By Segun Showunmi
When the all-inclusive, now clearly cosmetic, slow to settle, uninspiring administration of HE Dapo Abiodun started, I had suspected that the idea was, perhaps, to cage all potentially divergent opinions and strong voices in Ogun. I have now become satisfactorily convinced that an awkward situation of catastrophic proportion is before all lovers of our dear state.
I had penned a harmless note to encourage Mr. Governor and his bootlickers on the need to inject some speed to governance in his own interest, in the interest of our dear state and her good people. I thought that as concerned indigenes, we owed him the duty of waking him up from slumber, and pointing his attention to the fact that, while his colleagues were busy settling down to their jobs like they would hand over tomorrow, he started out on a needless Thanksgiving parade, going from one church to the other, giving testimonies, from Redeemed, to Deeper Life, to London, not leaving out all other small altars.
After three months, I thought that the 100 days mark had been missed, but felt that, perhaps, our Governor needed more time to convince right thinking Ogun indigenes that he was up to the task. I watched and listened to numerous people, mostly within his all-inclusive joke, complain and throw their hands in the air in utter disgust for what had befallen them, in terms of what has now unfolded to be an ill-thought-out scam that seems to hold no real promise after six months.
I reasoned that before he would get stuck on one spot, even before taking the very first important step, it was a patriotic duty to admonish and encourage stakeholders to step in and aid him where necessary. To this end, I compared his activities in the first six months, to those of three former governors. I’m not surprised that sycophants who clearly have refused to see beyond their noses, while scrambling for whatever crumbs would fall from the coalition table, did not claim that the Dapo Abiodun government had performed better than the Olusegun Osoba administration, nor had they the guts to claim they had a chance of comparing themselves to Daniel.
I, however, notice that the shameless lot picked on their immediate successor in the most careless and unstrategic manner, forgetting that Senator Ibikunle Amosun governed Ogun State on the platform of the same APC that gave birth to the Dapo Abiodun government. Well, this shows the kind of thinking caps the narrative managers of the current Governor have on their heads. This already explains why, rather than face governance, they place unnecessary, difficult-to-manage burdens on themselves without a clear direction of governance.
Was I in Amosun’s government that I would tell a lie as to what we observed? I repeat with every sense of seriousness that, within the period under review, Amosun had performed far far better than Dapo Abiodun. Just take the bios of Amosun’s commissioners, and you would agree that he was prepared for governance long before he won the election, with his ability to get such good hands to work with in record time, without having to hire an unending list of strange bed fellows to engage in a fruitless moonlight dance without drums.
I ask again, in spite of the list of phony achievements released by his handlers, what exactly is delaying Dapo Abiodun? Or would he want Nigerians to believe he inherited a state of things different from the usual in this clime? Did our Governor inherit the security crisis in Zamfara? Even Governor Mattawalle has since settled down to real business. Or has he forgotten that ‘Constituted Authority’ in Ibadan did not exactly leave Seyi Makinde with a perfect system? Just to remind them, Oyo State indigenes, and Nigerians at large, are the ones giving their appreciation of Makinde’s approach to governance. So, when did our dear Ogun State become this rudderless?
Mr. Governor claims he created a job portal. This is sickening. Come on, that cannot, with due respect, be listed as an achievement in Ogun. To borrow Ibikunle Amosun’s slogan, this is below our Ogun standard.
He claims he is renovating a block per school. Is that not silly? Systemic thinking would have suggested that you finish a few schools before going to others. In case the incompetent fellows do not know how to score good points here, I would recommend the model used by Rauf Aregbesola in Osun; that is if they are not too proud to learn.
He claims he is sharing money under some dubious arrangements termed okowo Dapo. He might please do himself a favour and ask OGD how the model of cooperative and community development was done; and I would particularly encourage him to ask about the matching grant scheme, so that he would stop irritating us, the good people of Ogun State, with laughable claims of achievements that are in no way near the ‘A’ standards we are used to.
He claims he bought cars for the Police. The last time I checked, the profiteering venture has been lying waste on the grounds of the arcades for months. It will be news if he has delivered them to the Police. Even a Simpleton knows the kind of financial pressure that may tempt the Governor to run a “me and my cronies” government for a few months. But running this kind of government for six months? It is definitely unacceptable to any freeborn Ogun indigene, not minding those waiting on his never coming appointments.
He claims he has been given numerous awards. Well, good luck to him and those awarding him for non-peformance. As far as we can see, everything has virtually come to a standstill since Amosun left office as Governor. With the kindergarten steps taken so far by his administration, Dapo Abiodun has almost made a magician out of Amosun because of what appears as his crass incompetence.
As for my note to Ogun Stakeholders, I believe the message is very clear. Governance must be engaged and questions must be asked. One thousand Dapo Abioduns and his lickspittles can never silence the critical voices in Ogun State.
On this note, I would say: see you in another three months. At least, by then, Mr. Governor, it would have been nine months of your government. Let’s hope the situation would have changed. But just in case you find out that you do not have the capacity to administer a state as sophisticated as Ogun, it would not be too late to throw in the towel. We will use the doctrine of necessity to swear in either your deputy governor or the Speaker. I trust that Oluomo will be far more purposeful than this joke going on in Ogun under the watch of HE Dapo Abiodun.
