Our Progenitors are very wise and you could easily measure the depths of their wisdom when you analyse the proverbs they have passed unto us across many generations.
” Ika to ba to si imu la fi nremu”. ( From critical thinking, they agreed that you could not pick at your nostrils with your thumbs).
When the Elders speak the above proverb, be sure they were referring to an abnormal scenario.
Not only us, there is a famous statement which obviously did not flow from the Yoruba proverb.
It is the sensibility in putting round pegs in round holes.
There is an abnormal scenario building up at the Eng. Lere Adigun GRA , Bashorun.
One Mr. Adeyinka Owodunni, the Managing Director of Allianz Offshore West Africa has been put in charge of the management of the Estate by the Oyo state Government.
He is also said to be a Project Partner, commissioned by the Oyo state Government to provide infrastructures within the GRA.
Unfortunately, the Infrastructures so far provided within the GRA is nothing to write home about and I invite members of the Media to get to the roots of the issues I will raise in this piece.
Most people have questioned the genuine intentions behind the establishment of GRAS and it appears characters like Adeyinka Owodunni are the sources of such agitations.
You will wonder how the Managing Director of an offshore Company ended up managing a GRA?
I also wonder.
Mr. Adeyinka is from Ijebu Ode, Ogun state. His mother hails from Otan Ayegbaju in Osun state.
He had his first Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ife, Osun state and from my findings, he has no verifiable experience in Estate Development and management.
It is not that Mr. Adeyinka was born with Silver spoon in his mouth. He grew up in Ketu, Lagos state and attended Orisigun Secondary schools, a public secondary school in Lagos state.
From such humble background, one would have expected that the young man would hold values like morality, accountability and courtesy so dear when dealing with people but that is not the case.
Adeyinka, a young man of about fifty one years of age worked with Mobil, he also worked briefly in Abu Dhabi. He lives in the United States of America presently.
He is not a resident within the Estate. He runs things from the United States of America.
I deliberately decided to dig up the resume of the young man so as to establish the fact that his appointment as the Manager of such a GRA is without due process and is misplaced ab initio.
Due diligence would have dictated that someone who would be entrusted with such responsibilities ought to have requisite qualifications and experience.
It definitely does look like his appointment is what you could consider as job for the boys.
I challenge both the young man to publish the Certificate of Incorporation of the Allianz Offshore West Africa so as to prove if the Company has ever been involved in the business of Estate Management.
I have confirmed information that neither the young man nor his Company has ever ventured into Estate Management, so, how did he end up being saddled with the responsibilities to manage the Eng. Lere Adigun GRA?
It now seems that the intention to ” open up the state capital through the establishment of GRAs and Estates” has been misinterpreted and defeated by characters like Adeyinka. I hope such are not the case across the GRAs.
From my findings, the young man, Adeyinka had issues at Mobil where he once worked.
As a soft landing, he was given contracts to supply cars by an individual I will withhold his identify for now, depending on how this matter is treated.
Sadly, Adeyinka also had issues with the Nigerian Custom and couldn’t deliver on the assignment.
That is the personality of the individual saddled with the responsibilities to manage a GRA of Lere Adigun’s magnitude.
His Company, Allianz Offshore West Africa, from findings, has no existing office known to the public.
He also failed in the aspect of Infrastructures he was engaged to provide within the GRA.
The drainages within the GRA are open system. In a GRA where a plot of Land now goes for #180 million Naira! What manner of infrastructure is that?
He is also alleged to be allowing certain people to build structures in negation of the due process and rules that guides buildings within GRAs in Oyo state.
Specifically, he said high rise structures would be built within the GRA and that is against the rules.
Residents are having issues with him regarding power supply
I will like the Media to ventilate on this particular allegations of the management of power supply within the GRA..
It is reported that he claimed that the residents are billionaires who should have no problems in paying whatever he charges.
Guess what, as a resident, you have to buy power from him.
The young man is so power drunk to the extent that he stops residents who have issues with him from accessing power.
Residents of the GRA, do not have access to the metre only Adeyinka does!
Presently, he has been threatening residents that he would be metering water within the GRA regardless of whether residents are the ones who provided it!!
In other words, residents would be forced to also buy water from him and you can guess at what costs that would come.
The price of a plot of Land in the GRA has presently risen to a whopping #180 million from #150 million it was selling about three months ago.
Considering the staggering amounts required to buy a plot of Land in the GRA, is it not a case of double jeopardy if you still have an incompetent and arrogant Estate Manager to deal with?
It is said that the young man is in the habits of beating his chest at residents, telling them that no one, not even the Governor could caution him about his excesses.
Perhaps, it is this mindset that has made him to forget that the Cocoa House Building, though in Oyo state, is actually the property of the Western states.
He has been boasting that his ambition is to turn the Cocoa House to Luxury Apartments!
Are we not in soup?
I do not think that the intention of Government was to create a space where some incompetent and mannerless young men will be reaping residents when he established the Lere Adigun GRA against public outcry.
There are so much at stake within that GRA.
It is unfortunate that the likes of Adeyinka Owodunni has created avenues for those who were against the project from the beginning to take a dig at the Government.
Like I said, the appointment of an MD of an offshore Company to manage a GRA is not only improper, it is condemnable and leaves a sour taste in the mouth to say the least.
Mr. Adeyinka is from Ogun state. He lives in far away United States of America.
His case is akin to what Yorubas call ” eni a mo ri ba ku”. ( What we call, ” I don’t care attitude).
Unfortunately, whatever he does, the Government must take the stick because the young man did not appoint himself ab initio.
If you look at the treatment been meted out to the residents of the GRA, you might be tempted to think that they are some sort of tenants who merely rented apartments and are victims of a quack Caretaker.
Interestingly, that is not the case. They are valid Land and home owners who have bought Land and built homes with their hard earned resources.
In other words, they are Landlords in their respective capacities. So, why is someone encroaching on their freedom to enjoy their status?
Whatever atrocities Adeyinka is committing within the GRA, he is doing so, claiming the authority of Government.
The private life of the young man in question is suspect. There are very unhealthy, though unconfirmed reports about his immoral activities in his base at Houston, United States of America.
There are also dangerous, though, unconfirmed reports of his association with people of immoral sex status like (P. Diddy) the American singer in the eye of the storm for sex related offences.
From my findings, the fellow is still a bachelor at over fifty years of age.
For a Nigerian, most especially, a Yoruba man, that is not something to be proud of.
It will be interesting to see how the Government treats this matter because not only did the fellow boasted that the Government could not do anything to caution him, he equally boasted that not even the EFCC could do anything.
I am sure he must have been under the influence of alcohol for saying that the EFCC could not do anything about his recklessness.
Some of us will put such recklessness to the test.
Government does have the responsibilities to ensure that those who paid huge amounts of money to purchase Land within Its GRAs live peacefully, safe from the harassment of some misguided and incompetent individuals.
Like I said, I invite the Media to do a proper investigation about the plight of the residents of the Eng. Lere Adigun GRA and by extension, other GRAs in Oyo state.
How are they being managed?
Who are the Infrastructures partners engaged by Government and what is their antecedents.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.