The honeymoon period that governor Seyi Makinde of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, enjoyed since he was elected as governor of Oyo state seems to be evaporating fast. A popular radio program, anchored by one of the most prominent political journalists in the South West, Edmund Obilo, monitored in Ibadan earlier today proved that more callers into the program are gradually losing faith with Makinde‘s administration. An alarming 75 percent of the callers claiming to have supported the governor’s election, they claimed to be disappointed with his performance so far.
The most popular disenchantment against the Makinde administration is that nothing obvious has changed since assuming power almost one year ago. Though the anchor of the program, Edmund Obilo, raised the point about the Fulani question in Nigeria and Africa. He briefly alluded that President Buhari is not the only problem with Nigeria‘s democracy, referencing the lack of development in Oyo state since the PDP regained power with Makinde at the helms, despite predicating his campaigns on the mantra of rapid development.
As if waiting for the opportunity, callers quickly pounced on the slight digression to voice frustration at the PDP government. Though the governor still has his own ardent supporters who also called in to ask for more patience from Oyo residents. Yet the only viable defense of Makinde was their claim that he is doing well because salaries were being regularly paid to workers and pensioners. Those in the opposing camps quickly hit back by saying, payment of salaries isn’t an achievement because, even his predecessor, Ajimobi also paid salaries promptly for almost three years before the recession. They reminded his supporters that politicians only work for three out of four years, since the fourth year is usually dominated by politics, in preparation for elections.
By that analysis they claimed that Makinde has spent almost one-third of his effective term in office, with no visible developments. References were made to the increasingly chaotic traffic situations around Ibadan, which they claimed showed a lack of leadership. The anchor of the program, “State Affairs”, Edmund Obilo, who is known to be a personal friend of the governor, agreed with many callers by insinuating that he supported the current governor during elections. He however voiced his disappointment with the increasing number of widening potholes that litter the city without any attention.
He continued by stating that since Seyi Makinde became governor, not one single traffic light has been installed or repaired, thereby compounding the increasing chaos caused by Micra drivers, who are notorious for their rickety vehicles, overloading, and frequent, flagrant disregard for traffic rules, without any government officials holding them to account. He challenged government officials to stand up to their responsibilities in order to return order to the ancient city which is claimed to be getting worse since Makinde attained power.
Though Makinde was lauded for his intentions to spend 20 percent of the state budget on education, he was reminded that this promise was only on paper, and that there are no visible structures on ground to show that anything has changed. Edmund Obilo claimed to have been doing his personal investigations within the state, around public schools and other important sectors in the state, noting that nothing has changed in the classrooms, with many dilapidated schools still without chairs. He also claimed that the little he has said on radio, about the poor state of affairs under Makinde was just a tip of the iceberg, and that he is withholding at least 80 percent of his findings, which is very damning on the PDP administration.
He, a Edmund Obilo, however claimed that he will continue to critic the PDP administration of Makinde in order to ensure that he performs. He alluded to information and statistics at his disposal as evidence that all administrations in the state are. virtually the same, including that of Seyi Makinde.