OPEN LETTER TO THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF OYO STATE, ENGR. OLUSEYI MAKINDE, ON THE CELEBRATION OF HIS ONE YEAR IN OFFICE.
Your Excellency.
I see it as a duty to write to you during this period of celebration, as you celebrate one year in the office.
It’s expedient for me to state that this letter is birthed from my love for your administration and not out of political affiliation; being an independent political observer and currently not a card bearer of any political party can lay credence to my above-stated stance. Having studied your blueprints, I can sufficiently assert that I am someone who has deemed my thoughts wandering on the horizon of your vision to transform Oyo State and I believe in the attainment of the global standard we are trying to have in Oyo State.
I will implore your excellency to please read this with an open mind, devoid of political sentiments, as I will be discussing important issues yelling for urgent attention since the inception of this administration; To capture narrowly the views of the slogan, ”Omitutun Igbaotun” especially.
Before I proceed, I must say, that this letter also came as a result of the death of late Rt. Hon. Kehinde Ayoola, your commissioner for environment and natural resources before his death. During his lifetime, I saw him as someone who’s always putting your Excellency on the right path with insights and advice with respect to the happenings in the state. Now that he’s dead, I am afraid that your other appointees might not be able to fill that vacuum created in your cabinet; hence another reason for my letter. Your excellency, in the full glossary of the political moves on getting the vacant space filed in the current situation in our state against—- apparently, chants of “you’re doing well” has filed the political space based on the political calculations on getting new appointees. May God forgive the shortcomings of the deceased, as I commiserate with the family and Oyo State at large.
Your excellence, I must also admit that within one year, you deserve some accolades as governance is not an easy task, as such, there are a lot of things yet to be done.
Your Excellency, I will be focusing on some key areas which Environment, Education, Health, Agric, and others.
Starting with Environment, in recognition of the input of the late Kehinde Ayoola. Your Excellency, Ibadan is gradually getting back to compete in the race of becoming the dirtiest city in Nigeria. If you will recall sir, this was the position Governor Ajimobi met before he cleaned the city towards the expiration of his tenure, and it is obvious that you have inherited an ongoing project tagged “Make Ibadan Clean” (even though it was not documented, it was visible to all, during the expiration of the last administration).
To say that you have not done anything in our waste management system is an understatement, as this is evident in some pictures going around immediately you were sworn in last year. As it was circulated, your excellency and the late Ayoola had gone around packing wastes on our roads; showing the exemplary gestures expected from a readily made leader. As this been said, ever since then, the cleanness of the city is nothing to write home about. While I have interpreted the slack as a necessity which was birthed from getting the foundation right— that late, late Kehinde Ayoola was busy formulating policies and aims to see to this before death took him, I will implore your Excellency to fill the gap with another competent son or daughter of the land.
ON EDUCATION
The biting reality of the pandemic that caught the world unprepared, I must commend your Excellency on a job well done on extending learning to the air with the ‘on-air school initiative.’
I must also say that some students were secluded from the initiative, and these are people you regarded as “poorest of the poor” students of those who are not privileged to have access to electricity nor electrical or internet devices. You will agree with me that such an initiative is dead on arrival to these sets of people. Your Excellency should look into this area, as these people constitute more than one-third of our population.
Sir, during one of your interactions with students at (you need to get the name of the event center) (one event center after polytechnic of Ibadan,) you promised us that day that, representatives will form part of our Institutions governing council. I wish to remind your Excellency that this has not been fulfilled after a year.
Your Excellency, as a student with over 5 years of experience in different Institutions and who doubles as an indigene of your Excellency’s town, I might be graduating without receiving bursary or scholarship opportunity from the state government. On what the system is built on, the only direct monetary benefit students could get from the government is established in the bursary system. Unfortunately, I and many other students cannot boast of having such an impact or support from the state government despite the years spent. While I wish to remind your Excellency that it’s part of your campus promises, I also wish to inform you that it’s never late to act.
Distinguished Governor, the physical state of our public schools both primary and secondary is in need of sober reflections. My visit to some of these schools has shown that we still have a long way to go.
I visited five schools before writing this letter, while I will only share my experience in only three.
Sir, Salvation army primary school, odolagbafo Kube, and Methodist primary school, NTA, are both in their most pitiable conditions, despite their close proximity to government house, SUBEB secretariat, and Ibadan North local government secretariat.
I humbly solicit your personal visitations to the abovementioned schools, as they are 10mins drive from your lodge. The environment is not hygienic for teaching and learning, no toilet, no water system, and outdated teaching aids.
Also, I made a visit to Government College Ibadan, it’s might interest your Excellency to know that most of the projects in that were donated by their old boy. More skeptical guesses are on the current state of other schools that doesn’t have a committed Alumni base as GCI. You will agree with me, that the responsibility of government to our schools is beyond the paying of salaries.
ON HEALTH AND AGRICULTURE
I must commend the efforts of your Excellency in the fight against COVID-19.
Sir, it is of utmost necessity to remind your excellency that, our health system is far behind. Reports have it that they sometimes use lantern at Adeoyo teaching hospital and other primary health centers within the state; while I understand the numerous tasks before your Excellency, providing modern facilities to our hospitals as promised by your Excellency should not be forgotten.
Since you assumed office last year, you have embarked on some agricultural tours within and outside the State. With this been said, the State is still lagging behind.
Your Excellency, our two big farm settlement in Ijaya and Akufo needs urgent attention, our farmers still old and primitive types of equipment for farm processes under your leadership sir, and this has calculatedly limited their production span.
Findings did show also show, the real farmers that are in need of farm grants/loans were most times unable to access it. I implore your Excellency to come up with a model that will capture our real farmers in this opportunity.
In Conclusion
As I started in my first paragraph, this letter is written in good faith, as the writer is one of the progressive believers who deems your administration an era expected to transform our dear state. Also, I am only interested in the success of your administration without leaving any stone untouched.
I will be glad if all the points raised are given proper consideration for the advancement of Oyo State.
Ajani ‘Kayode is a final year student of Guidance and Counseling, Obafemi Awolowo University. He writes via ajanikayode2@gmail.com
