AKEREDOLU’S MISRULE IN ONDO STATE (7): IT IS SHAMELESS TO RECEIVE AWARD FROM A UNIVERSITY, WHEN YOURS ARE UNDER LOCK AND KEY.
By Kennedy Ikantu Peretei.
At the 12th and 13th Convocation ceremony of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu was honoured with a Doctorate degree in law. This event would have been unworthy of mention but for the number of Ondo State Officials who graced the occasion at tax payers’ expense.
It beats common sense and logical reasoning for a Governor whose sing song is paucity of funds to mobilise almost everybody in the political circle of Ondo State to Oyo for an award. The Legislative Arm of the government was led by the Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon. David Oloyelogun, a man being tried for fraud by the EFCC, and a good number of the Assembly men.
The Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Princess Oladunni Odu, led other members of the State Executive Council to the ceremony. Akeredolu’s sister-in-law, Alero Akeredolu coordinated members of the bench to the event. Local Government Chairmen, Traditional Rulers, the entire All Progressives Congress (APC) State Executive Committee under the leadership of Engr. Ade Adetimehin all went to Oyo, to mark the Akeredolu Award Register.
The list is simply endless. If the Governor attached so much importance to this award, is it then not an irony that all the state owned Universities which he is visitor to are under lock and key? Could he received this award if Crowther University has been closed down like the Universities he presides over?
A cursory look at the footages of the ceremony engenders nothing but pity for a man that can shut down the government of Ondo State for the purpose of a personal award that brings no single benefit to the people of the state.
Every passing day, the APC Government under Rotimi Akeredolu demonstrates that, the suffering of the people means nothing to him. Otherwise, he should have quietly gone to Oyo to receive his award without putting a strain on the resources of the state.
I need not add that in the fullness of time, some of these frivolous spendings will be refunded to Ondo State treasury.
This series will continue shortly.
Written by: Kennedy Ikantu Peretei, Ondo State Spokesmen of PDP.
Our Governor Has Done Wrong Again
- By: Allen Sowore
The heading of this piece rhymes Ola Rotimi’s play, Our husband Has Gone Mad Again.
In Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, Ola Rotimi took a comic swipe at ideological misfits and opportunists who strut the ever- ready political landscape of contemporary Africa, and indeed Nigeria. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu perfectly fits into the character- Lejoke- Brown and his political excesses.
Governance is not a joke. It’s a serious business- an exercise of authority- application of scarce state resources. But what do you do when the Chief Executive of a state relegates and reduces governance to the frivolity. When a governor with all his liturgy decides to splurge ?
Our Governor has completely gone wrong again, loony and out of order. If I may ask, what’s the holder of the prestigious Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) looking for in a honorary doctorate degree ?
More so that Mr Governor has received the same award in different universities in the past.
For instance, Arakunrin was one of the four personalities conferred with honorary doctorate degrees of Igbinedion University Okada at its 15th convocation ceremony which held on Saturday November 25, 2017.
Hitherto, the excuse has always been that Mr. Governor was doing it to spur his popularity across the country in preparation to be Vice President. But all that has gone into oblivion. Nobody is even considering Arakurin as VP of any serious association.
The state government spends average of six million naira anytime Mr Governor travels out of the state. Arakunrin attends at least three parties in a week. One can calculate to see how much the state squanders on these” official jamborees”
The First lady, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu AKA “Mrs Ada Cubana” spends twice the amount her hubby lavish on frivolity. At least, Madam First lady has moved the entire state officials to Imo state on five different times either to receive Ada Oweri or other meaningless chieftaincy titles.
It’s lugubrious that the same governor whose memory verse is paucity of fund wouldn’t hesitate to squander the hard earned state resources on bogus awards.
For me and other courageous and patriotic citizens of the state, like Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.”
As many times as Arakurin decides to do wrong or do things wrongly, we will continue to chastise him for posterity’s sake.
This Ajayi Crowther University’s Honorary Doctorate Degree Award is one too many. The award is undeserving. A man who has closed down all universities in his state shouldn’t be allowed to enter any functional institution.
Interestingly, Mr. Governor in his address harped on producing graduates who can solve societal problem. How many problem has the Akeredolu-led administration solved in Ondo state in the last five years ?
Written by: Allen Sowore (A lawyer & Media Aide to former Ondo state Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi)
