WE RAISED THE BAR OF GOVERNANCE AND RESET LEADERSHIP IN OORELOPE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (31ST JULY, 2021)

 WE RAISED THE BAR OF GOVERNANCE AND RESET LEADERSHIP STANDARDS IN OORELOPE LG (31/7/2021)

It is imperative that we engage after months of loud silence because in silence one cannot be misquoted and for those who listen carefully, silence has a lot to say. The momentary hibernation has given us yet another opportunity to reinvent our energy towards productive conversation on our political philosophy and in the pursuit of good governance, only for those who yearn for development and know the meaning of leadership.
In retrospect, the dynamics of politics in Oyo State and in Oorelope Local Government in particular, is interesting and most often defies all known globally acceptable principles and norms. That is the historical reality of the ancient town, Igboho, that headquarters the Local Government. I owe a huge load of gratitude to our leader, His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde, the Executive Governor of Oyo State, for giving me the privilege to serve my people as the Caretaker Chairman of the Local Government. I am grateful to my father, his Deputy, His Excellency, Engr. Rauf Olaniyan, all our leaders, stakeholders, the PDP family and the good people of the Local Government for the opportunity to serve.
Before moving forward, I would like to mention, with all intent and purpose, that the Oyo State Deputy Governor, His Excellency, Engr. Rauf Olaniyan, a highly respected career civil servant who retired as a permanent secretary, an administrator par excellence, a successful businessman, a professional of international repute, a philanthropist of note and a great lover of his people, has at several occasions, made efforts to govern the state but in 2019, when he agreed to serve as the running mate of candidate Seyi Makinde of the PDP, he knew what was involved, prepared his mind for the journey and he never reneged. He came in to serve the good people of Oyo State in his capacity as the deputy governor, to support and complement the governor as the overall leader and that is all he has done in the entire two years of the administration and nothing more. His popularity was put to test and affection of his people towards him manifested and was put to bear, before, during and after the election, as he did not only deliver his constituency, the PDP won squarely both the gubernatorial and state assembly election with a comfortable margin in the Local Government and the entire federal constituency. A lot went down the bridge and sacrifices were made. Olaniyan funded election logistics, mobilization as well as security needs in that axis of the state. Majority of those who play god today could not deliver their polling units and they were humiliated by the APC in their various wards in the Local Government. The records are in the public domain. The coalition that preceded the election was the game changer. Unbelievable sacrifices were made. Ambitions got swallowed by ambitions and the rest is history. Collaborations and compromises are a key ingredient in the quest for power. In the 2019 general election, this strategy worked in Oyo State and particularly in Oorelope Local Government but prices were paid and unconditionally. It was a manifestation of the sincere affection and hunger for development that we have for our fatherland and no regrets whatsoever.
On the 19th of December, 2019, providence placed it on us to serve our people, as our leader, the Governor and in consultation with our leaders and stakeholders, appointed me as the Caretaker Chairman of Oorelope Local Government. The terms of reference were simple. Go, deliver dividends of democracy and unite the people.
After fifteen months of passionate and diligent service in hard work, the curtain was drawn as expected of every human endeavour with beginning, that must surely have an end. We gave our best, we raised the bar of governance and just like our leader, Seyi Makinde, we reset and overhauled the standard of leadership and quality of service in the Local Government within the small space of time in history. It is not for us to self-evaluate but keeping the records handy for posterity is an onus squarely ours. We met a mess of a system with a lot of rot. The civil servants were badly demoralized and massively ill-motivated, no electricity and water system in the secretariat, no working vehicles, no letterhead papers, nor computers, nor printers, nor working photocopier. The list of ‘not availables’ was endless. The utility bill due to IEDC as at the time of our entry was a little above five million naira, but with the motivation drawn from the governor and the encouragement of our people, we swung into action and we started confronting the challenges one after another and navigating through to deliver dividends of democracy to our people and raising the standard of service as expected of a prepared servant of the people. The four cardinal points of our administration were, education, security, improved health service delivery and economic prosperity. With the cooperation of all stakeholders and the understanding of civil servants, we touched noticeably, all identified needs of our people as demanded by priority of events and within the limit of the available meagre resources.
In no particular order, the Caretaker Committee of Oorelope Local Government, under the chairmanship of Comrade Adesola Yaqub (Tasoolo) was able to deliver the below listed public common good to the benefit of our people and humanity in general:
1. 50-million-naira scholarship for 10 indigent students of the Local Government at the Technical University, Ibadan.
2. 50million naira counterpart funding for renovation and building of primary health care facilities across all the 10 wards in the local government.
3. Rehabilitation and fixing of potholes on some selected roads within the Local Government.
4. Scholarship for 4 indigent students at the Oyo State Nursing School.
5. Provision of preventive kits for schools, hospitals, markets and other public places during the COVID-19 pandemic.
6. Procurement of patrol van, 11 motorcycles and other security gadgets for Amotekun corps and our local vigilantes.
7. Rehabilitation of grounded earth moving equipment, such as bulldozer, grader and excavator for infrastructural development.
8. Rehabilitation of grounded security patrol van and provision of patrol materials for vigilantes.
9. Rehabilitation of grounded official van and utility vehicles.
10. Construction of cattle store at the Local Government cattle market (Kraal)
11. Construction of a slaughter slab for butchers in pursuit of hygienic meat processing in the Local Government.
12. Rehabilitation of 20 boreholes across all the 10 wards of the Local Government to ameliorate water problem.
13. Grading of about 80 kilometers of roads and rural access across all the 10 wards of the Local Government.
14. Rehabilitation of grounded tractors, distribution of seedlings and herbicides to farmers for agricultural development.
15. Provision of solar streetlights, repair of transformers and electric power infrastructure/accessories within the Local Government.
16. Registration of 20 indigent students for NECO national exams.
17. Procurement and distribution of 5 million naira worth of empowerment materials, such as motorcycles, freezers, hair driers, clippers, sprayers, coolers, etc for promotion of SMEs and women empowerment, as well as special attention to persons living with disability (PLWD)
18. Payment of salaries, annual leave bonuses and improved general welfare of staff
19. Human capital development and employment opportunities as seen in TESCOM and other government agencies and departments.
20. Resumption and reinvigoration of the long abandoned Local Government Traditional Council meetings and filling of vacant chieftaincy titles within the Local Government and more.
We had our low and high moments, we stood by our people and we complemented the state government to the best of our ability. We visited the reserved forest in chase of bandits and criminal elements, we visited accidents and robbery scenes, we conducted security meetings and we empathized with our people at moments of grief, devastation and natural disasters. We built religious harmony by visiting the traditional worship centers, honoured invitations at churches and attended open air crusades by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and promoted Da’awah. Within the small space of time, we supported the needy, gave hope to the youths, installed king and chiefs, we associated openly to whatever that was right and openly dissociated ourselves from all that was morally adjudged wrong.
The prime of my service as the chairman of Oorelope Local Government was the successful rescue of an abandoned new born baby at a refuse dump within the reach of pigs and snakes somewhere within the Local Government, the child had since been released to the Social Welfare Department of Oyo State for further care and attention, an encounter through which I received a direct divine manifestation that God in His mercy, is the final decider of our destiny and fate and in His hands I have retired mine. Once again, I thank His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde for the privilege of service and I return all glory to God.
God bless Oyo State!
Oorelope e seun O !!
Comrade Adesola Yaqub (TASOOLO) is the immediate past Caretaker Chairman of Oorelope Local Government, Igboho, Oyo State and can be reached via sholayaq@gmail.com

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