ARAKUNRIN AKEREDOLU AND THE JACKALS OF HYPOCRISY!
In the beginning of creation as it is written in the scriptures, God recognized the fact that there must be certainty of term and performance, that was why day and night were created, and other duties of creation were done per day. That was the commencement of certainty of term and performance in any contract, social and otherwise. This has evolved over the centuries and permeate all human endeavors including partisan politics where having been given a chance of leadership via social contract, your dossier in renewing the contact is ultimately your performance in the first term.
In politics as Napoleon Bonaparte said "stupidity is not a handicap" because there is no profession that is densely populated with downright opaque minds than politics, as some of them in their buffoonery have tagged it a dirty game because they have taken to it like pig to mud and thereby prevent decent individuals to participate. No wonder we hear innuendoes like he is too honest, he is principled, he is too forthright etc. For a man with cultivated mind, who else is to be trusted with affairs of many, if not an honest and forthright person, but in an acrimonious enclave, honesty is a sin, being forthright is a taboo, too bad.
At the imminent end of a term in partisan politics, electioneering activities and serious politicking will definitely engulf the polity and that time like the first day of creation, there must be separation between the light and the darkness; this mostly is first intra party, where the performers and credible individuals will be separated from the hyenas of hate and jackals of hypocrisy, it is largely a natural cause.
In the period of electioneering; politics falls in the category of any of this trio, war, game and or ventures. If it be viewed as war, all is fair in war, and to say no winner no vanquish is a ruse, winners know themselves. If game, there must be a winner at all cost otherwise there will be a replay, and to whosoever win, the rule of game is fair and the loser will always allege unfair treatment in the game. As for venture, money will be spent and there must be return on investment thereafter.
As the end of a governorship term is imminent in Ondo State my dear state, the above hypothesis is not farfetched in the state particularly within the two prevalent parties in the state, All Peoples Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Our focus here is (APC), essentially being the ruling party in the state. In doing justice to this write up, certain questions need to be put up, and the first question is how as a political party did we get into this quagmire, since the last governorship election in the state? It is crystal clear that there were crisis that emanated from the last primary election in the state, part of which culminated into legal action that was finally resolved by apex court in favour of Arakurin Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) the incumbent governor.
The failure of the defeated group to get over the hangover of the loss among other things led to unending crisis in the party, also allegation of anti-party activities against those who supported candidate of another party against Akeredolu and to those who actually left the party for another party to pursue their gubernatorial ambition with the pseudo assurance that their popularity with the masses of the state will win them the election, who after their foray in that party without realizing the said ambition are back in the ruling party. This was unresolved even during the 2019 general election and another allegation of anti-party activities started rocking the party.
The aggrieved group have now constituted themselves to a faction known as APC Ondo State Unity Group. With the recent happenings within the group, it is evident; to say that the center of their unity cannot hold is an understatement, the truth is that their center is in shambles particularly with the withdrawal of the law suit, in Suit No. FHC/AK/ CS/10/2019 instituted by Hon. Idowu Otetubi one of the arrow heads and the Chairman of the supposed parallel executive in the state, having reconsidered their stand and resolved that the party will do better in the governorship election if the house is in order.
However, a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in political world as storms in the physical, it will not prevent you from reaching your goal but it will expose the enemies within and you will be well informed of their treachery. These hyenas of hate seem not to know that individual cannot bargain with the state. The state recognizes no coinage but power: and it issues the coin itself. In this regard Akeredolu is the state personified and chief servant of the state; with power of incumbency so they have more odds against them than Akeredolu has.
It is imperative at this juncture to even ask, what is the argument of these people on the other side, because if there is a smoke, there is a fire, the saying goes. That is quite true, but one should find what the fire is, and who lit it. Their arguments are, Aketi is too honest, he is self-opinionated, he is undemocratic, he is highhanded, he is despotic and a nepotistic. Aketi is human and he is not infallible, but shall we now throw the baby and the bathwater away? Politics is an adventure where your adversaries; if they find no evident error in your deed, they will deliberately deploy political microscope to magnify your seemingly excusable errors and engage shrewd propaganda to drive home their points.
Everybody to his mind is always right in his argument. But there is a salient question that must be asked, has Aketi performed creditably well to deserve a second term? In answering this question, we shall focus on some cardinal areas that he has touched the lives of almost everybody in the state.
Road construction and rehabilitation: Good road network is one of the catalysts to economic growth and development of any given polity, where movement from one location or town to another is made easy. Road is an infrastructure being enjoyed by all and sundry. Within the first two years in office Aketi was able to construct and rehabilitate more than 40 major roads in the state across the three senatorial districts. This is an unprecedented feat in the state, and I can attest among others that Igbara-Oke Ibuji road that was in deplorable and embarrassing state for several years before his assumption of power was one of the roads fixed perfectly with shoulders.
Education:
As the cliché goes, education is the best legacy one can give to his children, Aketi understanding perfectly the importance of education focus immensely on education, arguable Ondo State is about the only state with three state universities. This in great measure will afford the citizens of the state with unrestrained access to tertiary education as oppose to what is happing in other states. Were it not for his desire and preference for creating uninhibited access to education by the citizens of the state, he would have streamlined the state owned institution to one (which is the convention) taking into cognizance the limited financial resources, yet he continued with the maintenance and financing of the state universities regardless of paucity of funds.
Also within this time in office through State Universal Basic Education Board has built and reconstruct over 850 primary schools, construction of perimeter fences of several primary schools across the three senatorial districts and more are still on the way. His focus on education is inclusive of scholarship award as well of bursary award and grants. His effort has taken the education sector of the state to an enviable level amongst other states.
Health:
Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any state can have, and Aketi recognizing this fact focus also on heath from building of General Hospital where none has never existed to rebuilding and rehabilitation of the dilapidated ones and adequate supply of drugs and facilities to those hospitals. In fact, his effort in building new teaching hospitals for the state in Akure and Ondo is an unprecedented in the recent time in the state.
Salaries of civil servants:
It is a known fact even beyond the shore of the state that before Aketi assumed power the civil servants in the state were greatly insolvent as a result of their unpaid salaries for 7 months. Since the assumption of Aketi their salaries have not only been prompt but also as constant as northern star, and he has been diligent in liquidating the outstanding salaries owned by his predecessor from 7 months to just 1 month. In the state now the civil servants can plan their life in accordance with their earnings with assurance of payment of their salary as at when due.
Agriculture:
Ondo state is an agrarian community, Aketi in his bid to enhance great development in agriculture has provided incentives for farmers in the state, also soft loan to the farmers and small scale business individual through Ondo State Micro-Credit Agency. One of the ways to assist the farmers is by providing them with hybrid seedlings of various crops particularly cocoa and palm tree and fertilizers to grow their crop where it is necessary and afforestation; so no one can say he has failed in this regard.
Infrastructural Development and Maintenance:
Social amenities particularly provision of portable water and electrification are things that will greatly make life comfortable for our people and Arakunrin's administration has seen to this in no small measure, from Emomi Aketi scheme which cut across all the senatorial district to rural electrification, power restoration projects and supply and installation of new transformer where it is needed and necessary.
Youth Empowerment:
There is a cliché that world is a global village, but in the recent time it has been further reduced to what you can have on your palm as a result of advancement in information technology. For any youth to be able to favorably compete with his peers globally he must first be empowered with information technology. Akeredolu realizing this; departed from the salvage custom of empowering the youth with "okada" and thereby relegate them to perpetual serfs and peasants. He has liberated the youths a great deal with creation of different technological hubs and the partnership he forged with IBM, Microsoft and host of other Information Technology businesses to empower the youths in the state.
RAPID INDUTRIALISATION:
It is an inescapable fact that Ondo State over the years has only been a civil servants and agrarian state devoid of any meaningful industry. Akeredolu saw this great lacuna and decided to work tirelessly on industrializing the state, the effect of which he was aware will be of immense economic development of the state. Ondo/Linyi Industrial Hub in Ore is a clear testimony of his effort in respect of this. This Ondo/Linyi is an unprecedented achievement in the state not only that it has been established but the fact that it comprises of about ten various industries ranging from assemblage of vehicles to textile industries and others. This is a milestone, except from the few industries established by Late Adekunle Ajasin in the then old Ondo State some of which are moribund before Aketi's assumption into office but resuscitated by him, no governor in the state since 1999 has done something of this nature. Also there are other industries and factories in other different locations in the state, some are private driven and others in partnership with the state. He has done well by wooing and bringing investors to the state, the result of which is crystal clear to all.
TRANSPORTATION:
Transportation is not limited to management of movement of vehicles alone but include some other allied matters. This regime has restored sanity to our roads particularly in the major cities in the state where lunacy was the order of the day. It has even brought some innovations to the transport sector of the state as follows: -
a. Ondo State computerized vehicle inspection services where the residents and citizens' vehicles are being analyzed through digital means as opposed to analog system, this system enhance accuracy in the reports of Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) in determining the road worthiness of vehicles in order to reduce crashes on our roads. Less than ten states have this innovation in Nigeria.
b. Ondo State Riders/Drivers' Institute, where the drivers and okada riders would be subjected to proper training for the purpose of issuing rider's license for a qualified rider in order to cub unnecessary carnages on our road arising from untrained okada riders. It is first of its kind in Africa, there is nowhere in Africa where okada riders are being trained before issuing them with license. The institute has a resemblance in Lagos State with specific focus only on training all drivers before issuing them driving license and annual training and re-training of all drivers who had already obtained their license in order to update their purported certified driving skills.
c. Ondo State Passengers' Safety and Security Insurance Scheme for the safety of all commercial passengers boarding vehicles from government certified motor parks in Ondo State.
d. Alape Inland Port with focus on decongesting Apapa Port and other ports in Lagos.
e. The ongoing multi-purpose truck park at Igbara-Oke and Owo.
f.Launching of Amphibex 400E for the purpose of clearing of sea/water weeds, dredging of water ways at the riverine zone of the state.
g.Launching of Sunshine Travels to replace the then Owena Mass Transit.
All these innovations have led to seamless creation of more jobs opportunities and they have shore up the revenue profile of the ministry and the state at large, particularly the first one which geared up the revenue from road worthiness alone from NGN 350, 000 per month to average of NGN 1.7 Million to NGN 1.8 Million per week without creating any hardship for the people but with value to service to the people even when they are still operating at less than 30% of their potential.
JOB CREATION:
Akeredolu in his regime has created jobs for our teaming unemployed youths particularly through the ICT, industrialization of the state and innovation in some of the sectors particularly transport sector wherein different innovations have brought about establishment of institute and offices where man power will definitely be required for maximum productivity. It can be said without any fear of contradiction that Aketi has created more job opportunities in the state more than any governor in the state since 1999.
INCREASE IN IGR:
In the last three years under the leadership of Akeredolu as governor of the state, the internal generated revenue (IGR) of the state has increases astronomically without posing undue hardship on the residents of the state. This he has been able to achieve by blocking the financial leaking spots in the purse of the government and create various means of generating more revenue via some innovative ideas and reengineer the revenue base of the state and deployed progressive fiscal policies via enforceable legislations. Blocking these leakages may be one of the reasons why his adversaries are hell bent on changing the baton now, since to them being a good politician is nothing more than being an honest burglar.
The yardstick for justifying Akeredolus' second term and otherwise should essentially be his scorecard within the last three years. The salient question now for any reasonable and patriotic citizen of the state is whether the state has progressed under the leadership of Akeredolu as governor in the last three years. A careful look at the cardinal points as highlighted above will depicts nothing but the fact that the state has progressed geometrically under the leadership of Akeredolu.
He has tactically changed the system from the old order, when the sentences of the incumbent governors didn't seem to have verbs, which is peculiar to politicians. All nouns no action, his radical departure from this has earned him the appellation of "Mr. talk and do" in the state. However, there are consequences for changing the system, that is why Nicollo Machiavelli intimated us that "it must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would have profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones." No wonder the hyena of hate and jackals of hypocrisy are all up in arm against him for not allowing them to continue to milk the state recklessly at the expense of the masses.
Akeredolu within their own contemplation is not a politician, not one of them. Yes, he is not a politician but a statesman, a politician thinks ultimately about the next election where and when he will adequately feather his own nest and nothing more pretentious, while a statesman thinks about the next generation and the legacies he wants to leave behind. Were it not to be so he would not embark on a voyage of transforming the state, benefit of which will be largely for the next generation. In achieving their aim, they embarked on campaign of calumny and shameless propaganda which has resulted into nothing.
The promise given was a necessity of the past; the word broken is a necessity of the present. As it stands hardly can you see a group of people or community saying that they are opposing Aketi because he has broken his word given to them during the campaign for the last election. In any objective assessment, one can say without any fear of contradiction that Akeredolu has performed creditably well in the last three years regardless of calculated distraction from his adversaries in the party. We cannot not inhibit the political hawks from hovering, neither can we prevent the hyenas of hate from prowling, but we can with our collective effort not only in the spirit of party loyalty but essentially in the spirit of patriotism debar them from preying on the state which is their ultimate aim.
The state under the leadership of Akeredolu has left the realm where everyone in power is lying, stealing, cheating and killing; and in our hearts we all knew these then, but the consequences of facing all that lies then were so monstrous, we kept on hopping that government will be on the same page with us some day and be sensitive to our plight, to the extent that our situation became akin to a survivor of domestic violence. Who in her mind will hope that this is very, very last time her rib will get broken, and another happened. We have seen the light and we shall not allow anybody or group of people to plunge us into darkness again. Sunshine state has moved on, and we must not allow any situation or circumstance of darkness eclipse her in any way anymore. Aketi has liberated the state and one good term deserve another for the betterment of all and sundry in the state. Lastly Aketi 4 + 4 = 8 is now a moving train and if you are not in the train, don't stand on its way; if you do, it is at your own peril.
By:
High Chief Oyebanji Abuloye LP.
Legal Practitioner & Community Leader
Date: 29-05-2020.
