INFRASTRUCTURE DECAY: OYO FAULTS RIBADU, IGE'S SON

Nuhu Ribadu
Oyo State Government on Tuesday faulted a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and one of the sons of the late Chief Bola Ige, Muyiwa, over their comments on the state of affairs in the state.

Delivering Ige's commemorative 80th birthday lecture in Ibadan, on Monday, Ribadu had expressed regret over the decay of infrastructure in the state capital, saying Ibadan must reconnect with its glorious past.

He had said, 'Ibadan needs a reconnection with its glorious past. I felt disappointed while driving into Ibadan this morning. We used to look forward to visiting the city in those days even from my far away village.

'Water is usually under the bridge, but today in Ibadan, I saw water on a bridge. This is a city that was the proud capital of the Western region. A city that is proud of the first university in the country and the first television station in Africa.

'There is a need for a dialogue on how to rebuild Ibadan. How did we lose it? How did we get to this sorry state? Ibadan, definitely, does not deserve this.'

In his closing remark at the event, Muyiwa had said that his father, as the governor of the old Oyo State, would have made a mini paradise of the state if he had the kind of resources available to the government of the day.

But in its reaction, the state government through the governor's Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Chief Gbade Ishola, said the former EFCC boss could only make such comment if he arrived the state capital blindfolded.

In a text message sent to our correspondent on Tuesday, the governor's spokesman also said that Ige's administration did not have enough money because he was not destined to turn the state to a mini paradise and that was why the present governor was 'anointed' to do so.

Ishola said, 'Which of the infrastructure is in a state of decay? Is he referring to all the new dualised roads, the street lights and traffic lights everywhere, the clean environment and all the city access roads that are without potholes which were left to rot and decay by his collaborators?

'We are not surprised by Ribadu's pronouncement. He does more talking than thinking.

'Bola Ige was not destined to transform Oyo State to a mini paradise, that was the reason he had no money to do so.'

'Rather, it is Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala that was anointed by God to carry out the assignment and God in his wisdom made the money for the transformation available to him.'