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For someone like me, a member of the opposition, I should be dancing on the ashes of the APC’s implosion in Ondo State. I should clap as Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa wrestles with Abuja shadows, tearing his own party and administration apart. But of what use is politics when development is stagnated? To what end would it be to celebrate when my dear state is forced to endure five years of retardation under a governor more obsessed with massaging his over-bloated ego than birthing a single legacy project? Power without purpose is vanity and Ondo today has been reduced to a theatre of absurd with the Governor as its main actor.
Anyone who truly loves this state would not rejoice at the bitter cold war between Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior. What ought to be a partnership for the State's progress has instead been reduced to a mere gladiatorial contest of egos. To Aiyedatiwa, BTO is not a ladder for Ondo’s advancement but a rival to be crushed, a phantom opponent in a contest yet to be declared. He has refused to leverage Tinubu's professed starboy for development and instead spends his energy fighting an “Abuja cabal” while ignoring the real battles at home. He is not angry that our cocoa wealth remains largely untapped, that our palm oil economy is not harnessed, that our coastline, the longest in West Africa, lies in waste. His fury is reserved for a hike in passport fees. Is he even aware an attack on BTO is a direct assault on the Tinubu led FG? That is the depth of our Governor’s vision for the State.
Meanwhile, governance in Ondo is now a ghost. Projects are flagged off with cameras and fanfare, and abandoned with ease. Contractors disappear, hospitals decay and schools unconducive. Just days ago, our women affairs ministry shamelessly touts Abuja’s crumbs as its scorecard. Our local governments are reduced to beggars, receiving a paltry ₦5 million out of their hundreds of millions in monthly allocations. Transparency and accountability have been buried deeper than oil wells. While you can't drive anywhere in Ondo State for 5 minutes without having to dodge a pothole, our governor is obsessed with roundabouts. Yet, the governor does not rage at this collapse. He rages instead at imaginary enemies in Abuja, driven by his fear that Bunmi Tunji-Ojo may one day contest against him.
Of a truth, I should not be surprised. I foresaw this tragedy and warned my people. This is what happens when a man stumbles upon power without clear vision, when his highest ambition was no more than a House of Reps seat until luck threw him into the Government House. Lucky Aiyedatiwa is a cosmetic governor, obsessed with optics, allergic to substance and terrified of rivals. And so I ask again, is this what Ondo needs? Surely not. Ondo needs builders, not jesters, visionaries, not gamblers. If Uncle Lucky insists on squandering his tenure trembling at the shadow of BTO while ignoring the cries of his people, then let the opposition and the people prepare the banner of rescue. After all, the only project this governor has executed with consistency is his fear of Bunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The writer goofed here. The ondo state governor is not the only governor that is deducting money from his local government. And besides, there is no cause to fight Bunmi Ojo, just that the governor may not like the minister to dictate for him.
ReplyDeleteHow can he insist on appointing three people frrom Okeagbe as GAC member when other towns in the same constituencies do not have? You have a minister, MHoR, Commissioner, SSAs and GAC members in the same town (Okeagbe) Is that a politics of inclusiveness? What happen to the other area within the same constituencies?
Generally, APC is the worst thing to have happened to Nigeria but thank God, everything has an expiry date. There is a timeline for this evil government.