As God would have it, the Governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde got re elected for a second term in office.
Whether his re election was deserved or based on merits considering the prevailing circumstances during the election would remain a matter for a debate for a very long time.
However, the fact that many who hitherto supported the re election of Makinde are now regretting regretting the support they offered him is less debatable.
Even, many, if not all of those who veered off the lane from their political parties to offer Makinde support for a second term are silently licking their wounds in silence and agony.
Even his large Army of jejune and insipid supporters have lost the motivation to defend his glaring failures.
His Lilliputian minded horde of social media army have lost strength in the face of highly mitigated failures of governance.
The Governor, obviously is on a Sabbatical!
Immediately after his re election, Governor Makinde abandoned the important tasks of state and relocated to Abuja.
In fact, he became a more regular visitor to the Aso Rock presidential Villa than even the Chief of staff to the president.
When eyebrows were raised about this embarrassing attitude, Governor Makinde declared, with gusto, that he would continue to visit the Villa until he got all that Oyo state deserved.
Funny enough, the Governor, noticeably have stepped his constant pilgrimages to the Villa and I don’t see what he has gotten for Oyo state that outweighs what Osun, Kwara or Kaduna have gotten despite the fact that the Governors of such states didn’t embarass their offices and status by becoming a maurabout in the Villa.
Not long ago, the Governor posted a funny picture of himself in America after watching a Tennis Game.
One wonders how he considered watching a Tennis Game worthy of celebration at this critical time when both Infrastructures and Education in the state he was elected to govern is in a state of comatose.
The results of the last WAEC in Oyo state is not only terrible, it is catastrophic.
Parents and Guardians who struggled to pay for WAEC fees are left in woes because of the mass failures recorded in the state.
It should be noted that unlike in the years of Alao Akala when both fees for WAEC and NECO were paid for by the Government and Ajimobi paid for WAEC, Governor Makinde didn’t pay a dime to support parents for both WAEC and NECO.
Makinde’s ” free education” policy is a complete scam and the results are beginning to manifest.
I challenge his Lilliputian minded supporters to ask him to tell the world how Oyo state fared in the last WAEC. I won’t be surprised if we were amongst the last three.
Whoever believes that parents don’t pay for education in Oyo state should just go to the public secondary schools and do an independent investigation.
The results will shock even the Governor’s ardent supporter.
Some of us who have kids in this schools know what we went through as the schools resumed last week.
We were not only buying exercise books, we are also buying text books.
Whoever waits on the Governor’s empty promises risks the future of his children.
Unfortunately, this is in a state where hundreds of millions of Naira was paid to a crony of the Governor to ” print” exercise books!
The state of our trunk B and C Roads are so terrible.
It will be so because we have a Governor who never hid his disdain for the independence of the Local Governments.
Local Government chairmen, whose duties it is to fix this roads are just dummies and pawns considered fit for tokens and handouts.
The Agbowo shopping complex continues to irritate the eyes.
The other time, the Governor, in his usual deceptive manner, admitted his misadventures in the handling of the shopping complex and promised to correct his anomalie.
That promise was made about two years ago. Yet Agbowo remains a negative spectacle.
Governor Makinde promised heaven and earth in the Agricultural sector.
In fact, we were promised a complete revolution in the Agric sector, such that Oyo state would be “exporting” maize to an African country.
To activate this revolution, some Farm settlements were penciled for conversion to Agric hubs.
What have become of all the promises?
Despite the billions of Naira in Loans that has been committed to Agriculture, Oyo state have nothing to show. Not even a bag of maize.
All we see is some academia speaking phonetics on Radio stations, promising heavens and earth.
Even, that one has died down.
Except for Fasola and perhaps Akufo, nothing is happening in the other Farm settlements.
It is unfortunate that we opted for cosmetics instead of reality.
Oyo state is blessed with massive arable land mass but the Governor failed to be realistic.
Even Lagos state with no piece of land fit for Agriculture thought outside the box. The Governor of Lagos state, who, interestingly became Governor the same day as Makinde has to his credit the LAKE rice which is a product of a partnership between Lagos and Kebbi.
Also to his credit, a massive Rice Mill was established and commissioned in Lagos state about a year and a half ago.
That is how you demonstrate commitment to Agriculture. Not by promising to export maize to Malawi and ending up not having a basket of tomatoes to sell at Bodija market.
Obviously, Oyo state have reinforced failure and empty promises.
When Adamasingba Sports complex was refurbished for the amount it cost, so much arguments were made for and against.
Some of us were careful to speak up then, not for fear but for the fact that we knew that in the fullness of time, the Governor will be exposed.
One would have thought that the biggest marketer of the refurbished complex should be the football team that uses the pitch.
What is the state of the football team today?
What is happening in the Body set up by the Governor to administer the football team?
Is the Board in charge of the team not enmeshed in allegations of fraud and mismanagement?
What exactly have Oyo state benefitted when you measure the amounts spent and the state of the team?
What happens with the Bus terminals? Has it taken care of the chaotic traffic situations in town?
In terms of revenue, how much has it generated and which pockets does it go? Government coffers or the pocket of the ” other governor”?
What is the state of the light up Oyo state project that cost us 28 billion Naira?
Yet, in all this, Governor Makinde still have the spine to dish out gifts of exotic cars to musicians and broadcasters!?
Since he stopped patronizing Abuja for whatever reason, Makinde has been enjoying his Sabbatical in whichever way he designed even though he pumps up sometimes to either swear in some commissioners or to threaten some Kingmakers perceived to be ” collecting bribes” with arrest by the EFCC.
We are in for a very long ride in Omi Tuntun 2.0.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
