Governor Ibikunle Amosun and the New Deal in Ogun State By Adedapo Adenekan (E-mail: dapoadenekan@yahoo) It would be difficult to single out which of our democratic governors in Ogun State deserve to be called the greatest. Most of the key institutions and infrastructure the state still enjoys today—Free Education and Health, Ogun State Radio, Television, Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, Assembly and Commissioners Quarters, etc.—were grounded by the 1979 to 1983 Chief Olabisi Onabanjo Administration; Olusegun Osoba eras were characterized by networks of local inter-cities and inter-villages rock-solid roads, the proliferation of electricity and installations of transformers all over towns and villages in the State, and of course a reign of “peace,” which we took for granted but began to appreciate following the emergence of Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD)’s chaotic and series of political impasse that made the state ungovernable. Let the truth be accentuated that OGD started so well, especially during his first term in office—he introduced several wonderful schemes, including the road maintenance culture executed by Ogun Road Management Agency (OGROMA), the attempts to revive the agriculture sector and its settlement areas, the Cargo airport initiatives, free trade zones, facilitate sports development among others. The theme of his political-philosophy, “Government has no business in business,” won the heart of many, including yours truly. Alas, the true test of a man’s character reveals itself when he is entrusted with power. An ego versus super-ego syndrome set in, distracting and derailing the focus of all the supposedly laudable projects. While Chiefs Olabisi Onabanjo and Olusegun Osoba are so worthy of accolades, Governor Ibikunle Amosun is currently charting a performance path that may cast him as a trailblazer with enviable greatness. It is evident that Governor Amosun passionately believed in himself and his capacity to occupy the high Office. His unpretentious self justification by faith sustained him through his journey to Oke-Mosan, despite the many traps laid along his path in the eight years preceding the 2011 election. This same trait, he has deployed to facilitate the various ongoing developments across the state. Amidst the relatively dwindling revenue allocation from the Federal government, the various road and bridge constructions continued in all the senatorial districts of the state. Also, free education and health—the hallmark of South West democracy—continued to advance comprehensively. New schools of international standard are being constructed and dilapidated ones undergoing serious renovations, just as those projects aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals are being executed. Other areas of remarkable progress in just three years also included the restoration of peace and security of lives and properties through aggressive pursuit of the provision of the wherewithal, such as Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), adequate patrol vans and other accessories and paraphernalia necessary to fight crimes, which was rampant at the dawn of his inauguration in 2011. That peace is back to Ogun State should never be taken for granted again, as such feats had formed the bedrock through which investors and industrializations are being attracted to the State. And, plans are at the advance stage to provide world-class standard of homeownership in the State. In all these, what truly sets Amosun apart is its “big-bang approach” to the construction of road networks and bridges in all the three senatorial districts of Ogun State. Notwithstanding the nay-Sayers desperation to rubbish these achievements, the administration never relents nor wavers in its commitment to vigorously pursue its mission. That these achievements are recorded within three years in office is what endears him to every progress-seeking mind. Kudos and support should be extended to the governor and his team, as these projects would surely unleash the state’s economic production capacity and other potentials required for growth and development. Beyond the aforementioned big-bang approach to infrastructural development, the Governor’s homeowner charter initiative signifies another dimension through which people can gauge his preparedness to bring succour to the hardworking citizens who dared to own a house. Owning a home has for ever been a difficult task for innocent peace seeking citizens wanting to make their lives better. This is not peculiar to Ogun State; it’s a common phenomenon across the country. Buying a land comes with a humongous hassle; what with the problem of paying for the land and the attendant challenge of acquiring appropriate documentations and building plan approval. The system makes it so difficult that you are left with no choice but to go ahead with construction before whatever funds you had saved for that purpose vanish. And, when you think you have sailed through the horror of settling the deal with the family that sold the land, the “Sons-of-the-Land”—the Omo Oni’les—suddenly appear from nowhere as soon as construction on the land kicks off. And they are usually sons (all males), like the landowners don’t have daughters. Unfortunately, you have no choice but to settle them in one way or the other, usually at their own term. Before you knew it, you are finished with building your house, but don’t have the papers that make if officially yours, at least in the eyes of government. Buying lands from the government is not any more convenient, either. Building on government land is also not unusual, since government itself is not transparent with its master-plan. When they do, some public officials just take something and look the other way, leaving you to your future loss. This is why the homeowner programme initiative of the governor, which creates the window of opportunity to obtaining the building plan approval, certificates of occupancy or other title documentation, becomes strongly appealing. With this programme comes a huge relieve since all penalties and fines are being waived, the documentation requirements relaxed, and associated fees discounted for the benefit of as many residents as possible. Perhaps, the most appealing rationale for appreciating this programme is the alleviation of the attendant difficulties being encountered when homeowners plan to use their properties as collateral or list them for sale in the real estate market. Such homes are no longer undervalued for lack of certificate of occupancy (C of O). The economics of Amosun’s homeowners’ charter makes sense and simplistically splendid. The programme is a win-win scenario for the people and government. While the homeowners enjoy the aforementioned benefits, the programme is a potent source of internally generated revenue for the government. Consider a simplistic scenario of ten thousand (10000) citizens paying an average of one-hundred thousand naira (₦100,000) only, to process their C of O, which would have ordinarily cost them more than half a million naira that must be paid, anyhow. While an average homeowner is saving hundreds of thousands of naira, the government is simultaneously scooping at least one billion naira in internally generated revenue. Yes, ₦1 billion and that’s just from ten thousand homeowners. Please do the arithmetic for the tens of thousands of potential applicants. And this is some revenue that would be gladly and prayerfully paid by citizens. Can you imagine paying government a fee, with your heart so glad that the heart is subliminally praying for the government? Now, that’s what I call people’s government – “My government.” It should not be a surprise to anyone that the mobilized internally generated revenue has increased significantly, averaging an estimated ₦5 billion monthly, from ₦700 million monthly, before Governor came on board the ship as the captain. Shouldn’t an administration bringing succour to its voters be supported in all respect? Understandably, it’s almost impossible to not criticize politicians, and we all do a lot of that. However, I believe that when we see leaders adding values, with real and tangible projects, such achievements should be embraced, supported and celebrated, while the implementers should be encouraged to keep up the good works. This is why I find it so pathetic when detractors deliberately, for selfish reasons, attempt to undermine the progress being witnessed in our dear Ogun state, pandering falsehood and negativities to unsuspecting citizens. It is especially heart-rending, when such disposition is coming from within. The anecdote being peddled is that, to the extent that the Governor does not spread money or other largesse to some interests, unlike before, even he builds thousands of roads and bridges, as far as “they” are concerned, he has done nothing. It is also particularly disturbing to class the governor as not garnering his priorities right, claiming that Ogun State does not need the ongoing massive road. The thinking couldn’t be any more myopic for anyone to correlate the size of roads needed today, with today’s volume of traffic. Funny, isn’t it? Like, if all of a sudden thousands of cars hit the road in six months, which is not impossible, the government can quickly build the needed roads in response to that, within months. True, the fundamental theme of economics is scarcity, scale of preferences and choice (in that order), deep-rooted in that is what type of choice is being made. There are easy choices (we can share and consume all we have now), or hard choices (whereby we invest today, so we can produce more, grow and develop more tomorrow). The hard choice, that is, the road not usually taken, is where Amosun is heading, and I sincerely believe, this will get the people to a better destination in terms of macroeconomic development of our dear State. Perhaps, it is worth noting that the ongoing developmental agenda in Ogun State is in congruent and in tune with the South-West economic integration agenda. Hence, it is critical to not rubbish performance achievement in the name of politicking, or ignore some grossly obvious facts because we don’t welcome a person. Former Governor, Olusegun Osoba himself recognized this, even in the face of expressing his concern about his issue with the governor, when he remarked that “I will now relocate to Abeokuta, I am going back to what I used to be. We will not destroy the government because we have to appreciate performance. . . I will come back to Abeokuta and I will operate the way I used to operate before.” (This Day, Live, June 1, 2014). Political chaos is not unconnected with the decay of language, and we can probably bring about some improvement by starting at the verbal end. Negative mindset must be allowed to die its natural death. If not, our democracy will never bring value added dividends to the people. Allowing such evil mindset to flourish will also drive well meaning and altruistic people away from politics, and governance system will continue to be a kleptocrazy, some kind of klepto-business arena that we are all aware of, but not courageous enough to jettison. It is good to know that the Governor is emboldened to make and implement difficult decisions, knowing that the good People of Ogun State will, in the final analysis when the projects are delivered, be the better for it. Without gainsaying, Nigeria’s political landscape has been inundated with problems of political moral hazard (where politician canvass for our vote to provide the dividends of democracy, but when they get there, they appropriate all dividends to their personal accounts) and electoral adverse selection syndrome (where too many crooks avail themselves to contest election, with the attendant difficulty in filtering the good ones from the bad ones). But, thank God, Ogun State, like Lagos and other states in the South-West Zone, has been blessed with credible leaders who mean business, and ready and willing to entrench the fundamental require for growth and development. In the interest of progress and development, continuity is critical at this stage and Ogun State cannot afford to truncate or undo the ongoing infrastructural and institutional development it is witnessing. The lingering internal crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State must be resolved, if continuity is expected to be achieved and sustained; otherwise the “PPN-PDP-2011-Ogun-State-Treatment” is looming. As a national leader of the party and a former Governor of Ogun State who understands the essence of continuity, Governor Osoba cannot afford to foreclose reconciliation with Governor Ibikunle Amosun at this critical time. There has to be a way out. That is politics, and I have the confidence in the leadership as magnanimous as Chief Olusegun Osoba to fashion the way out. That is why he is the Asiwaju. Detractors are peddling the rumor that Osoba is planning defection to another party. Ditto for Governor Amosun. But, that is what it is—nothing, but a malicious rumor. Obviously, the hands of enemies are playing these cards to perpetuate the destabilization of the party. No more divide and rule. To ensure continuity of progress in Ogun State, APC and the leaders must espouse unity and lead.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 16:14:52 +0000