Over the past couple of days, I’ve been struggling to choose between different topics for my next piece.
An elderly brother of mine invited my attention to the rot at the Oyo state Transport Corporation, the TCTC and the failed promises of building a stadia per geo-political zone by Governor Seyi Makinde.
You will recall that Governor Makinde told us that the N5billion was approved for the rehabilitation of the Adamasingba Sports Complex also covered the construction of mini Stadia at Igboora, Oyo, Ogbomoso and Ibadan. Even though, the funds were released, those mini Stadia remains a mirage till tomorrow.
I thought I would take the issues together. Then, news broke out that Governor Makinde, through the Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency, OYSAA, had actually begun to pull down the Campaign Billboards of opposition political parties.
You will also recollect that I raised an alarm regarding this particular issue almost a month ago. I am not surprised that Governor Makinde is actually going ahead with the execution of this draconian Law.
However, I think he should be ashamed of himself first and also have a rethink about his actions in this regard. I know he is a very stubborn man and he himself had publicly admitted to his stubbornness, but, even him, as stubborn as he thinks he is, will not be able to deal with the consequences that will follow this illegal and undemocratic action.
He is jittery and desperate, no doubt. However, he stands to gain nothing, other than disgrace, if he continues in the line of action he is presently toeing through the OYSAA. Like I said, I have a bit of problem deciding on my next topic and in the middle of that confusion, I saw the picture of Bimbo Adekanmbi observing Jumat on Friday and I saw the arguments that arose as a result of that.
I saw some of his followers trying to whittle down the fact that his emergence as Governor Seyi Makinde’s anointed gubernatorial candidate speaks much more to competence and I laughed.
Does it mean that there is no practicing Muslim who is as competent as Adekanmbi in the whole of Oyo state?
That statement in itself is an insult to the Muslim Community in Oyo state and I don’t know how anyone in his right senses would justify that. After pushing myself a bit, I decided to leave the issues of the Stadia and the TCTC for now.
I chose to write about Bimbo Adekanmbi and the very difficult choices before him. I have seen people castigating him for saying that he would continue to build on the Legacy of Governor Seyi Makinde if he is elected as the next Governor of Oyo state and I ask, what should he be saying? That he would discontinue with Makinde’s Legacy?
Even if he is uncomfortable with any of the policies of the Makinde Administration, would he dare to show his disapproval of such policies? He can not. Bimbo Adekanmbi is in a golden cage and as far as this electioneering is concerned, he has automatically inherited both the assets and the liabilities of the person and Government of Seyi Makinde. May our source of livelihood not be tainted with dishonor. (Olorun Ma fi ounje oojo wa si ibi to nira).
Sadly, his emergence as the preferred gubernatorial candidate of the Allied People’s Movement, APM, provides its own moral burden already and he has to couple that burden with the garbages of Governor Seyi Makinde and his Government.
I pity that fellow. He was Deputy Chief of Staff to the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi and later became the Commissioner for Finance under the same Government. You will wonder, how did such a character, who must have been trusted so much by the late Governor, suddenly found himself in bed with a Seyi Makinde, who once said that the only good thing he could not argue about Ajimobi was his sense of dressing well?
I do not know how Bimbo Adekanmbi will convince a right thinking person that he hasn’t been romancing Seyi Makinde, even when he was still with Ajimobi. It might or might not be so, but, he will be suspected and he has to live with it.
I remember that before his choice was made public, even though, many of us knew that he would eventually be favored, a close ally of Governor Seyi Makinde, Alhaji Ismaila Ashipa, through a Facebook post, alleged that Bimbo Adekanmbi is actually the candidate favored by Seye Famojuro!
That allegation by Alhaji Ashipa was never denied by anyone. So, you now begin to wonder, are we about to have a Governor in Oyo state, whose godfather is an Ilesa man?
The unfortunate part is that you would be correct to assume that Adekanmbi will be answering to two godfathers. Makinde and the fellow from Ilesa.
The Governor’s Advisory Council, GAC has been in turmoil since Bimbo Adekanmbi’s choice was made public and it will not be out of place to connect Ashipa’s allegations with the crisis within the GAC.
These are all garbages which Bimbo Adekanmbi will have to carry throughout the electioneering period.
Now, let us talk about Governor Makinde’s Legacies.
Recently, I saw a video of him, laboring, while telling some young folks around him that he is not going to raise people’s hopes by making bogus promises.
Incidentally, that interview coincides with a statement made by Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli and his promise to grant full administrative and financial autonomy for Local Governments when he becomes Governor of Oyo state. After listening to Bimbo Adekanmbi, I asked myself, what is so bogus about the promise made by Sharafadeen Alli?
Is there a rocket science behind the adoption of a policy which will allow Local Governments to flourish, beyond the determination and the will to see it through?
I understand why Adekanmbi is in deep trouble because of this matter of Local Government autonomy. He will dare not contradict his mentor, Governor Seyi Makinde who has kept repeating the fact that he doesn’t believe in the existence of the Local Governments, even though, section 7 of the Nigerian Constitution recognizes them and schedule 4 there to, assigned responsibilities to them.
For Governor Makinde, the existence of the Local Governments is an aberration and he has been treating the third tier of Government as such since 2019!
In other words, is Adekanmbi telling us that the Legacy which has crippled the 33 Local Governments will continue under his Administration? I think it will, but God Almighty will not allow an affliction to arise in Oyo state for a second time. When Governor Seyi Makinde took over in 2019, he was shouting all over the place that the high debt profile of the state was an impediment to development.
I recollect that Governor Makinde put the total debt profile at around N150billion and as God would have it, it is the same Bimbo Adekanmbi who clarified that the debts profile of the state at the time was less than a hundred billion Naira.
Last year, Honorable Shittu Ibrahim who is representing Saki West in the Oyo State House of Assembly raised the alarm that the Oyo state House of Assembly had been approving loan upon loan requests for the Governor without following due process.
The Honourable gentleman was very specific about his allegations and the loan requests he had issues with. The Government of Oyo state and the Oyo State House of Assembly could not defend the grave allegations till today and in a normal setting, Governor Makinde ought to have been impeached for that reason only.
As at today, even Governor Seyi Makinde is ashamed to tell us in plain terms, how much Oyo State is owing and we might not know until a new Government takes over from him.
Is that the kind of Legacy Adekanmbi wishes to continue building on?
Presently, I have been praying fervently. I don’t want to wake up one morning to discover that Bimbo Adekanmbi’s new mentor, Governor Seyi Makinde has sold the Oyo state Government Secretariat and the Government House.
It is not funny but which Government assets are too big, too important for Governor Seyi Makinde to sell? None, I dare say. It is so terrible that I have heard people refer to the Governor as ” Baba Gbanjo”! Some even call him ” Abulesowo”. It is that bad.
Presently, whatever space that is remaining for the Broadcasting Corporations of Oyo state, BCOS, must have been sold! I know the pattern. By the time it became public knowledge, it is already gone. ( O ti lo. Alaje ti wa).
The Trans- Amusements Park, Agodi Gardens and a lot of other landed properties have been sold by this Governor.
Local Governments assets like Graders, Tractors, Refuse Trucks, Borehole drilling machines and other stuffs are not left out.
So, is that one of the Legacies of this Government that Adekanmbi wants to continue to build upon? God forbid.
The Eruwa Farm Settlement is now in limbo. We don’t even know what is happening there. The status of the Eruwa Cashew Plantation is unknown. We don’t know if Governor Seyi Makinde had sold it or not.
Is that the kind of Legacy Adekanmbi wishes to keep imposing on Oyo state? The Legacy of ” A ko tile ta”? God forbid. Thankfully, Bimbo Adekanmbi is a very typical manifestation of Governor Seyi Makinde’s penchant for betrayal of trusts.
If someone is lucky to be elected as Governor of the state twice in succession and he couldn’t find anyone competent enough to succeed him amongst his lieutenants of eight years, it speaks so much about mentorship and rewards for loyalty.
I am sure that Mr. Adekanmbi must have been studying Governor Makinde very well and by now, he must have mastered the art of betrayal. Will he also continue with Governor Makinde’s penchant for betrayals?
God forbid!
Sola Abegunde.
