Governor Makinde, Oyo Can No Longer Afford Your Recklessness | By Sola Abegunde
The major weakness of Governor Seyi Makinde is the fact that he can not operate in the midst of men of courage and principle.
Unknown to many, the Governor of Oyo state loves to be worshipped and he abhors corrections.
He is also someone who easily gets carried away in the midst of adulations, whether deserved or undeserved.
Governor Makinde has surrounded himself with enemies who parade themselves as admirers, followers and supporters just because they want to have their own bites at the cherry. These individuals will never tell him the truth, even, when they see heading towards an inferno.
On Thursday, I saw a video of the road Governor Seyi Makinde commissioned some days ago at Bodija. The video was posted on Facebook by residents of Bodija. It showed several damaged portions of the road commissioned less than two weeks ago. I will come back to this point.
I also read a News report which claimed that some indigene of Ogbomoso had petitioned Governor Seyi Makinde over an alleged allocation of the farm settlement at Ogbomoso to some developers.
The controversies surrounding the alleged allocation of the Veterinary Land at Saki West is yet to be resolved.
The controversies surrounding the sale of land at the Broadcasting Corporations of Oyo state, BCOS are still there.
That same Thursday, I read another News report which says that a faction of the Allied People’s Movement, APM, has approached the Federal High Court in Ibadan over disputes arising from the list of Chairmanship and Councilorship candidates for the December, 2026 local government election.
Again, I saw a video of Governor Seyi Makinde descending from an aeroplane at Bauchi and Bimbo Adekambi and others received him at the Airport.
The video is indeed a spectacle. It was reported that Governor Seyi Makinde and others were in Bauchi for the National Convention of the Allied People’s Movement, APM.
They want to hold a National Convention when a matter touching on the validity of the National Leadership of the party is pending at the Supreme Court!
After reading the news reports and watching the videos, I asked myself, is everything alright with the Governor?
I think not.
Unfortunately, no one around him is courageous enough to tell him the truth.
I know that Governor Makinde enjoys being in the News, but, must it always be for the wrong reasons?
I admit that he had publicly admitted to his stubborness, but, that in itself is a big problem.
There is also a very close similarities between being stubborn and being egocentric. Both are not good attributes of a Leader.
Let me go back to the video of the Bodija road.
The video captured a very disturbing picture of the road commissioned by Governor Seyi Makinde less than two weeks ago.
It showed several potholes, cracks and rough portions on the road. I listened to a woman who was pouring out her frustrations about the condition of the road.
Now, let me ask Governor Seyi Makinde, who exactly is the contractor that handled the rehabilitation of the Bodija road?
Who did such a terrible job?
Not only that, who are the experts that certified that project and accepted the standard as fit?
All of those people should be answering questions before Anti-corruption Agencies by now. Including the Chairman of Ibadan North Local Government who Governor Makinde praised to the highest heavens on the day he went for the Commissioning of the road.
It is a pity, that Governor Makinde didn’t know what he was commissioning. Unfortunately for the Governor, he chose the occasion to pass insults at unnamed opposition figures.
Will the Governor now eat his words after seeing the terrible job done by the local government chairman?
From the pictures I see on that video, that road will not last a year.
I have to say that I am not surprised at all. The same is the case with the Omi-Adio-Ido Road.
You need to go and see the the condition of that road now. It lasted less than a year before it began to have issues.
It is also the case with the Ido-Eruwa Road. I have raised alarms about the poor job being done on these roads and these are roads which cost a billion or more, per kilometer to do.
I definitely will take steps to ensure that the Chairman of Ibadan North Local Government and the contractor who handled that project render accounts before appropriate Authorities.
I also have to talk about the petition by the Egbe Omo Ogbomoso Parapo to Governor Seyi Makinde.
The petition signed by Prince Aderemi Olude, Chairman and Mr. Johnson Adekunle, Secretary of the Association, called the attention of Governor Seyi Makinde to the fact that the planned allocation of the Farm Settlement at Ogbomoso would amount to a destruction of the Legacies of the Premiers of the defunct Western Region, Chiefs Obafemi Awolowo and Ladoke Akintola.
I have to give credits to the Egbe Omo Ogbomoso Parapo for standing up in defense of their heritage. That is the proper way to go.
Sadly, the Leadership of my own Community in Eruwa embraced the Governor when he came with the idea of allocating the Eruwa Farm Settlement to some unknown entities and as I write this piece, no development has taken place on the allocated Land.
My only problem however , is that Governor Seyi Makinde is not known for giving a damn about the feelings of the host Communities in this kind of situation. ( Seyi o send). Seyi doesn’t care. That is the popular slogan when they gather to discuss these kind of resistance.
However, posterity will record the Egbe Omo Ogbomoso Parapo for standing up to the Governor, even, if he eventually goes ahead to allocate the Land in question.
I have kept asking myself, why exactly is Governor Makinde bent on selling every available Government Land?
As a Governor, you have kept borrowing at unprecedented scale. You have sold almost everything that belongs to Oyo state. You have destroyed the concepts of the Agbowo Shopping Complex and our Farm Settlements. You have kept disobeying court judgments and acting like you will be Governor of Oyo state forever.
Are all these things normal? What rational human being behaves in such manner?
Against logic and rational thinking, you took on Nyesom Wike for the control of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and lost the battle.
You decided to conduct a Local Government election in the thick of the activities for the 2027 general election and in between Christmas and New Year celebration.
A faction of the political party under which you frantically sought refuge after being displaced from the PDP has taken you to court over the selection of Chairmanship and Councilorship candidates for the local government election.
A factional National Chairman of your new party is already before the Supreme Court asking for reliefs which could have very far reaching negative consequences on your and others ambitions and yet, you were in Bauchi, receiving a caricature of a presidential welcome! I saw Bimbo Adekambi and others lined up to receive Governor Seyi Makinde, all of them, grinning from ear to ear!
Should this not call for serious concerns?
There is an enchantment Yorubas call ” efun” and another one they refer to as ” eedi”. It looks like these enchantments are already working on someone.
If not, how could a reasonable person decide to apply the same tactics he applied in the PDP in the APM, knowing fully well that when he applied the tactics in the PDP, it didn’t work?
Sadly, in all of these, Oyo state is the loser.
Governor Seyi Makinde is not deploying his personal resources in the pursuit of his personal endeavors. It is the resources of Oyo state that is being bled to sustain the Governor’s numerous battles.
Unfortunately, this state can no longer sustain these multiple recklessness.
Interestingly, Governor Makinde and his followers wouldn’t want us to talk about these recklessness.
A gentleman on a Whatsapp platform told me recently that he would love to have my thoughts on the situation in Osun state.
I deliberately decided not to respond to his post.
Why would I leave the fire in my state to keep burning while poking my nose in the affairs at Osun state?
Let the people in Osun battle for their survival. The survival of Oyo state is paramount to me and that is not to say that I am happy about the reported bloodshed in Osun state.
Sola Abegunde.