Tokunbo Ajasin: An appointment so well, so deserve
By Yemi Akintomide
Since the announcement of inclusion of the name of the first son of late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, the first civilian governor of old Ondo State into the board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by President Mohammadu Buhari on Thursday, mischief makers, party loud mouths and clan gangsters within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and in and outside Ilaje community of Ondo State, has went to town with very provoking tales and insinuations, condemning the good intention of PMB to constitute a development oriented board far away from the old order.
What baffled me about the spontaneous negative reactions and uncoordinated protests by some uninformed political rascals and jobblers against the membership of Olatokunbo Ayotunde Ajasin on the board of the intervention commission were the unprintable and unguarded words used against the personality of PMB, painting the President and his action as mad and un think of. This is too crude and uncivilized for a people.
In all these notwithstanding, some reasonable and intelligent fellows and elders across party lines in the state has added their constructive agreements into the discourse by hailing the exceptional wisdom displayed by PMB in nominating good, vibrant, result oriented and practical development driven individuals to this all important board.
Their straight to the point argument was that what has been the achievement(s) of any of the so called 'son of the soil' from Ilaje that had held sway at NDDC, and their impacts on the communities they represent on the board, even though it is Ondo state slot they got, not Ilowo, Molutehin or Obe-Enikanselu coastal towns in the state.
Come to think of it, where were sons and daughters of the so called coastal towns when way back then, the late strong man of Yoruba politics, Pa. Adekunle Ajasin as governor of old Ondo State confronted the then Federal government of Alhaji Sheu Shagari with facts and figures, fought tooth and nail to enlist the state as member of the prestigious oil producing state. The facts are there for any dissenting mind to verify.
So, if after several years of achieving that fit without directly benefiting from the work of his brain before his death, a son of the late sage is now been named as a parttime member of a commission which came into existence by the virtue of the state as an oil producing. Haba! Good reasoning should prevail on us as human beings that the goodwill of the late politician has come back full circle.
All the dissenting voices lack coherent and cogent point such as this "The said Olatokunbo Ayotunde-Ajasin is not from the oil producing area of Ondo State where the position is strictly reserved for in accordance with the provision of the Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment etc) Act 2000 Act no 6 law of the federation of Nigeria, section 2 (1b):
"Which provides that ‘one person who shall be an indigene of an oil producing area to represent each of the nine oil producing states i.e. Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers’”
My own take on the above argument come as questions: "who is an indigene of an oil producing area or better still, what qualify an individual as an indigene of an area within a state?. Can any area stands in isolation from the state? To me, any bonafide citizen of Ondo State could be appointed as member in NDDC or Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC), while the bottom line is the judicious use of funds allocated to such boards in developing the affected areas and state as a whole.
Therefore, my last words will come as an appeal to every aggrieved sons and daughters of Ijaje coastal communities to accept this nomination in good faith, and pray for the success of our new representative on the job in order to fast track and accelerate development in the area, rather than joining some unscrupulous elements making loud noise from outside the area without correspondence action.
What will it profit any of us if Ayotunde-Ajasin is replace with a non resourceful person from the oil-producing coastal Areas of Ilaje local government area of Ondo State as it been practiced before now, and we then come back to square one. Let think deeply and avoid sentiment on a matter that affect our lives and generation yet unborn. Peace be unto my people.
Akintomide, a journalist and public analyst writes from Orita-Obele in Akure, Ondo State