By Moses Alao
The last few weeks have seen Oyo State witness several developments. The Executive Governor of the state, ‘Seyi Makinde, embarked on his annual leave, transmitting power to the Deputy Governor, Barr. Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal, who has since become the Acting Governor of the state.
The tradition of officially handing over power to the Deputy Governor became popularised by Governor Makinde, a public office holder who has demonstrated through several actions and policies that public office holders do not have to be uppity to command respect.
By entrusting the Deputy Governor with the full powers that enable him to oversee the state in the capacity of Acting Governor, Governor Makinde ensured that the state does not lag in terms of governance and the developments in the state in the last three weeks have shown that the wheel of governance can grind normally when due processes are followed.
Another major development in the state was the recent award of contracts for the construction and rehabilitations of several key road projects. The Oyo State Executive Council, presided over by the Acting Governor, approved the dualisation of the 13.6km Ojoo Interchange–IITA–Moniya Junction–Akinyele Road, the dualisation of the 6.2km Ajia Junction–Nigeria Air Force Base Road, the reconstruction of the 30km Okaka Junction–Otu–Igbojaye–KAP Film Village road with bridges over Otu and Ofiki Rivers, expansion of the Apete–Awotan–Akufo Road to cover 12km plus 2.2km of rigid pavement at Akufo Farm Settlement, the asphaltic construction of Isaba–Ogundoyin and Lanlate–Polytechnic Roads, Eruwa and thermoplastic road marking, kerbs painting and patching in Ibadan metropolis.
The approvals of these projects elicited joy and excitement from residents of several areas in the state, who had looked up with hopes, asking when the rain of infrastructure development pouring in Oyo State would reach their end. It was, indeed, a huge relief to know that the Ojoo-IITA-Moniya Road would become a dualised road after decades of existence and dilapidated at some points. As an indigene of Igboho, Oke-Ogun, who has causes to ply that road most times, it has always saddened me that I could drive from Iseyin to Moniya Junction on the 65km road constructed by Governor Makinde, in about 50 minutes and then end up spending approximately the same time between Moniya Junction and Ojoo.
Another road that brought about joy was the Okaka-Otu-Kunle Afolayan Productions Film Village near Komu. Its approval by the governor proved a major point in good governance, as it showed that promises are always kept in Makinde’s Oyo State. It also achieved another thing; that communities away from the city centres have not been forgotten and that the Omituntun of infrastructure will reach their side. Ojo n ro, ko tii da, won ni ko to ti ana…
But, in what could appear as a blight on the many positive developments recorded by the state, a major hoopla was created around the effort of the Governor to further push the frontier of infrastructure development, while also rejigging the state’s debt portfolio in a way that will favour the state. Through a combination of misinformation, misguided attacks and anti-people politics, the state government was exposed to needless attacks over its plan to secure a N151 billion facility to support the ongoing massive infrastructure development projects across the state.
By deliberately misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Executive’s request to the House of Assembly for approval to refinance an already existing N149 billion facility, which terms have become harsh and unfavourable to the state, the state government was set up for bashing and condemnation, as it was accused of seeking a fresh N300 billion loan.
From radio commentaries to articles in online media and later a politically-motivated protest that agitated for nothing meaningful and was aimed at achieving nothing but cheap publicity for the All Progressives Congress (APC), the opposition succeeded in weaving a web of controversy round the state government’s positive intentions.
The party’s unofficial spokesperson and attention-seeker-in-chief, Shola Abegunde, a proper ‘arijenija’ had also somehow managed to find his writing mojo again by going to press with another one of his noisy and hollow write-ups, where he prayed that the Omituntun being experienced in Oyo State would be purged. Trying in vain to hide his penchant for hating anything Governor Makinde represented, he went on a rigmarole analysing the project approval that affected Eruwa, turning himself to a geographer, surveyor, road construction engineer and expert in project costing all at once. In the end, Abegunde showed his true intention, when he cursed that the rain of good governance in Oyo State would stop, saying “it won’t rain forever.”
Sadly for Abegunde and the APC, however, residents of the state can see through their chicanery and pointless grandstanding on the alleged N300 billion, as they have not forgotten how the APC governed Oyo State for eight years, took billions of Naira in loans but failed to construct 50 kilometres of roads in eight years. At least, residents of the state can still recall that there is no single major road project undertaken by the previous administration, which linked one town to another.
But in less than seven years of Makinde’s Omituntun, which Abegunde desperately prays will be replaced by a drought, since he said it won’t rain forever, Oyo State has become a huge construction site, with the Ibadan Circular Road moving at an exciting speed, while many road projects completed and ongoing also dot the landscape.
As evidence of the goodness brought by Omituntun in Oyo, several notable residents of the state have testified to GSM’s people-centred leadership across different sectors, with most of them united on how the governor has redefined governance and set unprecedented records in governance.
In what could be termed as the latest in the ranks of such testimonies, President of Ibadan Mogajis, Mogaji Asimiyu Ariori, lent credence to the views expressed by countless leaders in the state, including those of APC stock, that Makinde has, indeed, been a governor with a marked difference.
Ariori said: “Similarly, look at what he (Makinde) is doing with the Circular Road. By the time the project is completed, it would completely transform the economy of not just Ibadan but the state as a whole.
“Look at the other roads he has reconstructed; from Orita-Challenge to Gate where he has done a lot.
“Look at the wonders he did from New Gbagi Market to Alakia and Ibadan-Ife Express Road, the same with the Airport Road to New Gbagi Market Road.
“Also, look at what he has turned Ring Road into. The roads constructed by Seyi Makinde are just too numerous.”
Beyond roads, Ariori and those who testified to the fresh water of governance coursing through the length and breadth of Oyo State, also pointed at the mass employments of teachers and other cadres of civil servants through open and transparent exercises, the outstanding efforts to expand the state’s economy through agribusiness, tourism and solid mineral development, among others.
For instance, it should be exciting that today, Oyo State will become the first subnational in Africa to launch an implementation strategy on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a platform that will enable the state to export goods and services with lesser tariffs and gain exponentially from Africa’s unified economy. The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA and African Union, Wamkele Mene, as well as other stakeholders, will join Governor Makinde to launch the strategy today.
It is these goodness and many more that the sadistic, pessimistic and misguided Shola Abegunde wishes should come to an end when he said “it won’t rain forever.”
In real terms, democracy allows individuals to hold views and publish them, but wishing evil on Oyo State by saying it won’t rain forever is just too much. Shola Abegunde can dream all he wants, hoping against hope that the residents of Oyo State, who have witnessed first-hand the soothing rain of good governance, would return to Egypt by allowing his party to return to looting Oyo State blind without any tangible project. But since we all know that wishes are not horses, then shall we tell Abegunde that he and other beggars in that caravan of wishful thinking should perish the thought of riding back to the Oke Oyinbo Government House in horse-drawn sleigh. And, for his information, the rain of goodness won’t stop in Oyo; he should only say what he wishes for himself.
•Alao is the Special Assistant (Print Media) to Oyo State Governor.
