By Yemi Babalogbon
When five power blocs came together in April to support the governorship
ambition of Prince Dapo Abiodun, the narrative they sold to the
electorates was that the current situation across Ogun state was
unacceptable and PDA, as he is fondly called, possess the magic wand to
bring about the drastic change the state requires. Chief among all the
promises was that he was going to hit the ground running. They lied!
It has been almost 100 days since that utopia administration of Prince
Dapo Abiodun was sworn into office and as expected, the reality of the
Ponzi scheme is manifesting, faster than anticipated.
Across the world, the first threshold to measuring the performance and
competence of any administration is the ceremonial 100 days anniversary
in such office. This day gives the new government the opportunity to
showcase and celebrate its achievements, master plan, planned project
and the estimated time of completion. For residents of the gateway
state, there is absolutely nothing to celebrate.
In the last 100 days since he came to power, Dapo Abiodun’s
administration has been bedeviled by persistence lack of direction,
discretion, and initiative to govern the state. Like a proverbial blind
man given a pen and paper, Dapo Abiodun lacks the knowledge of what to
do with the vast potentials Ogun state possess. The current Ogun state
is a cacophony of motionless speeches, spineless promises, and glamour
of advanced photography.
While seeking for office, Abiodun promised to deliver within his first
100 days, among other things, rehabilitation of public schools across
the state, building of primary healthcare facilities, economic driven
projects, and security. None which he has fulfilled.
The first task that gave him away as not being capable to man the number
one seat in the state is his inability to constitute a simple state
cabinet. A task his counterparts across the country did with ease. Many
have attributed this to the greed of unholy alliance of strange
bedfellows who ganged up to hijack the Oke-Mosan seat to him on a
platter of gold.
For a government that finds it impossible to constitute a state
executive council, even when some states under the grip of individuals
succeeded, the hope of getting any tangible work done is nearly
impossible as the only constitutionally recognized body authorized to
sanction such projects does not exist.
As if under the guidance of power beyond his control, the supposed Chief
security officer of the state, finds it convenient to outsource sacred
duties and matters of governance to anointed individuals beyond the
state. The process of appointing Heads of Agencies and parastatals has
become more or less a bedroom affair.
To add salt to an already painful injury, Governor Dapo Abiodun embarked
on a jamboree celebration of a website creation. A simple system anyone
with a computer and internet service can come up with without breaking a
sweat. To make matter worst, this phony enterprise was launched by the
Vice President of Nigeria. How low we have fallen!
The newly launched Ogun state job portal is devoid of any critical
thinking befitting of a state like Ogun state. The platform looks like
the usual thousand and one job portals across the web sphere providing
ponzi employment scheme. It is an incontrovertible fact that the public
sector does not possess the capacity to employ a fraction of the
unemployed youth in the state. In fact, neither does the private sector
in Ogun state possess the capacity to give employment to an appreciable
number of underemployed or unemployed residents of the state. Why then
give hope to residents when there is no platform for them to work?
Taking into consideration the giant strides of counterparts in Oyo and
Lagos states in the last few days, what a well thought out process would
have provided is a scheme that helps to develop individual skills and
talent while promoting entrepreneurship ventures and self-sufficiency
for the youth.
_Yemi Babalogbon writes from Ifo, Ogun state_