2027: Governor Seyi Makinde’s Real Opponents _ Sola Abegunde
” There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent”. ( Lao Tzu).
I think Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state and Oyo PDP needs to go and study the ancient Chinese Philosopher, Lao Tzu, who lived in the 6th Century BCE.
Not only the Governor but also his Party and his army of mediocre acolytes are used to misconceiving and underestimating the opposition against the Governor of Oyo state in 2027.
Unfortunately for them, they think and wrongly so, that the APC represents their stiffest opposition in 2027 and all they need to do to surmount the APC obstacle is to just point at whatever it is they consider as Tinubu’s failures and pin it on the Party.
Governor Makinde has, more than any Governor in the history of Oyo state, spent so much fortune on propaganda.
You have to give it to him, he knows how to exploit public sentiments and opinion to his political advantage.
His election as Governor of Oyo state in 2019 was made possible by a coalition of political forces and the fact that he embraced public sentiments against certain actions of the Ajimobi Government.
The partial demolition of a particular Radio station in Ibadan and the attempt by the Ajimobi Government to review the Olubadan of Ibadan Chieftaincy Declaration Laws were strong points upon which his Campaign were based.
Not only that, Governor Makinde, immediately he became Governor, identified key political and current affairs program anchors on popular Radio stations within Ibadan and ensured that they were properly put in his bag.
He never pretended about his intentions as he continued to splash expensive gifts on them.
Many of them are now proud owners of SUVs and otherwise flat bellies have continued to protrude, thanks to the Governor’s immeasurable generosities.
An army of online Medium were engaged and at some point, if you don’t have a strong liver, you will dare not criticize Governor Seyi Makinde.
The attack dogs would attempt to make minced meat of you.
They tried it with me but they met their match.
Despite all the efforts and unfortunately so, for Governor Makinde and the PDP, they are not only underestimating their opponents, they are equally failing to properly identify them.
A couple of days ago, precisely this last Saturday, I was a guest on a popular Radio station in Ibadan.
Someone from the PDP appeared with me and the topic for the day centred on the August 16 By-election in Ibadan North Federal Constituency.
When I listened to the PDP man and I discovered that he, just like Governor Makinde and their Party, believes so much that once they tell the people that the APC , through Tinubu, are the ones responsible for hunger in Nigeria and Oyo state, then, they are home and dry, I shook my head in amazement.
Honestly, I was so sorry for the gentleman.
He was so sure and certain that Governor Seyi Makinde, in the opinion of the general public, is one Angelic figure , that once you drop his name, the people of Oyo state would just gullibly follow.
He was so full of Governor Makinde to the extent that you will think that residents of Oyo state even owe the Governor their lives.
Even when he was asked to list the achievements of the Chairman of Ibadan North Local Government and the PDP Candidate, when he served as member representing the Local Government in the Oyo state House of Assembly, his answers were ” Makinde this, Makinde that”.
Something intrigued me after the program.
I weighed comments of callers during the program against the comments on Facebook and I saw that Governor Makinde has been exposed.
While a higher percentage of callers on the program refused to weigh our arguments on the merits, majority of those who comment on Facebook got the gists, were objective and critical of Governor Makinde’s policies in several key areas of governance.
In fact, the latter raised a lot of issues I did not even touched on the program.
The decadence in Education sector, the controversies surrounding the corridor of the Circular road, infrastructural collapse at Local Governments and the activities of Governor Makinde around Markets and other public spaces in Oyo state were extensively discussed in the Facebook comments
Unlike the the Data boys who were paid to glue to Radio programs to blindly defend Governor Makinde, respondents on Facebook are independent and objective and that is where Governor Makinde have problems.
He has been exposed.
Even the Bible says that you can not continue to swim in sins and expect to swim in God’s grace at the same time.
Just this morning, I read a report about the sad developments at Gbagi Market.
It is reported that space rent at Gbagi Market have skyrocketed from between 20 thousand Naira and 30 thousand Naira to between 1.6 million Naira and 7.5 million Naira as a result of the reconstruction of low-cost stalls and alleged conversion of Car Parks to shops by Government.
As a result of the above sad scenario, it is reported that most shop owners who could not afford the high cost of those shops have relocated to the roadsides to ply their trades.
How unfortunate!
Now, how many pot-bellied and compromised OAPs will the Governor engage to push such blames on Tinubu and the APC?
Those who are affected by the actions of the Oyo state Government are aware of the ones who brought the hardships on them and no Jupiter will convince them otherwise.
The gentleman who appeared on behalf of the PDP on Saturday also made heavy weather about honoring the late Olubadan during his burial activities.
I am sure he must be regretting bringing such issues up by now because I had the opportunity of exposing the hypocrisy of Governor Makinde on the issue.
How dare you talk of honoring a dead man that you traumatized, taunted and dishonored while he was alive?
I recollect vividly well, the Land owners at Egbeda.
Governor Makinde ensured that they spent this last Christmas and New year in detention.
I don’t know what has become of them now.
Which propaganda will make them and their families see Tinubu and the APC as the ones responsible for their woes?
Who will tell the Land owners and home owners at the Circular road corridor that President Tinubu and the APC are the ones who brought unrest upon them and took away sleep from their eyes?
Up till today, Governor Makinde has not deemed it fit to do something about those who were scammed by the purported investor he brought to ” upgrade” the Agbowo Shopping Complex.
With what Grammar will his Media propagandists convince these ones that President Tinubu and the APC are their problems?
On Saturday, in answer to some callers who talked about hardships and how they felt that the APC is the cause of the hardships, I told them to think deeper and be objective.
I asked them to read the fourth schedule to the 1999 Constitution as amended and see the functions of Local Governments listed therein.
For the benefits of those who have not read the fourth schedule to the Constitution, I will reproduce the functions of Local Governments herein:
Section 1(b) collection of rates, radio and television licenses;
(c) establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitute or infirm;
(d) licensing of bicycles, trucks, (other than mechanically propelled trucks), canoes, wheel barrows and carts;
(e) establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks, and public conveniences;
(f) construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lights, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of Assembly of a state;
(g) naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses;
(h) provision and maintenance of public conveniences sewage and refuse disposal;
(i) registration of all births, deaths and marriages;
(j) assessment of privately owned homes or tenements for the purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of a state and
(k) control and regulation of –
(i) out-door advertising and hoarding,
(ii) movement and keeping of pets of all description,
(iii) shops and kiosks,
(iv) restaurants, bakeries and other places for sale of food to the public,
(v) launderies and
(vi) licensing, regulation and control of the sale of liquor.
Now, section 2 (a) the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education;
(b) the development of Agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of minerals;
(c) the provision and maintenance of health services; and
(d) such other function as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the state.
I have taken pain to reproduce this particular areas because I want the public to see that not only did the Constitution assigned enormous responsibilities to Local Governments but it also open spaces and avenues to make revenues.
I also want to educate the public about the fact that States and Local Governments are the ones who have the greater responsibilities of making lives better for the citizens because they are closer to the people.
Presently, in Oyo state, Okadar riders are paying thousands of Naira for waste baskets which they are never given and also jackets.
Where are these monies going?
Since the removal of fuel subsidies, the Federal Government, States and Local Governments are having more money to share as statutory monthly Allocations.
I think the right questions we should be asking is what has been happening to the tremendously increased monthly Allocations to Oyo state and the 33 Local Governments?
Governor Makinde should not have the mouth to say that Tinubu and the APC are the harbingers of hardships if he could not account for the inflow of tremendously increased monthly Allocations to Oyo state and the 33 Local Governments.
It is not the responsibilities of Tinubu and the APC to provide quality Education, good road network, standard health facilities, food sufficiency and the rest in Oyo state.
It is the responsibilities of Governor Makinde and the 33 Local Government Chairmen.
Governor Makinde’s opponents in 2027 will not be the APC alone.
He will have the people to contend with. He will have his track record to contend with and when he does, he will know exactly how far he has been living in delusions.
He has refused to tell the public the debts profile of Oyo state because he is also ashamed to name the figures, knowing that he complained bitterly about the debts profile of Oyo state which he claimed to be around 145 billion Naira in 2019.
Tinubu and the APC are not the problems of Oyo state.
The reasons for the hardships in Oyo state is because Governor Makinde has refused to develop rural areas, allow Local Governments to function, and has rather continued to borrow recklessly and spending billions of Naira on Projects like the Light Up Oyo, Construction of Bus terminals for billions of Naira, rehabilitation of the Government House for billions of Naira, purchase of Aircrafts and the likes.
That is why there is hunger in Oyo state and that will be Governor Seyi Makinde’s biggest headache in 2027 not the APC.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
