It is over two years that the incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State took the mantle of leadership of the state. It is indeed a remarkable moment full of anticipations, intriguing circumstances and curiosities as the mandate was hinged on the quest to rejuvenate the socio-economic fortunes of the state but later turned out to be a ruse.
The administration which began on the mantra of deception had in the last two years taken the good people of the state backward. The common patrimony had been managed with topmost nepotism, jingoism, selfishness and outright deviation from the principles of equality, equity and evenness judging from the socio-economic reality and abundance of resources presently available to the state government.
The insatiable quest for socio-economic rejuvenation made many to forget to ask salient questions as to the credentials of the personalities aspiring to administer the affairs of the state during the electioneering campaigns period. Many forgot that it takes two to tangle before entrusting and reposing their mandate and confidence in the sacred hands of the people currently administering the affairs of the state in the last 24 months.
Alas, no doubt in the fact that the state has been battling with a plethora of socio-economic hurdles raging from naked social injustice, flagrant disobedience to the rule of law and democratic tenets, impunity, maladministration, improprieties among others.
It is no more news that the current administration has failed the residents of the state in all sectors of the economy particularly in the areas of education, health, agriculture, commerce, environment and sanitation, justice and provision of democratic dividends.
Starting on a failed mission and vendetta ladder, the incumbent governor on his inauguration left no one in doubt of his vengeance and penchant to politics of acrimony as he issued draconian and obnoxious Executive Orders aimed at undoing all the constitutional steps taken by his predecessor now Marine and Blue Economy Minister, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola.
The fate of the monarchs cruelly dethroned is still hanging. The fate of the volunteers of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) still hanging in the thin air. The fate of the health workers gainfully employed by his predecessor but diabolically sacked is yet to be known. The fate of Osun Primary School Feeding and Health Programme popularly called "OMEAL" is still hanging. The faith of freelance staff that were employed at Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, OSBC is yet to be decided after the withdrawal of their employment letters. The fate of workers engaged at the current University of Ilesa formerly Osun State College of Education is unknown. To mention but a few.
Today, we can boldly say that the resources available to the government had trippled what it used to earn in the years past. Infact it is on record that the previous administration earned zero allocation within the four years tenure while sometimes it received as low as less than a billion due to the inherited financial constraints among other socioeconomic quagmire confronted the administration.
If not in multiple folds, it is save to say that the state of the living springs that used to earn between N3bn to N4bn as monthly allocation from the Federal Government is conveniently received multiple of such at the moment. The state government had received from all sources over N600bn in the last 24 months with little or nothing to justify the humongous resources. The monthly allocation for the state alone that rose to an enviable height had made the state to have too much money thus encouraging frivolities and misplacement of priorities.
Taking a microscopic look at the collosal waste in the public sector vis-a-vis the palpable but unchecked leakages in the management of the public funds, one would not but agree that the incumbent government had failed the people of the state.
There had been series of alleged improprieties and lack of transparency and accountability in managing the internally generated revenue of the state as being severally alleged by the opposition. Allegedly, it is in the public domain that many funds that were supposed to go directly into the treasury of the state would first land in the purses of individuals before same if not half of it would be remitted into the government's coffers.
Moreover, the execution of public projects particularly road infrastructure had further exposed the rots in the administration. As at today, the discerning minds and good citizens of the state can dispassionately assess the quality of road infrastructure done under the progressive government and ones being executed by the present government. The difference is definitely clear.
While not losing sight on the target, it is apposite to reflect on the palpable misplacement of priorities. Today, billions of naira that belong to the good people of this state had been wastefully expended on projects that had no direct impact on the people particularly the commoners. Millions of naira wasted on the touted and failed borehole projects is a good example of the claim.
It is unfortunate that in this century, a state government would still see borehole drilling as a project to be executed and funded, something that had become a thing of the past in a saner clime. Even a Ward Councillor can't boast of borehole drilling as a major achievement let alone a serious-minded and good governance-driven governor of a state.
The pervasive rots in the road project are too enormous to the extent that one can't reasonably justify the huge amount of money being expended on road projects. Many roads that ought not to cost a state as much as they had awarded have been done for a reason best known to those at the helms of affairs. How can we justify just a Seven-span single lane flyover being awarded for over N10bn at Okefia, Osogbo? How do we justify a single lane flyover at Lameco junction awarded at over N8 billion and 2.21km dual carriageway road awarded and executed at over 5.8 billion naira? How can Osun state government explain the award of just 8.5km of Akoda/ Oke-Gada Ede road at a whooping sum of N23.2billion? This is nothing but wickedness.
It is disheartening that the Osun State Government could boast of awarding just a 6.2 km dual carriageway in Ilesa at a contract sum of N16.5 billion in this harsh economy whereas over 56 km of road was awarded for just N12 bn by the Federal Government. It is bizzare that the same government could award a flyover at Ile-Ife at about 14.9 billion naira at the expense of many internal roads clamouring for rehabilitation and reconstruction. The question to ask here is that who is benefitting from the inflated contracts' costs? This must be answered before it is too late.
As a citizen of Osun State, we all knew how the state government claimed to have expended the N2bn palliative given to the state by the Federal Government to cushion the adverse effects of fuel subsidy removal in 2023. We all know how the state government claimed to have expended whooping sum of 8bn on failed tractors claimed to have purchased but only showcased ridiculous 31 tractors out of 114 tractors paid for. We all saw how Osun State Government was distributing cassava stems to farmers particularly the people living with disabilities after claiming to have expended 2bn to purchase farm inputs among other claims.
It is within these two years that the government expended billions of naira to satisfy the selfish needs of the Governor's Office where over 19bn was expended in 2023 as well as billions of naira this year to quench the other insatiable quest for personal comfort.
It would be recalled that the opposition party had severally challenged the government to come out clean on its expenditure. It is on record that the state government was vilified for lavishing billions of naira running to N11bn for the purchase of vehicles for individuals in government. It is also on record that the state government had been slammed on many occasions on the over 38bn expended on personal comfort and that of cronies in government among sundry issues.
Quite unfortunate, it is in Osun that citizens are not privy to the details and implications of the appropriation law/annual budget of the state since the emergence of the current as there was no occasion the breakdown of the budget for the fiscal year is made public even to journalists to interrogate. What a pitiable situation!
The questions to ask as Governor Adeleke celebrates two years in office few days ago are: what is the fate of the sacked traditional rulers? What is the fate of the sacked OYES, O'MEAL, HEALTH WORKERS and others whose hopes were dashed all in the name of playing politics of acrimony and hatred? Where are the 114 tractors purchased for N8bn? Where are the palliative buses overblown by the government? Where is the N2bn palliative fund given to Osun by the Federal Government in 2023? Where are the numerous food palliatives given to Osun State by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government most especially the announcement 43 trailers of food items sent to Osun? Why Governor Adeleke has not offset the modulated salary and pension arrears despite the humongous revenue available at government disposal? What Osun state government has using the severe grants from the federal government for? Why Osun state government is yet to tell the people of the state budget estimate for key sectors in 2025 budget submitted to the House of Assembly recently? Why Osun government has failed to clear air on the alleged Extra-Budgetary Spending made by the opposition? Why Osun state's revenue was the least in the entire southwest in 2023 as exposed by National Bureau of Statistics, NBS? Who are those individuals or entities collecting revenue of the state? How did the current government spend about N600bn resources available to it in the last 2024 month?
Until these questions and many more are adequately answered and logically justified satisfactorily to the delight of the Osun residents, the two years of Governor Adeleke remains the worst in the history of our dear state.
May God heal our land!
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