I have been so engaged recently. However, despite my very tight schedules, I had time to read bout issues that made headlines on a daily basis. Particularly, the unfortunate incident at Ogbomoso, the abduction of Teachers and Pupils of some schools in Oyo state.
That incident is heart rendering. Infact, on a particular night that we witnessed a heavy downpour, after the abduction, I was terribly disturbed, knowing fully well that the hapless victims would be in the rain without cover or protection. I was equally disturbed by the gruesome murder of one of the Teachers in cold blood.
My heart goes out to the families of the victims and I pray that God Almighty will intervene so that the remaining captives would be reunited with their loved ones. This is not a matter fit for politics. I must say that for the first time, I watched Governor Seyi Makinde and I saw genuine concerns in his face. The video of him, addressing the public, after a security meeting, showed a concerned, disturbed and sober Governor who is trying so hard to get the victims out of captivity.
I have seen the reactions of a lot of people regarding this unfortunate incident. You can’t blame anyone for reacting with emotions. The kind of videos those blood suckers are uploading on a daily basis can trigger anger and frustration. I will however deal with a particular reaction by certain observers and it has to do with the issue of the purchase of Aircraft for surveillance purposes by the Oyo state Government.
I must say that I felt disappointed about the explanations of Governor Seyi Makinde regarding the controversies surrounding the purchase of the Aircrafts. From the beginning, I was not convinced that what Oyo state needed most at the point Government paid a whooping sum of 7.7 billion Naira was a Aircraft. We were already in an emergency at the time and I made my opinion known.
When Ayodele Fayose was Governor of Ekiti state during Buhari’s time, we had a similar challenge across Nigeria. What did Fayose do to curtail the incursion of banditry in Ekiti state at the time? He called the local hunters all over Ekiti state together and they were mobilized to secure the forests of Ekiti. You might call it a crude approach but it worked.
I suggested at the time that instead of spending a whooping 7.7 billion Naira to purchase Aircrafts, Governor Makinde should have copied the Fayose template. I suggested further that Local Government Chairmen and Community heads are also vital in the fight against banditry.
In a fight like this, you can’t afford to be reactionary. You have to be proactive. Intelligence gathering is key. Yes, we have the Amotekun Corps but are they well mobilized?
I am aware that members of the Corps are yet to have their appointments permanent. The welfare is nothing to write home about. Provision of ammunition is zero. So, what can you trust such a rag-tag outfit to do in case of serious security challenges, except to be used at party Convention venues? Like I said, I was disappointed when I saw the explanations of Governor Seyi Makinde concerning the whereabouts of the Aircrafts.
How does it sound for someone to say that 7.7 billion Naira was paid since July 2025 but the items purchased with the payment are still in crates in Lagos in 2026?
How could you have paid such a humongous amount of money for ISR Aircrafts and you are not providing updates until now? I think Governor Seyi Makinde needs to work on his mindset when he talks to the public. Why is it that, it is now, that he is telling us that some Chinese Engineers have arrived to assemble the Aircrafts? Was he waiting for people to be abducted before the Engineers would be summoned to come and assemble the items?
This is the same mindset the Governor had when he told us that he has been keeping the 30 billion Naira he got from the Federal Government with respect to the Bodija explosion in a private Bank accounts.
He needed Fayose to accuse him of collecting 50 billion Naira before he came out to say that he actually got 30 billion Naira and it is being kept in a particular Bank account.
There was a terrible bandit attack at Oriire, now Governor Makinde is telling us that some Chinese Engineers have come to assemble the surveillance Aircrafts he paid for since July, 2025!
I have seen some people who have been saying that the Governor is powerless. That the Federal Government should be blamed for insecurity. I am asking those who have this kind of opinion to ask Governor Makinde to tell the public, how much, in billions, he draws every month, as Security votes and what he has been doing with the money.
Governor Seyi Makinde draws over a billion Naira monthly as Security votes. The 33 Local Governments also draw Security votes monthly. This is the time to tell us how much they all draw in total and what they have been doing with it. In the midst of the disaster, Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeyan has remained very active.
Just yesterday, I saw a video of him and one gentleman who purportedly visited him to deliver the money and souvenir allegedly offered him by Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli. I don’t know why Alhaji Olopoeyan failed to realize that though, he was trying to denigrate Sharafadeen Alli and perhaps, impress Governor Makinde, but in actual facts, he was indicting both Governor Seyi Makinde and the gentleman who he claimed visited him to deliver the items he received from Alli. Assuming without conceding that the gentleman was invited by Senator Sharafadeen Alli, he was at liberty to either refuse the invitation, or honor it.
Secondly, he honored the invitation and was allegedly offered a sum of a hundred thousand Naira, which, in Alhaji Olopoeyan’s estimation, is belittling of Sharafadeen Alli. The question is, was the gentleman obliged to accept the money and the souvenir?
Couldn’t he have politely declined to accept both the money and the souvenir? Does Alhaji Olopoeyan expect Sharafadeen Alli to offer the gentleman millions of Naira and for what? I heard Alhaji Olopoeyan in the video saying that he would do this and that for the gentleman.
In my opinion, if you care about the dignity of a person, you don’t need to put him before the camera before you handover a hundred and fifty thousand Naira to him. I also heard him say that Seyi Makinde couldn’t have offered him a hundred thousand Naira.
Yes. We know. Seyi Makinde offers dollars in thousands. A High Chief of Ibadan publicly said so. (Je n mu o fona).
However, those thousands of dollars Seyi Makinde is offering people to buy them over to his side, of which Alhaji Olopoeyan was bragging about, whose resources are they? The other time, it was the same character who was seen dancing to Pasuma music inside a private Jet which allegedly belong to the Governor.
Like I said, he is been very active lately. I also watched a recorded video of his interview recently. I saw him laboring to defend Governor Seyi Makinde’s choice of Bimbo Adekanmbi, a Christian, as his successor.
He then said Muslim or no Muslim, what matters most is competence. I have been wondering, when will this people stop insulting the Muslims with this very reckless comments? Does it mean that there is no Muslim in Oyo state who is as competent as Bimbo Adekanmbi?
I enjoyed the part where he talked about Oriyomi Hamzat and how he got the resources to establish the Agidigbo FM Radio station. The chicken is coming home to roost.
However, Alhaji Olopoeyan needs to explain to us further how Governor Seyi Makinde funded Oriyomi Hamzat for the establishment of the Agidigbo FM Radio station. Was he given money as a direct gift or what? What is between the duo of Seyi Makinde and Oriyomi Hamzat that would warrant the Governor to fund the establishment of a Radio station?
Let me now go back to Bimbo Adekanmbi. I have read a lot of interesting stuffs about him recently. Infact, a very good journalist brother of mine spoke glowingly about him. Whatever I have to say about the gentleman, I will reserve for now, but I told that brother of mine that Adekanmbi does carry a Cross, too heavy for anyone to carry successfully.
I asked him if it is possible to build a sustainable property on top of a faulty foundation. I told him that the foundation upon which the ambition of Adekanmbi is built is too weak, dirty and too fraudulent and that when the chips are down, the ambition is doomed to crumble.
For now, I told him, everything looks fine but in the fullness of time, the system will collapse under the burden of dark secrets. How will Adekanmbi extricate himself from the stigma put on him by a frontline Leader of their party, Alhaji Ismaila Ashipa?
The Facebook post by him which pointed to the fact that Bimbo Adekanmbi is actually the candidate of Seye Famojuro, the Ijesa man who is all over the Government of Seyi Makinde?
I asked my brother if he thought that the people of Oyo state would take kindly to a situation where their Governor has someone like Seye Famojuro as his godfather. We are not even talking about the series of fraud allegations against the Government of Seyi Makinde. What about the debts profile of the state?
For every fraudulent actions of the Makinde Government, every unfulfilled promises, betrayals and more, Bimbo Adekanmbi would have questions to answer. Like I said, I am keeping my gunpowder dry for now but I can’t wait for the game to start.
However, no good wine will come from an old skin. Those who are trying to repackage Bimbo Adekanmbi as the Governor of Oyo state know what they’re doing. They need someone who will help them cover up their misdeeds of eight years but they will not be successful in their attempt.
Sola Abegunde.