Governor Seyi Makinde Beware The Ides Of March
Most people do not realise that the Ides of March has a non-threatening history. Kalends, Nones and Ides were ancient markers used to reference dates in relation to lunar phases. Ides simply referred to the first new moon of a given month, which usually fell between the 13th and 15th. In fact, the Ides of March once signified the new year, which meant celebrations and rejoicing. However, the soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare play has not only branded the phrase, it also marked the phrase as a dark gloomy warning of eminent danger. In relation to Oyo State politics and the GSM factor, it is important that GSM is wary of all the hangers on around him. Some are appointed close allies and others are friends. GSM needs to investigate and carry out enhanced due diligence on some of these allies who follow him around. Some of these people are so far from reality that they believe they are GSM supporters, but their personal greed, arrogance and outright wickedness has become a major issue for the GSM brand. These people have directly and indirectly enriched themselves over the last three and a half years. The actions are a direct contradiction to the position which GSM himself tries to project to the masses. Governor Seyi Makinde presents himself as a man of the people, a man accountable to the people, a man that loves the people and a man ready to fight corruption. It is however so sad that there are a couple of major cases of corruption and financial mismanagement going on right under his nose. No one is sure if his is unaware, aware but likely scenarios or what then is the reason for the creating OYACA which is an agency established by the virtue of the Oyo State Anti-Corruption Agency cy Law, 2019. The activities of OYACA would plug revenue leaks in the government purse and stop the act of mismanagement of office by public office holders and government workers. Till date, there has never been a record of prosecution of any high profile case in the state. From what we see, GSM appears to be ‘unaware’, at least from his words and sometimes even his body language. His Excellency talks about the improvement of education in the claims that things are better than they were before he came into office state. Same in Health, Education and Security. However, the facts on ground do not appear to agree with his statements. HEALTH A good example is the Medical Outreach by Omituntun Initiative in the Diaspora (OID) and Seyi Makinde Volunteer in partnership with the Oyo State Ministry of Health held last December, 2022 in Adamasigba Stadium, with many state officials, hangers on and allies attending for the photo opportunity. In a State where Billions of Naira has been spent to supposedly rehabilitate the primary health centre (about 350 of them) across the state, you will think the government will partner with the sponsors of the Medical Outreach to publicise the rehabilitated primary health centres. Really the sensible thing to do would have been to use several primary health centres as venues of the outreach, thereby show casing the work of the government. They used the stadium, brought in several government officials and allies and then supposedly donated medical supplies to the state ministry of health. The question that should be asked is that if these government had improved the health facilities and health awareness, such outreach would not be necessary. Such programmes should be run by the opposition not the ruling party. We are all familiar with the usual practice of politicians seeking attention to carry out such programmes in other to get noticed in their efforts to be considered for a position in the future. In the area of health there was more audio work done than in real life. However, GSM can provide facts and figures, pictures by going to campaign in front of several of the rehabilitated and functioning primary health centres. EDUCATION In the area of education, at the primary level there are no obvious changes, GSM’s cancellation of the NGN3000.00 paid by the students is the major change at secondary level. Regarding education, there seems to be a whole lot of noise at the tertiary level. This however can be associated with the acquisition of the sole ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso. Rehabilitation of old buildings is currently ongoing at several Polytechnics across the State. Oyo State they claim is becoming the centre of higher education. Even though they started poorly due to the initial choice of a commissioner in the ministry which was a colossal disaster. This is a man that is not known to have run any major organisation before becoming commissioner, and as such his tranfer or should we say demotion to the Ministry of Establishment became imminent. He was later moved to Ministry of Works (A Professor of Statistics) ? The people of the State particularly Ibadan can attest to his incompetence going by the state of the roads in the ancient city. Although, there are several major road projects going on in the State reliable source claim the Governor is directly handle these ‘deals’. And we are going to really do business going forward, we are better start by meaning them with right appointments in rightful positions. SECURITY In the area of security, there has been a couple of high-profile robberies, kidnappings, murders, and thugs going on rampage in the State under this government. Reliable sources also point to the obvious fact that a certain individual who can be considered as a major security risk is a close ally of the government and a regular visitor to the Governor’s house. The Amotekun security outfit championed by the Governor are poorly trained and there has been a few allegations of members being involved in crime. This will remain a problem until the government understand the importance of enhanced vetting of
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