Olusola Seyi Badero wrote: Ogun: Matters arising from Amosun’s tour of LGs Unfolding events in Ogun State in the recent past, which saw the gradual but eventual collapse of the Labour Party (LP), into the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have signalled commencement of the replay of the early 90s SDP-NRC politics. The glorious era of a little to the left, a little to the right, which had the potential of launching Nigeria into an enduring democracy, but which was truncated ignominiously by the self-styled Military President, Ibrahim Babangida. Still savouring the sour taste which the ego of former Governor Gbenga Daniel etched in their tongues through the back-door registration of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), which combined with other factors that resulted in the loss of the 2011 general elections, the dramatis personae in the splinter caucus in the PDP have been closing ranks to challenge the ruling party – the All Progressives Congress (APC). The APC, which fathered the sitting government in Ogun State, is banking on its ‘performance’ to continue the winning streak which went wild in the South West. The flagship of the achievements of the government is her urban renewal project, which is noticeable in roads and flyovers. Not a few residents of the state have described this as a stellar performance, while, characteristically, dissenting voices keep murmuring as to the alleged uneconomic cost, propriety of location and lack of due diligence in the award of the contracts for the roads. An ally of the Governor, who was well- acclaimed to be the only lawmaker in the House of Assembly that could have audience with him without appointment, Remmy Hazzan, has described the cost of doing the roads as “criminal and callous,”, wondering why a non- coastal state like Ogun could be doing a kilometer of road for N1.3 billion which, according to him, the bad-land Niger-Delta region would definitely not do, “notwithstandin g their deep purse” Hazzan, who has left the defunct ACN for PDP, also pooh-poohed the “free” education policy of the government, insisting that all manners of illegal fees, ranging from Insurance to PTA are being charged that “made the fee paying education in time past less costlier than this free education.” But the Governor has insisted in the course of his on-going assessment tour of local government that the free education of his government remains a programme that could not be faulted. Matter of fact, his Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Yusuph Olaniyonu, boated that the free education being given the people is better than what obtains in the days of Chief Bisi Onabanjo, as Governor. He emphasised this much in an interview with Daily Independent. Education is one of the five cardinal programmes which the Governor promised greater attention to, when he listed a nine-point areas of intervention in his inaugural speech, Sunday, May 29, 2011. Other programmes are: efficient health care delivery; agricultural production/industrialization; affordable housing and urban renewal and rural infrastructural development and employment, in that order. For instance, under employment generation, Amosun said at swearing-in: “payment of fees for application forms for government jobs is hereby abolished. “ However, the critics of Amosun’s government claim that events of later days and months when the government took shape have indicated that that speech was not intended as a working paper, but a lip service to poll wool over the unsuspecting youngsters’ eyes. Applicants who sought jobs at the House of Assembly Service Commission were reportedly the first set of people to be fleeced to the tune of N1000 while the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) job-seekers had to pay N12, 000, leading to the discomfiture of the Media then. Again, the governor promised thus in education, amongst the nine points of action: “Tuition fees will be drastically reduced in all the state’s tertiary institutions; three state of the art and well-stocked public libraries will be established with one in each senatorial district. “ Some observers insist that the only reduction that was “drastic” came after three years in office, and that no single public library has been built, let alone three, as highlighted in the speech, thereby making the people to be wary of further promises being churned out during the on-going tours which ordinarily should be a project commissioning adventure. It remains to be seen also how the political gulf between a former two-time Governor of the state, Chief Olusegun Osoba, and his “Mat’agbamole” group and the Governor’s group, which comes under SIA, would help the troubled party as the poll pulls the nation in 2015. In all of this, the crowd at the various tour of the governor was encouraging, and appeared to have signalled acceptability until the committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHS) alerted that civil servants were being conscripted into the convoy of the Governor. Chairman of the CDHR in the state, Olayinka Folarin, in a statement described the coercion of Civil servants as “barbaric, unconstitutional and capable of breaching the codes and ethics of the civil service. He consequently advised the Head of Service, Mrs. Modupe Adekunle, to desist from rostering civil servants for the tour. “The attention of the CDHR Ogun State Branch has been drawn to the abuse of Office by Mrs. Modupe Adekunle, who has persistently been subjecting the Ogun State Civil Servants to being political instruments in the hands of the politician whereby mobilizing Civil Servants for local government political tour and derailing the Civil Servant from their statutory responsibilities, a condemnable act and illegality “It was reported and investigated that the Head of Service had since the beginning of the governor’s local government tour been posing several threats to the civil servant, unethical conduct and mandating the Civil Servants to crowd every tour gathering addressed by the Governor. The supposed informed over Thirty Years (30) in Service and Number One Civil Servant in the state among her recent threats messages sent out were: “In continuation of H.E inspection tour, you’re hereby nominated to accompany H.E tomorrow Thursday 9th on another Inspection Tour by 9:00am@Arcade ground. HOS.” “Pls, note that absence at the Inspection Tour will attract stiff penalty. Come Over to Arcade ground for takeoff. HOS” “The CDHR in the state, thereby condemned what it termed unholy and act of impunity in its entirety, while we therefore use this medium to make a clarion call on the, Code of Conduct Bureau, Nigerian Labour Congress NLC and Trade Union Congress TUC Ogun State Council to wake up to their responsibilities and salvage the Workers from undeserved in captivation. The body has therefore urged the NLC and TUC Chairman in the State Council to call the Head of Service to Order, to avert further violation of the Worker’s Rights. Folarin further contended that the CDHR could mobilize “every legal instrument” against the “unprecedented retrogressive legacy of Mrs.Modupe Adekunle in the history of Ogun State Civil Service.” As the scenarios were playing out, the PDP was forming a coalition like that formed by APC, which saw the former out of power in 2011. Former Minister of State for Finance, Jubril Martins-Kuye, Chief Kolapo Ogunjobi, Chief (Mrs.) Iyabode Apampa, Senator Lekan Mustapha, Senator Tunde Osolake, Hon. Apostle Dave Salako, Hon. Razak Adewusi, Chief Alani Akinde, Otunba Ayo Osinubi, Are Tunde Alabi, Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola, Hon. Ladi and Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka and former Deputy Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly and a serving were at the meeting tagged a reunion parley at the Asoludero country home of Former Governor Gbenga Daniel. Daniel is of the opinion that the calibre of people at the parley would return the party to its former winning streak in the state. “With the array of major stakeholders of Ogun politics in this Hall, it is glaring that the ingredients for winning elections are at hand and ready to go for power in 2015”, Otunba Daniel said. According to him, “all that had issues have shifted ground with a collective resolve to work in unity and provide a better alternative to the present government in Ogun State”. “A leader worth his salt”, Otunba Daniel continued, “is saddled with the burden of providing leadership and guidance towards finding a credible successor and that is exactly why we are on this mission to present a formidable platform that can wrest power from the incumbent and rescue Ogun State before it is too late.” Kuye charged the Ogun PDP to set up committees that will come out with workable manifesto that will be presented to the electorate which will translate to electoral victory and overall development of the State.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 16:14:27 +0000
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