Does Senator Ibikunle Amosun Mean Well For Ogun State?

By Shamsudeen Ayeni

With heavy heart, I write this piece as an indigene of Ogun State to comment and condemn the transfer and handing-over of part of security items belonging to Ogun State to the Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Police on the morning of Tuesday, 28 May, 2019 by former Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who is now a serving Senator in the 9th National Assembly. With the state of kidnapping and other security challenges across the country, the greatest disservice anyone can do to her State is to empty the State’s armoury. These security items were bought exclusively with the taxpayers’monies of Ogun State to keep the State, her people and properties secured and safe. To now willingly and willfully transfer any of such security gadgets to the central Police is totally worrisome and a show of prodigality. I posit that all of the weapons ought to have been handed over to the new administration since according to Senator Ibikunle Amosun, all the necessary approvals from the Office of the National Security Adviser and Federal Government of Nigeria to purchase, store, handle and document these security items were obtained.

I am of the view that the former Governor did not act well in the interest of the state. I am equally tempted to say that had the former Governor’s preferred candidate, Hon Abdulkabir Akinlade of the Allied People's Movement (APM) won the last governorship elections in the state, this disingenuous act would not have happened. But because Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress won the governorship elections, former Governor Ibikunle Amosun would not mind to return Ogun State to days of cultism, kidnapping for ransom, violent crime, cross border banditry, unbridled smuggling and economic sabotage. How can former Governor Ibikunle Amosun guarantee the people, corporate organisations and other well meaning stakeholders in Ogun State that these security items, which are now with the Nigeria Police will be used exclusively in the state?

I think Senator Ibikunle Amosun took politics of bitterness to a higher feat and ground. Government is said to be a continuum. I believe that as a leader we should be happy to bequeath a governance model or good legacy to our immediate successor whether or not he is our choice candidate. It is totally appalling to dismantle all the good steps or initiatives that work for us when we are about leaving our positions as elected leaders. Our leaders should always work towards putting in place a model that would outlive them. This is what I expect from Senator Ibikunle Amosun in this regard. As responsible leaders, we must strive to draw a thin line between national and personal interests. The interest of Ogun State should have come first in all that happened between the incumbent Governor and his predecessor.

In the same vein, the incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun alledged some days ago that he inherited an empty treasury from former Governor Ibikunle Amosun. Consequently, he had to take a loan of over N7billion to pay the salaries of workers in the State for the month of May, 2019. If this claim was true, Governor Ibikunle Amosun has set a new low for Ogun State. This is largely unacceptable and irrational. This suggests nothing but imprudence and financial indiscipline. Handing over an empty treasury may not be new in Nigeria but it is a matter of concern as Senator Ibikunle Amosun is a well trained and chartered Accountant who should know better the implications of what he left behind for his successor. One therefore wonders how Senator Ibikunle Amosun earned his Fellowship of the the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN).

From the above explanations, one is compelled to ask whether or not Senator Ibikunle Amosun mean well for the State he governed for eight years. One can only infer that Ogun State under the current leadership has a lot to do in order to deliver on her mandate to the people of Ogun State. Governor Dapo Abiodun must be ready to put on his thinking cap to creatively and geniously find a way of raising and generating the needed funds to run the state and deliver his campaign promises. The internally generated revenue of the state must be improved upon by tapping into the numerous resources of the State. Ogun State has the human and material resources to be among the best States in Nigeria. Governor Dapo Abiodun cannot afford to let the people down.

Let me equally add that I am not against borrowing. We must however, borrow for a good cause. We must not borrow to pay salaries of workers. Borrowing to pay salaries is anti developmental projects. We must stop borrowing to pay salaries going forward. No nation grows or progresses under such medieval template. It's even against the interest of the State. As it stands, Ogun State has a number of uncompleted and abandoned projects littered all over the State. We can borrow to complete these projects.

I want to therefore end this piece by reminding Senator Ibikunle Amosun that according to Mmanti Umoh, "what we do when nobody is watching us, is the fabric that builds the nations we live in". May God judge all of us according to our actions and inactions. Long live Ogun State!

Shamsudeen Ayeni, wrote this piece from Akute, Ogun State.

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