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By Sarafa Ibrahim
Toxic people, a New York Times best-selling author and speaker, Mandy Hale warned “will pollute everything around them.” And looking at Adebayo Adeleke, a one-time commissioner in Osun state, and his virulent approach to the truth, one cannot but agree with Hale’s warning. Good enough, the prolific writer prescribed a remedy and that is “Don’t hesitate. Fumigate.”
This is exactly what this piece is set out to do– to fumigate the brazen untruth that were inherent in a piece: “Adeleke’s Renewed Bid to Join APC is Dead on Arrival” authored by Adebayo Adeleke with incontrovertible truth. Let us, for a start, examine the assertion that the incumbent Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has been dismal in terms of performance in education, human development, infrastructure development and security of all the six governors that have presided over the affair of the state.
In examining this assertion by Adebayo, we will need to go back to about three years when Governor Adeleke assumed office and the hopelessness that pervades the state then. As we must all recall, Osun was on the abyss of ruins with years of misrule almost draining life out of the state. Wage debts and pension arrears had accumulated with no hope in sight of repayment while public infrastructures were in a state of total disrepair.
The highlight of the magnitude of the challenges on ground was the audio promotion given to workers by the government which Adebayo Adeleke was an integral part of just as sights of abandoned projects by the Oyetola administration drained hopes of any progress for the people of Osun state. Contrary to the impression that Adebayo Adeleke tried to paint, Governor Adeleke inherited a mess created by the government he served in, yet he has been able to fix them to a large extent.
On education, for instance, Governor Adeleke has invested resources into upgrading the infrastructures of public schools to make them conducive for learning. Before his assumption of office, public school buildings were in a hopeless situation with broken classrooms and lack of furniture, putting the life of students and teachers in jeopardy. So far, a total of 631 classrooms with offices in 125 basic schools have been rehabilitated while 323 new classrooms with offices, hall and laboratories in 96 basic schools have been built. Other infrastructures provided in schools across Osun in two years included thirty-nine new six-holes squatting toilets in 39 basic schools, forty-one boreholes with reticulations in 41 basic schools, thirty motorized deep well water with reticulation and the construction of 30 perimeter fences with metal gate in 30 basic schools. Construction and rehabilitation of schools and related infrastructure in primary and junior schools across the 30 local governments in the state and the area office while the upgrade of EMIS (Educational Management Information System) units in the 31 LGEAs with new laptops and new printers each for effective data collection and data processing for real time school data and information management.
In addition to this, the welfare of teachers is receiving priority under Governor Adeleke. Unlike the experience under the Oyetola administration where promotions without commensurate benefits are derived for teachers, Governor Adeleke did not only cash-backed their promotion but also ensure the implementation of one of the best minimum wage tables in Nigeria for teachers and other workers. It is not surprising that Osun state is doing very well in external examination, moving to sixth in NECO ranking from 31 place it occupied while Adebayo Adeleke’s party was at the helms of affairs.
In nearly three years, the Adeleke administration has expended nearly N50 billion on pension benefits, money that is far more than what has been spent by the previous governments, including the one that Adebayo Adeleke was a part of in 12 years. For context, while a total of 2,137 pensioners received bonds in the twelve years of the successive APC administrations, a total of 1,742 pensioners have gotten their bonds under Governor Adeleke in two years. This number is expected to have gone higher by the time beneficiaries in the third year are included.
Beyond this, most unbonded pensioners have been fully paid the half salary owed to them by the APC administration while bonded pensioners and active workers have received more than six months of what was owed to them by the government prior to Adeleke. Every pensioner in Osun state is placed on a full healthcare coverage, relieving the senior citizens of the trouble of managing their health at old age. Osun is the first state in the whole of Nigeria to embark on such expansive healthcare cover for senior citizens, easing not just their worries but ensuring that they are no longer lost to avoidable death due to inability to fund their healthcare.
For human development, Adebayo Adeleke is apparently deluded. Under Governor Adeleke, no fewer than N4 billion was set aside to rejuvenate cooperative societies, which the misgovernance that Adebayo Adeleke was a part of nearly drained life of them. Cooperative societies in each of the 332 political wards were provided funding just as established cooperative bodies have received monetary support to provide capitals for their members. Last year, Governor Adeleke recruited 10,000 Imole Corps and each received a stipend of N30,000– an upward that is more than twice what OYES received under the APC government. Even more, the Adeleke administration employed more than 1,500 Amotekun to reinforce security of the state.
On infrastructure development, it is only those who have chosen to be blind with reality that will contest the monumental strides of Governor Adeleke in about three years. While Adebayo Adeleke may find it hard to point to any infrastructural project undertaken by the administration he served in Iree, where he comes, even as a commissioner, the situation is different now as the Adeleke administration has made government presence felt in that town as we speak. And it is not just Iree, Governor Adeleke has transformed Osun through a massive road construction and this is spread across towns unlike the experience in the past. No local government in the whole of Osun state without a minimum of two kilometres of road constructed so far. Adebayo Adeleke cannot say the same thing happened under the Oyetola administration he served in.
In Oke-Fia, Osogbo, the Adeleke administration is at the verge of delivering a first of its kind 10-span dual lane flyover which will connect with a 2.2 kilometres dual carriageway Old Garage-Lameco also built by it while a four span bridge at Lameco is also under construction. The 10.5 kilometres Osogbo-Ikirun-Ila Odo-Kwara boundary road abandoned by Adebayo Adeleke’s government has been completed by Governor Adeleke and serving the people while the third phase of the road that will pass through Inisa is ongoing as we speak.
In Ede, Governor Adeleke has constructed the first dual carriageway for the town while another first dual carriageway in Ilesa is progressing and will soon be completed. In Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba existence, Governor Adeleke is building the first flyover in Lagere just as the administration is building the first dual carriageway in Iwo and Ila Orangun as we speak. It is therefore lame and corrosive on the part of Adebayo Adeleke to suggest that the Adeleke administration is lagging behind in infrastructural development when the reality is that the Governor has turned Osun into a construction site.
Healthcare delivery has gotten better under Governor Adeleke. Prior to his assumption of office, healthcare service delivery was at its lowest web, denying the people needed healthcare. In the short term, Governor Adeleke initiated the Imole Surgical and Medical Outreach to provide immediate reprieve to the people suffering various health challenges. The medical intervention took place in each of the nine (9) federal constituencies in the state, rendering free surgeries for cataracts, Pterigium, Hernia and some swellings on the body as well as other medical conditions like hypertension, diabetes, malaria, cough, tuberculosis, and other diseases. No fewer than 50,000 residents of the state have benefited from this initiative, contributing significantly to a healthy population.
On the long term, Governor Adeleke embarked on the rehabilitation of 345 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in the state. The intervention, which is ongoing has delivered at least, 200 rehabilitated PHCs with the installation of a 24/7 power source and water facility, and the balance of 145 PHCs are undergoing rehabilitation. Regular distribution of drugs to the primary healthcare centres in Osun State is a common feature under the Adeleke administration in the 31 months, making it possible for patients to get drugs for basic ailment in health facilities across the state.
On the question of integrity and consistency, it is either Adebayo Adeleke is lost to his own mischief or just bad with lies, because nothing demonstrates integrity in a leader than keeping his campaign promises. During a debate in the build up to the 2022 governorship election, Governor Adeleke promised to pay owed half salary. The promise was too good to be real that his main challenger, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, doubted the possibility. But now, the reality is here and as everyone can see, he is fulfilling that promise and many others, solidifying him as a man of integrity.
It is quite worrisome that Adebayo Adeleke will go as far as concoct lies just to smear Governor Adeleke, perhaps because of his desperate ambition to be on the ballot as a pair next year. Anyone who have come close to Governor Adeleke will acknowledge his civility and respect for elders. Governor Adeleke is a well cultured man who imbibe deeply the admonition of God to respect leaders and elders. At no time did Governor Adeleke insult or attack President Bola Tinubu in his several communications, which are all in the public domain.
Contrary to Adebayo Adeleke’s fallacious postulations, Governor Adeleke has explored several federal institutions and set ups to attract developments that will benefit citizens. Many of the fruits of the efforts of Governor Adeleke in this regard have failed to yield largely due to the toxic and dangerous politics of the likes of Adebayo Adeleke, who out of envy and bitter politics, are punishing Osun people because they voted against them in 2022.
It is only people who have lost their conscience to greed and hatred will try to blame an innocent man for what they orchestrated. Governor Adeleke is a simple man, not given given to hatred or bile, which those on the side of Adebayo Adeleke oozes without restraint. Governor Adeleke has ensured that every support received from the central government serves the people and they are manifest in the various projects and interventions delivered so far.
As much as Adebayo Adeleke may try hard to portray Governor Adeleke wrongly, the people of Osun knows the truth and have used it to counter him severally on radio stations. It is quite laughable that Adebayo Adeleke who can hardly deliver his hometown for his party in a free-and-fair contest is mischievously trying to playdown the influence of a man who has won elections as Senator and Governor at different time under an opposition party. Remove the effect of ‘federal might’ from Adebayo Adeleke and his crew and you will find out that they are nothing but dogs who know nothing but just making noise.
• Sarafa Ibrahim writes from Osogbo, Osun state
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