About a couple of weeks ago, Governor Seyi Makinde labelled those who claimed that Federal Allocation to states have increased tremendously under president Tinubu as individuals who engaged in “lazy talks”.
He claimed Federal Allocation merely increased by minimal percentage but wasted no time to dismiss the relevance of such increase.
What the Governor however failed to do was to state in specific terms, how much he has received, the difference when compared to the past Allocations and what he had done differently with the “minimal increase” in the Federal Allocation received by the state and the 33 Local Governments.
Honestly, it shouldn’t be my headache to meddle in how Governor Makinde chose to repay president Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the bizarre and unholy romance between the duo which obviously have gone sour.
After all, as the Yorubas would say, ” ija lo ngbeyin ale”.
If a father, for whatever reasons, chose to outcast his own blood to embrace an alien, when the alien begins to demonstrate strange behaviors, the situation must be like that of the fart under the garb of the masquerade. “Iso inu eku…”.
It is a situation vividly captured by Chinua Achebe in Arrow of gods-“when a man brings ant-infested faggots into his hut, he must not be surprised when he is visited by lizards”.
The ant-infested faggots have been brought into the president’s hut by himself and those who chose to burn their own home.
The insults and attacks by Makinde is the resultant lizards.
I hope and as Achebe also said that president Tinubu who brought a charm at the end of a long stick will somehow find a way to take the charm out.
Like I said earlier, however Governor Makinde chose to deal with president Tinubu is not much of an headache to me.
However, each time the Governor employs his charismatic pettiness, we will expose him.
His latest attempt at attention seeking and blame shifting came in Iseyin.
Governor Makinde spared no words to lampoon the Senate president who obviously goofed when he said the Federal Inland Revenue Services FIRS distributed some money to state Governors.
Like Makinde said, the FIRS do not share money to the states but that is not to say that the Governors did not receive special funds and increased Allocations.
What Governor Makinde must tell us is why he engages in lazy talks while his colleagues in Kano, Niger, Lagos, Ogun, Bornu and other states are proactively dealing with the hardship in their states.
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state announced some measures to cushion the biting hardship a couple of days ago.
Sanwi-Olu in Lagos have come out with very brilliant arrangements in Lagos, in fact, Lagos now have considerable number of food hubs.
We read in the news how prices of foodstuffs are coming down in Kano and Niger states.
The Governor of Bokoharam ravaged Borno is ever busy with ameliorating the sufferings of his people.
What is our own Governor doing?
If he was not enjoying some Fuji music inside his newly acquired private Jet, he is busy attacking the president and his policies.
It is unfortunate, the kind of country we now live.
Someone who should be explaining how he plunged Oyo state into monumental debts, how he has expended the over 200 billion Naira he got as Federal Allocation and how he found the money to purchase a private Jet, days after he took another loan of 150 billion is now the one who sees himself as an activist Governor.
I have always said I can not blame Makinde.
Those who pushed and dragged the president to support a serial betrayer are the ones who should be atoning for misadvising the president as we speak.
They have let loose a Canon that will surely hurt the president for a long time.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
