A fifth argument has been that
Yorubas are not ready to be liberated. By this, the APC vaunts its
"achievements" in power. These achievements can be summarized under
two broad headings: (1) infrastructure development and (2) urban renewal. By infrastructural
development, APC governments mean road construction. So enamored of their
achievement in road construction are these governors that Raufu in an
Investment Summit enthused that they were constructing "ona baba ona"
(the father of roads).
But look closely further and you
will clearly see the fraud being pulled on the entire SW. First, how many roads
are really being constructed? Second, at what cost? If you go to Osogbo for
instance, a number of roads that could easily be seen (as advertisements) are constructed
such as the one linking the town with Ikirun up till the border town of Ila
Odo; and a few inner city roads. However, go further and you will see craters
that could possibly swallow a whole car on a majority of the roads. In fact,
just a few meters from the Government House is the road to Ilobu. I drove
through that road and my car is still recovering from the damage done to the
shock absorbers. Rural areas fare worse. On the cost of constructing these
roads, we have unrebutted reports that they cost Osun taxpayers one billion
naira per kilometer!
Urban renewal is an euphemism for
flower planting! In civilized climes, that should be the function of municipal
(towns, not Local Governments) authorities. However, for a government bereft of
viable, developmental initiatives, flower planting is a major achievement.
Unfortunately, these flowers are planted at great cost in buildings
demolishment and loss of revenue and income to the local folks.
More importantly, however, real
governance and development transcend such mundane and pedestrian ideas. The
United Nations Development Fund (UNDP)'s Human Development Index (HDI) talks
about an all-inclusive growth in areas such as infant and child
mortality; literacy rate; access to potable water; youth unemployment, primary
health care. Flower planting and road rehabilitation are not mentioned as
critical elements of development. Neither is the comical naming of policy
efforts such as O' YES (Osun Youth Employment Scheme); O'Meal (Osun School Meal
Program) etc.
Primary health care is virtually
non-existent in Osun State. Even the General Hospital at Osogbo which is
humorlessly tagged a teaching hospital because of its affiliation to the Osun
State University School of Medicine cannot even pass for a clinic in developed
climes. For one, the Osun State University School of Medicine has not been
accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) because equipment that
are needed at the "Teaching Hospital" and necessary upgrade of the
faculty are not funded by Raufu. Rather, Raufu ceremoniously sent the students
to Ukraine for further pursuit of their studies! Imagine the short sightedness
of this man vaunted as Orunmila incarnate!
As usual, Raufu bought a number of
ambulances strategically parked at major junctions in the State for public
show. Rural health that could have been boosted by such simple policy
initiatives as mobile health clinics are glaringly ignored. Thus, indigenes are
subject to health hazards and most have no option than to patronize herbalists
and roadside herb hawkers. Potable water was a given in states of the SW in the
1970s and under the UPN in the 1980s. Today, however, the people are reduced to
digging wells and drinking impure water. Life is therefore, nasty and brutish
for the poor souls.
On the surface, Raufu's youth
empowerment scheme is laudable. Only that it is neither empowering the youths,
nor self-sustaining in the long term. Graduates employed as street sweepers are
paid N10,000 monthly stipend. Beside the demeaning nature of this
"job", the overall effect on the graduate psyche is unfathomable.
Raufu is therefore, creating young graduates with no hope in their future.
Contracts are given to non-indigenes
who sometimes even bring their unskilled workers from outside the state. Unlike
during Bisi Akande's regime when contract for the State Secretariat was
directly given to local artisans who did carpentry, plumbing and painting
works, under Raufu, the local artisan is not good enough. Wealth is thus being
created to the exclusion of indigenes whose poverty is starkly observable.
Same goes for the school meal
program which was an adaptation of the preceding Olagunsoye Oyinlola
administration's policy. Apart from a failure to acknowledge that this policy
was not Raufu's original idea, in the hurry for acclaim, the necessary value
chain for sustainability was ignored. Agricultural production was not
addressed. Instead, Raufu sent hand picked beneficiaries for an agricultural
training scheme in Germany. The foolishness of such policy action is self
evident. Moreover, schools were merged in an ill-thought, hurriedly packaged
policy that will see school children traveling miles to get to school. The
implication of this on alertness and ability to comprehend was not considered.
A few buses were bought in answer to questions raised about the rationality of
the school merger. But the question remains: is this policy sustainable in the
long term?
Even in the short term, the failure
of Raufu and his APC co-travelers is staring us in the face. Despite the noise
being made about Raufu's educational policy, Osun State came 23rd out of 36
states in the 2013 WAEC result. Raufu's fellow APC governor who vaunts his Ph.D
led Ekiti State on a down spiral which saw the state coming 35th out of 36 states
in the 2013 WAEC. The other loud APC state of Ogun scored 39.92% overall. The
only SW state that scored above 50% in the 2013 WAEC result was Lagos State. It
is instructive to note, however, that this "achievement" was possible
due to the laudable efforts of Fashola's former Deputy Governor between 2009
and 2011; who also doubled as the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Sarah
Adebisi Sosan. Mrs. Sosan was, however, removed unceremoniously in 2011 by the
emperor at Bourdillion and replaced with an hair dresser!
Osun State is not particularly
buoyant in terms of revenue from the federation account. But Raufu wants us to
believe otherwise. He flaunted a figure at a DAWN Commission-sponsored
Investment Summit placing Osun State in the 7th position in terms of GDP above
states like Anambra. But two people don't profit from a lie. While previous
administrations learnt to live within their means, Raufu lives large. He
shuttles between his temporary abode in Osogbo and his base in Lagos in an
helicopter! All at Osun State expense. For Raufu and his extremely large
coterie of political appointees, Osun State money is meant to be spent.
Meanwhile, the unassuming Osun folks are known for prudence and moderation.
They know that they are being taken for a ride by Raufu; and the day of
reckoning is here.
Today, the domestic debt of Osun
State stands at N38,600,000,000.00 or 2.49% of the nation's domestic debt.
Ekiti State owes N39,558,000,000.00 or 2.55%. Lagos owes a mind-boggling
N230,432,000,000.00 or 14.85% of the total domestic debt. Ogun State owes N45,726,000,000.56
or 2.95% of the national domestic debt. Ondo State has a domestic debt profile
of N36,518,000,000.08 or 2.35% of the national figure. Debts are not bad in
themselves. It is the purpose to which debts are incurred that raises an issue.
Most APC States incur debts not to empower the people via sustainable
development and wealth generation. rather, debts are incurred to build roads,
expand existing lanes (creating a six lane road in an inner city road such as
Totoro-Ibara and Lekki-Epe Expressway which had one additional lane added);
build bridges where such are not necessary; plant flowers and make noise that
development is taking place.
Now, Raufu has overdrawn Osun State.
The State is broke. He cannot pay workers salary. Lecturers at all the State
tertiary institutions have been on strike for upwards of 6 months, with no end
in sight. Raufu even finds it difficult to fulfill other obligations. In the
APC's usual way of shifting the blame, Raufu tells us that there has been a
substantial drop in revenue accruable to Osun State from the federation
account. According to Raufu, this is because there is a sinister plot by the
PDP to starve him of funds, plant fear in the people of Osun State and create
an atmosphere of chaos in order to rig him out of office.
Raufu forgot in a hurry that he once
boasted that his government has increased Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to
a level where Osun State could survive without federal allocation. But let us
agree for the purpose of this argument that Raufu is probably right afterall. A
comparative look at the revenue figure of Osun State between two distinct
periods: 2009 (when Oyinlola was governor) and 2014 (when Raufu claim his
revenue dropped due to a PDP plot) will show us the true picture.
In January 2009, Osun State had a
net revenue allocation of 2,668,824,744.91 (after deduction of N23,879,020.23
external debt and N24,509,376.00 domestic debt). In January 2014, the gross
revenue accrued to Osun State was 2,694,382,073.46 (after deductions of N47,370,175.27
external debt; N164,934,256.00 contractual obligations and N781,139,799.84
domestic debt). In February 2009 Osun State had a net revenue of
N1,876,539,065.74 (after deductions of N31,780,372.73 external debt and
N24,509,375.00 domestic debt). In February 2014, Osun State had a net revenue
of N3,050,792,395.92 (after deductions of N47,370,175.27 external debt;
N164,934,256.00 contractual obligations; and N782,830,800.29 domestic debt).
For March, 2009 net revenue was N2,323,483,679.22 (after deductions of
N31,780,372.73 external debt and N24,509,375.00 domestic debt).
By March 2014, net revenue was
N3,014,708,842.94 (after deductions of N33,020,399.00 external debt,
N164,934,256.00 contractual obligations and N819,230,486.39 domestic debt). In April
2009, net revenue accrued was N2,736,798,808.00 (after deductions of
N31,780,372.73 external debt and N24,509,375.00 domestic debt). April 2014,
however, had the State netting N3,019,480,005.75 in revenue (after deductions
of NN33,020,399.00 in external debt; N164,934,256.00 contractual obligations;
and N795,756,726.29 domestic debt). In May 2009, Osun state had a net revenue
of N2,020,365,362.33 (after deductions of N31,780,372.73 external debt and
N4,400,000.00 domestic debt). May 2014, however, had a net revenue figure of
N2,838,749,559.83 (after deductions of N33,020,399.00 in external debt;
N305,678,787.50 contractual obligations and N766,602,448.05 domestic debt).
From the figures above, a few things
are observable:
(1) Raufu lied when he claimed that
the revenue accruing to Osun State reduced in recent times because the Federal
Government cut the revenue in order to frustrate his government;
(2) the revenue figures of 2009 when
a PDP government was in control of Osun State are definitely lower than when
the APC government of Raufu hold sway. In fact, the revenue available to Raufu
substantially increased in comparison to Olagunsoye Oyinlola;
(3) the debt profile of Osun State
had increased astronomically under Raufu, such that deductions (especially of
contractual obligations) reduced the overall revenue available for settling
statutory obligations such as workers salary;
(4) without the contractual
obligations deduction from source, Osun State under Raufu will have net revenue
figures almost double that of Olagunsoye Oyinlola;
(5) Raufu's government is steeped in
deceit and double speak. At one breath, he claims that he has not increased the
debt profile, at another he says that without borrowing, the State could not
embark on any meaningful development; yet at another he boasts that he has
taken Osun State to a level of self sufficiency; and,
(6) the deduction of Osun State's
contractual obligations at source is indicative of a debtor unwilling to live
up to the obligations entered into when taking the debt. The implication of
this for the State's credit worthiness is dire indeed.
Having stated the above, it is
necessary to alert the reader that above revenue figures do not include revenue
accruable to Osun State's 30 local governments within the period under review.
That is another income to the state.
However, while the PDP government
under Oyinlola conducted elections into LGs thereby ensuring that
constitutionally established administrations with the authority to spend
statutory allocations were established, Raufu and his fellow APC governors did
no such thing. At least, Kayode Fayemi did not. The implication of this for
revenue disbursement should not be lost on us.
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