By: Aliykhal Lanre
It will be unkind to conclude, even to insinuate, that Prince Dapo Abiodun set out to diminish the fortunes of his golden opportunities given to him during the last elections, by throwing tantrums over his second chance in 2023, as the governor given his confession to the Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE) staff and management that he would make more arrest and jail them for just no reasons, it is now clear that he did not mind if his party or himself lost in the coming elections, all because those surrounded him are foes and oppositions who work assiduously to not win the election in 2019 elections. If such action is not regarded as an over ambitious and lack of vision, I don’t know what is.
Indeed, it is too early for any sitting governor to have reacted in such matter, as those being addressed was in one way or the others have contributed meaningfully your emergence and elected as governor of that state, when I watched the video of Governor Dapo Abiodun boasted that he would make more arrest of TASCE Lecturers and jail them, I was laughed to my marrow and the other hands pity him as well. What makes me laugh was the fact that the governor has forgotten so soon that he is not court of law that convicted people and moreover, when he hardly campaign for himself at the state when Senator Ibikunle Amosun was in charge of the government. Kindly, don’t get me wrong, because am part of the campaign crew of the Abiodun then, he couldn’t campaign for himself until when the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo came to his rescue, it even got to the extent where Amosun asked him not to enter the campaign Bus at Arcade Ground, Oke-Mosan during the Presidential Campaign in Abeokuta, it was Osinbajo that bailed him out.
Abiodun has also forgotten that he is going to seek for a second term in office; he should take it gently with the people of the state, especially the workers. How a sitting addressing issues aggressively, that saddle he occupied today would is transient and nobody sit on top forever. Those TASCE Lecturers took the bull by the horn before, during and after your elections. Why now threatening them with police arrests and incarceration. The Yoruba adage says; akin’tile ejo de, ka’dore. Meaning, we don’t come from police station/court and become a friends at all. So, he should be very careful and do away with those attrition behaviors that could cause him his second term. He should try to learn from former governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, which he did nothing for the Lagosians but the leaders of the party which turned out to be witch-hunting him, even to the extent that he was fooled to be nominated to the ministerial position, which eventually struck out the nominees.
As draconian as the former governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun was tagged, he had no record of repression and incarceration of any Union Leaders as began by the Dapo Abiodun’s administration, the worst Amosun did to any union leaders and its members throughout his tenure was to sack them and eventually reinstated them before leaving office on May 29. As at this moment, over 75 staff of Tai Solarin College of Education, Omu-Ijebu has been arrested on the instruction of Dapo Abiodun for daring to ask for the implementation of the unwritten agreement he had with them during electioneering campaign. Indeed, the staff of the institution was then sought for during the general elections for votes. Governor Abiodun met with Comrade Daniel Aborisade-led COTAS for more than five times planning and agreed to rub each other’s back, now that he had gained the ground; they became things of unseen for him. Mind you, Mr. Governor, promise is a debt, according the Bible; after all, you are good and staunch Christian.
Lest we forget, the staff are been owned salaries in the excess of fifty (50) months while the campaign lapsed. The campaign team them promised to pay them nothing less than a year salary lump sum if elected as the governor of the state, if you have promised them, that you are going to incarcerate them for agitating for the right, they would have not voted for but AbudlKadir Adekunle Akinlade of Allied People’s Movement (APM), it is now gotten to a stage, where they are now comparing your administration to that of Amosun just having spent over one hundred days in office. Imaging, the staff having this at the back of their minds, went against Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s preferred candidate then and teamed up with you ‘Yellow Team’ The embattled Provost of the college, Dr. Lukman Adeola Kiadese who was an hardliner of APM unleashed untold hardship on the staff but they stuck to their guns. Now, the governor has disavowed his promised and ordered, arrested Aborisade, the leader of the COTAS and disbanded the same group that vanguard and championed his campaign on the campus.
The governor needs to retract his step and call the Union members to the round table, dialogue with them and let them express their plights and predicament, withdraw the matter from court of law for the peace to reign and not to determine your second coming to the government house of the Ogun state, those people can make and mar and even matter most during the electioneering campaign of any candidates, you need them, they need you too. They say; no man is an Island and a tree cannot make a forest. Form a round table, be like a former governor of the state, Otunba Olugbenga Justus Daniel, which till date allow room for doubting and free to everybody to exercise his opinion and expression, when Otunba Gbenga Daniel was the governor of the state, everybody really a stakeholders of his administration, he allow people of his/her expression, he never for one day jail or arrest any civil servants in the state, even when some were alleged of leakage of an official secret to Otunba Dipo Dina then, he didn’t raise an eyebrow but concentrate of his governance. Why don’t you emulate such a person Mr. Governor, at least, you were from the same Ogun East Senatorial district of the state.
Why I am not surprised, it is only when the father of a house is weak, wicked, and feeble that strangers beat his children, maim and treat them like filth. You see, when we fight, we see our enemies as nothing but filthy norms and we crush them below our feet. The truth is that, the Provost of the College, Dr. Lukman Adeola Kiadese is very wicked, weak, greed, cruel, heartless, ungrateful and unfit to be the handler of the affairs of the institution. He is very weak in the sense that, his appointment had been terminated by the entire management of the University of Ilorin for incompetence, nonchalant attitude to work and criminal negligence to his employer. The Registrar and the Secretary to the University council in a letter dated 17th June, 2019 without permission, absented himself from work, contrary to the provision of Chapter 8.1.2(b) 5 of the University of Ilorin Revised conditions of service for senior staff.
And having noted that due process was observed by the committee in the consideration of his case, the council then approved his appointment as Senior Lecturer be terminated with effect from 1st September, 2016 for processing on leave of absence without permission, he was at then directed to handover all University property, including Identity Card that may be in his possession to the Head of his Department at once, he also directed to settle all his indebtedness to the university and complete the clearance from attached hereto as a proof of compliance, which he failed to do so. And, mind you it was during these days if accepted offer as Caretaker Chairman of Ifo Local government of Ogun state, trying to collect salaries in two ways of government positions. He is perfectly defrauded the government of the federation in acting in two government capacities, as a Lecturer, at the same time as a Caretaker Chairman. He is also a staunch and ardent follower of Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) of Senator Ibikunle Amosun with his protégé candidate in person of AbdulKabir Adekunle Akinlade, triple A, why now the Ogun state governor relating with these calibers of people, he supposed to have been sacked many of them long time ago, because they don’t wishes him well, most of are still in Oke-Mosan, among the Permanent Secretaries.
Ask Kiadese where is the official car be given to him by the institution “Toyota Hilux”, this motor was bastardized and destroyed by Ifo hoodlums during the last election when one of the opposition was killed inside this vehicle, till date, Kiadese could not be able to account for the official vehicle, when asked jokingly, he will be murmuring and grumbling. And these are the people; the governor is giving priority over those who fought for his emergence during the turbulent of Amosun administration. Governor Dapo Abiodun needs to do away with those mediocres and political machineries; they are still with Amosun but pretending as if they are friends of the governor. “Won’foju jo’ore, sugbon Ota ni won”, they are enemies but pretending to be friends. They are mules in your government, feeding Amosun back of all what transpired in your administration. A little is enough for the wise, because when the chips are down, you wouldn’t see them anymore.
The most painful aspect of it is that our people in the position authority don’t respect our constitution and state institutions’, even the right of human being should be respected, conscientious and accountable. How would the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun for cry and loud, instructed his errand boy, Lamide Lawal to invite his fellow comrade and a Lecturer of an higher institution, Mr. Daniel Aborisade to the governor’s office and later robed to robber and kidnapper, it is really baffled and shocked me when I read it on the pages of newspapers that some Lecturers of higher learning was framed up by the governor to be painted in bad mood, indeed, nowhere in the world today that disrespected the rule of law and violated the human rights than Nigeria. Our men and women in position of authority do not respect the rule of law as it was posttreated by the state governor in recent time.
He really violated the right of those TASCE Lecturers for arrested them and spent two to three days in cell at Eleweeran before arraigned them with charges of robbery, assault and many more. Assaulting who? Robbing who? When, where, and how? It is a total slap on the faces of those Lecturers and their colleagues, let me ask a question; is it an offence to ask for a legitimate thing? For demanding for their legitimate right of 60 months’ salary and you meted them with incarceration. Haba, let’s fear God almighty. Without mincing words, the Governor needs to apologize from these Lecturers because they are law abiding citizens that just clamoring for their obligations. You should remember too that your second term is around the corner and fast approaching, it could be of campaign against you. Remember, that the evil men do leaves after them, moreover, we are Yorubas, and we hardly forgive and forget our fellow human being.
In fact, it is while we were swimming (with back-float style) in an extremely hard time that a class of people came together, selling their mantras of change to those of us including TASCE staff, who were tired of Amosun’s misrule and we too unwittingly embraced it as a newly affianced wife (DA). He promised us an overnight change-saying that the soon coming arrow-head was the messiah we are all waiting for. They put blazes on his back so that the emerging generation of Nigerians could buy into him and they equally put “agbada” on his back, so that the aged ones could buy into him, too.
Hundred days plus after seizing power from Amosun, it is crystal clear as water that they only wanted to rustle power from Amosun, they did not prepare for governance; they actually do not know the purpose of power. Evaluating Dapo Abiodun’s lacklustre performance in the last one hundred days, without being biased, Ogun state indigenes are not faring better than they were under Senator Ibikunle Amosun. The civil servant in the state were still clamouring for non-remittance of two to three months deduction, owing them leave bonuses, delaying of promotions, now arresting and arraignment of TASCE Lecturers and many more. When are we going to wave all these storms in Ogun state? The Abiodun over-promised, but they are despondently under-performing.
- Lanre, a Journalist and Public Affairs Analyst, wrote in from Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State
Can be reached via: aliykhallanre@gmail.com or 08026146423