while Mokola over- head Bridge has only two lanes. The Molete fly-over can carry all types of vehicles irrespective of their weight and size, including the “so-called articulated vehicles”, while the Mokola fly- over can only carry small vehicles with light weight: the reason why there is a restriction imposed on it. If there is no visible heavy traffic on the Molete fly-over, it is because of its four lanes that have succeeded in easing out traffic jam on the bridge. That is why the writer of the subjective article erroneously thought that the “Molete fly-over is not necessary as a dual carriage bridge as there is sparse traffic onit”. The Mokola fly- over, instead ofeliminating the traffic jam peculiarto the Mokola Roundabout, has just pushed forward the point of the traffic jam to the Danax/Adamasingba junction. The construction of the bridge has, therefore, failed to achieve, to a large extent, the set goal of easy traffic flow. On the cost of the construction of the fly- over, it is ridiculous that the author of the article tacitly accepted that the government was negligent in the handling of financial matters. His claim that Oyo State government did not compare note with the government of Ogun State is an admittance of the fact that the government is not a good manager of our hard-earned resources. As an individual, if the writer of the piece wants to buy, for instance a car, will he not do what is generally known as market survey? The good people of Oyo State, including me, will never fall for this naked lie. He alsoclaimed that houses were demolished and compensation paid to people in Mokola for the construction of the bridge. The government has told us at different fora that the purpose of the two-lane bridge was to avoid demolishing people’s buildings/ houses. I know Mokola very well before and after the construction; what and whose houses were demolished for the erection of the fly- over? Does the writer listen to jingles by the government about the fly-over, where it was said that the bridge was constructed without demolition of people’s properties?“Truth”, they say, “is always constant”. If a person tells a lie, heor she will need ten other lies to help it to get a semblance of the truth. There have been series of contradictions from the government quarters since the case of Mokola fly-over gained prominence. Quoting from the article; the author said, “also included in it (the 2.9bn Naira) is the cost of compensation for demolished buildings”. I challengethe author of the article to make public the names of people whosebuildings were demolished. Let ussee his picture of Mokola before the fly-over and the present one to enable us ascertain the numberof buildings that were demolished. Concerning the traders displaced; how many of them have been properly relocated and compensated? I am happy that the masked writer claimed to be a teacher; he shouldjust go round the town and talk objectively to people and see howthey feel about the government he is trying to protect. I am sure he knows that one of the most serious problems facing Ibadan is that of potable water. How doeshe rationalize a situation wherebypeople do not get water to drink, and the government is busy drilling boreholes for flowers? Lastly, let me remind the author ofthe article that every person is a political animal. People are desperate in their quest for power, and those already in power use all means to retain it. These include deceit, attack on thepersonality of their perceived opponents, corruption, blatant lies, outright ‘thieving’, etc. Some even change political parties and attempt to supplant the pioneer founders and owners of the party; some embark on mad amassing of wealth through contract inflation, outright embezzlement of public funds anduse of state powers to silence the opposition. The claim that Ladoja alone is desperate for power is not correct; all politicians including the clueless ones who are not as brilliant as Ladoja even devise different tricks, and, in most cases, illegal means to get topower and hold on to it. This, therefore, explains why mediocres are occupying positions of authorities in our country. What I expected from Mr. Akinolu Hassan was a meticulous and systematic defence of all the allegations leveled against the state government by Senator Ladoja, instead of abuse and name- calling. As we all know, ACNis giving a serious opposition andcriticism to the PDP-led federal government, how come the same party in Oyo State is too intolerantto criticisms and divergent opinions from the people. As a scholar of Literary Criticism, I know the importance of criticism and critiquing. Criticism may seembitter, but there are some underlining constructive elementsin every criticism that a wise person needs to harness for amelioration. – Ayeleru is a Professor of French and African Literatures in the University of Ibadan. Nigeria.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 14:07:59 +0000