Adebisi Akande

Chief Adebisi Akande was born in Ila Orangun on 16 January 1939 in what is now the Osun Central Senatorial district. . He was elected on the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform. Akande was described as the nephew of Chief Bola Ige. ==Governorship==

, Nigeria Akande was elected governor of Osun State in the 1999 Osun State gubernatorial election, under the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD), which had been recently formed as a political arm of the Yoruba socio-cultural organization Afenifere. He succeeded Col. Theophilus Bamigboye, who had been the military administrator of the State from August 1998, and who handed over power on 29 May 1999. On 31 May 1999, Akande inaugurated the second Assembly in Osun State. In January 2000, the Osun State government sacked 143 staff of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, following the governor's earlier vow to trim the state's work force. Akande dissolved the state Council of Obas and Chiefs in 2001, on the ground that it was too large. The dissolution may have been caused by a dispute between the then head of the royal council, the Ooni of Ile-Ife and Akande, in turn part of a face-off between Akande and the deputy governor, Iyiola Omisore. A November 2001 appraisal of Osun State said that Akande was battling an unfriendly work force, and the state was also troubled by long-standing violence between the Ife and Modakeke clans. However, Akande had implemented his party's programs for providing free education and free medical care, and had improved water supplies. A different appraisal, two months later, noting the governor had recently survived an impeachment attempt, said that rather than improving social services and generating employment, after two years in power Akande had implemented massive staff lay offs in the public service, and had caused virtual collapse of public infrastructure. On 24 December 2001, Akande's supporter, Bola Ige, the minister of justice, was murdered in his house in Ibadan. Akande ran for re-election in 2003, but was defeated by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Erelu Olusola Obada of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). ==Later career==

In late 2003, rival factions of the AD held separate conventions. In the Lagos convention, Akande was elected as AD chairman. In January 2006, the convoy of AD leaders who supported Chief Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa faction instead of Akande as the party's national chairman was attacked by thugs in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State. In a February 2006 interview, former Senator Moji Akinfenwa verbally attacked Akande and denied that he was head of the AD. Discussing Akande's feud with his deputy, Iyiola Omisore, he acknowledged that most of the funding for Akande's governorship campaign was donated by Omisore, but said it was a serious error to have accepted him as a running mate. In June 2005, Akande attended an International Conference on Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria held at the Imperial College, London. In October 2005, Akande visited the US to meet with AD supporters in the Nigerian diaspora. Speaking in July 2006, Akande attacked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which he implied was not acting impartially. He defended the AD, which he said was stronger even than it had been in 1999. He called for a more decentralized, federal form of government. Speaking in February 2009, Akande said the only solution to hostage-taking in the Niger Delta area was to give youths employment opportunities, and to involve them in decision making. He cautioned against a military solution, saying in the past the military had looted the nation's treasury and impoverished the people. Speaking in favour of democracy, he stated that when the AD governors accepted President Olusegun Obasanjo's request to avoid local council polls, they fell into a trap. Obasanjo was able to select delegates who helped him win the 2003 elections. == See also ==