Being a
zealous reader of Nigerian Tribune publications, I wish to air my views
on the recently published letter of Jimoh Mumin, on 13th
August 13, 2008. I read the story online and I am using this medium to
give kudos to the management of Nigerian Tribune publications, for the
great job they are doing in terms of the online publication. This is
commendable.
To start with, as an indigene of the state, I do not have anything for
or against the governor. He is doing his job as a politician and I am
doing mine as a citizen. According to Jimoh’s appraisal for Akala,
“Governor Adebayo Alao- Akala is really doing his best for the state,
especially in the area of poverty eradication.” Jimoh should have
justified this statement by pointing to one or some of the laudable
projects on poverty eradication. There may be, but I have neither seen
nor heard.
Moreover, I support Jimoh’s statement which says “The state government
cannot employ all graduates because its resources can not cater for a
large workforce. Our nation’s universities and polytechnics keep
churning out thousands of graduates each year, thereby adding to the
already bloated labour market.” This is true because the Federal
Government keeps approving private universities, instead of upgrading
the standard of the moribund ones we have in Nigeria.
In addition, for me, I can never give Governor Alao-Akala any pass
mark, based on his present score card. Should we talk of the
misappropriation of the N1billion in 11 months, which he denied? Or we
should talk about the way the Oyo State Government sold forms for
unemployed youths of the state, without any meaningful result, in 2007?
Does Jimoh know how much Oyo State Government would realize from the
so-called fraudulent-like employment exercise into the Civil Service
Commission? I was a victim.
In conclusion, I want to educate Jimoh on his statement which says
“Empowering unemployed youths in the state will put an end to all sorts
of atrocities committed by them. And one way to do this is to invite
natives of Oyo State from foreign lands to come home to invest.” Nobody
will come and invest his hard-earned money in a state where there are
no good roads, especially in Oyo State, where there is no regular
electricity supply and where there is high crime rate. These are the
basic things – electricity, water and road, which the government should
look into, before talking of seeing investors.
