I recently stumbled on a billboard somewhere in Ibadan that had the image of the Governor, Seyi Makinde emblazoned on it with a caption that sounded far more outrageously ridiculous than realistic: Makinde’s six years achievements in office have exceeded the success recorded in the last sixty years.
Not surprisingly, that billboard was sponsored by one of Mr. Makinde’s political acolytes to hoodwink members of the public and massage the ego of the Governor. Of course, I have no idea whether that message truly hit the home run or whether it ended up as another failed publicity stunt.
As Governor Makinde marked his sixth years in office this week, I take a careful look at the data, story, and the scorecard of Governor whose six years in office have transformed Ibadan, connected most of the urban centers, created jobs in record number, revived the Fasola Agri-business hub, successfully negotiated LAUTECH sole ownership, invested heavily in the infrastructure and consistently settled workers’ wages – without breaking a sweat. In effect, the government has achieved a lot in many indices and areas – while it leaves room for improvement in areas that I will shed light on — later. As a critic of the administration, I can confirm an obvious truth: Makinde’s accomplishments stand tall compared with his predecessors. He has indeed raised the bar and surpassed previous governors by wide margin. For one, there’s a reason Makinde’s name gets mentioned when discussion centered on top performing Governors in the country.
To understand this perspective, it is important to contextualize some of the crucial issues. When governor Makinde came on board in 2019 after beating his main challenger, Oloye Bayo Adelabu of the APC, the state was bleeding: workers were owed several months of their entitlements while pensioners were languishing in penury. The story of pensioners dropping dead jolted many from their deep sleep. In essence, after a jink breaking eight years in office, late Abiola Ajimobi had become a distant ‘constituted authority’ whose cough often send shiver down the spines of millions of Oyo people. Apart from owing salaries in record number, several state-owned institutions have also relapsed into repeated industrial actions, forcing students to sit at home while workers slide into financial insolvency. By the time late Abiola Ajimobi handed over the reign of leadership to Governor Seyi Makinde, the expectations of the people had jumped over the roof. On the inauguration day, Governor Makinde calmed fraying nerves and promised to fix the various rots head-on. Not many people believed he had the character, competence and capacity to deliver on his campaign promises.
By the time results of his various projects, programs and policies started to trickled in, he simply became a cynosure of all eyes. Firstly, he restructured the state financial standing by creating a sustainable financial pathway that can withstand shock and deliver regardless of the challenges. Additionally, he quashed the compulsory one-thousand-naira levies imposed on public school students by the government of late Abiola Ajimobi effectively slashing the numbers of out-school-children in the state. While Makinde’s government grappled with insecurity in his first few years in office, he was smart enough to complete the several uncompleted projects left behind by his predecessor.
For that unusual stride, he drew the ire of the opposition who labeled his administration as an audio government. In series of write-ups, I called the attention of the opposition to that misguided label, warning that such would backfire. By the next election, that warning indeed backfired as the governor won by a breathtaking landslide, displacing and discarding the bases of the opposition with ruthless abandoned. Notedly, I have written enough to know that in critical sectors, Governor Makinde has achieved what others can only dream of. Despite playing politics according to his rule, the success of his re-election only cemented his approach to politics, policy and governance.
While many heaps well-deserved praises on the governor for placing Oyo on the frontline of development and national discourse, I will focus on critical issues that have taken the backseat stage in governor Makinde’s government: The place of rural development in the grand scheme of things. Sure, the governor has prioritised urban renewal by connecting Ogbomoso-Oke-Ogun-Oyo-Ibadan and Ibarapa. That was achieved via road infrastructure.
The most icing on the cake infrastructurally is that projects like the remodeled Adamasingba stadium, for instance were revived instead of investing tax payers’ money on new stadia. Part of the governor’s urban renewal imprints in Ibadan included the construction of new bus terminals that essentially modernized and urbanized the activities of the transport workers. Several roads were also constructed in the heart of the city, ensuring motorists and transporters move smoothly and seamlessly. In other urban centers across the state, road projects dotted the various landscape. While projects are all visible in the urban centers, that cannot be said of the rural areas.
Granted, the reconstructed primary health care centers by the government are in all local governments. In addition, the N28 billion Light Up Oyo projects equally spread across all the local government except Irepo local government, Kisi where only the iron poles are erected leaving LED bulbs, and gas chamber unfixed. As a sustainability student, I get the thinking behind urban renewal: for a state to witness seismic shift in development, urban centers must be prioritized because that is where most economic activities take place. China, as part of lifting more than seven hundred million people out of poverty had to enforce a forced rural-urban migration.
So, I understand the gist that in an era of scarce resource, government must judiciously use resources to where it is most needed. Still, I believe that a serious government cannot completely neglect the rural areas simply because it is determined to engineer development in urban centers. For the next two years, Governor Makinde would do well to focus on developing rural areas by walking his talk and keeping his promise in connecting farms to towns and investing in the overall growth of the rural areas. Security wise, the governor has equally done an impressive job by empowering the local security forces, while leveraging the knowledge insights of traditional rulers in many cases.
More can be done but efforts must be seen in that direction. In rural areas, those who admired the governor does so by whisper. By 2027 when Governor Makinde’s tenure will comes to an end, he would have succeeded where others stumble but must have also stumbled where others sailed through particularly on the controversial bill to reform the traditional institution embarked upon by the state house of assembly headed by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Debo Edward Ogundoyin. Until then, equating six years to sixty years of governance represents an afterthought and an exaggerated political statement!
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @Upliftnuggets on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
