Osun state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described criticism of its government’s multi-billion naira infrastructure plan by the state’s All Progressive Congress APC) as “unpatriotic, reprehensible and a display of anti-development anti-people politics for which the opposition is known for”
Responding to an ill intentioned statement from the opposition, the State Chairman of the PDP, Hon Sunday Bisi chided the APC for playing politics with “a development agenda that is widely adjudged to be commendable, long overdue, sustainable and very paramount to the economic revival of our dear state.
” Reading through the APC statement, we see a party that is in bewilderment and severe pain at the ingenuity, innovation, and financial engineering of the Adeleke governorship. We see a bunch of rejected politicians who cannot fathom the depth of strategic thinking that produced the crafting of an ambitious infra plan carefully put together with an eye on sustainability and multiplier effect on expansion of state economy and well being of pur people.
The PDP government inherited a state with over 95 infrastructural deficits as at November 2022. Our internal state infra audit when PDP took over revealed that the infrastructural decay cut across all sectors education, health, roads, water, among others. We then developed an initial emergency plan that led to the complete renovation of 31 schools, 45 kilometers of roads, 332 functioning boreholes, commencement of rehabilitation of water works, rewarding intervention in the health sector and major actions on such roads as Osogbo-Ikirun and the Osogbo ring road among others.
Despite the accomplishments of the last 11 months, our government under Senator Ademola Adeleke decided to address the infra crisis in a more holistic way, hence the infra plan. We invite the APC to drop its poverty mindset, which limited its thinking and plan for the state when it was in power.
We call on the APC to read the full speech of Mr. Governor in which he spelt out the strategies, the projects, the funding plans, and sources of such funding. The APC should get educated that not all Governors are interested in diverting public funds, as was the practice when the opposition holds sway.
The opposition, while admitting that the Governor said funding will be without loans, was still confused on how such funds will be generated because under the APC government, its leaders lacked basic understanding of financial innovation and re-engineering. That lack of capacity under the past APC government was deepened by greed and overriding motive of self-enrichment and lack of genuine empathy for the immediate, short, medium, and long term well being of our people.
Let’s ask the shadowy APC chairman in what way is the renovation of schools, upgrade of health centers, provision of water projects, dualisation of roads and utility-driven flyovers to prevent accidents and save lives phony and white elephants projects?
On sources of funding, the Governor told the state clearly that he has created a project account into which savings from leakages, refund, and infra related interventions are lodged. He also narrated belt tightening measures as the government is being run on shoestring budget such that up till now the state cabinet members have no official vehicles. The past APC government left with all functional state vehicles after their defeat last year.
We also find it curious that the balkanised APC leadership is so uneducated as not to understand the nexus between infrastructure upgrade and economic development of the state. In this 21st century, it is a shame that the opposition does not know that such infra plans generate jobs, boost local SMEs, expand the state economy, drive inflow of investment and improve the livelihood and health of our people.
Even more curious is the refusal of the APC to acknowledge that the PDP government is clearing its mess of infra deficit, half salary, and pension debt while at the same time paying monthly salaries of workers regularly. By addressing pension and half salary issues, Governor Adeleke is already handling palliative issues even outside distribution of food items as there is a close link between the formal and informal workforce in the state.
For opposition that is married to fake news, let us clarify that only Two Billion Naira was received for palliatives and Seven Billion Naira for Infrastructure intervention. The N7 billion is a drop in the ocean of over one hundred billion naira the state is to spend on infrastructure. Nonetheless, the Seven Billion Naira is saved in the State Project Account.
The party is also happy to announce that the State Government is already in negotiation with the workers on the new minimum wage. The PDP government is not an anti- workers’ party like the state APC. The workers know their friends and allies
Before unveiling the infra plan, Governor Adeleke told the party, and I quote him as follows: ” The task of the leader is to think big, bigger than the present state of your society. Osun is the cradle of Yoruba nation, we must not allow the legacy of bad governance of the past to hold us hostage. A new Osun that has transited into an agro-industrially developed state with modern infrastructure and a healthy and functionally educated population is our dream. Let us go for it.”
It is true that a thief thinks everybody is a thief. Many anti-people leaders believe everybody should be against the people. But several exceptions exist. For the PDP government, our Governor is a blessed leader from an exceptionally blessed pro-people family, and his major focus is to deliver a legacy of hope, development, and collective prosperity for our people.
