MOR: The Strategist Behind Adeleke’s Media War

MOR: The Strategist Behind Adeleke’s Media War

How the Governor’s spokesman fought the narrative battle that opposition could not win

In politics, silence is never neutral. When a government refuses to tell its own story, its opponents will gladly tell a different one.

That was the battle Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, understood from the beginning. And for much of the Adeleke administration, MOR was not merely the man issuing statements. He was one of the men in the trenches, fighting to define what the Imole government meant to the people of Osun.

The administration came with a five-point agenda, but the real test was whether those promises would be felt beyond government offices.

Apparently, they were!

Osun people saw roads being constructed and rehabilitated. They saw healthcare facilities receiving attention. Workers felt government through improved welfare. Communities saw projects and interventions that gave physical meaning to the administration’s agenda.

That record became part of the political battlefield. Because the opposition had its own interpretation of government, maybe there was a shadow. But, Rasheed made sure the government had a superior one.

When allegations were thrown at Adeleke, he answered. When policies were questioned, he explained. When opposition narratives gained momentum, he confronted them. At a time when defending the administration attracted fierce political attacks and what his camp regarded as persecution, Olawale Rasheed remained remarkably combative.

But perhaps his biggest achievement was understanding that modern political communication cannot be left to press releases alone.

He assembled a media team that took the Imole message everywhere; newspapers, television, radio, blogs, social media and the countless WhatsApp conversations through which political opinions are formed across Osun.

That team deserves its accolades Read Original