Makinde’s Anti-South-West Development Stand, By Tunde Abatan
When Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state won a re-election in February 2023 for a second term of four years, he set a record by becoming the second civilian governor in the state to break the jinx of only one term for past and contemporary governors of the state to win election back to back in its decades old history of democracy.
Oyo state,as an offshoot of the former Western Region capital which prided itself as the political capital of the region since the First republic days has always been the political hot bed of the country.
Not even the late Are Ona kakanfo of Yorubaland,Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola was able to win a second term in 1964 as his disputed election set in motion chain of events which abruptly terminated his second term in office and the First republic with the military putsch in January 15,1966.
Again, the Cicero of Esa Oke and former governor of old Oyo state,erudite late Chief Bola Ige also failed in 1983 to get a second term in office.
Late Alhaji Lam Adesina too failed to secure a second term in 2003 general elections.
But all that has changed as the late Senator Isiaka Ajimobi who ruled between 2011 to 2019 was the first governor to break the jinx of getting the trophy of seating in the same space from where the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo ruled in 7 years and changed the fortune of Yoruba in Nigeria through his laudable people- oriented programmes.
Today, in spite of his laudable performance in his first term in office between 2019-2023, in terms of infrastructural development in the state, Governor Makinde is about to ignite the decades old opposition politics in the region which divided the Yoruba rank as Ibadan became the theatre of war where the seeds of political instability was planted in Nigeria.
Not that everybody in then Western Region embraced same political thought but the bitter opposition to the then Action Group party which had ruled the region and propelled it above other regions in Nigeria in terms of development, had the root of opposition plotted,cemented and sustained with its dire consequences for the stability of the region and by extension Nigeria.
The ‘Operation Wetie ‘ political violence which engulfed the region had its roots in bitter political rivalry which is now being surreptitiously brought back by introduction of reactionary thoughts and actions of the APM of today of which Makinde is leader.
The genesis of the division in the politics of South West which portends danger at a time President Bola Tinubu,a Nigerian of Yoruba extraction and majority in the region are gearing towards securing a second term for their son.
Though Makinde belong ab nitio to the main opposition,the PDP-a party divided down the line by internal conflicts which has dogged it since 2023 when it failed to have one house to defeat the Muhammadu Buharis government .
Though Makinde was one of the five ‘rebel’ PDP governors led by Nyesom Wike of Rivers state who broke ranks with the PDP in 2023 to deliver victory to Tinubu, disagreement has since reversed the romance after Tinubu assumed power.
But then,the turning point in Makindes parting of ways got to a head last year December when he alongside other leaders in the PDP staged an illegal annual convention in Ibadan led by the Saminu Turaki faction of the party to wrestle control of PDP from the Wike faction.
As the only sitting governor left in the PDP, Makinde by the Ibadan meet surreptitiously unknown to many was plotting to build another platform to take control of politics as the main opposition in the South West.
Before the Ibadan meeting through which the seed of Allied Peoples Movement ,APM was sowed in Oyo state,, Makinde had in different fora expressed his disagreement with Tinubu on the vexed issue of local government autonomy preferring instead the current system which placed the local governments at the mercy of the states which sat on their monthly allocation from the Federation Account under the outlawed State/Local government joint account.
As for Makinde,Nigeria should be content with strictly two tiers of government.
Again,in spite of the opposition parties meeting in Ibadan in April this year hosted by Makinde which came out with a pledge to present a single candidate to defeat the ruling APC,the parties parted ways even before their communique hit the airwaves.
Is it a sheer coincidence that barely 24 hours after the launch of his Presidential bid, gunmen struck in Oriire Local government and other communities carting away 46 pupils and teachers in an operation which shook the South West to its foundation.
Oriire Local government which has suffered neglect in infrastructure it will be recalled was allocated N645.4 million from the Federation account only in April this year and previous years with nothing to show for it in terms of government presence by provision of infrastructures crucial for ensuring safety of its residents.
Has his opposition to LG autonomy not aided the under-development of rural areas and its inability to fight insecurity which remains the first responsibility of any government to its citizens?
Is this the development model Makinde preferred by opposing local government autonomy?.
The Oriire and other communities kidnap saga revealed in its naked form the abject neglect Makinde and other governors who sat on their local governments funds in spite of the Supreme Court ruling has subjected their rural and semi urban areas.
Makinde had also expressed his disdain for newly formed Iru- Ekun security network when on July 7 this year, he expressed his support for Miyetti Allah cattle dealers association under the leadership of a Fulani- Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar Jiji.
Is this an front on the collective will of the people as reflected in her support for Amotekun security network or is he just merely playing to the gallery under the pretext of opposition to the ruling federal government.
Is this not a sign to decimate the South West security concerns at a time insecurity is tearing the region apart.
Again, last Friday September 17, a protest erupted in Ibadan by a group protesting against the launching of the Iru Ekun security network formed by Chief Sunday Igboho, who single- handedly confronted the Fulani herders invasion of Oyo state in 2022 for which he was nearly killed by the agents of state under the watch of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
What has happened between then and now that made Makinde surreptitiously backing the Miyetti Allah and the alleged support for the protest against Iru Ekun?
The new outfit it will be recalled had the endorsement of Ooni of Ife,Oba Ogunwusi who reportedly donated N100million to the network which had embarked on ridding the region forest of murderous Fulani and other foreigners hibernating in it.
Is Makindes attitude akin to be seen as an opposition against the wish of the majority of the people of the region who had demonstrated disdain across political divide over insecurity in the region.
Beside,the Ooni,the Iru- Ekun is being supported by the Police, Nigerian Army and other security outfits to rid the region of evil men in its forests.
Does Makindes open disdain for the Iru Ekun not a deliberate politicisation of security in the region more so when President Tinubu has tactically supported the initiative.
It is also curious why Makinde with just eight months to the end of his tenure is confronting majority of people in the region who obviously does not share his political choice.
Is his open opposition to LG autonomy, Iru Ekun not a sign that his attitude is against the South West Development Commission, SWDC which has outlined efforts and even procured license to have rail services extended to 44 towns and cities in the region.
With its cosmopolitan nature,the SWDC proposed rail network will be a game changer in a region noted for its many firsts in development strides among other parts of the country.
Is his desperate moves to have himself succeeded by Bimbo Adekanbi,the APM governorship candidate in Oyo state not a signal that he has opted to be the leader of opposition to the APC from the region making Oyo state stand out.
Is he not deliberately following the footsteps of those who plotted the downfall of the AG led government in the region in 1963 and its aftermath ?
In as much as Makinde has a right of opposition by belonging to any political party of his choice,can his attitude not be counter productive since he appears to be the only state among other five states in the region against the re election of Tinubu to complete its turn to rule.
What is more, Governor Ademola Adeleke who was initially in same boat with Makinde has practically handed his victory in the Osun election to Tinubu ,all in the interest of ensuring his victory and enable the region to complete its own term to rule?
If the APM candidate could not win during February governorship election in Oyo state next year with the likelihood of a Tinubu re- election,will Makinde retain enough muscle to maintain his grip on the state giving his dwindling popularity on account of alleged mismanagement of the Federal government ecological grant of N30 billion to the state during the Bodija bomb incident and other alleged questionable financial infractions.
Should a governor who have eight months left in office risk so much when it is almost obvious his new party does not enjoy the popularity of the entire state PDP structure already fragmented by internal crisis .
The next couple of months will be biggest test of wits for the last opposition man standing in the South West where the Tinubus APC remains the party to beat.
