AJIMOBI’S POISE FOR CHANGE AND THE PEOPLE OF OYO STATE

Change is the only permanent thing says a popular maxim. However, the
road to change is always challenging, rough, unattractive but
beneficial in the end. Little wonder why the late activist Tai Solarin
reverberated the dictum “may my road be rough” on his birthdays. The
tendency to bemoan change is human, for we are always pessimistic
about its aftermath. The attitude of our people in the pace-setters’
state to the on-going unprecedented change process of in Oyo State is
not unexpected as it is not farfetched from the natural reaction of
man to most changes in the world. The similitude between a change
process and an uncompleted castle, explains why people don’t desire to
live in it. Hence, experience has shown that those who say “change is
all we need” are always found objecting it innocently, for it comes in
ugly disguise.

But how long shall the good people of Oyo State continue to suffer
from the fear of change? Perhaps this explains the reason why
Governor Abiola Ajimobi has decided to take the bull by the horn in
tackling the problem of poor infrastructure in the state. We should
not be quick to forget, the tragedy of Monday 25th June 2012, at
Apata-Ganga area of Ibadan, when a high-tension live cable fell and
killed seven people trading under it. In a similar ugly development,
on August 26, 2011 a very heavy downpour of rain destroyed lives and
properties in the state. The list is still long, but nothing
fascinates in bringing back sad old memories. Though, there were some
natural explanations for these disasters, but it is also factual that
humans played some significant role in giving them their heartbreaking
magnitudes. And as a Unionist, I am of the opinion that it is not a
misnormer that urgent actions are being put in place towards
forestalling the possibility of future reoccurrences; especially by
asking people living in the flood prone areas and places susceptible
to all forms of danger to vacate, for us to avoid losing more lives of
our beloved people, whilst construction and reconstruction works are
on-going all over the state, especially the flood affected areas.

Apart from these, that the governor works towards making Oyo State
wear an enviable look among other States of the federation is but
commendable on the ground that a conducive environment will attract
foreign investments and speed up socio-economic development. But all
these positive changes cannot be when everything is kept
permanent.However. The efforts of Gov. Ajimobi in making the state
better are not without some faults. It must be put straight that
people’s feeling should be considered in the seemingly predetermined
development blueprints of the governor. In the same vein, one must put
it directly that destroying commercial structures before providing
alternatives is a case of the cart put before the horse. Of course,
there is no gain without pain, but government has the responsibility
to always make palliatives ready before implementing policies capable
of inflicting pain on some sections of the governed.

Meanwhile, however good and development oriented the intentions of Gov
Ajimobi are, the manner in which the policies are being
implementedhave given room for misinterpretation and misrepresentation
by the opposition, who camouflage as peoples’ sympathizers. But the
question is whether these people dared to orchestrate progress or
implemented better policies when they all had the opportunity to
govern the state. Their era, which put development in static motion,
is not far from records.

In conclusion, I must not fail to sympathize with our people that may
be unavoidably affected with the on-going transformation in Oyo state.
Our elders do say that “circumcision is greeted with a lot of pains
but when healed it becomes fashionable. I commend Gov. Ajimobi for
compensating reasonably all affected persons, especially those whose
structures where deconstructed to pave way for projects significant to
the populace, but are with their certificate of occupancy (C of O),
and the construction of low-cost ultra-modern shops as alternatives
for the road-side business centres deconstructed. . History has it
that no nation has ever developed without going through the ugly
process of change. Hence, I insist that what we are witnessing
presently in the state is progress and urge the people to be calm and
wary of politicians whose stock in trade is discrediting without
pinpointing the positives, while I also charge the governor to work
better on implementation strategies in the subsequent policy planning.