Moses Jolayemi
7 June 2008
column
When my attention was drawn to THISDAY's issue of Saturday, May 24, which adjudged the overall performance of the administration of Governor Segun Oni in Ekiti State in the last one-year as below average, I knew there was an error.
As a practicing journalist on sabbatical, I am also alarmed at such irresponsible error, which sometimes makes us members of the fourth estate of the realm, a contributory factor to the frustration of participants in public discourse who most times take us seriously especially when the medium we are using is one as influential and prestigious as THISDAY.
In order to put things in proper perspective, I will attempt to state some of the facts straight to correct what was muddled up. Reason, as Prof. Wole Soyinka said in one of his recent publications, such misreporting, extrapolations, distortions, arbitrary expansions and misplaced summaries, false attributions, even mind-numbing fabrications as contained in that report, lead to pointless and endless, exasperating debates.
First, Oni's government did not pay N400 million as arrears of pensions and gratuities as reported. It paid N1.8billion. In several areas of the people's lives, Oni has achieved in just one year far more than the two previous administrations put together could boast of in about eight years. In some cases by over 500 per cent! The records are there.
I will attempt to state few of the verifiable, key achievements of this government that this space can contain. Just to put things in proper perspective. They cover May 29, 2007- May 28, 2008. In the area of Education, boarding has been re-introduced in Senior Secondary Schools; English and Maths textbooks supplied free to SSS students while WASCE/NECO fees were paid for ALL students in public schools. JAMB forms were bought for qualified students with free lectures. Scholarships were awarded to 254 secondary school students at the rate of N30, 000 per student for secondary schools, N50,000 for every physically challenged student in tertiary institutions,
N50,000 for undergraduate students, N150, 000 for Master's degree students and N500,000 for PhD students. The rate for overseas Scholarship Award is N300, 000 for Master's degree and
N1,000,000 for PhD. Within one year too, a University of Education, two Technical Colleges and a College of Medicine, University of Ado Ekiti have been established.
Qualitative health care delivery has also enjoyed tremendous attention from the government as a total of 209,942 persons have benefited from the state's Medical Intervention Programme. Out of this number, 1,733 persons were operated upon free of charge, 10,750 received free eyeglasses while 72,378 received free drugs.
When Governor Oni assumed office on May 29, 2007, only one specialist was in the employ of the State Specialist Hospital, but as at today; the number has increased to 14. Also, the number of doctors has increased from 65 to 89, nurses from 603 to 620 and other professionals from 561 to 848. Apart from this, the newly established University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAD) College of Medicine now has 15 consultants. Five General Hospitals have been upgraded to specialist hospitals. Very soon, a world class Eye Specialist Hospital will commence operation in the state with Cuban experts in-charge. Work is in progress already on the 200 "Blue Centres" Special Clinics where pregnant women would have antenatal care and children up to five years, would be attended to in furtherance of the state's battle against maternal and infant mortality.
For the people of Ekiti, Oni is saving their lives. The government has been able to save people who had lost hope; some who were blind and had thought they would remain in that sorry state forever have been saved. A strong member of the opposition once told the governor that in his family, there's virtually no day they don't pray for Oni's government. According to him, there is a member of his extended family who was practically blind, but was given a free cataract surgery. He now walks about unaided. According to him, God has used the governor to take that man out of the world of darkness.
There was an emotional case when the deputy governor, Dr. Sikiru Tae Lawal went to a function at Usi Ekiti and one woman smuggled her way through the crowd, just to get close to him. On getting to the deputy governor, she knelt down and with tears flowing down her cheeks; she started praying for Oni and his deputy. Embarrassed, Lawal inquired; "What's the matter?" She said "I was virtually condemned, now I'm back!" The way the woman described it; I think it had something to do with continuous flow of blood for which her people were locking her up at home to avoid stigma in their family. With the free surgical operation, she is now hale and hearty. She has now regained her self worth having been brought back from what you can call "the deepest pit of hell." She was completely put away, and consigned to the waste bin.
Another woman had 14 kilogrammes of fibroid taken out of her; that's the size of about six babies. That would have taken at least a minimum of 10 years to grow to that level. And I'm sure they would have called her all sorts of names, but now the story is different. Her description of Oni when she spoke was that this governor is a miracle worker and that is exactly how most people now see Governor Oni.
The Micro-Credit Scheme is one of the poverty alleviation programmes of the government aimed at empowering the people to finance their small-scale businesses. So far over N600 million have been disbursed to over 18,000 beneficiaries. Many more would benefit from the scheme, which is already institutionalized.
Another monster the Oni's government has confronted frontally is post-retirement poverty - a situation where retirees slide into penury two years after retirement. God has used Governor Oni to bring smiles to the faces of retirees in the state and saved some of them from the brink of death through the payment of all arrears of pensions and gratuities that dated back to 1994, inherited from previous administrations. A total of N1.8billion was paid to 2,975 retirees. Today, as a policy from January 2008, anyone who retires from service in the state would be paid gratuity 60 days after retirement. In addition, pensions are now paid unfailingly on the 20th of every month.
A solid economic base is also being established for Ekiti State with the resuscitation of all the ailing industries. The moribund Ikun Dairy Farm, Ire Block Industry, ROMACO Industry and Fountain Hotels have now been resuscitated while the Ethanol Plant at Iyemero, the Biofuel Plant at Ilemeso are expected to begin operation within the next three to 24 months. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Ekiti which was below N1 billion in 2006 now stands at N1.5 billion. This figure which represents a 50 per cent increase in our IGR and is one of the few areas the governor says his government has not done well enough. He expected that figure to have been double what it was before.
Meanwhile, that which Oni is reluctant to list as one of his achievements is what some others before him would have bought airtime on Cable News Network (CNN) in addition to all the TV channels in Nigeria to celebrate. In Ekiti, roads are being constructed at a speed that is unequaled in the history of the state. Over 350 kilometres of roads are being constructed afresh in addition to 305 kilometres inherited from previous administrations across the 16 local government areas in the state. This is more than the total kilometres of roads done by previous administrations put together since the inception of the state nearly 12 years ago. Some of these roads are ready for commissioning.
Noteworthy is the fact that the road contracts were awarded in the most transparent manner. The contract papers were signed not on the basis of who you know, but your ability to deliver quality jobs and on time too. None of the contractors received mobilization before moving to site.
When Oni came on board, in May 2007, less than 10 percent of the population had access to pipe borne water. As at today, water supply level has reached more than 50 percent. Water now runs even in areas, which had not had water supply in over 20 years. With the extensive work going on at the various dams, the construction of new treatment plants, the renovation and expansion of water reservoirs across the state, the laying of nearly 300km of water pipes, at least 90 percent of the population will have access to pipe borne water before December.
As a result of the confidence investors have in Oni's administration and in acknowledgement of its sincerity of purpose, private investors are now attracted to the state. This has resulted in a boom in the hospitality industry and brightened the socio-economic climate of the state. As the governor recently said, the effect would be more profound in the months ahead.
In the last one year, the government has been able to attract appreciable Federal Government presence to the state. We now have a Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti, a Mega Station of the NNPC is already under construction while a Central Bank of Nigeria Currency Centre will soon begin operation in the state capital. Other Federal parastatals and institutions include the National Open University, West African Examinations Council among others.
Perhaps I should use this opportunity to answer one recurring question which comes out of genuine concern; how much loan has the Oni government taken to accomplish all these in one year, given the fact that Ekiti state receives the least but one allocation from the federation account? The answer is Zero naira. That goes to tell how far those who were in this terrain before Oni went in looking after themselves at the expense of the people who gave them their mandate. The above is open for the Nigerian public, not only THISDAY to put the necessary score. These are cold facts, devoid of any form of embellishments and praise words for which many spokespersons are known to justify their pay.
Jolayemi is the Senior Special Assistant to the Ekiti Governor on Public Communications
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