It is getting to that time of the political season when mendacious politicians, under the guise of leaders, gear up to take the people for a ride once again. These politicians, who have been struck by the vicious arrow of avarice for almost three years, have unwittingly been knocking at the door of electoral defeat through ill-advised policies all those years.

That door of defeat will definitely be held open for them come 2015. Regardless of whatever shortcomings the Nigerian version of democracy may inherently have , one aspect that has seen remarkable improvement is the political awareness of the electorate who are becoming adept at smelling political deceit and subterfuge a mile off.

The people can no longer be deceived by sweet eloquent speeches and soap box sophistry. They will rather vote for performance because action, as they say, speaks louder than words. From Ondo to Edo and recently Anambra states, the people have voted again for men who have met their expectations. In the case of Anambra state, the people voted for a party that they believe will take them to the promised land.

However, some politicians have refused to swim with the tide, deliberately deciding to live in the past when votes were gotten via promises they had no intention of honoring. The past when, with a few cups of Rice, some Salt and a 200 Naira note, the will of the people was subverted. Seasons have changed and Nigeria has since moved on from such regrettable past. Perhaps nowhere is this sordid past most reminiscent than in Oyo state where the serving governor of the state, after over two years of humiliating the people, has suddenly gotten a "contrite" heart as we approach 2015.

The governor, on the occasion of his 64th birthday, asked forgiveness from the citizens of the state who have been hurt by his inhumane and wasteful government policies. This "contrition" was not as a result of deep and sincere remorse, but of ulterior motives fuelled by the fear of not getting re-elected.

We should pause a while to find out from whom the governor seeks forgiveness. Could it be the Civil Servants who have become disgruntled because their salaries have become consistently irregular ? Is it the teachers who are suffering from the poor funding of the educational sector that has made schools poorly equipped and unsuitable for learning ?  What about the school pupils sitting on bare floors to receive lectures in classrooms and school buildings that are dilapidated while motor parks and garages close by are upgraded to "international standards" ? Perhaps,the governor needs forgiveness from traders and small business owners who are now heavily indebted because their business premises have gone under bulldozers in the governments obtuse urban renewal program that puts the welfare of the people at the bottom of its priorities.

Let us not forget the commercial motor cyclists who have been made to pay heavy levies if they must find means of livelihood or have their motorcycles, their source of income, impounded. Many of them have met untimely death or suffered serious injuries while attempting to flee from men of the Task Force charged with collecting these levies. Maybe the governor is asking forgiveness from the woman who feeds her family from the proceeds of the roast Plantain that she sells by the roadside. The same woman who has since been terrorized and banished further into the innermost part of the barren land of poverty by the unscrupulous antics of the states "YES O! Cadets". Ironically, even the YES O! Cadets through which this administration inflicts hardship on the struggling masses of this state have reasons to forgive the governor. After all the hype over their employment with a net salary of N8,500 per month, many were unceremoniously sacked.

Surely, the governor needs forgiveness from the tax payers whose monies he has consistently mismanaged through exorbitant contract cost like the Mokola two-lane bridge built at a cost of over 3 billion Naira while a better four-carriage bridge with adjoining lanes by the same contractor in Ogun state was executed at the cost of 1.5billion Naira at about the same period. The less one talks about the one-billion- Naira-per-kilometer road re-construction cost, the better.

Politicians who worked tirelessly for the election of the governor are ruing that decision as are denied the opportunity to reap where they sowed. Is the governor asking the late Pa Lam Adesina (Great Lam) whom he showed much disrespect before his demise for forgiveness? What about the state local contractors ? Jobs meant for them are being outsourced to contractors from lagos simply because "Madam has interest".

Senator Ajimobi's only act of expiation that will satisfy the good people of the state will be for him to kill any ambition for a second term in office regardless of the advice from his team of political hallions and sycophants. Though the people have forgiven him, but not enough to afford him another opportunity to hurt  them again. The people are set to vote a man with the Strength and Experience to Bring Real Change, a man who will be the thumb in the hand that will move forward the wheel of progress in Oyo state.

Ahmed Amubikanhun is a Teacher resident  in Egbeda Ibadan Oyo state.