Oyo: As the Ajimobi government winds down…

THE administration of Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, will begin to wind down after eight years in full swing. On May 29, Ajimobi would have completed his constitutional two-term of four years and another government will take over the mantle  of leadership.

Despite the visible achievements of the government, especially its intervention in remodelling the roads in the state as well as provision of some crucial infrastructure, what has dominated the public space, especially social media, in recent times, is the failure of the governor and the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), to win some critical positions in the state in the just concluded elections.

Interestingly, Governor Ajimobi was singled out by a section of the public and subjected to attacks in the social media. In many of the posts sighted on social media and WhatsApp, which were rehashed past events but freshly edited to suit the intentions of the ‘posters’, Ajimobi was criticised for his candid views on issues. He was accused of arrogance, tagged as being rude, especially in the way his government handled the Olubadan chieftaincy controversy.

In one of the posts circulating in the social media, the writer appraised the Oyo State governor thus: “Let me tell you one truth, …Ajimobi will be remembered as one of the best governors Oyo State ever had in terms infrastructural development. He did so much for Oyo State in terms of roads reconstruction. Ibadan people will never forget him for upgrading the metropolis drastically…” but he would thereafter launch into a tirade over what he described as the government’s poor handling of LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, issue.

But is the governor guilty of the accusations? Why are the people so eager to forget his good showings as governor, humour and good-naturedly and remember only those grey instances? Is the good intention of the governor misunderstood by the public and what in fact is the Ajimobi persona?

Paul Idowu, a teacher in one of the government schools in the state, said he believed that the governor was misunderstood by the people. according to him, “his candour is mistaken for arrogance or aloofness. Ajimobi is not your typical politician. He is one of the few politicians that I know that will say his mind and damn the consequences. I don’t think he is a person that keeps malice.

“But the public don’t know this. They have mistaken his outspokenness for rudeness,” he stated.

A major point of reference in the post-election attacks had been his reference to himself as “Constituted Authority,” a term the governor had used while reprimanding protesting students of the institution whom he felt were rude while he addressed them. Students of the university, which is jointly owned by Oyo and Osun states, had in January 2017, embarked on a protest to register their grievance about the way the institution was run, taking the protests to both state governments. According to reports, Ajimobi had left a meeting to address the protesters only to meet a hostile crowd who would not give ears to his explanations, a development that made the governor launch into a verbal reprimand of the “unruly students,” saying: “If all of you are truly students, you would listen to me. If you are not interested in talking to me, then you shouldn’t have come here. If you say you are a student, one of your responsibilities is to have respect…if this is the way you want to talk to me then I will not address you… Some of you should have a little respect for constituted authority, if you recognise me as governor of Oyo State, is it proper for me to have left my engagement to address you and you start insulting me?”

According to Mr Idowu, no leader would take such insult, particularly from those touted as leaders of tomorrow. “He was trying to admonish them. But then look at how that turned out. How it became twisted.”

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Speaking in the same vein, Special Adviser to the governor on Communication and Strategy, Mr Bolaji Tunji, believed that his boss was misunderstood by the public. The Ajimobi persona, according to him, is a passionate, humane and urbane gentleman who does not harbour grudge against any person.

According to him, Ajimobi “is a man who wants to leave a mark, who wanted and still wants to make a difference in the lives of the people and in his own words to us, ‘to be a noble and a man who does the right thing for the benefit of the greatest number of people’; a man who will not shy from the truth and most importantly a man who does the right thing.

“He is himself; he will do the right thing irrespective of what anyone will say about it, once he is convinced about the ‘justness’ of his action,” he said.

Tunji maintained that even the controversial  Olubadan Chieftaincy review policy had been done with good intentions but was misunderstood by the people.  “People spoke about the Ibadan chieftaincy issue. He [Ajimobi] only implemented what was on ground that others have thought about but lacked the courage to implement. In any case, it was not to disrespect any traditional ruler, but to enhance the stature. Today, the Olubadan is an imperial majesty; those other traditional rulers are still his traditional rulers. In Lagos, no one has ever challenged the preeminent position of the Oba of Lagos. And in the same Lagos, we have other traditional rulers. We have in Agege, Ikeja, Idimu, and so on. So it is all about development. If we are saying Lagos is light years ahead of other states, these are some of the reasons, the need to embrace modernity,” he said, explaining further that the greatest passion of Ajimobi is that Oyo State should return to its past glory of being number one in achievements.” You know Oyo is a state of many firsts in the country. First radio station, television, higher institution, tallest building in the country, highest number of research institutes in the country, and so on.”

But Tunji noted that not even the negative narrative could overshadow the governor’s achievements for the state. “Going by indices of performance and development, no one has come out to say Governor Ajimobi did not perform. And what are those landmark things that would remain indelible in the minds of people, that will definitely outlive all of us? Apart from the roads that are there for all to see – the first governor to ensure the duslisation of roads in all the major towns and cities, I cited Ogbomoso, I know of Saki, Iseyin and so many others. He is also the first civilian governor to build a flyover. Other landmark achievements of the Ajimobi administration also cover health services. The administration was providing free medical services to people in the state. I know for certain that we had provided free Medicare to over one million people.  Health endowment fund was also introduced leading to the introduction of the state health insurance scheme.”

Tunji pointed out how the Ajimobi administration had also established a Technical University, where scholarship is offered to at least five indigent students from each of the Local Government and Local Council Development Areas of the state.

“In areas of education, the government introduced the Schools Governing Board policy which helped in galvanising developments in our secondary schools in the state. This policy is being understudied for adoption by states in the South-West.  I know of some northern states that have sent people to us in Oyo State in order to understudy the policy.  One can go on and on about the development strides of the administration. Flooding, which had always posed a serious challenge to Ibadan is a thing of the past. One can say a permanent solution had been proffered with the establishment of the Ibadan Urban Flood Management Agency saddled with the tasks of ensuring that flooding became a thing of the past. The Ajimobi administration gave Oyo State its first City master plan, drainage and solid waste master plan. Ibadan that is to have the sobriquet of the dirtiest city is now a clean city. But the most important thing that this administration has bequeathed to the state is peace and security. Night life picked up and we had new businesses springing up. Companies relocated to Ibadan. There are so many things that this administration did that will remain indelible. In agriculture, in the welfare of workers and others too numerous to mention,” Tunji said.

Similarly, a former Special Adviser to the Oyo State governor on Communication and Strategy, who now heads the Ibadan Media City Project, Mr Yomi Layinka, while speaking with Sunday Tribune, described the attacks on the governor as stained stories, noting that the governor has taken the loss of the party in his strides, because “he has always tended to lock his faith along God’s will for him and that “he believes that if it is God’s will, he has no problem adjusting to the reality.”

Layinka maintained that irrespective of what anyone says about Ajimobi, “the important thing to note is that more than any other governor that we have seen in the history of Oyo State, he has been the most straight-forward; he is not the scheming, dubious politician as most of them are, who will tell a story in the morning and deny it in the afternoon. You know where you stand with him. Because of his considerable self-confidence, he doesn’t have to lie; he doesn’t have to pretend; he doesn’t have to paper over crack edges. So, he is blunt, maybe a little too blunt for our environment. You know, in our environment, everybody wants to be politically correct. Even the right things are left unsaid because you don’t want the other side of public opinion. But he has often said, and I agree with him, that if you want to be a genuine leader in this environment, you take the people to where they ought to go, not where they want to be, because most people don’t want to leave their comfort zones.”

Similarly, Honourable Samuel Okunlade, the chairman of Oorelope Local Government and one of the foremost followers of the governor in the Senator Ajimobi Campaign Organisation (SENACO), who has been following the governor prior to the 2007 governorship contest, while speaking with Sunday Tribune, maintained that those attacking the governor following the loss of the APC either did not know him or were only being political, noting that the things being said about the governor were out of place. He described Senator Ajimobi as a god-fearing leader and someone who “always honours his words and respects agreements.”

“I have read and listened to many things being said and written about Governor Abiola Ajimobi. In sincerity, some of these things are not reflective of the true personality of the governor. I have been following him since before the 2007 election when he contested for the governorship on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and I can tell you that he is one man that honours agreement and keeps his promise. He takes special interest in the development and growth of those following him.

“When I read about the comments now being made to go viral about the governor, I feel bad, because they were views of some individuals who have been at the wrong end of his upright policies. Governor Ajimobi is a truthful and straightforward person who would tell you things as they are, even if you do not want to hear it. That is a big grouse many people have with him,” Okunlade said.

Both Layinka and Okunlade pointed out that Governor Ajimobi will be remembered for his efforts in building and sustaining peace and order in the state, infrastructural development, transformation of the economy and a host of others.

Layinka, however, believed that apart from human and physical developments the state witnessed under Governor Ajimobi, he would be remembered for the courage of his convictions, saying that “historians are likely to locate him within a spectrum of leaders who have the courage of their convictions and capacity to push through in spite of the barrage of criticisms and privilege interest.

“And he will be remembered, perhaps above all, for starting in the first instance on the notion and understanding that peace and security are the foundations of any society that aims at developing. As I mentioned early, he found his government structure on peace and security, law and order. He believes there must be protocols and procedure and that you do things the right way because that is the only way you can have a sustainable growing economy or society,” Layinka added.