Indigenes of Ogo-Oluwa local government area of Oyo state, have declared support for Chief Hon. Afolabi Adejare Olayemi Silas, as he aspires to emerge the next chairman of the local government.
This was the highlight of a brief ceremony on Friday at Arowomole Peere in Ward nine, where Silas, popularly called Olaogo, hails from.
The ceremony was the presentation of the chairmanship nomination form of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) purchased by youths in the council area to him.
“We are tired of the maladministration by the incumbent chairman, many of us have suffered in his hand, any divergence of opinion from his, the person or persons are visited by his thugs, who unleash mayhem, we don’t want him again. In Olaogo, our hope is renewed,” various politicians at the event summed up their grievances.
Presenting the chairmanship nomination form on behalf of the youths, a former chairman of the local government, Hon. Sanjo Akintola, declared the form represented hope for the council area noting by that he had shown he is a man of valour.
“Until yesterday evening I regarded you Olaogo as a bulldog with a set of teeth which cannot bite but when the youth and elders of the council area came to my residence yesterday and showed me the chairmanship form they bought for you I was amazed. I was happy. I saw in the form the restoration of hope for Ogo-Oluwa. Olaogo represents sprouting of a good seed in Ogo-Oluwa and it is bound to grow,” Akintola said, amid applause.
Ganiyu Bello, a resident of the community stressed, “We are here to declare the incumbent chairman who is bent on a second term must be gotten rid of. That is why we decided to buy a form for Hon Olaogo. This project will succeed; we don’t want Seun Ojo again.”
Another speaker, a woman, lamented Peere had never benefited anything from Ogo-Oluwa local government “we have always fully supported candidates to win but we are always neglected. However, this Olaogo when we suffered an acute water shortage even though not in government provided us with borehole. If such a man is chairman he will change the narrative in Ogo-Oluwa.”
Oladiji Babasola from Ladanu ward 2 submitted, “Olaogo is a humble person, he hearkens to advice. We must support Olaogo because we don’t know where Seun is driving us; he has cancelled the meeting of the party at the local government, no ward meeting, he only summons people when he needs something. He sends thugs to beat us, we are tired of him. Let’s support Olaogo. Don’t be deceived again by Greek gifts.”
Others maintained the incumbent chairman has no record of achievements except deployment of thugs. They noted, “We want someone who will live in Ogo-Oluwa as chairman, Olaogo has built a house in this community. He is the man who will rebuild Ogo-Oluwa, we will mobilize for him.
“Information about this event only reached us this morning and look at the number of people that are gathered, from all corners of Ogo-Oluwa people are present even representatives of Fulani people you can see them, the number here is about two hundred, and it is at short notice. Olaogo is our next chairman,” they concluded.
In his comment, Olaogo, an engineer, expressed gratitude to the people of the local government for the support particularly the youth who bought the form for him, saying, “This form is about N1.3million, I will not disappoint you. Thanks everyone. The step we took today will be fruitful.”
Presently, a supervisory councilor in the local government, he praised Engr. Seyi Makinde, the Oyo state governor, remarked he had performed wonderfully well.
He alleged Hon Ojo of neither supporting the reelection bid of Governor Makinde nor the election of candidates of the PDP during the last general elections, as he believed the party would lose.
Also, Olaogo contended the chairman is intolerant, asserting, “Since he knew my interest in the chairmanship position, he had subjected me to persecution.
“I was appointed in December as supervisory councilor for mobilization and intergovernmental affairs but by April he ordered my salary and other entitlements to be stopped. He promotes thuggery. We must brace up to get rid of him. Under my administration, no ward will be neglected.”
Speaking with reporters after the event he assured he will pick the party’s ticket as he expressed surprise at the large number of people who turned out for the event, “this is reassuring,” he enthused.
