Every politically conscious person who has had the opportunity of living in Ibadan must no doubt have heard of Adegoke Adalabu's famous statement during the hey days of Action Group in the Western Region . The statement which was made in connection to the ridiculous cross carpeting that ensured the AG was in charge of the. pace-setting western region. The dialectisation of the word peculiar mess into penkelemesi by the ever politically concious and proudly illiterate Ibadan populace back then still remains Adegoke Adelabu's nickname He was a lawyer, orator and ideologically principled politician . He didn't live long but more important is the word ''penkelemesi'' to Oyo-state politics and Nigeria than his several wives and children.
The political conspiracy and brigandry that brought Govenor Alao Akala to power remains a. Low point considering the number of innocent people who lost their lives and the value of properties destroyed by the reign of terror unleashed on the brown rusty roofed city of Ibadan by the Late political God father and strongman of Ibadan Politics Adedibu. Ironically, Adedibu was at a time an apostle of the great man called Adelabu. Many young students lost their lives while on their way back from school to their homes as they were caught in the exchange of gun fire between Adedibu's thugs and that of those protecting then Governor Ladoja. I was still in my senior secondary school the day gun men invaded the Governors office to abduct then Govenor Ladoja. My school being close to the Secretariat, all students had to lie down while gunshots were heard and even after it ended, took hours before we could leave for home. Many other students especially those in public schools were not as lucky. Its sad that while this seige of terror contnued, none of Adedibu's children were in the country and most top govenoment officials including politically aligned permanent secretaries were all guarded by the police and their kids were taken toLagos or somewhere outside Nigeria. I happen to be close to several of their kids to be able to realise why a lot of my friends all travelled abroad at the same time. Then I thought it was just for their academic pursuit, now I realise security consideration might have influenced their migration. The impeacment of Ladoja ,the rise of Alao Akala to political relevance,the pronouncement of the court in Inakoju Versus Adeleke were all notable events but clearly no other day brings intense sadness to people of this pace-setting state than the day judgement was passed in validation of alao akala's election by the court of appeal. There is also a rumour that guns have been brought into Ibadan to intimidate Ibadan people from voting during the election. This is based on the calculation of the VIP's that if anarchy is let loose in the city people will be too scared to vote and clearly an uncast vote doesn't count. This means despite the percieved battle the Governor is facing from top Ibadan Indigines, on the election date these men can't force people to come and vote, as people would decide on their own by putting their safety first This is unconfirmed however but going by what happened in 2007 when thugs terrorized the whole state and scared voters away. Also the alarming increased rate of robbery in Ibadan after 2007 election due to arms proliferation was and might still pose a serious security threat that would ultimately lead to voter apathy. From 2007 till now, there's been suffering in the land. The worst hit in this are the civil servants symbolised by teachers. Governor Akala has made it clear overtly and covertly that education is not a priority of his administration. The state he said its very poor and this is worsened by the low Internally Generated Revenue. It saddens me having lived most of my life in the city of ibadan to note that majority of the literate people in this state are perpetually illiterates as the captivity of poverty ensures their good judgement goes to sleep as soon as little financial gratification comes their way from government. This explain why men like Omololu Olunloyo, Ghief Richard Akinjide despite their unquestionable intellectual ability and high profile would rather stand against the people by openly accepting greek gifts and sacrificing their conscience for financial and political gain for themselves or their children. Oyo state like no other state has witnessed the long and constant strikes by teachers and the deft diplomatic corruptionist manoeuvres of his excellency Gov. Akala is highly commendable in breaking the unity of purpose of this union.
The Nigerian Union of Teachers has throughout his administration until recently defended its members and demanded for its entitlement from the government just like other states. Osun state which is way poorer and fully agrarian pays its teachers well.. The governor has not hidden his hatred for teachers for daring to stand up against him. Going down memory lane, the teachers became enemies of the governor when they jubilated and hailed the judgement of the court that returned Ladoja to power after his purported impeachment by a few members of the house of assembly loyal to late strongman of Ibadan politics; adedibu. Also Ladoja did surprise all citizens of the state by employing over 5000 civil servants mostly teachers during his tenure. Upon the tenure of Ladoja ending and Akala being elected as Govenors, he refused to recognise the appointment of the teachers and ordered their dis-engagement. It has also been alleged that the Governor has penetrated the NUT by appointing his cronies to its council such that he now has direct control over the accounts and decisions of the Union. Teachers are scared to cry out or march for fear of victimisation and for fear of their lives. Also sadly the Endwell Scheme of the NUT which is a separate pension scheme by the teachers themselves and for themselves ensures that each teacher is given 3times the value of his or her contribution upon retirement or death is in danger as its now under the direct supervision of the governor through his appointed proxy. Danger looms for the benefits of this teachers in Oyo State just because the governor wants total servitude and control of his most vocal opponents who can't be bought over. This is also aptly captured by the unfolding scenarios between rival gangs of the Transport union in the state and his Excellency’s excellent role in flaming the embers of discord and disruption of public peace. To understand the invariably terrible repercussion of this singular action its important to note that Ibadan is the most urbanised city in Oyo State and just like other parts of the state, Civil Servants are the highest number of people with constant source of income. Most people are either farmers, traders and then the private sector employs a little number of people. Imagine sacking 5000 civil servants or refusing to pay the salaries of the over 23,000 civil servants in the state. There's a question I did ask many of the educated people in Ibadan during my visit there recently. I asked for the names of at least one commissioner in Oyo state right now from at least ten people and surprisingly they don't know their names or can they recognise them. The state media BCOS, Radio Oyo and its FM are not allowed to be professional at all, people don't even want to listen or watch anything it broadcasts .The newspaper reports detailing the various developmental governments in Lagos, Edo, Ondo and other parts of the country ensures the people are more conversant with the public servants in those states even though they aren't in those states. That clearly explained why anytime I check the papers and read the various reactions of Governors to topical national issues, I never read anything from any Government official of my dear oyo state. I wonder if that means the Opeyemi Bamidele's, the Ranti Akerele are from another planet as a result of the efficient discharge of their duty of dis-eminating information as commissioner for information. State of Anarchy and suffering; that's what Oyo State has endured all through Oyato Governors tenure. Going back memory lane the Sad roles played by former president obasanjo back then, and the open show of apathy by the Police goes to restate that OBJ's truly passionately hates Oyo State. He allowed Adedibu to wreck havoc under police supervision, all this might have been calculated politically as he probably knew he needs strong men like Adedibu to consolidate his rein on power, so even though Adedibu was criminally culpable for the actions of his loyalist and his statements as to his entitlement to a portion of the state treasury, OBJ left him to plunder and destroy the state.
The suspicious victory of Adedibu over Ladoja in the political battle of guns, upgraded Alao Akala to a politically relevant position as he clinched the govenorship ticket easily as he had sworn to hold his allegiance to the Late King of Amala politics. The death of Adedibu re-forced Akala's hold on power as he subsequently bought over all of Adedibu's loyalist. He has silenced the Nigerian Union of Teachers by polarising their ranks and buying its officials and ensuring those who were steadfast are attacked and maimed to silence them and quench their fighting spirit. Right now despite purchasing several buses for his campaign for Jonathan and celebrating his birthday globally and in grand style he has refused to pay the salaries of teachers. As of now, the teachers have not been paid their July 2010 salaries because he said they went on strike so they deserved no pay for no work. The teachers however did cover-up for the loss time, as they worked for an extra 3 weeks to ensure they cover the academic calendar that was lost during the protracted strike. As of now, October 15th, the oyo state government is yet to pay the salary for September. This teachers have families to feed, I'm sure Mr Governor knows about this and the excuse of no money wouldn't suffice as Oyo State benefitted from the Excess Crude 0il bonus earlier this year, this is apart form the monthly state allocation from the federation account coupled with the little Internally Generated Revenue of the state. If The state cannot actually pay its staff salaries and the Governor can buy buses for Jonathan, erect posters and huge bill boards, celebrate his birthday in grand style, it points to the fact that something is amiss in the state treasury. The teachers can't complain, and have been going to work for fear of not being paid if they go on strike. Millions are cursing the government daily as the cash crunch affects the whole state as the purchasing power of the citizens is at the barest minimum.
This is truly the peculiar mess Adegoke Adelabu must have been referring to. Fela must really be weeping for Oyo State if he were to be reading this in heaven. Vagabonds have practically taken over the pace-setting state, they have consolidated their anti-people actions and the people are weeping....Peculiar Mess indeed
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