Opinion: The Travesty of Governance in Oyo | By Segun Adeoye

For the first time since 1976 when old Oyo state was created and since 1992 when the old Oyo state was split into two, carving out the present State of Osun, the election of Seyi Makinde as the governor of Oyo state signifies the first time the state is bedevilled with the misfortune of a chief executive whose only obsession is to enjoy the accolade of being a governor.

He brings to government the myopic mindset of cheap populism in an attempt to pull wool over the public’s eyes that he’s a saint and that his immediate predecessor is a devil!

Governance has never been this without direction in the state as it has been under the ‘juvenile Seyi Makinde’. Even during the reign of late former Governor Lamidi Adesina when federal allocations to the state were almost zero, Oyo state was not thrown into epileptic comatose. Since eight months ago when the administration of Seyi Makinde has been inaugurated, nothing new and novel has been done by way of developmental projects in the state except the legacies of enduring developments carried over from the last administration of the excellent His Excellency Abiola Ajimobi.

One recalls that by the sixth month of Senator Ajimobi in his first tenure as the governor of Oyo state, the perennially problematic bridge between Customs and Awolowo Roundabout on Secretariat-Bodija road had been constructed and it was named Restoration Bridge! The solid reconstruction of the bridge is indeed a restoration of hope, protection and peace of mind for the teeming motorists and passersby who used to experience untold hardship plying the erstwhile flood-ravaged bridge. The time was when there was a flood disaster around Ibadan metropolis, resulting from the persistently torrential rains.

Senator Ajimobi’s administration went to work immediately, dredging rivers and reconstructing bridges in the areas where the floods wreaked most havoc. Till the administration of Senator Ajimobi wound up, there was no record of flood disasters in Ibadan metropolis! All these projects of immense impact and more were done within the first six months to one year during the first tenure of Senator Abiola Ajimobi!

However, since Governor Seyi Makinde has been at the helms in the state, little or nothing has been done in terms of solid developmental projects apart from pockets of developmental flukes like the 100 units of Kia Rio cars, unsuitable for security surveillance and patrols, which the governor bought for security agents.

Governance has been at its lowest ebbs in the state. The local government crises the governor manufactured and because of which he has abandoned governance has pushed governance to recess. Nothing is working in the state except the touted regular payment of salaries because of which Governor Makinde has incurred debts running into hundreds of billions of naira. Is this the mediocrity Oyo people have to cope with for the next three years?

Those who saw today during the past electioneering that the present governor does not possess the mental acuity and mature temperament to take the state to the next level the past administration of Senator Abiola Ajimobi has prepared her for is right after-all.

 

 

Segun Adeoye writes from University of Ibadan