It is common knowledge that the Ondo State governorship elections are fast approaching and all things being equal, they are scheduled to hold on the 26th November 2016 barring a last ditch cancellation by the unpredictable INEC. But the question making the rounds at newspaper stands, beer parlours, football viewing centres, political exchange circles, hairdressing saloons, fitness and recreation centres, community town halls, event centres and similar locations where the Ondo State electorate are gathered is just one – why would anybody choose to vote for the APC next month just like we did in the 2015 general elections? Whilst posing the question during a short taxi ride in Akure, I had to pass my stop to quiz fellow passengers on their decision to vote for APC, when I heard them discussing about voting for Aketi next month.
We can only speculate or predict what an APC government will do for Ondo State based on what they have accomplished at the federal level in the last 17 months and what has been achieved in APC-controlled states in the federation and our story cannot be different because they will exhibit the same culture, policies and practices.
Well, after 16 continuous years of the PDP at the centre it was clear that Nigeria was ripe for a change and the presumed impeccable character and integrity of the retired General Muhammadu Buhari swayed us into believing that he was the right man to change the fortunes of Nigeria and that the APC was the vehicle to convey us to the promised land.
One year and five months later and Nigerians having had a taste of the pudding are now well informed about the meaning of the much talked-about “Change Mantra” as professed by the APC, but are the Ondo State electorate convinced as they seek to make the all-important decision next month of choosing a successor to Dr Olusegun Mimiko, who will steer the ship for the next 48 months?
If the situation at the federal level is a barometer for measuring performance of the APC, then we need to ask ourselves whether we can afford to take yet another chance with the APC given the track record of the party in the last 17 months under the stewardship of President Buhari. Some of the selective highlights of the Buhari-led administration make very interesting reading where he has managed to achieve the following:
1. PMB has cancelled all the 81 pre-election promises that he and his party made to Nigerians which lured the vulnerable Nigerian electorate to vote for them in the belief that they were voting for a better Nigeria. At the time they cunningly pitched their campaign on three major concerns namely, i) fighting insurgency; ii) fighting corruption and iii) improving the economy.
Whichever yardstick we use to conduct an objective assessment of each of these key concerns, the APC cannot be given a pass mark or an impressive score.
2. PMB has managed to take the country by the hand and lead a thriving Nigerian economy, which was the fasting growing on the African continent as at May 2015, into a deep-rooted economic recession, for which we may not recover for a long time.
Sorry for sounding somewhat pessimistic, but if the experience of more advanced countries of the world is anything to go by and gauge our prospects, then it could be another 4-5 years before Nigeria recovers.
3. President Buhari has supervised the systematic increase of prices of essential goods in the market place and the price hikes are continuing to challenge the average Nigerian on a persistent basis. A visit to the local market is a testimony to the pain, suffering and hardship that the Ondo State voters have faced in the last 17 months alongside their counterparts in other parts of the country.
Has the Buhari-led inflation exempted any essential commodity? Well let’s take a look:
Commodity
Price as at
May 2015
Price as
at today
Parboiled Rice (1 bag)
N10,000
N26,000
Beans (1 bag)
N18,000
N32,000
Vegetable Oil (25 litres)
N6,500
N17,000
Red Palm
REGIONAL REFLECTIONS
Alright, enough said about President Buhari, afterall PMB hails from Daura in Katsina State and he can be excused because he probably doesn’t understand the culture of “Egbe Omo Odu’a”. So let us shed our torchlight over the APC controlled states in the South West geo-political sub region. Perhaps if we search very well we might be able to find good and cogent reason(s) to pitch our tent with the APC of which Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a National Leader. Without using a microscope or a telescope we must be able to find a needle in the haystack that will justify another vote for APC in November 2016. So how do these examples sound to the ears of the Ondo state voter?
OYO STATE – After immense pressure, the government finally conceded that they could no longer afford to continue to pay the wages & salaries of staff and teachers in the public schools and all the prevailing expenditure associated with providing free education to the under-poverished citizenry of the state and that the best thing to do was to sell off the public schools;
The STATE OF OSUN – where the debt profile and level of indebtedness of Osun has made it rank rock bottom of the league table out of the 36 states in the entire federation. Public services provided by the state government have been severely compromised as they continue to suffer with no end in sight. There is no relief on the horizon for the people of Osun State and yet some voters in Ondo State are singing and dancing about towing exactly the same disastrous path.
LAGOS STATE – Undoubtedly the success story of the AD, AC, ACN and now APC administration although aided and abetted by a monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) approaching N30 billion per month, which Lagos State has done well to generate. Lagos is indeed a thriving micro-economy despite the fact that over 90% of the public property of the state has been sold off to the associates of the CEO of Lagos State Ltd, His Excellency the Lion of Bourdillon. What is wrong with that model of financial competency? Is it a crime for Ondo State to aspire to have its very own, “Lion of Ijapo” or “Lion of Oba-Ile” since Alagbaka is unavailable being the seat and home of the state government? Is there any harm in copycat status arising from the clamour for an APC government as a first step to attaining the intimidating status that Asiwaju commands in the politics of the south West?
But a much closer look at the financial record-books of Lagos State leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It was reported in September 2016 by the Debt Management Office (DMO) that Lagos State is one of the top three states in the federation with the highest external debt - it owes a total of $4.9 billion. In a swift reaction, the Lagos State Government said it inherited a debt of N430 billion from the administration of the former governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola – his reward, appointment as a Super Minister in charge of the Federal Ministry(s) of Power, Works and Housing.
POLITICAL TURBULENCE
Reflecting on the recent threats to peace, security and stability which characterised the APC party primaries during the months of August and September 2016, culminating in the emergence of their flag bearer, we have seen very distinct warning signs that what lies ahead with an APC administration is perhaps a reoccurrence of the ugly forgettable politics of 1983.
In addition to this, we all acknowledge that the running of government is extremely hard work, but APC have shown and they have not hidden the fact that many public services being provided in Ondo State under the Mimiko-led administration are NOT sustainable because of dwindling monthly allocations as a result of the decline in oil revenue receipts to the national level. You can be rest assured that some of the early casualties under an APC government will be the following:
· The Bus shuttle service providing uninterrupted free transport to school children every school day in the morning and afternoon since 12th June 2012;
· The Mother & Child Hospitals which provide specialist medical services to patients who have complications in their pregnancy; · The Abiye Safe Delivery projects scattered across the state which has reduced the infant mortality rate in the last 8 years; · The Emergency Rescue System which patrols the major expressways and responds to accidents to save lives and property will be cancelled; · The Agro-industry initiatives implemented by the likes of Ondo State Wealth Creation Agency (WECA); · The International Event Centre (The Dome), which they continuously tagged the Doom, will be the first state asset to be sold off; In conclusion, the medical prognosis of a psychiatrist or the examination of a psychologist cannot convince me or indeed an average reasonably-minded Ondo State voter who chooses to vote for APC on 26thNovember 2016 that he doesn’t need to get his head properly examined. It means that such a patient is either mentality unstable and needs permanent redirection to a psychiatric hospital or that there is severe brain damage or brain-washing which is beyond redemption. As for me and my household, we are voting the ticket of Eyitayo Jegede SAN & Prince John Ola Mafo under the PDP for continuity of the legacies of the last (nearly) eight years under Dr Olusegun Mimiko. Why on earth would we want to return to Egypt having passed through the Red Sea into Canaan, our own promised land?
Barr Gbenga Akinmoyo (GaRo)
Special Assistant to Gov on Media
Writes from Akure 21st October 2016.
