Almost every Church goers are familiar with the story of the Biblical prodigal son.
The chap, son to a very wealthy man had approached his father one day and demanded for his portion of the father’s wealth.
The father, bewildered by the bizarre request by his son appealed to him not to tow the perilous path but the misguided son’s mind was made up.
Having failed to make his son see reason, the father obliged him and gave him his portion.
Feeling fulfilled, the prodigal son left his father’s small village for the big cities where, in no time, he lavished all the wealth collected from his father and ended up becoming a slave, eating food meant for pigs until one day, he decided to return, empty handed, to beg for his father’s forgiveness.
The rate at which the Governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde have been selling off Government Lands and properties is alarming to say the least.
The unfortunate streak started with the lease of Agbowo shopping complex for a period of fifty years and for some funny amount of money!
Today, the Agbowo shopping complex have become a sad narrative, failing to bear any purpose for which it was purportedly leased out.
Not only that, the project became a source through which hapless citizens of the state were defrauded.
Then came the conversion of some portion of Land belonging to the Broadcasting corporation of Oyo state, BCOS into a Housing Estate by Governor Makinde.
The said portion have originally been marked for the building of a Film village by people with foresight.
One would have expected the Governor to follow up on this plan.
After all, the excuse he always give is that Government needs to raise funds.
A Film village would definitely not only bring money to Government coffers, it will also become a monument and a legacy but Governor Makinde would have none of that.
His original intention is to make quick money, which would eventually be siphoned and to sell out choice spaces to himself and chronies.
The Trans Amusement park is not preserved from Makinde’s predatory act of profilgacy.
As we speak, the park is gone. Quartered and sold out!
The Governor have now berth on the Agodi Gardens. A large portion of the Garden, a monument of many years, have been marked for sale!
I listened to the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary yesterday, trying to justify the Governor’s acts of profilgacy.
It was certain that even the CPS lacked basic information about the Governor’s intents and callers on the program told him.
What the CPS kept saying in defense was that Government needs money to invest in Education and other sectors.
That is laughable.
It is on record that former Governor Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja dedicated so much to Education in Oyo state.
I am not aware that he sold any property of Oyo state to fund Education.
If Makinde’s predecessors in office had sold all this portion of Land, what will be left for him to sell?
With the way the Governor is going, one would not be surprised if one day he wakes up and sell out the Secretariat and the Government House.
After all, they’re Government properties.
The Yorubas abhore an attitude that depicts an individual as an “A ko tile ta”.
Governor Makinde is obviously suffering under the weight of the excessive loans he has taken during his first term.
He is equally suffering for the consequences of his indescretion of the illegal dissolution of Local Government Chairmen elected during the late Ajimobi’s tenure.
That singular act of indescretion meant that his Government had to pay two sets of Local Government officials at a time. One set for being in office illegally and the other for being removed illegally.
What have been excising our minds before now is the amount of debts Makinde will leave behind.
He has added to it. We now worry, what next will Makinde sell to survive the burden of debts crushing his Government of fallacies?
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
