A little over a week ago, I came across a recording of a live radio programme hosted by the chairman of YES FM, Ibadan, Yemi Shonde. In it, he interviewed the Special Adviser on Media to the Oyo State Governor, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju.
The individual who sent the recording to me did so based on previous discussions about governors of the six South-West states and their performances in office. During that discourse, I believed Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State should be ranked as the best in performance and deliverables. Still, some friends sided with the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu. Though I didn’t stretch the argument, knowing that the Lagos State Governor has achieved greatly in building landmark projects, I strongly held, and I still do, that if Makinde had the volume of resources available to Sanwoolu or the governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, he would move mountains.
Therefore, when I got that video, in which some callers who claimed to be calling from Ogun State praised the efforts of Governor Makinde in developing Oyo State while putting down his Ogun State counterpart, Prince Dapo Abiodun, from that source, I knew that I had won another friend to my side regarding the performances of South-West governors.
In the video, one of the callers even called for a swap between Makinde and Abiodun, saying that Oyo State people should give GSM to Ogun State. I laughed at that proposition, but it was not the first time I heard such a view. In his first term of office, I recall that Twitter users from different states often laid credits on the doorsteps of Governor Makinde for different policies and called for a swap between GSM and their governors.
Though I did not listen to the full programme on YES FM, I must make it clear that I do share the sentiments of the callers on Governors Makinde and Abiodun. I once stated that Oyo State people do not give much credit to their governor for the good works he has done in that state. The calls from mostly Ogun State residents confirmed my view. A prophet is without honour in his home town.
One of the callers, a particular Kunle from Saapade, Ogun State, took Governor Abiodun to the cleaners. In contrast, another female caller saluted Governor Makinde for the good road network in Ibadan and the dearth of good roads in Ogun State.
While I don’t want to oversimplify the opinions of a few residents about Prince Abiodun’s administration, I must acknowledge some similarities between the efforts of the two governors. First, I would like to point out the security deployment on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. A drive on that arterial road always showed that the Oyo State stretch of the road is well-policed by security agencies and Amotekun Corps, while the Ogun State stretch is not. You can draw your conclusions or ask those who ply Lagos-Ibadan express where they feel safer.
Caller-Kunle from Saapade also referred to the mass recruitment of teachers in the public primary and secondary schools in Oyo State, commending Governor Makinde. From what we read in the news, Governor Makinde recently supervised the recruiting of close to 20,000 teaching and non-teaching staff into the education sector. The recruitment into secondary schools was the second in five years. From Kunle’s submissions, the tale is different in Ogun. But, as I said, I will allow you to draw your conclusions or plead with the Ogun State Government to borrow a leaf from the pages of the Oyo State Government by recruiting more teachers.
Before that radio programme, however, I had always believed that Governor Makinde ranks above his Ogun State counterpart in many ways. In February 2024, I wrote an article titled “Subsidy removal: Between Makinde’s SAfER and other governors’ palliative,” in which I attempted to compare the policies of the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, and those of other governors in the aftermath of the removal of the petroleum subsidy.
In that piece, I learnt that it was circulated by media handlers of the Oyo State governor at that time because I gave their principal the due credit for running a people-centred government. For taking measures to cushion the hardship facing his people, I referred to how palliatives were mere cosmetic measures that would not solve many problems. I arrived at that conclusion upon learning that Governor Makinde insisted on what he called the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAFER) under which his government aimed to subsidise transportation, distribute farm inputs, empower businesses and farmers, among others.
Ibadan is the capital of South-West Nigeria. I frequent the metropolis, and I am aware that the SAFER subsidy on public transport through the Ajumose Buses has continued close to two years after it was introduced. Now, isn’t that a step ahead of the N10,000 or N20,000 peanuts given by some states at the height of the subsidy removal?
The YES FM programme raised awareness about the need for a peer review mechanism to measure governors’ performance without inflaming the existing discord between the two, who are friends or, at best, brothers. Thankfully, Governor Makinde and Prince Abiodun have always had this sort of mechanism, as they hold a joint security session from time to time and even hint at understudying each other on various programmes and initiatives.
Above everything else, the callers-in who contributed to the YES FM programme might have just urged the two governors to speed up the peer review mechanism suggested last December. There is no doubt that there are initiatives and areas where Prince Dapo Abiodun is getting things right, which Governor Makinde can learn from and vice versa.
*Wilanpa writes from Abeokuta, Ogun State.
