November 27 in the Life of Osun State: '...is one of the four bridges that adorn and make more functional, the 18 kilometre Oba Adesoji Aderemi Second By-Pass' -Semiu Okanlawon

There is a bridge named “November 27” in Osogbo, the capital of the State of Osun. Undoubtedly, it stands as one of the legacies of the Rauf Aregbesola administration.
The bridge, so named in commemoration of the significance that the date represents in the life of the South-West state, is one of the four bridges that adorn and make more functional, the 18 kilometre Oba Adesoji Aderemi Second By-Pass, another flagship idea of the same administration.
Other bridges along that same corridor are named “Five Judges,” “November 26” and “August 9,” each of them having a history behind it.
In decades to come, this road, along with other painstakingly executed projects of that administration would remain as reference in foresight, dedication, ingenuity, people-focused and unusual governance.
But November 27 has a history behind it as well. It was the day the current Minister of Interior, and former governor of Osun was sworn in. It was the second day that five justices of the Appeal Court had confirmed that Aregbesola was the validly elected Governor of the state. Recall that the election that was declared in favour of Aregbesola in 2010 was conducted in 2007, three clear years before.
Of course, it was the first election petition case that dragged for that length of time in the political history of Nigeria if not in Africa. And after a governor had illegally occupied a seat for more than three years, the court ruled that he was an impostor.
Apart from the fact that it marked the beginning of a new culture and orientation, November 27 is a metaphor for patience, endurance, perseverance, pains but eventual success.
Effectively, it marked the beginning of a new lease of life where residents began to see true touch of governance, engagements with the people, a new consciousness of the Omoluabi ethos, concerns for the elderly, the children and women. Even the mentally challenged had a place with a programme tagged O’Rehab which took many roving and roaming mentally ill persons off the roads and brought them back to normal life.
November 27, it was, that changed all and began a new chapter in the life of the state of the virtuous people.
Happy November 27!