I think Governor Seyi Makinde’s Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanreawaju just woke up from a very long sleep.
It’s been a while I heard from the gentleman and when I saw his piece this morning, I quickly had to tidy up with all I was doing to read through.
After going through the write up, I asked myself if Dr. Olanreawaju just woke up from a long sleep which occassioned a bad dream.
I see that he cleverly packaged what he must have considered a perfect response to the litany of issues we have been raising all this while.
Unfortunately for him, he chose a bad spot to erect the foundation of his propaganda.
He, sadly and unwittingly chose to dress his principal in a garb of honor and praise through Agriculture just because the president of Sierra Leone visited Fasola Farms.
Interestingly, Olanreawaju threw jabs at Makinde’s predecessors whom, according to him, just bought tractors for Local Governments to boost Agriculture.
To him, Makinde deserves accolades just because the president of Sierra Leone said he went all the way to China to ask the Chinese Prime Minister about the miracle he is employing to feed the over 1 billion Chinese citizens and the Chinese Prime Minister, according to Olanreawaju, said he is achieving the feat just by building roads!
I will come to this funny statement later.
Let us first of all address Governor Makinde’s Agri-business policy and its effects on Agriculture and food production.
According to Governor Seyi Makinde, he claimed to have linked all the zones of Oyo state with the state capital, Ibadan and as a result of that action, he feels he has performed wonders.
In the first instance, the claims that Governor Seyi Makinde has linked all the zones of Oyo state with Ibadan is not correct except, Ibarapa zone is not in Governor Makinde’s maps of Oyo state.
He has been Governor for almost six years now and he has not been able to fix the Ido-Eruwa road which links the whole of Ibarapa with Ibadan.
The stretch of the road in question is just 48 kilometers and interestingly, Ibarapa Land is the second largest producers of cassava, coming only behind the Oke Ogun zone of Oyo state.
Secondly, I do not know of any road which Governor Makinde either constructed or rehabilitated to link Oyo zone with Ibadan.
I have kept asking myself why Governor Seyi Makinde sees the rehabilitation of the Moniya-Iseyin road as ” having linked all the zones of Oyo state with Ibadan”.
Even, the road in question had been awarded by the immediate past Administration of late Ajimobi.
Governor Makinde came in, revoked the initial contract and re-awarded the same contract for another contractor at a higher cost.
Now, let us go back to the Chinese Prime Minister.
It may be true that the Chinese Prime Minister alluded to road making as a solution for food sufficiency.
Now, let me ask Governor Makinde, did the Chinese Prime Minister also tell the Sierra Leonian president to do a few roads within the cities and abandon the more important roads that leads to the farms and villages as Governor Makinde has been doing in Oyo state?
Did the Chinese Prime Minister also starved the Local Governments with funds for developments of the grassroots?
Is the Chinese Prime Minister in the habits of committing the resources of the Local Governments to loans which were expended on state Projects as Governor Makinde is presently doing in Oyo state?
Is the Chinese Prime Minister also selling off Lands, Farm Settlements and local Government assets just as Makinde is doing in Oyo state?
I am happy that the CPS went as far as stating the numbers of the Tractors purchased by successive Administration and he admitted that the present Administration bought not a single Tractor.
Now, let me give an assignment to Dr. Olanreawaju.
Will he please help us ask his principal to tell the public how much of the assets of the Local Governments like Graders, refuse trucks, borehole drilling machines and other assets that has been sold under his watch?
Graders are important equipment needed for the grading of Roads within the rural areas, the farms and villages.
Apart from the ones on ground, late Governor Adebayo Alao Akala bought a Grader each per Local Government.
The purpose for which the Graders were purchased was to ensure that each Local Government could link the farms and villages within them with motorable roads.
This will afford farmers the opportunity to bring their products for sale at the markets and in town.
Where are the Graders today?
Governor Makinde has not bought a single Grader.
The ones he met on ground are withdrawn many times and diverted to road rehabilitation sites on his instructions.
In fact, some of them could not be accounted for as we speak.
How could someone who has completely ruined the local Governments and rendered them comatose beat his chest and say that he is doing wonders in respect of Agriculture and food sufficiency?
Farming is not practiced in the bedroom.
It is practiced in the bushes.
To get to the bushes, you need motorable roads.
Where are the motorable roads linking the rural areas with the farms?
Governor Makinde’s predecessors not only purchased tractors, they allowed local Governments to utilize the local Governments Graders for rural roads without interference.
I remember that during Akala’s tenure, highly subsidized fertilizers were provided for farmers through the local Governments.
Makinde’s predecessors also assisted Farmers with low interest rates loan.
Let us even assume, without conceding, that his predecessors did not do anything worthwhile in respect of Agriculture, at least, none of them toyed with the reckless idea of selling our Farm Settlements.
If their deity could not improve our lots, at least, it left us intact.
What has happened to the Eruwa Farm Settlement today? Has the Settlement not being sold by Governor Makinde?
What is he planning to do with the Eruwa Cashew Plantation?
Is he not also planning to sell the Plantation?
Dr. Olanreawaju did not pause to chew his words before spewing them.
I wonder where he got the mouth to criticize Ladoja, Akala and Ajimobi.
It befits everyone to complain about the price of dye, it doesn’t fit a bed-wetter. ( O ye eni gbogbo ko dinwo aro, ko ye a to sile).
If Governor Makinde’s predecessors had sold off Fasola and the other farm Settlements, where would he have taken the president of Sierra Leone to?
With due respect to the president of Sierra Leone, I do not think he was actually here to study Governor Makinde’s Agri-business policy.
What is there to study about a policy that could not contribute a basket of tomatoes to the local market?
What is there to study about a policy that displaces local farmers and favors foreign investors?
I won’t be surprised if it is later discovered that the president has some other interests at Fasola because most of the Farmers in Fasola are actually foreigners.
If truly, the president is here to study Seyi Makinde’s Agricultural policy, then, may God save Sierra Leonians.
Anyone who believes in Governor Makinde’s Agri-business policy must think Awolowo was so incompetent.
The late sage must have been very incompetent to have established the Farm Settlements.
He ought not to have involved in the planting of Cocoa, Cashew, Palm trees, rubber, cassava and maize.
He must have been very idle to have engaged in livestock farming.
What was his business in the production of Garri and stocking up of Silos with grains?
I think Governor Makinde has since discovered this failures of Awolowo and that is the reason he didn’t bother to commit to the Cocoa rebirth project.
Government has no business in businesses.
Wait a minute, does Government have a business in converting Government lands to GRAs and Housing Estates and handing them over to cronies?
I think Governor Seyi Makinde would agree with that sentiments.
It is unfortunate that Dr. Olanreawaju will want us to believe that Governor Makinde, whose Government doesn’t have an acre of farm, whose Government doesn’t have a single Silo of grains, whose Government didn’t buy a single Tractor and who, despite the fact that he didn’t buy a single Grader, but yet, diverting the ones on ground for road making in the urban areas is better than all his predecessors in the area of Agriculture and food sufficiency.
I am also surprised that Olanreawaju failed to tell the public the costs implications of Makinde’s Agri-business.
Before the election, Governor Makinde promised to plant maize in large quantities to the extent that he would sell to Botswana.
When he started taking loans upon loans in respect of Agriculture, we all thought that the days Oyo state will be smiling to the Banks as a result of the resources made from the sales of maize will not be long.
Alas! That is not to be. Agriculture metamorphosed to Agribusiness and there was no explanation.
Perhaps, it is high time we pressurized Governor Makinde to tell the public, exactly how much loans he has taken with respect to Agriculture cum Agri-business and how much we have made.
The first loan he took was actually the over 7 billion Naira converted for the upgrades of the Farm Settlements. About five in numbers.
What has happened to the money since nothing is done at the Farm Settlements except for Fasola.
Eruwa has been sold or is it handed over to some unknown entities.
What has happened to the funds?
If we are not planting anything. We are not into livestock, what exactly were the loans expended on?
Today, prices of foodstuffs are far cheaper in Northern states like Niger, Kogi and Nassarawa compared to Oyo state.
The Governors of those states didn’t swap Agriculture for Agri-business and I think if the president of Sierra Leone were to be properly advised, he should be going to these Northern states to ask them what they have been doing right, if truly he is in Nigeria to learn.
What is there to learn from a state that still depends on the Northern part of Nigeria for the supply of yam, pepper, tomatoes, watermelon onions and ground nuts?
Oyo state is blessed with arable land mass second only to Niger state, if I’m not mistaken.
Oyo state also is blessed with constant rainfall.
Yet, we could not produce yams, pepper, tomatoes, watermelon and ground nuts enough for our consumption not to talk of supplying neighboring states.
That should be a big shame on the Governor and I see no basis for Olanrewaju’s grandstanding.
I will not belabor myself on other areas touched by Olanreawaju in his piece.
Just as we have been depending on the North for some farm products, Oyo state is also behind some Northern states like Borno and Kaduna in the WAEC and NECO performance index of states.
If Olanreawaju and his principal thinks this is something to celebrate, they are free to roll out the drums.
We must however tell them that things were not as bad during the Administration of his predecessors.
Before I round up, I will like to touch on the bill being presently considered by the Oyo state House of Assembly.
The Oyo state House of Assembly is presently considering a bill that is seeking to increase the salaries of political office holders in Oyo state.
I won’t be surprised if we are being told tomorrow that president Donald Trump of the United States of America is planning to visit Oyo state to come and learn how salaries of American political office holders could be increased.
Oyo state is in serious debts. Governor Makinde and his Government have refused to come clean about the debts profile of the state.
Yet, the Oyo state House of Assembly thinks this is the right time to increase the salaries of political office holders.
Welcome to El dorado!
SOLA ABEGUNDE
