RE : ” Fack”-Checking Abegunde: A rebuttal to misleading claims about Oyo State By Kola Ajibola : Another failure of PR

By Sola Abegunde

Governor Makinde’s ” Masqurades” have been smoked out of their comfort zones yet again.

This time around, it is one Busy Body, Kola Ajibola, who claims to be a Public Affairs Analyst who was given the ” ise de toru toru” ( a difficult task).

Let me start from the caption of Ajibola’s piece.

I am sure he had wanted to write ” fact-checking” but perhaps, out of excitement to deliver on the” job”, he wrote” “Fack-Checking “.

I will take the error as corrected. It does happen to everyone.

Secondly, the use of the word” rebuttal “, for me, is inappropriate.

I read through Mr. Kola Ajibola’s piece, I did not see anywhere he claimed that he is an official of the Government of Oyo state, he never claimed to have the authority of the Governor and neither is he an official spokesperson for the Governor, so, what is he rebutting?

I will refer Mr. Ajibola to check Google at the least. The word, rebuttal is synonymous with Law.

You can not rebut without having the necessary authority to so do.

In the light of the above, I will consider Mr. Ajibola’s submissions regarding certain facts and figures as hearsays which goes to no issues.

Having said that, let me take Mr. Ajibola up on the face value of his submissions.

He started by quoting Governor Seyi Makinde directly. ( I do no know whether Governor Makinde actually said so) but I must take him for what he wrote.

He said and I quote, ” criticisms and commendations are like twins. For any meaningful progress to be made, both must exist side by side “- Seyi Makinde.

Now, if the above quotes by Ajibola is indeed Governor Seyi Makinde’s opinion of criticisms and commendations about a Government, do you now see that Kola Ajibola is indeed a Busy Body?

I am sure Eng Seyi Makinde had the above position in mind when, as an opposition figure, he took the Government of late Governor Ajimobi up persistently, criticizing almost all the policies of the late former Governor.

From the issues of non payment of salaries and pensions, to the attempts to introduce reforms in the Olubadan Chieftaincy Declaration Laws, Local Government Election and many more, Eng Seyi Makinde was persistent and vehement in taking up the Government of late Governor Ajimobi.

I hope Kola Ajibola was not in some Planet different from ours at the time.

So, on the strength of his opening quotes, Mr. Ajibola shot himself in the head.

Let us now consider the specifics in Mr. Ajibola’s submissions.

He talked about ” lies and deceits” without being specific, so, I will consider that statement as fanciful dictions aimed at impressing those who gave him the job to do.

He made heavy weather about Governor Makinde’s Roadmaps and how the Governor used to monitor feedbacks and report on some websites.

That is the problem with people like Ajibola.

Websites? What is the number of Oyo state citizens who could access Governor Makinde’s websites so as to tell him the truth and dispel the lies of ” all is well” that the likes of Ajibola tells him day in day out?

Which website did Awolowo relied upon to achieve what we are all seeing today as manifestations of good governance?

Why has Governor Makinde stopped the promised monthly briefings on Radio where, at least, a few citizens were presented with the opportunity to ask questions from the Governor?

Ajibola talked about Education and said Governor Makinde is currently running a Free Education policy in Oyo state!

Where is that happening?

He talked about distribution of free exercise books and text books.

I said it. Ajibola is living in some different Planet.

Those who have children in public primary and secondary schools in Oyo state know better than Kola Ajibola.

I do and I’m saying that such claims are lies from the pit of hell.

As a parent in Oyo public primary and secondary schools, we know what we go through.

Mr. Ajibola can continue to live in a Paradise that doesn’t exist. It is his choice.

He also talked about Governor Makinde having constructed 60 Model schools and having renovated over 700 classrooms without stating where the schools are.

I have said I will treat his submissions as hearsays but even at that, one of the issues I have consistently raised against Governor Makinde is the usurpation of the projects of the Local Governments.

I ask Mr. Ajibola, who, by the way he has spewed figures in his write up seems to be sleeping on the same bed with the Governor, to ask Governor Makinde to publish the list of the 60 Model schools built and the over 700 classrooms renovated.

That is not all, the Governor should avail the public the information about the funds spent on the projects. State or Local Government funds?

Ajibola also quoted an outrageous figure of about 400,000 as being the number of the out of school children Ajimobi purportedly left without giving information about how he came about the figure.

No qualms. This is Nigeria. You can throw up figures and no one will ask you to prove them.

He claimed that Governor Makinde has taken some 80,000 of the 400,000 back to school without also telling us how he arrived at the figure.

No problems. The question is, what is the quality of Education we are churning out now compared to what we had before Governor Makinde?

In my interview, I specifically said that under Governor Makinde, Oyo state has gone behind states like Kaduna and even Borno on the WAEC and NECO index.

This is a fact which Kola Ajibola decided to ignore.

I spoke about the fact that exam questions are now written on chalk boards because the Governor is defaulting on the promises to release grants to the public secondary schools and that parents now pay for examination papers.

Ajibola had no answers to this facts.

Regarding the freedom of Local Governments, Ajibola made a very funny submission which I think is another unforced error.

He claimed that previous Governments starting from the late Alhaji Lam Adesina were owing Local Government’s pensioners some money and that the matter was in court until Governor Makinde negotiated an out of court Settlement by agreeing to be paying the sum of N250,000 to the pensioners on a monthly basis.

Isn’t that hilarious? Like I said, maybe out of excitement, Ajibola made another error here.

The real issue however is the fact that he neglected the facts I provided about how Governor Makinde’s predecessors gave Local Governments the opportunity to operate and spend their monthly Allocations on projects within their communities with minimum interference.

He deliberately looked away from my submission about how infrastructures in the Local Governments have collapsed due to the fact that Governor Makinde has been depriving the Local Government Chairmen the funds to operate unlike his predecessors.

So, for Ajibola, the 33 Local Governments should no longer exist just because, according to him, Governor Seyi Makinde is paying Local Government pensioners N250,000 monthly!

He also talked about my accusation that Governor Makinde has used the monthly Allocations for the 33 Local Governments to obtain a Loan facility and thinks that I have no proof of such.

With due respect to Mr. Ajibola, such submission is not only petty. It is also childish.

If he doesn’t know, the onus to prove otherwise has shifted to Government.

I have made this point over and over. I have challenged Government to show us the details of the monthly Allocations for the 33 Local Governments.

I had made myself available on different Radio stations that were willing to have both myself and representatives of the Seyi Makinde Administration to debate this issue and the Government have failed on all the occassion to take the opportunity.

The documents to prove otherwise are with the Government. Why didn’t they just bring it out and let’s put a stop to this Ostrich game?

I hope Mr. Ajibola is not expecting me to produce documents in custody of the Government to prove that Governor Makinde did borrowed money using the Local Governments monthly Allocations as collateral?

Regarding the Debts profile of Oyo state, I can see the figure that Mr. Ajibola quoted. Unfortunately, I don’t know how he wants anyone to believe him.

Like I said, it is Governor Makinde who has a duty to talk to us about how much he has increased the debts of Oyo state not some funny ” Public Affairs Analyst” who didn’t ask for our votes. When the Governor responds, then, we can compare notes.

I am surprised that anyone who claims to love Governor Makinde would be proud to wake the sleeping dog on the Light Up Oyo Project, the Agbowo shopping complex and the Bus terminals.

Let me take Agbowo shopping complex first.

Ajibola claimed that the Agbowo shopping complex ” has since moved on from the failed concession agreement” and says work is going on in the complex.

With what mouth is the “Public Affairs Analyst” telling us this trash?

Or, who is disguising here telling us this nonsense?

As if the shopping Complex is a property of the Governor.

Why would anything move in the dark? When did it move? How? Where are the documents? What are the new terms?

What happened to the N5 billion Naira and the fifty years agreement?

Oga Kola Ajibola, please park well. You have no mouth to tell us this nonsense.

I don’t know if the job going on at Agbowo is going on in Kola Ajibola’s dreams. Whatever it is, the Governor owes the citizens of Oyo state an explanation on Agbowo and he must provide such explanations on his own not through some ” Public Affairs Analyst” who may never exist.

About the Light Up Oyo and the Bus Terminals, Mr. Ajibola would not want us to talk about it just because, according to him, the projects” are yielding returns”!

Light Up Oyo? Yielding returns? To who?

Anyway, my problem with the Light Up Oyo project is that it is not only a misplaced priority, it is also ill conceived.

I made it clear that the N28 billion spent on the project would have been better spent on Education, Agriculture or the Health sector.

I also have a problem with the project on the ground that Governor Seyi Makinde himself, through Wasiu Olatunbosun, his former Commissioner for Information, admitted that the contractor who handled the project failed and committed infractions on the terms of the contract, consequent upon which he promised an inquiry into the contract.

Is it too much to ask the Governor to tell us the outcome of such inquiry?

Finally, on the Bus Terminals, I agree that the project is yielding returns but does Mr. Ajibola know that the N15 billion committed to the project is a Loan?

Is he also aware that the Loan is on the necks of the Local Governments?

Is he aware that Governor Makinde admitted that those Terminals brought in a paltry N60 million monthly?

How is that good business?

With such monthly returns, when exactly will the N15 billion be paid back?

Assuming such money was spent on Education, wouldn’t it have been more beneficial?

In total, Mr. Ajibola, like others before him have done more harm than good to the image of Governor Seyi Makinde

I will once again and persistently so, like to remind the Governor that we will continue to demand for answers about his actions and inactions and thousands of Kola Ajibola will not detract us from doing exactly what Governor Seyi Makinde believes in.

Sola Abegunde writes from Eruwa