By Ibrahim Sarafa
When Bola Oyebamiji, a former Commissioner for Finance in Osun state, indicated his intention to vie for the topmost political office in the state, he played up his experience as “what it takes to run a good government if given the opportunity.” But experience is not a straightforward thing as it could either reflect bad decisions that hurt the people or something to cheer about.
In fact, one of the distressing signals that Oyebamiji’s run for the Osun governorship seat has consistently raised is that he will be a repeat of the disappointing past that his benefactor, Gboyega Oyetola inspired, if not worse. You don’t have to take my words for it, just take a look at the glaring mismatch of his ideas on how to go about governance and you will realise how lost or perhaps, incapable of presiding over the affairs of this state.
Let us start from the manifesto released recently by his campaign. In that policy document, Oyebamiji anchored his plan for Osun on a 7-point agenda which revolves around education, healthcare, economy, agriculture, security and infrastructure. But the troubling thing here is that, Oyebamiji did not offer anything new but rather amplified concerns that he will return Osun to the hopeless past and make a terrible mess of the current progress that the state is currently making.
Oyebamiji’s manifesto was completely the repackaging of the same failed ideas that nearly drag Osun to the ditch and inflicted unmitigated hardship on the people in the past. Reading through the manifesto revealed a mindset that is stuck in a past defined by failures and disappointments, echoing a corrosive mindset whose interest in power is not for positive impacts but to disrupt progress.
The unmistakable truth which the manifesto conveyed is that Oyebamiji will not be different from Oyetola, and knowing what the experience looked like in the past, it will be collosal for the people explore. Because, it will make no sense to expect someone who regurgitated the failed ideas that nearly ran Osun to the abyss to do anything good.
There is also the fact that some of the reasonable ideas in the manifesto are exactly what Governor Ademola Adeleke has delivered on, which the people are already enjoying. Let us be clear about something, Osun cannot afford to fall for the cheap rhetorics of the same people who plunged it into generational debt with almost nothing to show for it; who treated the welfare of the people with reckless abandon; and who abused public purse to fill their private pockets.
This is because a lot of works has gone into fixing the mess they created in the past and would be devastating to go back to that sordid past. While Oyebamiji’s offers a vague promise of “restoring dignity in public service”, the reality which Osun workers are living under Governor Adeleke is pleasant and fulfilling as a result of the priority given to their welfare.
Governor Adeleke renewed the hopes of Osun workers by implementing the financial benefits of the audio promotion given to workers by the administration, which Oyebamiji was a critical actor just as he has paid up a significant part of the 30-month half salary owed by the APC administration. Even more, Governor Adeleke restored order in the civil service by reversing an unconventional use of coordinating directors in the place of permanent secretaries, removing barriers and the confusion that the government which Oyebamiji was a part of, created in the civil service.
Unlike the ambiguous pronouncement on infrastructure by Oyebamiji, Governor Adeleke is reshaping Osun with unprecedented investment in infrastructure. In just three years, Governor Adeleke has taken so much steps to bridge the huge infrastructural deficit that the government, which Oyebamiji served in left behind, by completing abandoned road projects and building new ones.
The infrastructural landscape of major towns in Osun state such as Iwo, Ede, Ilesa, Ila Orangun have taken the turn for the better with the construction of their first-ever dual carriageways among other key road projects. In Osogbo, a 10-span Oke-Fia overhead bridge and 4-span Lameco overhead bridge built by the Adeleke administration will enhance connectivity while the Lagere overhead bridge, the first-ever in Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba origin, will connect homes and power dreams. So far, the Adeleke administration has constructed about 350 kilometres of roads in Osun, bringing not just families closer but also powering the economy of the state.
There is something off in the whole thing which Oyebamiji put out as his plan and that is the assurance that “agriculture will be positioned as a major driver of economy growth.” I say this because of what the past tells us about Oyebamiji’s commitment to delivering any result in the agricultural sector is nothing good at all. As the Managing Director of OSICOL, Oyebamiji claimed that the agency “cultivated no fewer than 1,500 hectares of cocoa with 623 hectares in Obokun and 523 hectares in Iwo” but there is little to nothing to suggest the true existence of such plantation, not to talk of bringing any benefits for the state. Even more, the APC administrations he was a part of did not buy a single tractor for 12 years, whereas, Governor Adeleke procured 31 new tractors with implements to support farming operations in the state and enhance productivity.
In education and healthcare, the tales of neglects and mismatch of the past is best captured by the sight of dilapidated public schools and degraded healthcare centres inherited by Governor Adeleke. In three years, the story has changed for the better as public school infrastructures has been upscaled and healthcare centres revamped to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard. Speaking to this success is the significant improvement that Osun has made in external examination ranking in education and earning top position in healthcare delivery in the Southwest on two consecutive years, which comes with a $1 million prize award.
Whatever his pretense, Oyebamiji has shown to be in the race for the governorship seat for no other reason but to serve as the proxy for the failed order that Osun people rejected four years ago. By echoing the situations that was prevalent under Oyetola, Oyebamiji is simply telling Osun people he will bring back the miserable past, which left workers and pensioners dejected due to poor attitude to their welfares, drained hopes with failed policies and strained economic prospect of the state through a lack of investment in critical infrastructures.
There can be no doubt that Oyebamiji as Osun governor will reverse the current trend of progress the state is making under Governor Adeleke and bring back a painful experience for Osun people as was the case in the past. We have seen with Oyetola in the past what it means to make a wrong choice and Osun cannot afford to go that route again. Oyebamiji will do a terrible job as Osun governor and he is not hiding it.
- Sarafa Ibrahim writes from Iwo, Osun state. He can be reached via neyoclass09@gmail.com
