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Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the outgoing governor of Ogun State, Mr. Ibikunle Amosun to the effect that he inherited a failed state in 2011 when he assumed office as the governor of Ogun State.
In his usual trademark as a liar for which he has become a legend, Mr. Amosun, who was represented by the Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa at one of the Ogun State Government’s event on Friday was quoted among other lies, to have implied that the Ogun State Government which he inherited failed because of insecurity.
In the last eight years, most citizens of Ogun State have come to an unwritten agreement about Mr. Amosun’s penchant for lies, and attribute which has become pathological with and second nature to him; he has earned several infamous sobriquets around this.
This made some people feel Mr. Amosun’s comments should not be accorded a response because the citizens “already know” and can read between the lines and lies.
But since his latest comment was published in some credible online media, for the sake of posterity, especially so that a generation of future leaders in Ogun State will not be misled into believing the lies, some clarifications need to be made.
It is disappointing that a man who has had the privilege of governing a sophisticated state such as Ogun in all of eight years can still be ignorant of the proper definition of a “failed state”. Mr. Amosun clearly demonstrates his ignorance and level of education if he can refer to Ogun State of 2011 as having failed. This is insulting the sensibilities of the citizens and workers who daily toil to give their utmost best in service to the state.
Mr. Amosun has the next six days to hand over government to a newly elected governor and no doubt the citizens are already counting the days with a great sigh of relief; many citizens are celebrating and looking forward to their freedom from Mr. Amosun’s needless lies.
It is on record that the greatest amount of investments, many of them with far reaching positive implications on the economy and lives of the citizens of the state were attracted between the year 2003 and 2011. The fact that Mr. Amosun tried to undo these investments did not remove from their timeless values as economic drivers for the overall development of Ogun state.
One would think that Mr. Amosun will apply for a crash course in economic management of state’s resources in relation to growth and development. Merely serving as a Contractor to Federal Government on road and bridge construction cannot be equated with serious political administration.
Serious government policies are measured in relative terms of the prosperity and happiness of the people. It will be instructive if Mr. Amosun can tell how any of his roads largely concentrated in the State capital has impacted on the lives of an average citizen of Ogun State. How those roads have created employment for the citizens and improve their living conditions, except of course only family members of the outgoing governor.
Mr. Amosun has repeatedly bandied unrealistic figures in numbers of investors who have moved to Ogun State since he assumed office in 2011. The latest being the phantom 473 companies he just claimed. We have always challenged him to publish the names of these investors, their locations, what year did they apply for land to start business in Ogun State and under whose signature was their investments approval and Cs of O signed?
For instance, 473 new companies in Ogun State at an average of N2b (as claimed by Mr. Amosun in his latest lies) translate to a new capital inflow over about a trillion Naira into Ogun State.
A trillion naira capital inflow into any economy should provide new jobs of between 100,000 and 200,000 to the population. These are jobs that Ogun State citizens desperately need and they will be so happy to know where those jobs are. It will be useful if Mr. Amosun can assist them to locate the jobs.
Added to this is the claim of a N7b monthly IGR. In the next couple of days, when a new government takes over the saddle we will surely unveil this facade of lies. We only hope Mr. Amosun has enough integrity left and will be honourable enough to publish the comprehensive statement of his accounts showing all his receipts and expenditures between 2011 and 2019 just like his predecessor did while handing over to him.
There is no correlative record between the state’s IGR and the citizens welfare. Instead, patriotic workers of Ogun State have had their cooperative and pension deductions unremitted for several years. Most citizens have been thrown into untold hardship, poverty and penury.
The only eloquent testimony of the “new wealth and IGR” of Ogun State is in the “Tun’ra e bi, Omo Oye” mansion right under the nose of these impoverished workers in the Ibara GRA.
Not even the several hundreds of billions from the Federation Accounts to the state, including Local Government allocations; two tranches of Bailout funds; and three tranches of Paris Club Refunds have impacted on the people’s lives in the last eight years.
We also think Mr. Amosun does not have the moral credential to talk on security in a state, as there are several evidence and proofs that he is actually the purveyor and sponsor of violence. During his regime which is gratefully winding up in a few days time, there are plethora of unresolved high profile killings and attacks on citizens in very controversial circumstance; it was under Mr. Amosun’s watch and guidance that a President of the Federal Republic was publicly and openly stoned; the Ogun State Governor-elect, Prince Dapo Abiodun was violently attacked and almost killed on about four occasions during the period of the campaigns; Lagos State Senator Olamilekan Solomon (Yayi’s) convoy was attacked several times in Ogun State just because he indicated interest in the Governorship of the state; Alhaja Elewuju, the Iyaloja of Ijebu-Ode market, a popular TASUED lecturer; Mr. Wale Adufe, Prince Yomi Bamgbose (a VIO officer), an ACN party Chairman, Ogun Waterside Local Government, Chief Tola Okuneye (assassinated inside Church during service in Ijebu Igbo) etc were all hacked down in broad daylight in very controversial circumstances; while several cult clashes continue in all parts of the state (Ijebu-Ode, Abeokuta, Sagamu etc) unabated under the watchful eyes of Mr. Amosun.
Ogun State citizens are yet to forget that it was under the same Mr. Ibikunle‘ regime that the Church of a former Deputy Speaker and a serving member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Honourable
Remmy Hassan and official quarters of a female serving member of the same House of Assembly, Hon. Adijat Adeleye-Oladapo were wickedly and maliciously demolished. A former member of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Maruf Musa from Ogun State Waterside will not forget in a hurry the demolition of his shopping complex by a vexatious administration under the most wicked regime in the history of the state; neither will Hon. Femi-Ilori’s property destroyed around Adatan area because of politics of vendetta. Recently also, the Constituency office of the Majority leader in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Oluomo was attacked with several properties worth millions of naira vandalised on what many people believed was on the orders of Mr. Amosun.
We then wonder if it is under this atmosphere of security that Mr. Amosun has been able to attract phantom “investors” which have only been beneficial to himself and members of his family alone.
Steve Oliyide,
Media Consultant to Otunba Gbenga Daniel.
25/05/19
