Makinde: The making of a great leader

In the face of inhumanity,

A good man reacts

A great man acts

……James Rollins (Sigma Force N8)

MAY 29, 2019 was a different day in Ibadan. The crowd at the Liberty Stadium was unprecedented. All the areas roundabout were in a total lockdown as party enthusiasts, public-spirited citizens and groups took over the streets for as far as the eyes could see. They came to witness the inauguration of the omi tuntun exponent, Oluseyi Makinde, as the new governor of Oyo State. He had won a massive victory at the polls relying on a rainbow coalition of political groupings and the man on the street to deliver a tremendous verdict on the outgoing regime. The victory was total, the determination was unmistakable. Market women underscored the yearning by inventing catch phrases: Seyi re daa? Seyi mi ree! The crowd on inauguration day was massive, vociferous and almost unmanageable.

A fear clutched at my heart: How on earth would the new governor meet the expectations of this mammoth crowd? How would he assuage the yearnings and hunger of these believers?

I recall here the brilliant words of a Ghanaian author, “greatness lies not in leading a people, but in being the cause of their happiness.”

Seyi responded tremendously. He abolished school fees and promised to pay workers by the 25th of every month among others. Detractors sniggered it was mere inauguration oratory to be binned in a few months as the government was expected to get back to the old tracks laid by the regimes of the past.

A year later, after crises and even pestilence, this gentleman has kept faith. The Seyi Makinde flag still flies so beautifully in the sky. Even when the whole world lay prostrate at the grip of a pandemic, Makinde made good his promises. He showed humility and sought forgiveness when he tripped. He cut the remunerations of his officials and reduced expenses to keep to his promises. To him, the governed come before the government. He has kept the faith.

In one year, Makinde showed that education comes first, as it is naturally the vortex of civilisation. It is the great catalyst of development. Obafemi Awolowo, one of Nigeria’s finest politicians, saw this and started a free education scheme. His place in history is assured by that singular feat among many others. Governor Makinde grew up in one of Ibadan’s neighbourhoods and saw how education was a sure catalyst in the trajectory of his life. He became an engineer and world class business man. He also saw that education should be at the heart of any scheme of social engineering especially in South-West Nigeria. What he met was a pathetic system.

Over 400,000 school kids had left school prematurely due to the burden of school fees. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), the famous university at Ogbomoso, was in a state of near collapse, no thanks to a perennial struggle over responsibility and liability between the two owner states of Oyo and Osun.

Makinde got elected on the ticket of hope; hope that he would return the educational system to its pride of place. And he did not disappoint. School fees were abolished in all state primary and secondary schools. A compendium of past questions were was compiled by the State government and distributed to senior secondary school students as part of a determined push to improve the pass rate of Oyo State students at the WAEC and NECO exams. To Governor Makinde, there is no alternative to excellence. Over 1.2 million text books and exercise books were also distributed to senior secondary students. That was not all. He paid handsome grants to the tune of N526 million per term as imprest to primary and secondary schools to eliminate the possibility that the schools would lack operating funds.

At least, five teachers and school heads who still imposed fees in various guises were disciplined. As a result, the streets became shorn of its army of dropouts and illiterate apprentices. The kids are back in school.

From these interventions will surely rise many scholars and professionals of the future. But Makinde was not finished yet. He also approved the appointment of almost 10,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel to fill the various vacancies in primary and secondary schools.

LAUTECH, the great citadel of learning, now has a breath of fresh life. Outstanding dues have been remitted to the school and the scholars went back to class with energy until COVID-19 struck.

Security is the nerve of organised society. Makinde took this point to heart and embraced the challenge frontally. Former Lagos State police chief was appointed adviser on security in one of the many moves of the government that point to the seriousness it attaches to the security of lives and property. 100 cars were procured for effective policing in the state. Every nook and cranny of the state is covered by these patrols. These fast white cars are present everywhere giving the necessary coverage. The result is that Oyo State has existed without any major security incident for one year.

One other security challenge Makinde had was the trouble of rampant cases of kidnapping and attacks on the farming populace by cattle rearers. This was suspected to be the work of miscreants from a different part of the country. The existing police structure seemed grossly incapable of addressing the problem for obvious political reasons. It was a problem felt throughout the South-West. Mrs. Yemi Olakunri, the daughter of Yoruba leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, was murdered by suspected Fulani killers. South-West was left with no option than to respond to the supreme challenge. Then, the Amotekun corps was born. It is a South-Western security outfit that has sent jitters down the spines of the bandits and their sponsors. Makinde donated 37 hilux vehicles to the outfit. The Yoruba leopards are now in various nooks of Yorubaland headed by the former head of Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), Brigadier-General Kunle Togun. Makinde is in the vanguard of that highly popular initiative

The Adeoyo State Hospital had been an eyesore for a long time. An observer described this premier government medical institution as a mechanic workshop. Governor Makinde began and completed the overhaul of the radiology lab and rebuilt the roads within the hospital that housed huge craters. The environment of the hospital now wears a facelift. Aside these, the Primary Health Care system in the state, which according to the Executive Secretary of the Public Health Commission (PHC), Dr. Muideen Olatunji, had been neglected for around two decades, is being reformed, with the rehabilitation and equipment of Public Health Centres (PHCs) in Oranyan and Eyin Grammar, Ibadan and Aafin Oyo in Oyo and the promise to touch every local government in the next three years.

Power has always been the Achilles’ heel of industry in Nigeria. The robust plan to introduce a robust system of alternative power was announced early this year. It is an ambitious plan to introduce solar power for two million households in a project spearheaded by the government.

The present COVID-19 pandemic has blighted general economic and infrastructural plans worldwide. Governor Makinde took a quick glance and realised that sacrifices were necessary to address the pandemic and sustain the administration of the state. While other states were eyeing civil servants’ salaries, Makinde and his army of willing hands accepted deep cuts to their emoluments and running costs rather than passing the buck to the civil service. The state House of Assembly accepted a 30 per cent salary cut, while executive political appointees took 50 percent cuts. Running grants were also affected. As the state faced the COVID-19 challenge, the 100-bed medical facility at Olodo was upgraded to treat COVID-19 cases while other steps were introduced to address the plague.

Selflessness, sacrifice and a keen eye for the goals have been the hallmark of the Makinde-led administration. Governance in the state is no longer business as usual. It has become ‘business as usual.’ Hearty congratulations to an unusual leader who serves with a clear vision and honest purpose.

• Ogunwusi, former Editor of the Nigerian Tribune, is a legal practitioner.

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