I have read the account of the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye about the telephone conversation I had with him.
To my utmost surprise, Ipaye said I apologised to him for allegedly not following due process. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I did not apologise to him. Rather, after I engaged him on the phone, he was sober and apologised for not informing me before carrying out the demolition.
He appreciated the maturity I displayed by calling him and apologised for his action even though he claimed that the Minister of Health directed him to pull down the healthcare centre.
I called him because apart from being my younger brother from the same Ijebu Igbo community, Ipaye had been one of my doctors before he aspired for the House of Representatives and eventually appointed as Commissioner for Health by the present Ogun State government.
So, when I heard that Ipaye and the council boss, Bayo Adekoya led some thugs and mobile policemen, with sledge hammer and cudgels to demolish the Primary Healthcare Centre being renovated by my office as part of my constituency projects, I felt the need to call and hear him out.
When I asked him why they embarked on the demolition, he said the necessary approvals were not gotten before work commenced at the centre.
I told him that I am aware that before work began at the centre, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Engr. Adebayo Dayo and the contractors met severally with the Doctor who heads the healthcare centre, Dr. Adesanya Adeniyi. They agreed on what was to be done and how to go about it. He was the one who was monitoring the project and ensuring that it was according to specification.
Even if we were to assume without conceding that "due process" was not followed as claimed by Ipaye and the state government, was any contravention notice served on the contractors? No. Was there any complaint by the minders of the over 50-year-old healthcare centre? No. Was there any final notice served or put on the facility? No!
Despite the rabid criticisms from my political opponents and their hirelings, I am an advocate of politics without bitterness. I believe there is time for politics and governance.
That is why I am on record as having congratulated Governor Ibikunle Amosun when he won his election for a second term in 2015. I also urged the nine PDP lawmakers in the State House of Assembly to cooperate with the State Government in the overall interest of our people.
It was and still clear to me that if we continue to play politics with everything, all year round, our people will be at the receiving end of such acrimonious politics.
But it is obvious that while we mean well for our dear state and its people, the APC-led State government has other plans. That is why they chose to demolish a healthcare centre being fixed for the benefit of our people barely 48 hours after some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defected to the PDP in Ijebu Igbo - the same local government where they destroyed the healthcare centre. Who does not know it was the witch that killed the child if a witch cries at night and a child dies the next day?
Signed
Senator Buruji Kashamu
Ogun East Senatorial District