Your Excellency
Governor Isiaq Abiola Ajimobi
The Executive Governor of Oyo
State
Dear Sir,
THE ROAD TO 2015 – A
STITCH IN TIME WILL SAVE NINE
I send my greetings to you, first as the Executive Governor of Oyo
State, a position that commands the highest respect in Oyo State, and second as
an elder statesman in Nigeria. Your status as one of the major stakeholders in
the Nigerian project is such that must be accorded high regards and courtesy,
unreserved and untainted. I salute your efforts at leaving indellible marks of
achievements in all the sectors of Oyo State and I believe that posterity has
her way of setting the records straight and rewarding those who work
assiduously towards the development of mankind; she will definitely remember
your name in future.
Your excellency sir, I must observe, your obvious knowledge of same
notwithstanding, that the 2015 game is on already. We have started witnessing
high-level political schemings and strategy, the society is becoming excited
with various happenings within the political circle. Every political bigwig has
commenced top-level consultations, collaborations and re-alignment of political
forces to suit certain ambitions which may yet be unknown to the electorates,
but is likely aimed at bringing down the camp of the opponents. I am sure this
fact is known to you, because in the grand scheme of things, you are one of the
major contenders deploying political antics of your own.
However sir, because you are a major contender and one of the major
targets of all manner of political attacks, your attention must be quickly
drawn to the areas where your strengths and weaknesses are so you can make the
best of decisions on how to balance the two. From me to you Your Excellency, it
is a universal truth that no single government can fully satisfy the yearnings
of the people, human wants are insatiable afterall. But, a balance must be
achieved, such that the society may be rightly served in principle and in
reality. In principle I mean Government must take steps that are
constitutionally right, while in reality I mean the people must directly
benefit from such actions of government up to an extent where they can say the
government did its best.
I will remind you of the words of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He said,
‘’The political sagacity is not a garrulous asperity, but an acrobatic
jingoism’’. Simply put, knowledge and practice of politics should not be just
about talking and boasting, it should be about active efforts towards the
development of the society. Baba Awo counsels us even in death, that whatever
we do as a government or as a people must go beyond propaganda in media houses
or the over-bloating of our political ego, every action must be people-focused
and people-friendly. I take the purpose of this letter from this admonition and
that purpose is: To give you feedback on the performances of your
administration so far, from the point of view of an ordinary citizen, and help
you decide how to adjust your policies such that your level of acceptance might
increase, putting the 2015 elections in mind.
Your Excellency, if I may begin my charge to you from the achievements
of your administration in the past almost-four years, I will commend first,
your giant strides in the area of transportation in Oyo State. I notice with
delight, the fact that your administration from inception has made serious
moves to provide Oyo State people with quality means of transportation. Your
efforts range from provision of road infrastructure, purchase and management of
intra- and inter-city buses and so on. I can conveniently say of your
administration that in the area of transportation, you have tried your very
best which seems good enough.
Permit me to take you on a mental journey around the nooks and
crannies of Oyo State so we can objectively examine your achievements in terms
of transportation. We journey through the city of Ibadan where the new Eleyele
and Jericho roads have been completed with adequate traffic signals, moving
towards Ogbomoso where for the first time in history, the town is now having a
dual carriage way in its road network, same for Oyo and Saki. We will observe
on our journey, that your urban renewal programme is one of the best in the
country, aiming to upgrade the major towns in Oyo State to urban status. On this
I commend you sir.
Around 2012 Your Excellency, I saw the speed with which your
government was working to deliver the Mokola bridge to road users and I must
say, that you immediately ranked as the best ACN Governor at the time, as far
as I was concerned. It became evident that upon your enthronement as the
Governor of Oyo State, you did a needs assessment and promptly deployed
resources towards meeting such needs. Today, the Mokola bridge stands as a
sprawling edifice in that location, beautifying the Mokola area and easing the
persistent traffic bottlenecks that has become synonymous with the Mokola area.
Again, I must say kudos!
Where transportation is concerned, mention must be made of the
Restoration bridge in Bodija area, the rehabilitation of the UCH road,
installation of functional traffic signals on new and existing roads etc. In
short, you have succeeded in raising the standard of Ibadan from that of a
‘rural city’to a truly urban centre that can begin to compete with Lagos in
terms of development. I must not fail to mention your administration’s
construction of modern car parks around the city of Ibadan to curb the
incessant use of roadsides as parks. The beauty of these modern parks (Podo and
its likes) are not only alluring, but they express in clear terms your desire
to make transportation to and from Oyo State a worthwhile experience.
Of a sincere truth sir, your road construction and rehabilitation
efforts would have been an exercise in futility without an effective
beautification and waste management system for a complicated city like Ibadan.
Prior to now, areas like Iwo road was fast moving in the direction of Oshodi
(Lagos) before the intervention of Governor Fashola. An area of Ibadan which is
a major gateway into the city and was supposed to be the first point of
attraction had been turned into a filthy area, depicting Ibadan as dirty and
mismanaged. I salute your successful efforts at re-arranging the bus parks
around that area, removal of all filthy sights, beautification of the area and
the continued stringent management of the environment which has forestalled the
gradual degeneration of the area back to its former pitiable state, given the
natural tendencies of our people to act care-free.
One must-mention achievement of your administration sir, is the
success you have achieved in the cleaning and continued sanitation of the
state. Before your time, Oyo State, Ibadan more particularly has been an
epitome of filth. We may say that the previous governments in the State were
dealing weakly with issues of environmental sanitation and this seriously
backfired into making the state one of the dirtiest in the country. You came in
with a policy on environmental sanitation which has worked effectively till
date and has returned the state to the path of greatness. I humbly ask that you
please consider Bodija market for more stringent sanitation measures. I once
jokingly said the market is a good breeding ground for the Ebola virus if it
finds its way in there.
One major area which you have also made good progress is the area of
Youth employment. I must bluntly say that your government’s YES-O scheme has
surpassed the O-YES scheme of the Aregbesola government in terms of management
and dignity of the youths employed under the two schemes. While the scheme must
be regarded as just a temporary measure at engaging the youths in productive
work, you have painstakingly made it work and has given all those involved the
opportunity to function with pride. Also worthy of commendation is your
government’s employment of young and vibrant minds into the State Ministries
and parastatals. I must specially thank you for this because it has indirectly
affected me and I have testimonies to that effect.
Your Excellency sir, you have made giant strides in the area of
ensuring a disciplined workforce, an effective management of government and the
enlarged society and your government has successfully given life to various
arms of government that has hitherto become moribund. For all this I must say
my sincere Congratulations and ask you to continue to do more.
If I may remind you sir, my intent is to give you sound advice (from
the point of view of a young person who lives within the Oyo State society) on
ways by which you can better discharge your duties as Governor, to brighten
your chances of being re-elected at the 2015 Gubernatorial polls. I am sure you
know by now that active politicking is not done on the pages of newspapers, or
on the podium at market rallies where majority of the crowd is often bogus. You
must also be made aware that your chances of re-election are not hinged on how
many roads you have tarred in the last three and half years or on the number of
flowers you have planted. Your chances are hinged on how well you are able to
strike a balance between your developmental framework, and the desires of the
people of the State you govern. These two major factors are sometimes very
divergent in nature, owing to the insatiable nature of human wants.
I must at this point remark that you came into government with a very
viable economic development model which I believe was designed to immediately
propel the economy of Oyo State into the realms of self-sustainability and
abundance. While this intention was and remains commendable, it has
unfortunately turned around to become one of the major reasons why you have
been unable to see the bigger picture sir. You came with a huge desire to
rapidly grow the economy of Oyo State, but in the course of drawing your
blueprints, you probably overlooked what the effects might be on those people
who exist on the other end of the abundance scale – the masses. To avoid
sounding vague sir, I will give a few examples below.
Your Excellency, in my not-too-long years of fiscal experience, I have
come to learn that any government that will effectively manage its fiscal
policies must be able to strike a workable balance between the capital and the
recurrent parts of its expenditure. That is, government must strike a balance
between money it spends on projects and money it spends on maintaining its
organs of government – the workforce basically. While projects must be executed
as landmark achievements, the government’s workforce must not be placed under
unwholesome pressure citing capital expenditure as the reason. Yorubas will say
“oogun alaaru kii gbe” meaning “the sweat of a labourer must not dry”. Whatever
capital expenditure the State incurs, it is pertinent that its workforce gets
paid as and when due. That balance is one major area where you may have
faltered, my apologies sir. It seems, at least to the masses, most especially
the State Civil Service that your desire to execute landmark projects has
overridden your desire to satisfy their own desires. In essence, without fail,
your administration must strive to maintain punctuality in its payment of
salaries and allowances to its workforce. Road construction will not be
appreciated if the people cannot afford to put food on thier table let alone buy cars
that will ply such roads.
It is a known saying that “to whom much is given, much is expected”. I
commended your earlier on the effective way you have managed the State
workforce and all other arms of government such that the Oyo State government
now functions at a close-to-optimal state. Workers are discharging their duties
having high regards for rules and regulations and for the first time in a long
time, government workers in the State are striving towards efficiency. I
believe, that if workers give so much regard to your administration, you must
give back commendation to the workforce. By commendation I mean prompt payment
of salaries and allowances, and more importantly, promotion of workers as and
when due. You should as an urgent mater of public interest, and in the interest
of your second term re-election bid begin to motivate workers, in terms of the
above.
Your Excellency, before I move on to more pressing matters, I must
remind you, that your very brilliant economic model does not stand a chance of
success if the State workforce are dissatisfied. These workers will drive the
economic growth, they will be the major market forces that will allow the
economy thrive, they are the key players in the development agenda that you
have brilliantly planned. If they are then starved of salaries and promotions
which they merit, what class of people will your economic growth depend upon? A
cash-strapped market? When they get paid, their salaries pay the market
womenand the artisans and money keeps moving in that endless cycle from
government to the economic players at the lowest ebb. The society will your
impact financially once the state workforce are treated with more care and
attention. I beg you to improve on this sir.
One of the major social welfare packages of governments of advanced
countries is care for the aged and the retired. Much needless to say, but say
it we must, the Nigerian State has failed to take care of her elderly,
especially those who have served the country for a reasonable length of time –
the retired. Without any fear of contradiction, I must say that even your
government is lacking in this area of handling the welfare of the retirees.
Your Excellency, you will agree with me that these retired workers laid the
foundation for the development of our government and our dear nation and must
as such not be starved of the allowances payable to them for their upkeep. I
want to passionately advise sir, that the same determined approach you employed
in the environmental sanitation programme that made it a huge success be
deployed in the payment of pension and gratuity to these pensioners. As you
removed filth from Iwo Road and traffic bottlenecks from Mokola, I advise that
you terminate the long wait for gratuities, pensions and even more pitiable,
death benefits. Because I have seen how efficient your government can be, I
believe achieving efficiency in this area is just cupcake.
When I was little your excellency, I often heard my teachers say,
“Education is the Best Legacy”, I grew up to believe that very much. When I
first began discussing politics, I learnt that all the then Alliance for
Democracy (AD) governors which has metamorphorsized into APC over time claimed
to be adherents to the Obafemi Awolowo model for education development, I grew
up to disbelief that very much. I must point out to you sir, that in the area
of Education development, your government has not been as effective as it has
been in environmental sanitation – as a golden example. Teacher-Student ratios
in Oyo State Schools do not conform to the 1:30 ratio stipulated by UNESCO due
to understaffing and overcrowding of the schools. Precisely speaking, majority
of the schools in the state are seriously lacking in infrastructure (in
quantity and quality), as well lacking in quality manpower. I suggest sir, that
you speed up the completion of the model secondary schools your administration
began a few months ago and improve upon the staffing of schools, preferably
before the elections. You should take note sir, that your opponents are willing
to rubbish your achievements, using the decay in education infrastructure as
your obvious Achilles’heel. You need to therefore urgently decongest the
classrooms by providing improved infrastructure and manpower, complete the
construction of model schools and rehabilitate existing structures already
dilapidated. You need to strive to give Oyo State children the best legacy and
follow the education model utilized by Chief Obafemi Awolowo if you cannot
build a more effective model.
Also on education, infrastructure in the State’s tertiary institutions
need to urgently be improved upon. The Polytechnic Ibadan as an example, is
more famous in fables than it is in the quality of infrastructure that aids
teaching and learning in the schools. My first encounter with this famed
institution of higher learning made me draw a conclusion within me, that
government has been doing nothing to raise the standard of that very popular
school. I once joked that the experience you have when crossing from the
Polytechnic territory into the University of Ibadan territory is like that
feeling you get when you cross from hell to heaven. You need to work on this
sir. Help raise the standard of our higher institutions so you may leave a
lasting legacy for future generations and consequently be found deserving of a
second term.
As a matter of tactical political calculations, I urge you to start
putting your Deputy in brighter light than Her Excellency, the First Lady. I
Must bring it to your notice sir, that it is a known fact within the masses
that Chief Mrs. Florence Ajimobi (the First Lady) has been given more
prominence in government than your Deputy, Chief Moses Adeyemo Alake. It may
amuse you to know, that prior to writing this piece, I had to ask around what
the name of the Deputy Governor is. I humbly suggest, that if you have been
unconsciously relegating him to the background due to incapacity, you should
boldly drop him and adopt a more effective personality as your running mate for
the next election. Otherwise, I opine that you begin to give him more
responsibilities, much more than Her Excellency, lest you be seen as a Governor
who is controlled by his spouse (a description President Goodluck Jonathan is
already used to), a kind of image I am sure you do not want. I admire her
courage and proactive disposition to the runnings of the State but we must not
forget that the Nigerian constitution does not afford her office so much
recognition as your government has given her.
On a conclusive note, I will weigh your achievements against your
shortcomings and conclude that your re-election bid stands at a 50-50 chance of
actualization. To me, as a young person who sees and hears what the masses feel,
you still stand a very bright chance of getting back into the government house
if you can address the issues above. The elites love you for the giant strides
you have made in building Oyo State to their high taste, the middle class do
not exactly believe you have treated them as fairly as you could have while the
bottom class will not hesitate to seek a better deal if you do not act quickly
to pragmatically affect their lives.
I believe as I have believed for a long time, that if any APC Governor
deserves a second term in office, you and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun
State deserve to be re-elected. There are so many more young persons like me
who share this same belief but there is a vast majority of voters who are undecided
yet. If you work on the issues I raised sir, I have resounding faith that you
will capture the hearts of these people before your opponents build on the few
negatives to dislodge you from the government house.
You must also as a matter of dedicated practice, reduce your
occassional outpouring of emotions through strong verbal expressions. I must
say to you sir, that the worth of a man is easily known at such times when he
cannot suppress his penchant for emotional outbursts – anger, frustration, excitement
and over-confidence. You will do your second term ambition more good if you
will practice reduced out-pouring of emotions which the people often
misconceive as pride. Honesty may yet elevate, but unbridled honesty may send a
man to doom.
I send my high regards to Her Excellency the First Lady and all
members of your cabinet. Receive sir, the assurances of my highest
considerations and regards.
Yours Faithfully
ODERINU ADEDAYO T.
08054445154
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