cabinet.

Indeed, Adekanmbi’s political history makes the choice even more interesting. His major public-service experience was acquired under an APC administration, yet Makinde, a PDP governor, has embraced him as his preferred successor. This suggests that, at least in principle, competence can transcend party identity. If a capable individual from another political tradition can become suitable for succession, then the same openness should apply to every candidate in the 2027 contest.

But this also raises a larger institutional question: what exactly has the Makinde administration built beyond the personality of Seyi Makinde?

A cabinet is not necessarily an institution. A government may contain lawyers, engineers, professors, economists, administrators and other professionals without creating a political generation capable of sustaining its achievements. Human capital becomes institutional capital only when knowledge, values, systems and leadership capacity can survive the individual who assembled them.

That is the real test of succession.

Makinde is not constitutionally obliged to choose his successor from among his commissioners. His preferred candidate does not become automatically qualified merely because he enjoys the governor’s endorsement, nor does an outsider become disqualified because he did not serve in the administration. The electorate remains the ultimate arbiter.

Consequently, the more important question for Oyo State is not simply who Makinde prefers, but what criteria should determine the next governor. Experience, competence, administrative capacity, political legitimacy, policy understanding, grassroots connection, independence and the ability to unite the state are all legitimate considerations for voters.

The “first 11” therefore deserves to be understood beyond the rhetoric of credentials. If it represents the finest collection of governing talent assembled by the Makinde administration, then its greatest legacy should not merely be the achievements of its individual members. Its real legacy should be whether it has helped create institutions and leaders capable of carrying Oyo State forward after Makinde leaves office.

Otherwise, the “first 11” remains an impressive description of a cabinet but a weak explanation of succession.

And that is where the logic becomes barren.