I live in Akure, Ondo State. Before moving to my present house, I lived in a rented apartment at Oke-Aro Titun area of the city. It was a very rough street even though the houses are very good and neat. The roads are bad and unpaved. During the rainy season, it was a really tough wahala for those who live in that area.

There was this politician who is a landlord in the area, he used to attend meeting with the landlord association. My then landlord is my uncle so I represented him in the meeting several times. This politician was always raising the issue of roads in the area at the meetings. As things turn out, he was given a big political appointment as Chairman of a board in 2013 by the Dr Mimiko led government.

The residents were so happy about the appointment. We believed he will use his position to help lobby the commissioner of works and the state government to look at the roads in the area. Alas, he didn't do that. He relocated his family to Alagbaka GRA. We thought it was an official quarter and that we'll always have assess to him. We were wrong. At first, he'll welcome the association executives to his office and make promises but after sometime, he couldn't be reached again. They went through his wife, that was the worst thing done by the association. The wife told them to leave her husband alone since he's not the works commissioner or SA (works and Infrastructure). The landlords left and we were all left with no help anywhere.

In 2016, this same woman came to the area to tell the residents to work hard to ensure Dr Mimiko succeed in installing a successor and that if the area give enormous support by their votes, their case will be easy to present to Mr Governor. No one listened to her. People in the area actually voted against their candidate because of this politician and his family. The election came and went, their party lost but they continued to stay at the GRA. So we thought the house was sold to them or so. I moved to my new site in 2018 but by late 2019, I heard that this family came to renovate their old house at Oke Aro. And by January 2020, they relocated back to the area and has been living there ever since.

What we heard happened was that the man actually bought the GRA house when he was in office, when they lost, he tried to sell the house in our area but he didn't get buyer so he had to dispose the GRA house to raise money. Now they have stopped attending landlord association meetings, though I learnt that he normally send his contributions through his son. During the COVID-19 palliatives distribution, he brought 10 bags of rice and semolina to the association which they rejected. He was told to share it to people as he deem fit since the landlord association didn't know the formula they could use in sharing the packages he sent. He shared it himself with a lot of people collecting it while many turned it down.

The lesson here is this, when you have opportunity, use it for the benefit of the people because nothing last forever. People were not asking for personal favours but for the good of everyone in the area where he is also a house owner. He forget that nothing goes up that won't come down. When the opportunities are no longer there, the people touched would still have rallied round him. Today, he's so quiet in the area, his once flamboyant and cheery wife have gone into a kind of seclusion within the streets of the area, they now drive in and out on the same rough roads they begged him to help speak to the authorities for. The roads are worse now. The landlords will use bulldozer to level the roads during dry season but it get worse with the coming of new rains. If he had tried his best and it didn't work out, people would have commended him for his efforts but he formed big man only to come back to his real base later.

Na una dey encourage corruption in politics. I'm sure you would have been all giddy and happy if he had been handing you public money.

binghamm:
Na una dey encourage corruption in politics. I'm sure you would have been all giddy and happy if he had been handing you public money.

Forget bros, no one is talking about government money here. The people in the estate are taxpayers and could legitimately ask for development. We are aware that government had so much in their hands and many local estates in the city are making moves to have development in their area. Nobody went to him for personal favours but for the good of everyone in the area where he is also a house owner. There's no corruption in this!

kennybabs1980:
Forget bros, no one is talking about government money here. The people in the estate are taxpayers and could legitimately ask for development. We are aware that government had so much in their hands and many local estates in the city are making moves to have development in their area. Nobody went to him for personal favours but for the good of everyone in the area where he is also a house owner. There's no corruption in this!

Chief, It is corruption. Good morning, first of all.

Assuming the State Government has limited resources, only the areas that produce Politicians will have their roads repaired? When a Governor sites a University in his hometown, do you applaud only if that hometown is yours?

I understand your self-interest within the Landlord group but we have perfected a way of dressing up corruption so it seems less insidious.

Edit: To be clear, it's not corrupt to lobby the Government for development provided resources are available. As all Governments must prioritize, what we call corruption here is using a local Politician's influence to be moved up the priority list, to the detriment of other areas.

jabolo:


Chief, It is corruption. Good morning, first of all.

Assuming the State Government has limited resources, only the areas that produce Politicians will have their roads repaired? When a Governor sites a University in his hometown, do you applaud only if that hometown is yours?

I understand your self-interest within the Landlord group but we have perfected a way of dressing up corruption so it seems less insidious.

Edit: To be clear, it's not corrupt to lobby the Government for development provided resources are available. As all Governments must prioritize, what we call corruption here is using a local Politician's influence to be moved up the priority list, to the detriment of other areas.

BossMan I get your point, but read what the guy wrote.

The politician used to complain about the state of the road. They only went to remind him.

And when he stopped seeing them, they stopped going.

Why didn't he tell them there are little funds instead of avoiding them?

“Uncle promise you money, after calling him several times to remind him, you stopped. Now, he's out of the job, he's calling for family reunion”

Nothing like corruption

Then they came back to that same area, yes! Shame suppose catch them.
It's good to do good when the going is good.

Lol, interesting story.

.

nautybride:
Then they came back to that same area, yes! Shame suppose catch them.
It's good to do good when the going is good.

Na yeye man him be,even to do his own street,,he enter voicemail

Klass99:
@ Kennybabs,

If he bought the house in GRA and owned it, why did he bother returning to the former house and area with bad roads?

I know you said he sold the GRA house to raise money, but money for what? To contest elections?

Honestly all these things na we hear we hear. But the man came back from his high horse. Today he's plying the same roads he refused to help in speaking to government about when he had the opportunity

kennybabs1980:
Honestly all these things na we hear we hear. But the man came back from his high horse. Today he's plying the same roads he refused to help in speaking to government about when he had the opportunity

I sincerely hope the road destroys his shocks and silencer. Oloshious fellow