I had ample opportunity to listen to various programs on Radio this last Saturday.
I must however say that two of those programs caught my attention due to the fact that citizens participation was allowed and the fact that most of those who called in on the different programs across both Radio stations were persistent about two key areas of performance of Governor Makinde.
One of the station is located around the Ologun Eru area of Ibadan while the other one is located in Challenge, Ibadan.
Both programs were in Yoruba language and one ran in the morning while the other ran in the evening time.
So, what were the key areas that were prominently discussed?
They are citizen’s perception about the Education policy of Governor Seyi Makinde and the state of access Roads within Ibadan.
Ibadan, you will wonder? Yes. Ibadan.
Why Ibadan? What happened to the imaginary Ibadans in Alex Adetunji’s write up?
I thought the fellow said Ibadan is happy and dancing as a result of the wonders Governor Makinde has been performing in the areas of Road infrastructures?
In fact, I was amused when the anchor of one of the programs, the one at challenge called out a particular zealot who he said called to the program some weeks before, beating his chest that all the public schools in Ibadan would be refurbished by Governor Makinde within two weeks. Very characteristic of the unofficial mouthpieces of the Governor.
I laughed my heart out when the funny individual couldn’t call to the program on Saturday despite the fact that the anchor repeatedly called out his name.
I wasn’t surprised. People like Alex Adetunji abounds everywhere.
Now, let me discuss my observations regarding the two key areas. Education and the state of access Roads in Oyo state.
I will start with Education. If you have pupils in the public schools in Oyo state, you won’t find it difficult to conclude that Governor Seyi Makinde had zero plans for the sector before coming into office.
In fact, he underrated the problems confronting the sector.
I think he completely got things wrong when he concluded that the total sum of the three thousand Naira per session per pupil was so meagre and that, if phased out, he could just provide the sum and free Education was as good as a go.
He looked at the problems from the surface and while campaigning, he kept emphasizing that he would stop such payments on his first day in office.
Ofcourse, Governor Makinde was true to his words. He cancelled the payments of the three thousand Naira per session per pupil on his first day in office and that signalled the beginning of the terrible decline we are witnessing in our public primary and secondary schools.
Unknown to Governor Makinde, apart from the payments of the three thousand Naira per session per pupil, the previous Government of Ajimobi had successfully, through collaborations with relevant critical stakeholders, developed a system where Old students Association of various public schools were committed to developing their Alma mater.
Schools Boards were set up to intervene in the developments of public schools.
The interventions of the Boards and the Old students Associations of the public schools were unquantifiable.
Governor Makinde obviously ignored this fundamental contributions and looked at the Education policy of Ajimobi from the narrow angle of the payment of three thousand Naira per session.
Based on that narrow analysis, he cancelled the payments and disbanded the Governing Boards of schools without recourse to the critical stakeholders in the Education sector.
What interested me most at the time was that no parent was complaining about the system.
That indiscretion is now proving to be costlier than the payments of three thousand Naira per session.
My children went through the public schools. So, I know what I am talking about.
In the first instance, Governor Ajimobi’s policies on Education was a product of robust interactions, engagements and dialogues with critical stakeholders including the parents.
The decision to be paying the said sum of money wasn’t that of Ajimobi, it was a collective decision arising from the engagements with stakeholders.
The three thousand Naira per session was not paid to Government coffers. It was paid directly to the schools and the Parents Teachers Associations were involved in the process.
Were the policies taking care of pressing concerns? Yes they were and perfectly well.
We had no issues with the printing of exam questions, results sheets, provisions of chalks and other essentials.
For example, my son was a pupil of Government College, Ibadan at the time and my daughter was a pupil of Queens College, Ibadan.
Both schools, at the time had the luxury of employing part time teachers who not only taught in regular classes but they also organized extra effort classes at no costs.
What do we have in those public secondary schools now? You have to pay for extra effort classes. You have to pay for exam sheets and other things.
During Ajimobi’s time, pupils were given free text books and exercise books regularly.
What do you have now? You have to buy text books and exercise books.
The only time Governor Makinde distributed free exercise books, the costs of the contract for the production of one exercise book would not even want you to wish for such Greek Gifts
For about two years consecutively, WAEC delisted public secondary schools in Oyo state on allegations of exam malpractices.
What are the root causes of this phenomenon that is alien to Oyo state Education?
The WAEC results of pupils from Oyo state is nothing to write home about and yet, we say we are the pace setting state.
Exactly what pace are we setting?
Each time I hear Oyo state Government officials and their wicked acolytes talked about ” free Education”, I always restrain myself from cursing them.
Why would I go to such extremes? I know for sure that none of them would send their children to those schools they claim are running ” for free”.
Sadly, as poor as those schools are, parents are now paying far more than what stakeholders agreed to pay to assist the Government during Ajimobi’s tenure.
It is now a case of double jeopardy. You have to pay more for failure.
The anchor of one of the programs put it succinctly that the Heads of schools in Oyo state are operating in fear.
They dare not talk. They have to continue to suffer in silence but for me, that silence is undignified of their offices.
Apart from all this, the physical infrastructures in our public primary and secondary schools are so terrible.
Thankfully, this is a matter for the eyes. It is not one you require any level of critical thinking before you determine that the Infrastructures are eyesores.
This Government loves to point to the regular payment of teachers salaries and the fact that a few thousands of teachers were appointed.
The question is, what is the quality of Education we are churning out from those schools?
Yes. You are paying salaries regularly. You even appointed some teachers. Can you send your children to those schools?
What is the environment like in those schools? How many pupils are crammed in one class? How many pupils are currently studying under dilapidated classrooms and under Mango and Cashew trees?
It’s unfortunate that we have descended so low to a level where we have equated the payments of salaries to a big achievement.
I think Governor Makinde saw that weakness in us and leveraged on it.
I am not against regular payment of salaries but for it to be celebrated as if those who collected the salaries received a special favor from the Governor is something that baffles me.
I think that is why those school Heads have decided to be quiet no matter how terrible things got under them.
Unfortunately, it is a sad reality now that most of them would rather send their children to private schools rather than register them in the public schools where they work.
A sad irony.
The other issue that the callers were emphatic about was the issue of access Roads.
I can not begin to count the number of callers who drew attention to a plethora of access Roads within Ibadan that has become death traps.
I am sure Governor Makinde himself and those who feeds from defending him blindly know that the access Roads in Ibadan and the whole of Oyo state are in terrible shapes.
No matter the amount of clownish individuals engaged to launder the image of the Governor, the reality is that Governor Makinde has neglected access Roads for far too long and they have become a disaster.
I wonder how someone would claim that he lives in Jankata and such a person would have the mouth to be talking about good Roads in Ibadan.
What is the condition of the Roads in Jankata?
Governor Makinde’s style of concentrating on the main Roads in Ibadan, while neglecting the access Roads to the few Roads he is rehabilitating is akin to a new wine in an old skin.
Yes. The wine is new and sweet. However, if the nature of the skin is not inviting, who will dare taste the wine?
Some of those who live in the innermost parts of the state Capital, not to talk of those outside Ibadan would never use the Roads he has concentrated efforts on.
For such people, the access Roads to their homes and places of work are of more importance.
That is not to say that I am advocating for a neglect of urban Roads. What I’m calling for here is a balance between the two.
There is no way the Governor would leave a good Legacy in the areas of Road infrastructures if he doesn’t wean himself of the appetite for holding tenaciously on to the finances of the 33 Local Governments.
If he had concentrated his efforts on the rehabilitation of existing Roads all over the state and allowed the Local Governments to concentrate on the access Roads within their domains, the results would have been different.
Sadly, the Governor has roughly two and a half years to rewrite his story, that is if he agrees that he has chosen a wrong path.
Those who are collecting Jeeps and stipends to keep clapping for him will never tell him the truth.
When Governor Adebayo Alao Akala was Governor of Oyo state.
We had issues with the Press. Most especially, the Lagos Press. The picture they were painting was that Akala was a complete failure as Governor.
As members of his Media Team, we were terribly disturbed because nothing we did seemed to appease the rabid critics from Lagos.
Thankfully, one day, we came to a conclusion that unless we invited the Editors of the Newspapers concerned and take them round the state, to see, first hand, the achievements of Akala, we will never get them convinced.
Exactly what we did. I was given the responsibility of accompanying those Editors on the sight seeing mission.
Yours truly, that was how we silenced the Army of opposition Press from Lagos for good.
I want to recommend that Governor Makinde does the same if he is confident of his achievements in the Education sector and in the area of rural developments.
Thankfully, his Commissioner for Information was the chairman of Akala’s Media Team while I served as secretary.
I think such opportunities would afford Governor Makinde’s spokespersons and unofficial mouthpieces to see first hand the anger of the people.
I suggest that the Team should visit at least five primary and secondary schools per Local Government to access the damage done to our public Education.
I am sure that they won’t be able to access up to 25 percent of such schools due to lack of accessible Roads and that would tell them the story they need to know about the access Roads in Oyo state.
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