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AKOKO LEADERS’ VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: WHAT BABA IJABIYI DID NOT SEE
By Jegede Emmanuel
Our attention has been drawn to a press statement by Hon. Demola Ijabiyi, an elder from Akoko, dissociating himself from the Akoko leaders’ vote of confidence in Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa.
First, Governor Aiyedatiwa is not just a democrat but a refined soul who is eternally sold to the rare virtues of Ọmọlúwàbí as entrenched in Yoruba philosophy.
Thankfully, even in Baba Ijabiyi’s expression of needless anger, he didn’t recount anywhere in his press statement, a broken relationship between him and the Governor. For the sake of emphasis, Baba recounted how he benefited from the patronage the Governor extended to him as at December last year. That was a personal benefit anyways and one that was not intended to stifle his voice, if any.
We hold it firmly that Governor Aiyedatiwa values constructive criticisms geared towards making Ondo state better than he met it. Even those with destructive criticisms are allowed in a democracy to voice their frustrations. It is one of the blessedness of the curses of democracy.
However, Baba Ijabiyi has spoken his mind but we need to ask pertinent questions before we take his ‘truth’ for the truth. The convener of the meeting in Akoko where the decision to pass a vote of confidence in Governor Aiyedatiwa took place, Rt. Hon.Victor Olabimtan, duly briefed Hon. Ijabiyi and pleaded with him to attend after he showed resistance. He couldn’t make it for reasons best known to him. Suffice to say that the meeting had his blessing and his anger was mainly as a result of the outcomes of the meeting. He supported one and disagreed with the other. End of story.
We may need to ask these questions to fact-check. Did the convener ever tell Baba Ijabiyi that the meeting was at the instance of the Governor? What will vote of confidence do to a man who’s just 100 days in office? What more is the definition of vote of confidence than the unprecedented electoral victory of 18-0? What more could the Governor ask for from the people of Akoko than to compensate them for the huge votes of confidence during the 2024 gubernatorial election where he won convincingly? Why the sudden quest for vote of confidence for a government that has been legitimized through the fulfillment of all laws and the plurality of votes of the people of Ondo state?
For emphasis, it will interest you to know that Governor Aiyedatiwa won in all the 49 electoral wards in Akoko land, and not at even one out of about 900 polling units did he lose.
As a responsible Government, we agree there are challenges. These challenges were the reasons for the divine incursion of Governor Aiyedatiwa into the leadership of the state and they are being tackled one after the other. We must also bear in mind that the Governor was voted to emplace development in the state for the next four years. Why the anger in just 100 days?
The recruitment of 2000 teachers to enhance learning in both primary and secondary schools, acquisition of 10,000 hectares of land for farming and development of food hubs, rehabilitation and construction of selected 60km roads across the state, launching of 1:1 textbook-to-learner ratio with distribution of books, tablets and sports equipment to elementary schools, 82.6% in domestic debt reduction which is the highest in the country, rehabilitation and upgrade of 102 primary healthcare facilities across the state, disbursement of grants to low income earners, payment of 633m for 23,000 students as WASSCE fees, employment of healthcare professionals, construction of blocks of classrooms across the state, subventions to state owned tertiary institutions as well as Special interventions for infrastructural development, construction of rural roads to enhance agribusiness and many more were deliberately missed by Hon. Ijabiyi. Baba must be very angry.
We do not need to ask whether the roads and schools mentioned by Hon. Ijabiyi just got bad about Seventeen months ago because Governor Aiyedatiwa was voted to deliver good governance without making excuses. We won’t even ask Hon. Ijabiyi to come to equity with clean hands because it’s the responsibility of all to ensure that this state is better daily. While it’s not the right time to also ask how he suddenly got a voice, we invite him to officially grace the occasion of Flag-off of dualisation of Akungba-Ikare road if he cannot make it to the Flag-off of dualisation of Igbokoda-Okitipupa road that’s taking place in Igbokoda today.
For the records, Governor Aiyedatiwa may not need Hon. Ijabiyi’s ‘coveted’ vote of confidence but prayers as admonished by the good Books in order to make Ondo State an enviable place for all.
Jedege Emmanuel, an APC leader, writes from ward 2 Oka-Akoko, Ondo State.
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