Honourable Olatunbosun Oyintiloye is the Special Adviser to the Osun State governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, on Civic Engagements. In this interview by ADEOLU ADEYEMO, he speaks on the policies, programmes and other activities of the government. Excerpts:
The Oyetola administration in Osun State has been described by some people as considerate while others say it is not. What is your take on this?
In every polity, there will be divergence of opinions because it is woven into every sphere of human activity. However, the truism is that “minority will have their say while the majority will have their way”. This is why in a democratic setting everyone is entitled to their opinion whether genuine or otherwise, but the position of the majority will always have to stand against that of the majority. Stating the obvious, the administration of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has been entirely considerate not only in formulating policies which positively impact lives but also in its ability to take government back to the people in form of feedback mechanism.
Governor Oyetola has committed his administration to making policies and programmes for improved citizens’ welfare. Upon assumption of office, he took it as a first point of duty to implement priority projects which directly touch lives, having considered the demands of the people during his “thank you tour” and as encapsulated in the DFID Citizen-Based Assessment Report. Based on the aforesaid, he made sure he restored prompt and full payment of workers’ salary which has been a point of agitation by the state workforce. As a responsible government, Oyetola’s administration embarked on massive upgrade of 332 primary health centres (PHC’s), some selected comprehensive health centres and all general hospitals across the state to give proximate advantage to people in a bid to access quality health facilities at all levels.
I will state it emphatically that there is no ward in the state that you won’t find a fully upgraded health centre (at a focal point) with necessary medications, equipment and manpower. As a considerable government which drives its policies along people’s demands, Oyetola’s administration has taken a bold step to review the state’s education policy in a bid to return the state’s education structure to the national standard based on the yearnings and aspirations of the masses.
With the foregoing efforts of Governor Oyetola, it is clear that his administration is charitable and anyone who holds contrary opinion holds such against the obtainable fact.
The state government claimed to have offset outstanding debts of the state pensioners but some pensioners still recently non-payment of 30 months of their pension arrears. How do we reconcile this?
The protest was hinged on the debts of half salary which they were owed during the last administration in the state. For avoidance of doubt, our government in the last administration was resolute to offset them even before its expiration, but financial constraints obviously militated against the will. Believing government is a continuum, the present administration had long ago inherited the responsibility of both government assets and liabilities, as he had an agreement with the labour unions to attend to the issues of arrears as soon as there is an improvement on the state’s financial strength. It is on record that Governor Oyetola has been considerate to the state workforce as he takes their welfare as priority. He ensured that prompt and full salary payment was restored upon assumption of office. I believe the issue of arrears will not be an exception as well.
Many workers in the state teaching service, who received their promotion letters on the 30th of September 2014 during the last administration, alleged that the state government had cancelled the use of the promotion letter to pay some workers’ salaries after it had used it to pay them for two months already. Does this not amount to fraud?
What happened shouldn’t be equated to fraudulent practice. Many factors could have precipitated for such a step. It will however interest you to know that that has been used to give double promotion to the workers in 2018. Beyond this, Oyetola’s administration has re-engaged the retrenched staff in the state’s teaching service as well as offering them “consolation”; an arrangement whereby the number of years spent during the appointment relief will still count for them.
How would you describe the activities of your office since its inception and what is your office doing in making governance felt in all the nooks and crannies of the state?
Seriously speaking, the activities of the civic engagement office have been awesome and productive within a short period of its creation. As an interfacing institution between the government and the people, we have been able to take the bull by the horns through our series of engagement meetings, programmes and activities. Specifically, all strata of the society have felt the existence of inclusiveness and sense of belonging in the administration of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
Within almost four months of establishing civic engagement, the engagement framework of my office has captured all social clusters of people in the state. The informal workers, the non-indigenes, the formal workers, traditional and community leaders, religious leaders, civil societies, etc. have all been made to feel the inclusiveness. It will interest you to know that, not less than 70 groups and communities have been engaged in a bid to have their feelers about government policies and programmes as well as allowing them lend their voice about their yearnings and aspirations which will inform the decision and policy making process of the government.
Many people in the state believe that your government did not distribute all the palliative items received during the COVID 19 lock down. How true is this?
The narratives being pushed in the public domain that COVID 19 palliative meant to be distributed for the masses were hoarded is not just inaccurate but a ruse. It was orchestrated by agents of doom to reduce the acceptability and political clout of Governor Oyetola. A lot of information circulating in the social media needs to be fact-checked. In Osun State, there were three phases of relief package distribution to ameliorate the needs of the teeming population, especially the vulnerable citizens. The first phase was fully sponsored by the state government which was efficiently distributed to the targeted population. The second phase was equally facilitated by the state government through the constitution of COVID-19 relief committee which included some distinguished personalities and well- meaning indigenes of the state. It must also be clearly stated that the third phase was sponsored by public-spirited organisation, corporate bodies and private individuals known as CACOVID whose activities are centralised. The total control the body has on the relief materials to have its name “CACOVID” inscribed on all the items is a vindication that Osun State government and other affected states did not hoard the palliative items. The distribution of CACOVID palliative could not commence until after the flag-off by the group that provided them. Of course it wouldn’t be appropriate for Osun to distribute the relief package since the food items had no direct bearing on the state government as they are within the purview of the food and relief committee. It must also be noted that the only significant role played by the state government was the provision of warehouse where the items were kept. Based on the foregoing, the impression that the palliatives were hoarded is frivolous and totally far from the truth.
The government announced the implementations of N30,000 as basic salary in the state but some workers said they were yet to receive it. What is happening?
First, let me put it straight that Osun State is among the five states that have implemented minimum wage in the whole federation and upon the declaration of the implementation, Governor Oyetola clearly stated that the workers would start enjoying the benefits by November. I believe that our workers are only curious to enjoy the incremental emolument packaged by the worker-friendly administration of Alhaji Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola. It is understandable. You will be interested to know that, under the new salary regime, the state minimum wage has changed from the earlier N15,000 to N30,000. At least, every level of state workforce has an appreciable percentage increment on their remuneration.
What do you think would be the hopes of the people in the state in terms of democracy dividends delivery?
The concept “hope” is not obtainable in and applicable to the delivery of democratic dividends in the state. What should be the only onus of discussion now is what more are our people going to enjoy in addition to the ones they are enjoying already. This is because the administration of Governor Oyetola, which is driven by financial probity and discipline, has given effective service delivery to the people despite paucity of funds. Within Governor Oyetola’s two years in office, he has recorded unprecedented giant strides in different sectors of the state economy with an attendant positive impact on the social wellbeing of the people. Beyond that, the people of the state should expect a more stable and prosperous economy, especially in the light of 2021 budget of providence which is aimed at improving on the development recorded in the important sectors with its focus on general well-being of the masses.
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