In the piece I mentioned above, I wrote that for him to continue to earn my respect, “all GSM and PDP (Oyo State Branch) need to do is to remain focused, committed, and dedicated to the people’s welfare and development of the State.
By Friday, May 29, 2020, Engineer Seyi Makinde will mark his one year in office as the governor of Oyo state. It will be expected that he gives the people of Oyo State account of his stewardship as their elected leader over the last year. While the whole world is observing restricted movement and social distancing occasioned by the rampaging effect of COVID 19, there may not be any serious celebrations in the State, after all, May 29 is now recognized only as handing over/swearing-in day in Nigeria.
To mark GSM’s one year in office, I have chosen to look at the manifesto statement he made for the people of Oyo State while campaigning for his election as Governor of Oyo State in 2019. I consider this highly imperative because in this clime, politicians make one thousand and one promises and fulfill just one of them. Politicians are widely known for their betrayal of people’s trust and confidence with poor performance, careless abandonment of their campaign promises, and pursuance of selfish and hidden agenda. This underscores the reason why Nigerians must continue to look at politicians’ manifestoes regularly to demand that our politicians act as they promised during their campaigns. No sentiment attached.
A few days ago, I downloaded a copy of GSM’s manifesto from the internet intending to peruse through and understand the driving forces behind his actions and inactions as Governor of Oyo State over the last one year.
The manifesto is entitled Oyo State Roadmap for Accelerated Development, 2019-2023, published by the Seyi Makinde Campaign Organisation. It has 102 (one hundred and two) pages with eight(8) points Agenda centered around: Agriculture and Food Security; Health Care; Education; Infrastructure; Domestic Resources Flow; Ease of Doing Business; Youth Empowerment, Social inclusion, and Protection. After going through the document, I must admit that GSM already has a clear cut understanding of the challenges facing the development of Oyo State. Not only that, the document equally profers all the necessary solutions to each of the challenges facing Oyo State. What is however left is the commitment, , political will and loyal personnel to execute and actualize his dream for the state. But can he, judge by what he had done in the last one year as governor of Oyo State? Let us partly review the document together:
HEALTH CARE
In the document, GSM accused his immediate predecessor of leaving the health sector of the state in a lurch. He further alleged that the past administration had no clear cut health policies worsened by dilapidated hospital facilities, unmotivated staff, and poor budgetary allocation. But going through his budget allocation for the state’s ministry of health, he has only done a little better. The 2020 budget signed by GSM has a budgetary allocation of 5.18% for the health sector as against the 2% budgeted by his immediate predecessor, former Governor Ajimobi in 2018. In the area of workers’welfare, prompt payment of salaries of all workers in the state employment is another area to distinguish himself from his immediate predecessor. The payments of 13-month salaries and pensions/gratuities by GSM are ways of motivating the employees to give their best. However, the document states that by the beginning of the second year, all workers under the employment of the Oyo State Government will be enrolled in a state-oriented health insurance scheme in collaboration with the NHIS. Is this the case in Oyo state today? More so, it is important to remind Mr Governor that his manifesto document states that in the first two years, all primary health care centers in the state shall have the minimum package essential for the running of such facilities. I hope he will deliver this promise as well.
EDUCATION SECTOR
In my view, this is the administration’s best area in terms of execution and implementation of all that is written in the manifesto document. There are many verifiable proofs to show that the government is working towards the actualization of its Education Development Plan sets out to raise the standard in all state-owned educational institutions, and improving the academic performance of students at all levels. This can be attested to as the government earmarked 22.23% budget allocation to the sector, provided free WAEC past questions to all the SS3 students in the state, and kicked start intervention lessons for SSS3 students in public secondary schools. The administration is equally running a free education programme in the state and supplying the pupils and students with writing materials and stationery. Going into the second year, I advise the government to look at the alumni support on the development of individual schools as promised in the document. This will have a significant impact on individual schools in the state.
INFRASTRUCTURE
This is one area that requires huge capital investments and proper planning. And how much a government can achieve in this regard rests largely on the revenue of the state. To start with, the government has shown great commitment towards infrastructural development in the state by appropriating 23.93% of the 2020 budget for this sector.
Though few government approvals have been given with regards to road construction and rehabilitation in the state; there is still much work to be done particularly in the interior and rural parts of the state. As promised in the document, the revitalization of the 12 water schemes in the four zones of Ibadan (3), Oyo (2), Ogbomoso (3), and Saki (4) must be fulfilled with additional schemes provided. The street lighting system being carried out in phase in the State is a good development. However, there is a need to start working assiduously towards increasing power generation and facilitating independent energy producers in the state as promised.
As the administration enters its second year, the people of the state must start reaping the benefits of the ongoing State’s negotiations, studies, and planning with Triston Solar and Silicon Valley Nigeria Economic Development Inc. Like the past administration, the current government launched a digitized Certificate of Occupancy (E Cof O) package for landowners in the state.
AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY
Reading through the document, GSM made a lot of ambitious statements about revolutionizing the agricultural sector of the state that if fully executed, Oyo State should attain food security. From the proposed Songhai-Project investment model to cooperative enterprise strategy, no concrete achievement is yet to be seen in this sector. Though I must commend GSM for providing improved budgetary allocation and signing the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency Bill into law. As the situation stands, one can only hope that this new agency will key into the agricultural revolution of GSM to have many positive testimonies to share at the end of his second year in office.
CONCLUSION
I was glad when GSM proscribed the activities of the state’s transport union. But the introduction of park managers on the roads and motor parks in the state makes it look like Oyo State is not yet ready to fully rebrand and reform the transport sector of the state.
There is a need to give a second look at the operations of the Park Management System. Finally, in the last year, the administration bought and commissioned 100 cars to strengthen the security of the lives and properties of people of the state. This has paid off for the state. Above all, I hope for a better second year in office.
Shamsudeen Ayeni writes from Ogun State.
