In the
past few weeks, Ogbeni has been the most criticized
Administrator in Nigeria, he has say his a villain ,some say
his reckless and prodigal that’s why he been unable to
pay workers salary for the past six month, have listened
to Ogbeni twice as an undergraduate in Odudua hall,
OAU. Have read about his policies and views about
national issue and I perceive his full of ideas and
innovation, he has a clear vision for the state of Osun
and his willing to pursue it to take Osun which is largely
a rural state to an enviable height ( though I have my
reservation about some of his policies). The question
that came ringing in my heart was what happened to
Aregbe? This a governor that was among the first to
implement the minimum wage that even exceeded it
pegging minimum wage at #19,001 for level one to seven
and increased the salary of other categories of workers
as against the federal government #18000 in august 30,
2011 when he was not even seeking for re- election that
time and even promised to set up the salaries and wages
commission which will fix salaries and wages of workers
according to the financial fortunes of the state, so how
come he suddenly became Anti-worker, he was paying
workers as at when due including bonuses better than
most states that were collecting more allocation th+an
him and have greater IGR ( Osun is among the states that
collect the least allocation in Nigeria with poor IGR but
has a permanent staff of more than 21,000 and other
additional staffs).Ogbeni became the governor of Osun
state in November,2010 amidst fun- fare ,jubilation and
hope as high as Everest, the citizens see him as an
innovator and one that will turn the state that is largely
a rural state with very poor infrastructure into a 21st
century state just like that have heard about and seen in
Lagos, As an engineer and a former commissioner of
works in Lagos they believe his capable of this herculean
task. Immediately he came in he hit the ground running
with a lot of lofty innovations and ideas aimed at turning
around the state infrastructures ,building human capital
and increasing the quality of life of the citizens, the O-
yes, O-Meal, O-ambulance, O-school, O- Ambulance ,O-
chicken , SAS, O’s are endless, if not all most but most
were commended by all & sundry and were largely a
success, the comatose state began to come to life and
the state was a talk of the nation and even residents of
other states began to use Osun has a yard stick for their
Governors. All was going on fine until towards the end of
his first term in office and he came out to say it was has
a result of dwindling allocation from the federal
government. Before we can draw any conclusion let us
look at the accusation raised that he over borrowed and
that the project were too much for state, the state wage
bill was 3.6billion naira after he increased the salary of
workers in 2011, allocation from federal government was
4.6billion naira with IGR of 300million naira state leaving
the state with excess 1billion naira plus after payment of
salaryapart from excess crude which is not constant, to
finance his capital projects the state has an option of
borrowing and servicing the debt with his excess which
will make the state development rapid or wait for the
excess to accrue which will take time. No matter the
option the governor takes there was no problem in the
state until 2013 when the federal government announced
a 40% reduction in states allocation due to fall in oil
price and oil theft, which reduced Osun’s allocation to
2.6billion naira, so the state have to augment 1billion
naira or more every month to meet his wage bill, at that
time there was no functioning governor’s forum any
more that could challenge the federal government, but in
2014 the Apc governors raised alarm that if something is
not done by the federal government to increase state’s
may fail before 2015, we cantcontrol price of crude oil
but we can control oil theft at that time it was estimated
that Nigeria loses over 400,000 barrels daily to oil theft
( that’s the amount of Ghana’s daily oil export) ,no more
money from excess crude, until2015 when the new
governor’s forum challenged the then finance minister to
explain why states have not gotten money from the
excess crude account since 2013. Although, some of the
seed of development has began to germinate in osun and
the state’s IGR has doubled but it can’t still bail the state
out, the governor confessed recently that he has to
borrow up to12billion naira to keep paying the worker’s
salary up till November last that the banks were
unwillingly to borrow the state further, my question is
this what would the governor have done? Osun’s case is
not different from most Nigerian state but the reason
the state is one of the most hit is that he has a very low
allocation and IGR compare to her work force than most
states this not a case of the governor’s prudency or
prodigal, the state is not just viable to pay her bills and
is an inherited problem that the governor is trying to
correct with his turn around initiative but the case is like
a farmer that has a farm and after clearing the land
,ploughed it and planted the seed the rain ceased, is it
the farmer’s fault ? some will say he should have thought
about irrigation but he planted with a view to make
money and install irrigation equipment since he cant
afford it before he planted, should the farmer has kept
on eating the seed because rain might stop, he will
eventually finish the seed. Risk and trial are an inevitable
part of all achievement. No doubtgovernor Aregbesola is
an innovator,revolutionary, a pathfinder and someone
that put his state future in mind by embarking on
project that will bring development to her and make her
less dependent on federal government, though what is
happening in Osun now with inability to pay the workers
salary is sad but that shouldn’t discredit all Ogbeni’s
work, with the new government at the center that we
hope will manage the economy properly and will protect
the state from economic harshness pending the time
that the development mechanism that has been set in
place by Ogbeni will materialize. Repositioning the state
and developing a state is not a child’s place, it comes
with his pain and those that have criticized him most
those not even have any idea about developing the state,
Ogbeni has written his name on the sand of time against
all odds, the trying period will be over and the state
better for it. OyindamolaOlapade Concerned Citizens’
Forum

He is a lazy governor, why relying wholely on FG.

Udmaster:
He is a lazy governor, why relying wholely on FG.

Do you read the write-up or just in haste to drop a word.

If the story you pasted is true, then I may be tempted to blame Ogbeni who I admire until this your story.
I blame him because he was quick to increase the staff salary without proper attention to "what-ifs"
There are states with higher allocation, better IGR and lower work-force that were not so quick at implementing the wage increase - or inceased with caution.
If this your story is true (which I don't want to believe), this should teach our leaders and administrators a big lesson not to be quick at playing to the gallery. It is bad enough that Nigeria and most of the states have recurring expenditure that more than double that of capital project, but it is worse to just increase the already insane staff wage (for a 21000 workforce!!) when your investment has not started yielding and you have only one source of income. Without the increase, he wouldn't have had it that bad.

I simply don't understand your tantrum, all
what I know is that after his 2nd term election
into office everything suddenly went downhills,
[size=15pt]Why? Did he siphon the larger part of it in case
he would lose?[/size]

That much loved Ogbeni is going down

gists:
If the story you pasted is true, then I may be tempted to blame Ogbeni who I admire until this your story.
I blame him because he was quick to increase the staff salary without proper attention to "what ifs"
There are states with higher allocation, better IGR and lower work-force that were not so quick at implementing the wage increase - or inceased with caution.
If this your story is true (which I don't want to believe), this should teach our leaders and administrators a big lesson not to be quick at playing to the gallery. It is bad enough that Nigeria and most of the states have recurring expenditure that more than double that of capital project, but it is worse to just increase the already insane staff wage (for a 21000 workforce!!) when your investment has not started yielding and you have only one source of income. Without the increase, he wouldn't have had it that bad.

Am not the author, only share his sentiments. With your observations, I think you will agree that it's more of administration than of embezzlement. I think I also supports you on him increasing the wages, and should have reduced the workforce when he was still the bride and introduce the O's initiative after reducing the workforce to cushion the effect.