DA: Noiseless Excellency But Excellent Achievements (I)

Action they say, speaks louder than words. In governance, majority don’t believe in too many words but actions and results. The Execution and implementation of the will of a State is far beyond talking around the street, making promises that would never be fuldied in years time or walking from Itoku to Sapon, from Sapon to ijebu, from Ijebu to Imeko but the ability of any Governor to ensure Equity and Inclusiveness, making sure that members of the State feel included and empowered to improve or maintain their well being, especially those individuals and groups that are the most vulnerable.

Touching people’s lives positively is more honourable than most of those things we often make as our major expectations in governance. Good governance should solely not be centered or concentrated on construction of fly-overs and demolition of Citizens’ properties for expansion of roads and all that. Though, these are physical infrastructural parts of it. However, we should appreciate any government who directly invests in human capital. Many in government love to make noise on insubstantial achievements to deceive people but only few are noiseless with excellent achievements. One of these noiseless ones with unbeatable achievements is His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun MFR, Governor of Ogun State and I will like to highlight some of his achievements in less than one year in office.

Similarly, as a people, we need to change some of our orientations as regard governance. To identify a good governance is not until we see government bulldozers in town demolishing our properties before we can feel the presence of any government. Many of these demolitions and constructions are fake and not relevant. Why is it that only roads of areas where properties will be distroyed are being reconstructed or dualised by some governors? This happens because these areas remain the ‘cash cow’ centres for such governors to steal and embezzle money.

If for instance, about 1000 buildings were demolished, each building will be recorded for on paper, a certain amount of money for compensation but which will either not be given to the properties’ owners or give some, half of the compensating money while some with no payment. This is what many of our governors do to deceive us while we clap for them. What about ”Human Capital Development”? This is as important as life. Any Governor found to be doing this, should be applauded not the deceitful ones. Hence, a big reason to further appreciate a Governor in the South West Nigeria, His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun MFR of Ogun State. This does not mean the Governor is also not investing in infrastructure but he’s not vandalizing properties. Note, this appreciation is as result of personal critical performance evaluation of the Governor by the writer.

Governor Dapo Abiodun like I wrote in my privious article, is not just a man but a gem. When this gem resumed to office in May 2019, one of the first assignments he embarked on was to reinstate and giving life back to Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, MAPOLY. …education is not a right but part of social policies. It will be recalled that privious administration had introduced a policy to replace Mapoly with Ogun Poly, Ipokia, and created MAUSTECH. As a result, this had generated much heat and drastically reduced the well being of the people involved. The lecturers, could no longer get their full salaries, the economy of Ojere, Panseke, Adigbe and other nearby areas was seriously affected.

Landlords could no longer smile to the bank like before etc. This is because the cetadel of learning could not admit students and that’s where they generate money they use to sponsoring the institution. Thank God for Governor Abiodun for ordering that the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta should revert to status quo ante with full academic activities restored and further set up a committee to determine the way forward for the new institutions and recommend operational modalities for these institutions after interfacing with stakeholders in the education sector. Having done this, the Governor said in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Kunle Somorin, that “the development became necessary due to the fact that the state-owned Moshood Abiola Polytechnic had been in comatose since the Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology and Ogun State Polytechnic were created”.

Wow; what a human oriented Governor! Today, I can tell you life has fully returned to MAPOLY. Lecturers are happy, students are rejoicing Landlords are making money, businesses in the area are growing. What is more excellent than this achievement? Recently, the good hearted Governor, approves the rehabilitation of the institution road.
Before now, some of our public primary and Secondary schools in Ogun State were nothing to write home about. As part of efforts to revamp the education sector and the plan of Governor Abiodun to rehabilitate schools that were dilapidated while others would be rebuilt, he embarked on Schools rehabilitation and made it ”yellow roof schools” across the State.

At least, faces of about 236 public schools, (primary and Secondary) have been changed to standard. Our Pupils and students can by now, learn in a good and conducive environment. The massive renovation was as a result of having a Governor with human feelings. The non iron yellow colored roof schools ‘re sighted in all wards of the State. Meanwhile, that’s just the first phase, the renovation continues.

In addition, about 1,500 teachers has also been recruited by the State Government. These teachers according to the Special Adviser on Primary and Secondary education, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, will be called for their appointment letters anytime soon. That is for the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB while the good Governor has ordered for same recruitment in the secondary Schools across the State where over 1000 teachers will be recruited. Do we know how many people that will benefit from all these giant moves of the State Governor? Of course yes we do! Students and pupils in the rural areas will have teachers to teach them unlike what they used to have. 2 or 3 teachers in a school! Even, the new teachers employed will be happy too. They will have money to take care of themselves and their families. The Governor is also giving best students of every higher institution in the State be it federal or State, automatic employment. All these Mr Governor is doing are life changing achievements.

In order to reduce unemployment, Youth development and empowerment is important and should be seen as indispensable to any serious government. Because of the love Governor Abiodun has for the youth and his belief in the teaming youths, through the office of the Special Adviser on Youth and jobs creation, creates a well designed platform where data of all unemployed youths in Ogun State can be collected.

Ogun job portal was designed to register on continuous basis, employed and unemployed youths in the State with a view to providing them jobs and training opportunities suitable for their trade and academic qualifications. On this job portal, the youths have enjoyed different job opportunities such as, Oko-Owo Dapo empowerment initiative, anchor borrower’s programme, women empowerment Programme, closa agent empowerment programme, SUBEB requirements, TESCOM recruitment and many more. Presently, the Special Adviser on Youth and jobs creation to the Governor, Mr Lekan Olude has also announced that individuals and companies will benefit from “direct Labour initiative” of the government on numerous projects spread across the 20 Local Government Areas of the State under the supervision of the Ogun State Ministry of Works and public work agency. It has been long we enjoyed this last in Ogun State. This is another excellent performance with no noise attached.