Ondo State People Deserve And Demand Action From A Sitting Governor And Not Promises By: Leye Igbabo
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Ondo State People Deserve And Demand Action From A Sitting Governor And Not Promises By: Leye Igbabo
Whenever a candidate is aspiring to take over government, he rolls out what he intends to do if voted into power. These intended actions are embedded in a particular document known as manifestos detailing with precision, what and how he intends to realize those programs in government. This can be regarded as campaign promises because such a person is not yet in government and not many people know what he is capable of doing. He therefore uses the manifesto to prepare the minds of the people on what to expect when he gets to power.
But this should not be the case for a candidate who is already in government whose actions should speak for him, and not embarking on promissory note when he actually has the ample opportunity to prove his mettle to make things better if given another opportunity.
APC has been presiding over the affairs of Ondo State since February 24 2017 and has every opportunity to have demonstrated its capacity to attract prosperity to the sunshine state especially when the monthly allocations have risen in geometric progression under the current administration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
It is a common thing for newly elected governors to celebrate their 100 days in office to at least, show to their people that they are well prepared for the job. The implication of this 100-day display is that 100 days in office should be enough for any serious-minded representative of the people to make an impact in governance. Today, it is saddening to note that Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa has spent close to 300 days; almost a year in office without any littlest impact in governance. This should certainly worry men and women of good conscience who value development and growth of our beloved state.
For clarity sake, Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa did not start from the scratch. He was a part of the outgoing administration as a deputy governor to late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu from February 24, 2021 to December 26, 2023. He is not new to the system as to think that he would be learning the job anew. He was following and flowing with his former boss and taking decisions together on matters of governance.
To be candid, if Governor Rotimi Akeredolu did not impact majorly in some areas of governance, we should admit that he made some commendable impact in road infrastructure. There are significant number of roads that were under construction during late Rotimi Akeredolu’s time which should not have given the current administration of Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa, any hassle to continue and complete if he truly has the capacity to run a state affair.
But the unfolding scenario has clearly shown that the governor lacks the needed capacity, content and competence to superintend over and lead any enclave to prosperity as he could not even justify the huge amount of money that have come to the coffers of Ondo State in the last ten months.
Floods have taken over every space in Ondo State including Akure, the State Capital. The stench oozing out of uncleared heaps of refuse is scaring. The roads have become impassable such that no man can dare go back home if he forgets anything before leaving the house in the morning due to nightmarish experiences on the road to his house. The health facilities are becoming moribund and a state of emergency needs to be declared on education. Reptiles have now taken over the median lanes that were once aesthetically decorated with flower trees.
The governor could not lay claim to any project either as ongoing or completed in his ten months in the saddle, yet he has the audacity and temerity to solicit for votes based on empty promises even when he could not pull any developmental strings as a sitting governor.
What a wicked world!
For real, the abysmal performance of the current governor has opened my eyes to the reason that the then cabal was doing everything humanly possible to prevent him from ascending the throne after the unfortunate demise of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. This is because they knew that Hon Lucky Ayedatiwa can never make a good governor because of the stuff he is made of.
Just to fulfill the constitutional provision for a valid ticket, they only made him a passive, non-functional figure-head deputy governor who would not discuss, argue, conceive any idea and counsel his boss over anything his boss might want to do. And this was due to the fact that the operators of government placed their personal interest over and above the overall public interest.
Behind every successful leader is a consummate, highly cerebral and intelligent subordinate. Such a loaded lieutenant serves as a think-tank and provides a solid support base for the boss who invariably takes the glory of any achievements made under such arrangements. The eternally glorious achievements made by the late sage Ch. Obafemi Awolowo could be traceable to his then lieutenants such as Chiefs Adekunle Ajasin, Abraham Adesanya, Bola Ige, Pa Reuben Fasoranti and a host of others. Those were the good old days when service delivery was anchored on patriotism, selflessness and public-spiritedness.
His Excellency Alfred Agboola Ajayi was the deputy governor to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu in his first term in office. That was the time a concept like Amotekun corps was conceived and delivered. Although Governor Rotimi Akeredolu was being regarded as Amotekun General today, which truly he was, the conception of such noble idea and the needed support to manifest it, could be largely traced to His Excellency Alfred Agboola Ajayi. That is a subordinate who knows his onions and makes his boss proud.
Unfortunately, the operators of government as at that time, were not comfortable with the rising profile of Hon Agboola Alfred Ajayi due to his agility, vitality and virility in government. Trust Nigerian governance operators; they drove a wedge between Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and his deputy Hon Agboola Ajayi so that he could be replaced with a least qualified person and then, they could have their field day in controlling and confusing the governor to their parochial advantage and at the detriment of good governance.
The consequences of their evil sowing have manifested in the whirlwind that we now reap in governance today. The once beaming and blossoming sunshine state that used to be a benchmark for good governance has now become the butt of jokes among the comity of states due to the political chicanery of the few.
When they were plotting their evil machinations, they did not factor in, God’s irremovable hands in the affairs of man. So, they did not conceive it in their widest and wildest imaginations that the governor might depart suddenly to the great beyond. And it happened according to the will of the Almighty(may God continue to give the departed a blessed rest).
Knowing that the deputy governor Lucky Ayedatiwa did not possess the required leadership features needed for good governance, they made spirited attempts to remove and replace him with a competent hand, but the deed has been done as they could not escape the wrath of the constitutional provision which succinctly stipulated that the deputy governor, no matter how incapable he is, must take over.after the death, resignation or impeachment of a sibstantive office holder.
I think that is the point where his name worked for him as Lucky Orimisan. But again, that is the point where the good people of Ondo State became unlucky as they find their vehicle in the hand of an untrained captain who is obviously piloting the ship of the state towards a huge rock, and if allowed to hit the rock under his steering, the monumental disaster will be rear in the annals of man!
This is the first time a sitting governor will be making fake promises when his actions should be speaking for him by now. He bungled the opportunity of leaving indelible footprints on the sand of time and shamefacedly, now asking the good people of Ondo State to renew a mandate that is inflicting untold hardship, avoidable sufferings and horror on them when they should be seeing a sitting governor initiating developmental projects that would have made them retain their confidence and renew their mandate for the governor.
Sincerely, Ondo State people deserve and demand action from Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa and not empty promises.
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