Very often in recent time, Oyo State has been in the news for various reasons. It would be denying the obvious to say that those reasons are for the good. The truth of the matter, however, is that the newsreel about Oyo State should rather have been the monumental achievements of Governor Seyi Makinde instead of focusing on the irritating skirmish of inter-ethnic conflicts.
Whereas the perception being created is that the spate of insecurity across the country is taking a heavy toll on the peace in Oyo State, the reality is that the governor is working so hard ensuring that the fault lines of inter-ethnic charges are not allowed to fester, and managing the situation from escalating into a total breakdown of law and order. The governor deserves a special commendation on this and, at the risk of speaking to high adulation, it would not be out of place to submit that the dexterity employed by Governor Makinde in scaling down the tension in the state is, perhaps, the toughest test of his adroitness in governance. It is very much doubtful if Oyo could have come out unscathed from the whirlwind that passed through the state if it hadn’t been Makinde in the saddle.
What you may also not hear in the media is that were it not for the heavy investment of the current government in small scale wealth creation schemes, the specter of inter-ethnic hostilities that erupted in some areas could have come with more dire consequences.
For instance, the Oyo State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Fund, a N1 billion MSME stimulus package disbursed through Microfinance Banks at a single-digit interest rate to facilitate the growth of MSMEs in the State has helped in lifting many people into self-sustaining economic empowerment. The fund is a component of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration’s Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan, which seeks to provide loan facilities up to N3m per MSME. In the same vein is the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) programme – a World Bank assisted scheme aimed at mitigating the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with the sum of $750 million.
Other safety nets include the decision of the current administration to clear the backlog of gratuity of retirees between year 2012 to 2013 running into almost N4 billion; appointment letters to five thousand professional teachers and 150 Physically Challenge/Disability Persons(PWDs); reinstatement of illegally sacked civil servants and offsetting backlog gratuities and pensions among others.
There are several anecdotes of families that have pulled their children out of private schooling system and got them enrolled in public schools – thanks to the massive investments in the structural and manpower capacity in the primary and secondary schools in the state. We need not befuddle the argument that the ablest bulwark to insecurity is education. And so, what the Makinde’s administration heavy investment in education means is that in addition to shaping a proper future for the youth in Oyo State, it is also mopping up kids off the streets who could have recruited themselves into violence and sundry criminality.
In the almost two years that he has been in the saddle, the Makinde administration has been able to complete quite a few projects in the manifest of FGN-UBEC/Oyo SUBEB Intervention Projects 2012-2017, which were awarded in 2018, 2019 and in year 2020.
Also, rather than grim in the face of the misfortune occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the state government brilliantly used that opportunity to call attention into funding of health facilities in Oyo State, thus opening the health sector up to non-budgetary investment. Accordingly, a new funding structure has been implemented for the Primary Healthcare system in the state. This will fund the renovation and equipping of all Primary Healthcare Centres. Guided by this policy alternative, the Oyo State government has been able to source revenue for the renovation and equipping of facilities such as the Primary Healthcare Centre, Oranyan, Primary Healthcare Centre, Aafin, the ALGON Comprehensive Health Centre, Eyini Grammar School, Ibadan;
renovating and equipping the operation theatre, radiography unit and medical laboratory of Adeoyo State Hospital, Ring Road. Others include the purchase of MRI 1.5 Tesla machine for LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, purchase of 10 ambulances for the Ministry of Health to be distributed to the four zones in the state and upgraded Jericho Specialist Hospital.
In directly responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government was able to collaborate with the Virology Department, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan to upgrade the laboratory to a molecular laboratory approved by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to test for COVID-19. Other interventions include: renovating and equipping the 100-bed Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo. Ditto for the Maternal and Child Health Centre, Saki which will serve as a 100-bed isolation centre; the 40-bed isolation centre at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso; General Hospital, Igbo-Ora with a section to be used as a 40-bed isolation centre; Primary Healthcare Centre, Aawe to be used as a 24-bed isolation centre; Agbami Chest Centre, Jericho; purchase of 2 ambulances for COVID-19 cases; setting up a Drive/Walk-Through Testing Centre at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan; setting up an Emergency Operations Centre with helplines to coordinate responses to COVID-19; production and distribution of 1,000,000 cloth face masks in all 33 Local Government Areas using local manufacturers; distribution of palliatives to 120,000 households: 90,000 poorest of the poor households and 30,000 vulnerable households and decontamination of the Oyo State Secretariat, Ibadan and other public places.
It is probably the first time in a very long time that all the geo-political divisions in Oyo State would be enjoying simultaneous infrastructural development. From Ibadan to Ogbomoso, Oyo to Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa, there are physical presence of on-going government infrastructure works everywhere across the state. As infrastructure gets the highest vote, 23.93 per cent in the fiscal plan for last year, all borrowings in the last one year, too, are tied to infrastructural development. For example, the N7.6 billion re-purposed loan is for the development of farm estates while the N10 billion loan was invested in road construction.
Also, the recently approved N22.5 billion loan is tied to upgrade of healthcare infrastructure, the Light Up Oyo State Phase II project, building of bus terminals, security architecture, junction improvements, road projects and other infrastructural activities. These are not white elephant projects of a sort. Indeed, the governor had stated on several occasions that all infrastructural development projects will be tied to the economy of the state so that it can benefit the citizenry.
As part of plans to enhance security, Governor Seyi Makinde flagged off the “Light up Oyo” project on September 6, 2019. The project is for the replacement of the existing underperforming street light fittings with improved modern technology street lights fittings and installation of new smart LED technology street lights at strategic areas in Ibadan.
The “Light up Oyo” Phase I project which has since been completed, covers the following areas in Ibadan: Iwo Road to Idi-ape; Ojoo to Barracks; Orita Challenge to New Garage;Sango (Rail track area) to the University of Ibadan to Ojoo; toll Gate Interchange to Orita Challenge to Challenge Roundabout; procurement of 106 Mass Transit Buses, 60 Bicycles among others.
Phase II of the “Light up Oyo” project will cover 70 roads totalling 223.42 kilometres across the state. This second phase of the project was approved by the Oyo State Government Executive Council (EXCO) in April, 2020.
In the communication sector, Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration broke a decade-long drought in capital project intervention at the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS). In August 2019, an N18 million project was approved for the station. It was used for the installation of a Digital Satellite Audio Network. Also, for the first time in 12 years, BCOS stopped the primitive use of mobile phones to monitor and transmit from its out-stations in Ajilete and Alaga and switched to sending digital signals directly from the headquarters in Ibadan.
The aspect of public finance where the Makinde government has registered its boldest impression is, without doubts, in road construction. There is a long list of completed projects which by every standard would remain the legacy of the Makinde administration for a very long time to come.
They include: the 65 kilometres Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin Road commenced in November 2019 and the estimated completion date is November 2020; reconstruction of the 12 kilometres Apete-Awotan-Akufo road which serves about 40 communities is currently ongoing; airport-Ajia-New Ife Expressway, with spur to Amuloko (21 kilometres); Saki-Ogbooro-Igboho Road (44.70 kilometres); Under G-Stadium-LAUTECH Gate Road, Ogbomoso (3 kilometres); Takie-FGGC Road, Ogbomoso (2.5 kilometres); Isaba-Ogundoyin Road, Eruwa (2.5 kilometres); Gedu-Oroki-Sabo-Asipa Road, Oyo (5.2 kilometres); Akingbile-Lagbeja-Ajibode Road (3 kilometres)
Additionally, the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA) has rehabilitated several roads and de-silted drainages in Ibadan metropolis.
The Ibadan Urban Flood Management Project (IUFMP) is a targeted reaction to the historic flooding of Ibadan City on August 26, 2011. The IUFMP commenced in February 2015.
The project aims to provide solutions to flooding in Ibadan by rehabilitating flood prevention infrastructure and providing a medium to long-term flood risk management framework. It is funded by a $200 Million World Bank loan which is paid out in tranches as the project progresses. A mid-term review of the IUFMP was carried out on November 07, 2019.
Other remarkable signature projects include: Ibarapa football stadium project; ongoing upgrade of the Olubadan Stadium, Ibadan; construction of 360 housing units at Ajoda New Town Estate, Ibadan-Ife Road, Egbeda Local Government Area; an update on the dualisation of the 7.2 km Idi Ape-Basorun-Akobo-Odogbo Barracks road, Ibadan; reconstruction and remodeling of Soun Township Stadium, Ogbomoso; remodeling of Lekan Salami Sports Complex, and Adamasingba Stadium simultaneously; ongoing reconstruction of the 12km Apete-Awotan-Akufo road, Oyo State; renovation and remodeling of the new Agbowo Shopping Complex, Ibadan.
Others are the upgrade and equipment of Infectious Disease Centre, Olodo; Saki Specialist Hospital, Saki, ongoing remodeling and equipment of Primary Health Care Centres across the 351 Wards of the state and ongoing educational infrastructure projects across the state.
The big elephant in China room is the issue of security in Oyo State. To put the records straight, the Makinde administration inherited a burden of certain security challenges from its predecessor, chiefly the menace of the notorious gang called the One Million Boys. There were other lapses such as dearth of security equipment and patrol vehicle for a state-wide mapping. While the leaders of the notorious gang have been demobilized, today hardly would there be a kilometer apart without security patrols vehicles in all major townships in the state.
A government that busies itself doing heavy spending in infrastructure needs a steady flow of relative peace in its domain. The safety of the lives and properties of the people of Oyo State is a top priority for the Oyo State Government as it recognizes that no meaningful development can take place in a state of insecurity.
Within his first 100 days in office, the government strengthened the security architecture of the state with the resuscitation and revamping of the Police Swift Response Squad (SRS) and re-jigging Operation Burst.
The launch of the Amotekun Corps in January 2020 and the subsequent signing of the Oyo State Security Network Agency (‘AMOTEKUN’) Bill 2019 in March 2020 is testament to the fact that security is indeed one of the cardinal pillars of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration.
The interventions in the security sector include the following: procurement and distribution of 100 Rio Kia motor vehicles fully equipped with modern security communication gadgets. There is enhanced visibility of security agencies by strategic positioning of response vehicles around the state.
Procurement and installation of modern communication gadgets (walkie-talkies with corresponding servers and monitors), with capacity for state-wide coverage and live video streaming of scene of the crime as well as geo-location of operatives for oversight purposes. First of its kind in the state for security operatives!
On a final note, these are just some of the physical infrastructural projects already undertaken by the Seyi Makinde administration in less than two years despite limited resources yet some people have chosen to be deliberately blind to this.
Some people may like the style of Governor Makinde; they may even blind themselves from the good job that his administration is doing. But what cannot be taken away is the fact that under the wings of Makinde, Oyo State is soaring in higher altitude. Oyo State people know where we were before Makinde; the people know where we are today and we believe in the destination that the government is heading.
Adeniyi Adeyemi is Coordinator, Seyi Makinde Movement for Good Governance
