After reading the Allied People’s Movement, APM’s reaction to the manifesto unveiled by the All Progressives Congress APC Gubernatorial candidate, Sen. Sarafadeen Abiodun Alli this evening, I imagine how pitiable and confused Governor Seyi Makinde, Bimbo Adekambi and of course, the APM must be by now.
In short, they are in delirium.
It is normal and expected that they will critique the APC Gubernatorial candidate’s manifesto. We should be surprised if they don’t.
However, it would have been better for them to keep quiet if they had nothing sensible to say against the plans of Senator Sarafadeen Alli to make Oyo state better than it is, currently, under Makinde and the APM.
In a statement signed by Dr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, Makinde’s Special Adviser on Media and strategy, who also doubles as the spokesperson for the Makinde/Adekambi campaign organization, the manifesto of Senator Sarafadeen Alli is described as lacking in originality and reveals vision deficit.
Let me quote from the statement. ” Sharafadeen Alli’s manifesto lacks originality, reveals vision deficit. Considering the fanfare that accompanied the unveiling of the manifesto of Senator Sharafadeen Alli, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state, one would have expected the Oyo AHEAD document to offer fresh ideas and innovative solutions to the state’s challenges. Instead, what emerged is a manifesto remarkably short on originality and long on recycled promises”.
” For all its projections and ambitious commitments, the document struggles to identify a single transformative idea that can be uniquely associated with Sharafadeen Alli or the APC. Rather than presenting a distinct vision for Oyo state, much of what it offers appears to be a repackaging of policies already being pursued by the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde, alongside familiar promises that have featured in countless political campaigns over the years. Take healthcare for example. One of the manifesto’s headline promises is the establishment of a fully equipped primary healthcare center in each of Oyo State’s 351 wards. This is precisely where the originality problem becomes apparent “. End of quote.
Let me state categorically that Senator Sarafadeen Abiodun Alli’s manifesto is not made for the bad belles in the APM.
It is a document made for the suffering people of Oyo state and the citizens of Oyo state are not only happy, they have embraced the promises of hope and a new lease of life promised by the All Progressives Congress Gubernatorial candidate, Senator Sarafadeen Abiodun Alli.
Unlike the APM, citizens of Oyo state are able to appreciate the fact that Senator Sarafadeen Alli was able to identify a very serious situation that is lost on Makinde and the APM over the years and that is the fact that Oyo state is short of six General Hospitals and Senator Sarafadeen Alli, having seen this, has promised to take care of the deficit by building six General Hospitals in those Local Governments that have none.
This is a very critical and fundamental question Governor Makinde should be answering, because, I discover that, throughout Olanrewaju’s essay, he made no mention of this very unfortunate vacuum in our health sector.
I am also surprised that the APM thinks the issue of Local Government Autonomy, which they branded impossible is a trivial matter.
It is not. For the people of Oyo state, most especially, those in the rural communities, what Senator Sarafadeen Alli is promising, that is, a financially and administratively autonomous Local Government is a big deal.
Has Governor Makinde ever promised that? Did Bimbo Adekambi also not said that the promise of an autonomous Local Government is a fake promise?
I am also surprised that the APM did not address the promise of 30 Pupils per classroom promised by Senator Sarafadeen Alli.
With that policy in place, does it not follow that Oyo will require much more teachers, non Teaching Staffs and infrastructures?
So, if Senator Sarafadeen Alli is saying, we can’t continue with this congested systems in our public primary and secondary schools and we need to have an environment that is not only decent, but one, which is also conducive for the teachers and Pupils, why would the APM be hitting their heads on a wall because of that promise?
For them, it is impossible. For Alli, it has been done before and we can replicate it. So, why the headache on the other side?
Like I said, the Oyo AHEAD is Sarafadeen Abiodun Alli’s pact with the suffering people of Oke-Ogun, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Ibarapa and Ibadan.
It is beyond the confused minds in the APM to determine how citizens of Oyo state will react to it.
The manifesto addressed a lot of issues like, release of 10 percent state revenues to Local Governments, free health care for pregnant women, infants and the adults, dedicated electricity for industrial and agricultural corridors and many more, but the bad belles didn’t see all of those.
These are trying times for Governor Makinde and his political party, the APM.
On a daily basis, political appointees and prominent politicians have been leaving their side to embrace Alli and the APC.
It is not easy for anyone to know that the only fate that awaits them is disaster.
The days of the APM are numbered and may God grant them the fortitude to bear the impending losses, but, while navigating the few difficult months, they should still strive to face their political annihilation with some degree of dignity, until we say, Adieu the APM.
Sola Abegunde.
