Makinde and knack for decimation of age-long orders
Ben GEORGE
Late Ajebamidele of Ogbomosoland, Chief (Dr) Ladiji Abidemi Gbadamosi CON, used to say, “Ko si bi sanmo ti funfun to, dudu diedie yoo wa nibe.” (No matter the whiteness of the sky, it will be interspersed with black spots), to underscore the inevitability of debilitating challenges every man could be vulnerable to. I will also liken it to the fact that no matter how good a person is, his pandering to conceited steps cannot be ruled out.
Oyo state governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, despite recording laudable achievements in certain aspects especially in areas of welfare of civil servants, infrastructural development (though tilted in favour of the state capital) and in a few other areas is imbued with flaws one of which is knack for upturning legacies he met on ground by which he sparks anger and ruckuses. There is nothing bad in tinkering with established orders but must be with the aim of improving the status quo and not on the basis of jettisoning broad based interests to feather one’s interest and satisfy the goals of few self conceited individuals.
The ancestors who gave us some legacies knew why they created them the way they did, and why they have been sustained in the version done. To alter it, it must be with a view to excising some identified and agreed lacunae which certainly will engender wide applause and not leave anyone with sour feelings. Power fuels arrogance and a sense of greatness nurtures stupidity. It’s when the dire consequences dawn that regrets set in and comeuppance is exacted.
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The jinxed excision of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, to a new campus at Iseyin, against the wish of Ogbomoso people, is a case in point. The initiators and founders of the university and the past Visitors, military and civilian governors alike, never took such step. The university was established as a mono-campus entity and no governor ever strove to tip the balance. It’s an heritage bequeathed to the Ogbomoso part of the state and it remained so for 33 years, with the university thriving gloriously.
But for political expediency Governor Makinde came up with the strange idea of toppling the status quo. Scores of reasons were adduced why the plan is undesirable but he has remained resolutely adamant. He says his decision is unalterable even though the implementation has been faltering. Inadequate facilities, students’ refusal to comply, lack of accommodations, lecturers’ opposition and so on, have made the proposal a delusion. It’s despicable, the lives of the students are whimsically subjected to impetuous disruptions.
Another issue in this category is the proposal to turn the Agodi Gardens in Ibadan into a housing estate. This is an edifice established decades ago even before the advent of Governor Makinde in this side of the (planet) divide. The creators of the Garden comprising forests, relaxation centres and so on, located between the government secretariat and the Premier Hotel, founded it to achieve lofty goals. Late Governor Abiola Ajimobi in 2014 took steps to reinvent the Garden on the premise that such are nurtured in South Africa, Dubai and other developed countries to serve as tourist attraction centres. Aside millions that could be generated in terms of revenues from tourists, the forest in the Garden, environmentalists have argued, serve to control erosion in that hilly area, asserting vehemently that removing the trees will make Mokola axis vulnerable to flooding and erosion. Moreover, in this era when emphasis is on green environment at the global level in the face of climate change igniting global warming, willfully destroying trees and nature sends a signal of insensitivity and of being at variance with the world order.
Appeals and protests against the plan have met with recalcitrance as is the case with the LAUTECH Faculty of Agric issue. Leaving the faculty in Ogbomoso inflicts no devastating effects, sustaining the Agodi Gardens provokes no destabilization, so, why the insistence on subjugating the orders already established at the expense of jeopardizing goodwill.
If you want to give Iseyin an institution of higher learning you can do that seamlessly, without splitting LAUTECH and damaging your goodwill in Ogbomoso. To solve housing deficit in the state as claimed by the government, that can be achieved by securing virgin land in adjoining forests to the metropolis and develop such instead of further choking the city centre, creating new problems and destroying others’ legacies.
Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, he successfully upgraded to a university to wide applause. That did not leave anyone with a sour taste. Unlike that, the removal of agric faculty of LAUTECH from its main campus provokes a sourer taste, so unpalatable. This is demonstrated recently at the presentation of staff and certificate of office to the new Soun, when the people failed to show him much love as he departed the hall. In fact, many did not wait to listen to his address. And while the departure of Osun state governor stirred a commotion his did not.
It’s never too late, the governor should hearken to the cries of the students protesting their relocation, to the disapproval of the staff silently saying no to their forced eviction from their comfort zone for no great reason, parents opposing the disruptive effects to their disposable income and to their children’s welfare the relocation imposes and that of the host community whose residents feel shortchanged.
He should rescind the decisions – those of Agodi Gardens and LAUTECH – like he did in the case of Adogba Central Mosque to popular acclamations.
With the new faculties springing up in LAUTECH, against the backdrop of his turning the institution into a conventional one, he would have been a hero in Ogbomoso, as someone who expanded their horizons. The agric debacle however will eternally cast a slur on his good reputation.
He needs not go down in history as someone driven by an impetuous knack for destabilization of extant thriving orders.
