“There is no Ibadan man and by extension, Oyo State indigene that is not proud to have hailed from the Pacesetter State, with the immeasurable transformation that is happening in the state today. Our people are asking some fundamental questions, one of which is that, what were Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala doing while in office? What did they do with our huge earnings other than turning the state into a theatre of war and bloodshed? “By the time Ajimobi came on board, Oyo State was still the dirty metropolitan village that was bequeathed onto him by both Ladoja and Akala. Through his financial management wizardry, wide travel and greater love for the state, he has been able to transform the state into something that everybody can be proud of,” the group said. The political group was only re-echoing the Governor’s maiden speech on May 29, 2011. The governor at the occasion has declared that “we are going to address the challenges of our state capital, with utmost urgency, by initiating necessary processes to earn the ancient city the status of a mega city. We are going to partner with the private sector, international development partners and donor agencies, as well as other major cities around the world to transform the state capital to the city of our dream. “We will return to the long abandoned initiative of city-twining for exchange of ideas on urban development and renewal and exploitation of opportunities in education, business, health service delivery, youth empowerment, with other major cities of the world,” he declared in 2011. Late last month, the Ibadan Elders Forum, the political wing of Ibadan elders of thought who apart from passing a vote of confidence on the Governor for the restoration of peace in the state and for his administration’s urban renewal programme, also hailed his numerous developmental programmes. The elders in a letter dated 30th April, 2013, addressed to the governor and signed by Ambassador Olusola Sanu and Chief Ona Ajibola, the Chairman and Secretary of the Forum respectively, said the vote of confidence was sequel to the decision taken at a meeting of the forum held in Ibadan on April 18, 2013. “Before your assumption of office, Oyo State faced serious security problems unleashed by armed robbers, political thugs as well as NURTW factions struggling for ascendancy. You have now changed the violent situation to a peaceful one. You have restored peace and made good use of law enforcement agencies to ensure same. The notoriety of the NURTW factions has been checked and by so doing, you have ensured that miscreants are now allowed in any guise to make Oyo State a haven for their nefarious activities. “Apart from the construction of a flyover at Mokola, you have rehabilitated/constructed or are rehabilitating/constructing many roads and bridges across the nooks and crannies of Oyo State. Drains were cleared, rivers, canals and streams were dredged to prevent flood. Much work has been done to improve the environment and people have been mobilised in various forms to partner government to make the environment beautiful, clean and healthy. Positive impacts have been made in the sectors of health, education, agriculture, manpower development and skills acquisition.” The elders stated further that Ajimobi’s efforts had given Ibadan, and indeed, the entire state a facelift, saying, “there is general cleanliness which all can attest to. You have taken a bold step politically and you have executed your vision with courage.”
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:40:31 +0000
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