The Clownish Chairman Waxing Lyrical In A Viral Video Just Gave Us Some Important Hints.
A few days ago, an absurd video trended online.
In the video, a particular individual was recorded, bare chested, a gold necklace dangling on his neck.
The fellow in the video said he is a Local Government Chairman in one of the Local Governments in Oyo zone of Oyo state.
The man could be seen eating what looked like cooked rice and he was full of praises for a former female Speaker of the Oyo state House of Assembly who also represented Oyo Central at the Red Chamber as a Senator.
” Were wo ni o m’ Aduke, were wo ni o m’ Aduke”, the man waxed lyrical”. (If you don’t know Aduke, you are a mad person).
He was full of praises for Aduke, obviously referring to the former female Senator and Speaker, who he claimed made him a Council Chairman and even took him abroad.
Obviously, the video was recorded in a foreign Country.
The man, who depicted characters of a half illiterate must have lost his head in the clouds, finding himself in a foreign country.
” Mo loyalty o”, he said in poor English.
When I saw the video, I had no doubts that the clown in the video is actually a Local Government Chairman but to be double sure, I circulated the video on several platforms, most especially, where I felt those in Government would easily see it and react to it.
Incidentally, up till today, there has been no reaction from the Oyo state Government.
Now, why would the video of a Local Government Chairman, who decided to show appreciation to his godmother be of concern to me?
The recklessness of making such a video and the statements of the character in the video both call for serious concerns.
One, that video has provided a lot of insights on how Governor Seyi Makinde has been allocating Local Governments to satisfy both his selfish interests and that of his allies.
It is now obvious that while Governor Makinde and Olagunju were fooling the World with the conduct of Local Government Elections, they were actually acting up.
The 33 Local Governments must have been partitioned to serve the interests of the Adukes and other stakeholders in the PDP long before the sham elections.
The video also reinforce what some of us have been saying all this while about the resources of the 33 Local Governments.
For what purpose was the clownish Chairman in Oyo taken abroad? With whose resources? How does his travel abroad contribute to the development of the Local Government he was ” elected” to serve?
Since 2019 that Governor Makinde has been elected Governor of Oyo state, he has tenaciously held on to the resources of the 33 Local Governments and illegally so.
There is practically nothing to show as development in any of the 33 Local Governments.
As we speak, Governor Makinde has not only crippled the developments of the 33 Local Governments, he has committed them to monumental debts.
There are letters of irrevocable credit, signed by the Governor, on the 33 Local Governments, committing the monthly Allocations for the 33 Local Governments to various Banks.
Monthly Allocations for the Local Governments are being released promptly by the Federal Government.
In fact, it has increased tremendously.
There are no developments to back up the fat monthly Allocations, yet, the Local Governments are in debts!
How does that make any sense?
No wonder the Governor became extremely jittery and uncomfortable immediately the judgment of the supreme court granting permission for the Local Governments to enjoy full financial Autonomy was delivered.
The clownish illiterate in that video has exposed Governor Makinde.
A couple of days ago, Facebook reminded me of a post I made about three years ago.
It was about the statement credited to Governor Seyi Makinde during a live program on BCOS Radio and TV where he said, he used to release the sum of ten million Naira to each Local Government monthly to take care of security issues but he had to stop such releases because, according to him, the Local Government Chairmen could not account for the money.
Ten million per Local Government multiply by 33 amounts to 330 million Naira!
Yet, Governor Makinde claimed that he even stopped that because the Local Government Chairmen could not account for it.
In the first place, the word, ” account for ” is symbolic in the context of the Governor’s statement.
Account to who? By virtue of section 7 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, the state House of Assembly, not the Governor, has oversight functions over the Local Governments, that is even before the judgment of the Supreme court.
So, when the Governor said that the Local Government Chairmen could not account for the funds, he clearly overstepped his bounds.
He is a meddlesome interloper.
Can the president ask him to account for his security votes which is over a billion Naira, the way he asked the Local Government Chairmen to account for the paltry sum of ten million Naira monthly release?
I saw the video of the terrible condition of the Elenusonso Community Grammar School in Ido Local Government yesterday and I nearly wept.
The pictures are just the true reflections of the state of our primary and secondary schools in Oyo state.
Primary education is a Constitutional responsibility of the Local Governments.
Governor Seyi Makinde has consistently denied the 33 Local Governments funds meant for the developments of this Primary schools since 2019.
So, what magic can you expect from an unfunded Primary Education if not failures?
The only noise you will hear from Government circle is, yes, we are paying salaries as and when due as if the Governor is doing the teachers a favor by doing the needful.
Even at that, civil servants in Oyo state are not receiving the #30,000 initial minimum wage I can confidently say.
Only civil servants between grade levels 1-6 are captured while other grade levels just got about #5,200 added to their monthly income.
As we speak, the issues around the new minimum wage of #70,000 are yet to be resolved in Oyo state.
Like one Radio Broadcaster said recently, the civil servants in Oyo state are like captured species.
I do not intend to make that issue my headache.
If the civil servants are uncomfortable with the treatment, they know what to do.
Back to the main issue.
It is unfortunate that Governor Makinde has not reacted to the embarrassing video of the Local Government Chairman who chose to mock his people by showing a video of himself enjoying himself abroad while things are difficult for the people he was purportedly elected to serve.
Well, I don’t think the Governor would have any serious issues with the fellow. After all, the Governor also finds time to enjoy holidays abroad regardless of the situation at home.
I am using this medium to once again demand that Governor Makinde comes clean about the resources of the 33 Local Governments.
Exactly how much was left in the Joint Allocations Accounts by the late former Governor Abiola Ajimobi?
Why did he place an embargo on the JAAC for about seven months in 2019?
Did he actually took the 2 billion Naira paid to Osun state to severe ties over ownership of Ladoke Akintola University from the JAAC?
How many letters of irrevocable credit has he signed to Banks in respect of the monthly Allocations for the 33 Local Governments?
Who are the contractors receiving the payments and from which Banks?
What are the projects being executed with this funds?
Why are the funds meant for the developments of the 33 Local Governments tied to this illegal arrangements?
Can the Governor, in clear terms, tell the people of Oyo state, how much, in total, he has received as monthly Allocations for the 33 Local Governments since 2019 and how the funds were disbursed?
The management of the funds for the 33 Local Governments under Governor Makinde stinks a lot.
It is unfortunate that some misguided individuals will do anything to ensure that this questions are not asked.
Here, we are talking of the resources for the 33 Local Governments which must already be running into trillions of Naira.
Where are the signs of such huge resources in our Local Governments?
Governor Makinde, it was, who said you could not drive developments from the top when he was discussing issues about the revenue sharing formula.
He said and rightly so, that you have to drive developments from the bottom to the top.
Brilliant. Is he practicing same by his decision to neglect developments at the Local Government level in Oyo state?
It is easier said than done.
What baffles me is the fact that those who have been paid to perpetually defend the ineptitudes of the Governor would leave the substance of issues raised and attempt to distract you with trivial matters.
If they don’t accuse you of not criticizing the president, they have issues with you for not praise singing the Governor for what he got right.
Unfortunately for them, people like the clownish Chairman in Oyo always come handy.
I’ve never seen any of them comment about the shameful and reckless conduct of the fellow.
Some days ago, one of them jumped to the defence of the Governor regarding a piece I wrote where I alleged that the Governor was illegally spending funds meant for the 33 Local Governments in the JAAC to rehabilitate some Roads in Ibadan.
The myopic fellow left the fundamental issue of the legality of such action and was trying to whip up sentiments.
Of course, he failed totally as he was doomed to because the state of access Roads in Ibadan, just like any other zones is even more terrible.
Even, the funny individual claimed to live in Jankata and I said wow! What is the state of the Road around Jankata?
Elenusonso and Jankata are around same axis. I’m sure Alex Adetunji would have some praises for the terrible state of the Community Grammar School, Elenusonso.
I will continue to ask the Governor questions about the resources of the 33 Local Governments until he answers the questions he has been ignoring all this while.
Not until he provides satisfactory answers, whether his lickspittles love it or not, we will continue to demand accountability from the Governor just as he rightly charged Media practitioners to do.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
