THIS is not the best of times for Oyo State. The April 2011 general elections had held so many hopes for the people of the state, which necessitated the kind of interest that all eligible voters displayed during the elections. The governorship election campaign threw up a lot of issues and promises of an El Dorado for the state and her citizens rented the air, especially from the then incumbent, Governor Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala who promised to continue with the 'good work', which his administration had embarked upon; Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi of the Action Congress of Nigeria who promised to surpass Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) of Lagos State in terms of quality service to the state and Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja of Accord Party, and former governor of the state who promised a people-oriented government.The governorship election has been won and lost. The question that will agitate the mind of an average observer of the unfolding government of Alhaji Ajimobi will be whither Oyo State' As it is traditional, the incumbent administration had come under scrutiny when it clocked the first 100 days in office, on Tuesday, 6 September, 2011.Given the massive public sentiment that was translated into votes that saw Governor Alao-Akala out of office, coupled with the election promises of Senator Ajimobi, the expectation was that the new governor, who had made Governor Fashola's four-year achievement as his starting block, would have given an insight into how his promises would be realised. However, the greatest and best part of the governor's first 100 days in office had been spent grappling with teething problems that are mostly self-induced and preventable.It took more time than usual to inaugurate the State House of Assembly, until Senator Ladoja and his Accord party came to the rescue. No thanks to lack of internal cohesion within the ruling party. Today, the occupation of principal parties in the Assembly had to be based on a tripartite arrangement before the House could start off. House committees are yet to be constituted three months into the life of the lawmaking arm of government. It was a raging silent tsunami for the governor to constitute his cabinet and the local government as he had to contend with a lot of forces; a manifestation of the rainbow and unstructured coalition that helped to prosecute his election and subsequent coming into office. All of these have made it impossible for a clear policy direction of the government to unfold.Also, the governor has bugged himself down with an undue summersault on a critical issue that has to do with labour. The governor had cut the picture of a politician who knew all about the financial strength of the state and her untapped revenue potentials when he made the payment of N18,000.00 minimum wage a campaign issue. But the governor was to contradict himself shortly after his success at the polls. This, he further confirmed during his inaugural speech. Not only did the resultant industrial strike lead to an avoidable loss to the state and the effective take-off of the government. It is only hoped that the governor would have learnt his lessons on the need for consistency when it comes to labour-related issue, especially when it has to do with their welfare.Equally, the governor has to show enough steadfastness when it comes to honouring what is called a 'gentleman agreement'. Senator Ajimobi had allegedly entered into an informal agreement with Senator Ladoja, a man he acknowledged to have been a principal factor in his success at the poll, for his government to be able to take off. That informal alliance was tied to the concession of a certain percentage of the principal offices of the State House of Assembly, Commissioners, Local Government Caretaker Committees, membership of boards, agencies and commissions, and other appointive offices to members of the Accord Party. A confirmation of this arrangement was demonstrated with the emergence of Hon. David Babatunde Olaniyan as the Deputy speaker of the Assembly.However, an indication that the governor may be towing the path of his approach to the salary issue emerged early enough when other offices that were to be conceeded to the Accord Party at the Assembly never materialised. The view in political circles is that the governor might have begun to bend to a cacophony of influences.More importantly, it remains a guess work how the governor will deliver on his promise to create 20,000 jobs within his first 100 days in office. If the promise had been met, it would have passed as for the tenth wonder of the world. But nothing beyond the inauguration of a committee is known about the translation of the promise into reality. There are a lot of questions to be addressed. What manner of jobs is the governor talking about' Are the jobs to be created based on critical and well-thoughout needs' How will the scheme be financed, in view of the strident and persistent cry from government that it will be Herculean meeting the monthly wage bill of workers' The governor towed the weather-beaten path of disengaging the traffic managers employed by his predecessor on the ground of irregularity in their appointment. Does the irregularity affect all the employees' Is anything being done to regularise this' Or has the entire venture gone with the winds' These are critical issues begging for attention for the job creation promise to become meaningful.It is obvious by now that the people of Oyo State have come to terms with some of the issues raised during the governorship campaign, especially those bordering on godfatherism and effective running of the government. That the governor has been called a few uncomplementary names, even by members of his political party is a demonstration of people's view of his style of governance. People's patience is waning rapidly. It's time that the governor gets a grip on the rein of government and demonstrate the action that his model, Governor Fashola(SAN) is noted for. Rhetorical time is over, time for action is long overdue.Ajibike wrote in from Ibadan.
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