Adebayo Abdulrahman
The use of billboards suspected to be sponsored by the special adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on culture and tourism, ‘Honorable’ Taye Akande Adebisi Currency to publicize the achievements of the government has generated mixed reactions from the people of the state.
The billboards, which are visible in strategic locations in Ibadan, the state capital, carry various inscriptions that potray some of the achievements of the Makinde-led administration.
OYOINSIGHT.COM observed that some of these inscriptions include “Governor Seyi Makinde included N300 million in 2020 budget for the television network in Oke Ogun”, “Governor Seyi Makinde approved N7.6 million towards Eruwa & Akufo farm settlements in ”, “Governor Seyi Makinde paid N1.1billion to 700 retired primary teachers and local government” among others.
Premium Times journalist Oladehinde Olawoyin in a tweet described it as a form of advertising (digital) thuggery. The multiple award winning investigative Journalist wrote, “…the buffoonery of the Makinde administration in Oyo is most eloquently communicated in the activities of these guys he named SAs. If one isn’t advertising (digital) thuggery elsewhere, the other is down here.”
Another twitter user Adetola Kehinde(@Optimistic_Ade) through his twitter account described the development as the biggest joke of the 21st century. In his words, he wrote,” Seyi Makinde is advertising every item of the 2020 oyo state budget. This has to be the biggest joke of the 21st century. So, there is much to see after Rochas Okorocha billboard in Imo.”
However, some other social media users have defended the presence of the billboards. A twitter user your dream guy (@mr_aaf) described the criticism as a funny one and asked if anything is wrong with highly informational tweets. He tweeted,“ You know you people can be quite funny, yeah? What exactly is the issue with highly informational billboards, approved by the agency, being mounted around the state?”
Another twitter user premier (@SodiqTade) described the criticism as an evident of the level of cluelessness of the opposition in the state. He tweeted that when everything failed them, they are now going after billboards.
