By Kennedy Ikantu Peretei.
The media minders and information strategists of Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa have struggled unsuccessfully to do damage control on their pay master’s scorecard which l put in the public domain since l began these series. Unfortunately, they have been reactionary, leaving out the main issues in question to reel out what l call “empty campaign promises”. I will resist the temptation to respond because, the people who read both the scorecard and the rejoinders know better than those who churn out achievements of the Governor in their dream world.
All the major roads in Akure, the Ondo State capital, as well as markets have become eye sores, with embarrassing heaps of refuse, littering every available space.
Perhaps, the most shocking part is that, in the median of the roads with overgrown weeds, Gov Aiyedatiwa’s lamp-pole banners hang, announcing his 2024 Governorship bid competing for attention. Should they not have cleared the rubbish, clean the median before mounting their advertisements? It is difficult to know which product is being advertised, whether the rubbish heap or the Governor’s ambition.
At Oja Oba, one of the biggest markets located on Oba Adesida road, shop owners use spades to push back the refuse heaps to be able to display their wares. Ironically, officials of the government terrorise these petty traders for all kinds of daily levies. The situation is the same along Arakale road, Ondo road, Ilesha road or Igbatoro road. With the stench oozing from these spots, break out of an epidemic is just a matter of time.
Governor Aiyedatiwa’s government is not able to maintain the clean streets it inherited from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled government. The Ondo State Waste Management Board, under Aiyedatiwa has practically gone to sleep, endangering the lives of the citizens. Yet, his promoters want us to believe that, Ondo State is lucky? In more than one occasion, Ondo State received the Award of the cleanest State in the South West, but as it stands, the State will probably receive the trophy of the filthiest state.
It would have made more sense, if the nearly 400 “Ukpan Korigha” (let me survive hunger) recent political appointees of Mr Governor were deployed to clean the streets of Akure alone, once a week. Dressed in white aprons and gloves, assisted with compactors, if they move from street to street, they would have contributed to the cleanliness of our environment. Instead of just collecting salaries for doing nothing.
Any visitor driving through Ondo State will run away with the impression of very dirty citizens, a tag hung on us by an ineffective Governor and his team, who claim to be lucky. It does not require competence in rocket science to be able to work out an efficient waste disposal scheme in the State. Superintending over a filthy environment, like we have at the moment is kilometers away from being lucky.
This series continues shortly.
