The last time Ibadan, Oyo State, experienced commando-like armed robbery was in December 2008, when scores of policemen and citizens were mowed down by the bullets of the rampaging robbers who were robbing banks across the state.
Late Senator Abiola Ajimobi became Oyo State governor in 2011 and through his courageous establishment of solid security structure in the state, no bank or bullion van robbery was witnessed throughout his two tenures at Agodi. He instituted a security trust fund chaired by Oloye Bayo Adelabu. One of the achievements of the security trust fund was the installation of CCTV and a powerful control room to monitor activities of criminals in Ibadan metropolis, especially.
Sadly, fourteen years after the last bank robberies in Oyo State, a reenactment of commando-like scene took place today at Idi Ape when robbers who dared devil hijacked a bullion van in broad daylight, shooting sporadically, killing and injuring helpless citizens. Recalled that Governor Makinde recommissioned the CCTV installed by the immediate past administration of Senator Ajimobi. Was the CCTV not operational that it could not capture the robbery scene so there could be immediate reinforcement of security agents to forestall the sad incident?
It’s the same cosmetic way that the government under Gov Makinde handled payment of electricity bills accruing to both the Secretariat and the Government House. Reliable reports from IBEDC indicated that during the last administration, there was an arrangement between late Governor Ajimobi and IBEDC to the effect that electricity bills and taxes accrued to IBEDC were reconciled while the balances were always made up for at next payment due. This was the system in place until Ajimobi ended his tenures and the late governor had to write off the balance of the reconciled taxes and electricity bills that IBEDC was supposed to pay. No wonder that electricity was never disconnected while Ajimobi was the executive tenant at Agodi.
A senior IBEDC official, name withheld said thus: ” Gov Makinde said IBEDC is owing tax remittance up to 400 Million Naira, yet when our staffs apply for tax clearance from Oyo state, we get it easily. Where are they getting our tax payment proofs from? Makinde is a fraud expert, arrogant and heady. Ajimobi paid ALL electricity bills in his administration, that I can confirm to you.” The emphasis on ALL isn’t mine but the senior official I quoted. As claimed by IBEDC, Oyo State Government under Makinde was not paying its accumulated bills running into hundreds of millions since three years ago! It’s why we have found ourselves in a shameful situation that electricity to the whole Agodi would be disconnected under Makinde.
It’s the same cosmetic way that Oyo state government under Makinde is paying paltry amounts as running grants to schools while spreading lies that each secondary school principal was being paid three thousand naira per student as running grants to principals.
Didn’t this government through TESCOM Chairman, Pastor Alamu, claim that it employed twenty thousand workers, including over five thousand teachers? Apart from the over five thousand teachers employed, where are the other fifteen thousand workers claimed to have been employed to other sectors? It’s even alleged that the letters of employment given to the employed teachers stated that they’re on contract employment and that their salaries are way below what’s being paid to regular teachers in the state. The newly employed teachers were said to be awaiting confirmation of their employments.
When this government resumed, it met textbooks ready to be distributed to secondary students in Oyo State printing press warehouse. Makinde went ahead to distribute the textbooks to the students after allegedly removing the covers of the textbooks to create the impression that the books were produced by his government. To confirm that the textbooks were produced by the administration of Abiola Ajimobi, Tanus Communication, based in Lagos, published the textbooks for the state government then. And, Gov Makinde himself was always condemning hiring contractors to carry out projects in the state. So, he couldn’t have been the one who contracted Tanus Communication to do the book project! Since the first distribution of textbooks, the government of Gov Makinde hasn’t produced textbooks to distribute to students. What the Government has produced so far were exercise books distributed in rations to students.
Do we talk about camouflaged free education being perpetrated by the present administration? What kind of free education is where JS 1-3 and SS 1-2 students are asked not to pay a thousand naira per term while students in SS3 are paying twenty five thousand naira for WAEC examination?
Do we still recount that redesigning and rehabilitation of Agbowo Shopping Complex are on hold with no hint as to why the much touted legacy project was stopped? When will the 4.2 Billion Naira concession arrangement for 50 years begin to count? Circular Roads project appears to have stuck in forgotten phase since the last contractor was taken off the project.
The powdery foundation splashed on the face of Gov Makinde administration masks its uglying mien of incompetence, inefficiency and immaturity in governance. Is that why the present government revels in cosmetic achievements?
