I have struggled to keep from writing this piece until some days ago when I saw something that

broke my
resolve. I read with extreme fascination your write-up on the Lagos governor and his exploits and the response
of your readers. I would have sleeping dogs lie but events have continued to provoke and taunt me until I could
stay quiet no longer. Someone once said the world is a bad place not because of those who do evil but because
of those who look on and refuse to do nothing.

I reside in this so called ‘Pacesetter’ state which has remained stagnant since the time of Chief Bola Ige.

I have no problems with the PDP rigging every election as long as they perform, after all, Dr Ngige did not win
the Anambra State election yet he performed well. Why is Oyo state always different? Why are we always ruled
by people who have no vision for the state except for their pocket? From Lamidi Adesina (the greatest
disappointment of all since I voted for him) to the incumbent governor. I had always thought Oyo State was
more developed than Kwara state until I had to visit the latter. I was simply speechless- wide double carriage
roads everywhere, solar powered streetlights, traffic lights, etc. It is amazing that a state that was so renowned
decades back cannot boast of any road with traffic lights.

What drew my ire recently was the rehabilitation of the state hospitals to the tune of over half a billion naira yet
the state maternity centre in Yemetu that probably has the highest or one of the highest birth rates in the world
cannot boast of an ultrasound machine (I should know this because a family member works there). This has
caused untold hardship and increased morbidity and mortality of patients as they have to be referred to outside
facilities to have a scan done and it becomes a problem when patients come at night and the private facilities
have closed. It becomes even more disheartening that the new generator bought for the hospital developed a
mechanical fault less than 2 months after inauguration. Yet next to this edifice is a billboard bearing the picture
of the garrulous governor in his element.

I have no problem with the fact that health workers in the state are the least paid in Nigeria; I have no problems
with the fact that a first year medical doctor (House Officer) in a Federal hospital earns more than the Chief
Consultant (head of the hospital) in the state; I have no problems that most of the nurses in the hospital have
relocated to UCH for economic reasons, but what I have a problem with is despite the huge sums of money
allocated for rehabilitation, substandard materials were used. Why can’t he work quietly and intelligently like
Governor Babatunde Fashola instead of annoying us with his numerous billboards scattered all over the state.

It is pertinent to note here that when the strongman of Ibadan politics slumped, he was taken to UCH and not
any of the state hospitals. I don’t see anything changing in our health system until there is a law that prohibits
government officials from going abroad to seek medical treatment, but in recognition of the right of choice of
health care, they can choose to go abroad only after they have resigned their positions, and that is starting with
our head of state. Even Abacha as a dictator made use of the National Hospital Abuja and never went abroad for
medical treatment(to the best of my knowledge), or do we have to clone Chief Obafemi Awolowo before we can
get anything right in this state.

Just some days ago, the state government announced it had paid retirees their several months of pension only to
be refuted by the pensioners themselves after which they retracted the statement and told them to exercise some
patience. Must Oyo State always be ruled by mediocrities?

Anyway, I was meandering through the various ditches and potholes in Ibadan where right in front of me I saw a
sticker in front of a State Government vehicle which read ‘I believe in Akala’. That broke my resolve and that
was the last straw that broke my camel’s back.

I am not a pressman, but I have access to you; please investigate these claims if you must and publish this article
to expose the garrulous nonentity in the government house that holds a press conference every time he has to dig
a tiny well.

Ife Owoyele

Bashorun, Ibadan.