Circular Road : Makinde’s Greek gifts remedy for the controversial 500 metres corridor

By Sola Abegunde

I listened very carefully to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state  while addressing protesters who had beseiged the Oyo state Government Secretariat, Ibadan for a couple of days now.

I had thought that after playing around some blame games, where he attempted to put the decision of the 500 metres corridor on the late Governor Ajimobi, he would announce that the 500 meters corridor have been withdrawn and reverted to the generally accepted 150 metres marked by the late Governor Lam Adesina, but he did not and I am not surprised.

In fact, I would have been surprised if he had done that.

There is so much at stake within those marked corridors and the Governor won’t ever want to let go of such a sumptuous opportunity.

Let me first deal with the attempts by Governor Makinde to push the blame on late Governor Ajimobi.

Sometimes, those in positions of Authority in this country thinks the rest of us are fools.

I do not disagree with Governor Seyi Makinde that Ajimobi might have actually set a 500 metres corridor for the Circular Road project, I must however quickly add that I also do not believe him verbatim because, except for his words, there is nothing as evidence that I have seen to prove that Ajimobi actually did so.

Sadly, the person in question is no more and could not defend himself.

Even at that, assuming Ajimobi actually set the corridor at 500 metres the as against the 150 metres late Lam Adesina left it, what stopped Governor Seyi Makinde from reverting to the 150 metres set by Lam Adesina?

How many of late Governor Ajimobi’s policies have been reversed by Governor Makinde?

Did he not reverse the payment of the one thousand Naira per pupil per term policy of Ajimobi on his very first day in office?

How many contracts awarded by Ajimobi has he cancelled?

Did he not cancel the contract for the Moniya/Iseyin Road and even increased the contract sum?

What of the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration Laws?

Governor Makinde was and is still at liberty to reverse the 500 metres corridor allegedly set by Ajimobi.

The decision not to reverse it is his own choice and he, not Ajimobi should be held responsible.

Now, to his proposed remedy.

It is apparent that the Governor is not sincere in letting go of the marked corridor and I must warn that whosoever chose to believe his words does so at risk.

I will quote some words of the Governor.

Governor Makinde said and I quote ” those who are marking for demolition shouldn’t have been doing so”. ” Awe kan so pe outside the 150 metres, there are over 4,000 ( 400,000) buildings, that is a lie” ( I put 400,000 in brackets because I couldn’t hear the exact figure due to poor reception from the radio). He continued ” let us do the enumeration now, not up to the figure quoted”. ” As at today, any house, already built shall not be demolished but those who are yet to build shouldn’t now rush to start building “.

The Governor also talked about “density”.

A careful analysis of the above statements from the Governor shows that the Governor is not willing to let go of the 500 metres corridor as it were.

So, why push the blame on Ajimobi?

Why not own up and accept responsibilities?

The question is, what does the Governor want to do with the spaces within the 500 metres corridor that are yet to be built and the areas he considered as low in density?

The answer is not far away. Those areas would be sold out to Estate Developers.

I wrote a story about the Circular Road corridor some days ago and I think Governor Seyi Makinde just confirmed my observations.

When he said “those who were marking for demolitions shouldn’t have been doing so”, what exactly was he trying to put across?

Who sent those ones there in the first place?

Was it also late Governor Ajimobi?

He kept saying that his Government is the Government of the people. Yet, he wants to take away their possessions and give it to Estate Developers!

It is more than too late for Governor Makinde to shift the blames about whatever is happening at the Circular Road on a dead man.

It is his cross to carry and carry it he must.

So, what does the Governor mean when he said those who are yet to build should not rush to start building?

Is he not implying that their portion of land is gone?

Why the double standards?

Mr. Governor Sir, the only way out is just for you to do as you did with the Moniya/ Iseyin Road, the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration Laws and many other policies of Ajimobi that you reversed and or cancelled.

When Governor Ajimobi processed a loan to build some roads but was unable to access the loan before you took over, didn’t you approach the Oyo State House of Assembly to divert the loan on Agri-business?

How long did it take you Sir, to come up with another gazette that conforms with your own ideas of the new Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration Laws which is distinct from that of Ajimobi?

Like I said, it is more than too late to blame late Governor Ajimobi for the 500 metres corridor.

You claim to be the friend of the ” mekunnus” and the listening Governor who does things with ” human face”.

More than ever before, this is the time to prove it, my Dear Excellency.

Sola Abegunde writes from Eruwa