The gubernatorial candidate of the All-Progressives Congress, APC, in the forthcoming elections, Senator Teslim Folarin was on Fresh FM 105.9 Ibadan on Saturday, October 1st, 2022. He was interviewed on various issues, including his thoughts on governance in Oyo State. Here is a fact-check on some of the claims he made during the interview:
Claim:
The Police are complaining of being neglected because more money is being used to facilitate the operations of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun and that this discourages synergy between the two security agencies.
Fact:
There is no reason to be making a side-by-side comparison of how the funding is disbursed between Amotekun and the Nigeria Police. Does Senator Folarin not know that The Nigeria Police is funded by the Federal Government?
Be that as it may, no one of importance within the Oyo State Police Command would complain of negligence by the Seyi Makinde-led government. In the last three years, the police have been given at least 110 operational vehicles, and their communication system has been upgraded.
In fact, just recently, at the handing over of 10 additional operational vehicles to the Oyo State Command, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Adebowale Williams, stated that Governor Seyi Makinde has been paying a monthly stipend to widows of policemen killed during the EndSARS protest, a monthly stipend to DPOs and senior management cadre of the police, providing fuel support and repairing of their Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC). We have to ask: Who is Senator Folarin’s informant?
Verdict: This claim shows that Senator Folarin is ignorant of what is happening in the security sector of Oyo State. Why would the people of Oyo State go from a very knowledgeable Seyi Makinde to a Teslim Folarin that cannot do basic homework?
Claim:
Teachers in Oyo State are complaining because they are not motivated.
Fact:
First off, which teachers are complaining to Senator Folarin? Is it the 5,000 teachers that were just recruited? Or is it the teachers that have been receiving their salaries on the 25th of every month and getting their 13th Month Salary for the past two years? Perhaps it is the teachers that have been coming out zone after zone to declare their support for Governor Makinde.
We are sure that Senator Teslim Folarin has not been following the news. That is why he missed the news that Governor Makinde received the Golden Prize for Teachers Award just last week. During the ceremony, the Chairman of the Oyo State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Mr Oladimeji Ismael Raji, speaking on behalf of over 40,000 Oyo State Teachers in Oyo State, appreciated the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration for prioritising the welfare of teachers in the state and for the implementation of teacher’s friendly policies which always motivate them towards outstanding service delivery. Again, we ask: Who is Senator Teslim Folarin’s informant?
Verdict:
The claim that teachers in Oyo State are complaining because they are not motivated is completely baseless.
Claim:
The education sector is being ignored. There are 400,000 out-of-school children, and the GSM administration has “only been able to bring back 40,000”.
Fact:
Another laughable moment. Question: Who put these 400k children out of school? Did they become out-of-school children between 2019 and 2022? Was it Governor Seyi Makinde that sent them out of school? Senator Teslim Folarin should have been more circumspect.
Was it not APC’s N3,000-a-year tax on parents that pushed most of these children out of school? How many out-of-school children did Oyo State have before eight years of Ajimobi?
Verdict:
Senator Teslim Folarin cannot be justified in berating Governor Makinde for returning over 40,000 children to the classroom when it was his party that put them out of school to start with.
Claim:
Ibadan-Iseyin Road has almost cut into two because of a downpour. And there is no justification for re-awarding the road at a higher cost.
Fact:
Simply put, this is a lie. A section of the Moniya- Ijaiye-Iseyin Road flooded during the last rains, but it has since been fixed. Maybe Senator Folarin did not know Governor Makinde negotiated a 20-year warranty on that road. So anything that happens to it between now and the next twenty years will cost the state nothing in repairs.
Also, someone should please tell Senator Folarin that there is a difference between “limited rehabilitation” and complete reconstruction. What Late Governor Ajimobi awarded was “limited rehabilitation”, but what Governor Makinde awarded was a complete reconstruction. Which one should cost more?
Verdict:
Senator Folarin needs to develop better ways of confusing the good people of Oyo State. This style of muddling up facts with disinformation is old school.
Claim:
The bus terminals have no value. When I become governor, I will convert the bus terminals to libraries and hostels.
Fact:
The bus terminals come with economic benefits to Oyo State. Ibadan especially has served as a transit city for years, the bus terminals are a great way to reap the benefits of being a transit city.
Verdict:
Senator Folarin does not understand how the economy works. If he does not see the importance of making Oyo State a modern transportation hub, then what really does he see?
Happily, the people of Oyo State have gone beyond these rhetorics. Anyone who wants to become Governor of Oyo State now must come up with a solid plan on how to build on the achievements in the last three years. Clearly, Senator Teslim Folarin is not the one. There is a reason people have been saying he is “not electable”.
Dr Wasiu Olatubosun is the Commissioner for Information Culture and Tourism Oyo State
