In less than 24 hours from now, citizens of Ondo State in South-West Nigeria will welcome into office the 18th governor of the Sunshine State.
The incoming governor, Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress, who in November last year, against all odds, defeated the candidate of the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, Eyitayo Jegede and others, would be taking over from outgoing Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who has been in charge of the affairs of the state since February 25, 2009.
But as the incoming governor is basking in the euphoria of his upcoming inauguration and bracing to take over the reins of power in the state, political analysts in the state are apprehensive that the challenges already on ground waiting for him, could be overwhelming.
It was the general consensus amongst political observers that Akeredolu, despite that his party was in charge at the federal level, would need more than federal might to deliver the dividends of democracy to the citizens of the state, who had, over the years, been starved of such.
According to them, Akeredolu’s political tactics, acumen and diplomacy would determine his fate in office, looking at the antecedents that led to his emergence as the state’s incoming governor, just as he is expected to think outside the box to be able to surmount the daunting challenges.
This was against the background of the humongous debt profile of the state, as well as the over seven months’ arrears of salaries and pensions the outgoing Mimiko administration would bequeath to the incoming Akeredolu administration.
Ondo, an oil producing state, which earns additional 13 per cent derivation fund, apart from the monthly federal allocation accruing to it from twhe federation account, is owing N94 billion debts to various creditors, although statistics from the Debt Management Office put the state’s debt profile at N52 billion.
Last year, the outgoing governor of the state, Mimiko, disclosed that his government was working with different groups of investors to begin the exploration of bitumen deposit in the state, said to be the third largest deposit in the world. He also promised the establishment of a chocolate manufacturing factory. But all these have remained in the realm of promises, yet to see the light of the day, as the outgoing administration winds down.
It is therefore expected that these lofty dreams would become reality in the life of the incoming administration, if truly he wants to solve the hydra headed unemployment problem facing the state.
Expectedly, the state civil servants would expect nothing less than the outright clearance of the arrears of salary owed them, if the incoming administration would enjoy their support.
The question that begs for answer is: where will Akeredolu get the funds to offset the arrears? On social amenities, Ondo State people will be looking up to the new Akeredolu administration for new dawns, as they believed that they had been in ‘slavery’ for a long time, in terms of social amenities.
Among the amenities which the state has been suffering from is lack of adequate potable water supply. Despite the fact that Ondo State is one of the states in the country sitting on a waterbed, the citizens of the state, especially in Akure, the state capital and its environ, have been facing the difficulty of potable water supply.
In fact, there is no functional public water system in the entire length and breadth of the state. The Point learnt that the popular Owena Multipurpose Dam, a Federal Government project, said to be capable of supplying adequate water to six local government areas of the Ondo Central senatorial district, which was started during the tenure of late Governor Olusegun Agagu, had long been abandoned.
It was also learnt that a water project initiated by the state, the Owena-Ondo Water Dam, which used to supply water to some parts of the state had been out of operation due to breakdown of some machines.
A resident of Iro in Akure, Segun Olobe, said, “The last time we had water supplied to our homes in this area was before the military handed over power to the civilians.” Hannah Oladunmola, a resident of Alagbaka, said, “I can say that nowhere in Akure has water supply from the government. Every building is compelled to dig a well.”
Speaking on the development the chairman of the Ondo State Water Corporation, Steve Giwa, who admitted that the corporation was struggling to provide water to homes in the state, said until enough money was released to execute water projects in the state, residents would continue to battle with the situation Giwa said, “The outgoing government tried its best, but the state has no money to carry out many projects.
That is why we are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to release (more) money to the state so that we can execute (some water) projects. “Most of the equipment are obsolete. They need to be changed. The Owena-Ondo Dam has collapsed and we need a lot of money to revive it. The Federal Government is not giving us money and there is no money anywhere. That is the problem.”
Another major challenge that would stare the incoming Akeredolu administration in the face on resumption is the ongoing crisis in the PDPO-dominated state House of Assembly.
Apart from the crisis in the House, it is expected that the incoming government would have to go the extra mile to get some of its programmes and policies approved by the Assembly.
The Ondo State House of Assembly has over time been enmeshed in intractable crisis, which eventually consumed its Speaker, Jumoke Akindele. The Assembly was later sealed off on the order of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris. The crisis over Akindele’s impeachment has left the Assembly in shambles.
Another issue which analysts said Akeredolu may also need to contend with is the inevitable impending battle against some political forces, both within and outside the APC, in order for him to get governance right.
Analysts believe that the circumstances surrounding his emergence as the party’s standard bearer and eventual winner of the election may lead to some initial difficulties, as some of the key stakeholders in the APC in the state are yet to settle with him.
Recall that Akeredolu became the Ondo APC flag bearer to contest in the governorship election against the will of some of the party leaders. The move also led to the defection of some party stalwarts to other political parties.
The Point also reliably gathered that those who were not in agreement with his candidacy and refused to leave the party are gearing up to pay him back in his own coin. Meanwhile, it was also gathered that the new governor will need to use all he has to convince Ondo State citizens that his governance will be in there interest.
According to them, it is believed that the input of some external forces, tagged the ‘Buhari Boys’ which helped Akeredolu to clinch the APC ticket and also helped him win the election, will be hovering over the state.
They also argued that Akeredolu’s government in Ondo State may be taking orders from the North, as he is now seen as one of the ‘Buhari Boys’, regarded mainly Northerners. A grass root politician, Ade Adeyemo, told The Point that the new governor should not expect governance to be a piece of cake, as he assumes office.
“Now that Akeredolu’s dream has come into reality, I believe it is now time for him to prove himself to us all. But to be sincere with you, he should not expect easy governance at all. We all know what is at stake in Ondo State. The state has been in bondage for years and we expect him to save the state.
He will have problems from both within and outside the state, but he should keep his head straight. We all know how he got there, and I can tell you that this will bounce back, but we are all watching,” he told The Point. Hon. Niran Sule-Akinsuyi, a former Commissioner for Special Duties in Ondo State, said greed and avarice are responsible for the failure of infrastructure that has now put the state at disadvantaged position; politically and economically.
He said, “Let me give you the example of leadership in Lagos and the benefits of enduring political structure since 1999 in that state, compared with Ondo State, where none exists till date.
We have been having epileptic political structure in Ondo State. We took off from 1999, with the Afenifere structure, which the Alliance for Democracy used to ascend to various offices.
Unfortunately, that structure was unknowingly destroyed by the leadership, when they engaged in the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term project, which gave the PDP an opportunity to start all over again.
The structure that was put in place by the PDP under that arrangement in 2003 was also troubled and dismantled through a popular movement by the people and the Labour Party, which came to power in 2009.
“We are all living witnesses to what happened to the LP as it was abandoned, for a return to the PDP.
So, the problem is that people who are supposed to be standing on these structures, leaders who are supposed to acquire training through the system and move up on the ladder like their counterparts in other states, especially Lagos, have been relegated because the system is not enduring.
I am talking about Lagos State because you can feel and touch the benefit of enduring political system in Lagos State. On the economy side, you see the continuation of policies and programmes.”
