Bayo Adelabu: Charity Shouldn’t Be Politicised, No Sector is Being Ignored in Oyo State

By Oluwatayo Opeyemi

Mr Adelabu should calm down, get information and not just criticise.

I would also like to use this medium to inform Mr Adelabu and his team that they can not use charity towards the widows of slain officers as a campaign. The Oyo state government already gave a token to them and a sum of N500m has been put aside to compensate victims of the #EndSARS protest, subjected to the report of the Oyo State judicial panel of inquiry which has had over 30 seatings already.

The N1.2bn he’s making an issue of for being used to construct the Governor’s lodge was because the authorities in Abuja wrote to the Governor about the state of antiquity the lodge is

As misplaced as it seems, (because I’m of opinion that it should not have happened) one can not expect the Oyo state government to go against the orders of the authorities and the facility actually needs total reconstruction.

I, however, wonder if Mr Adelabu is unaware that over 240kms of road across Oyo state are getting lightened up as we speak. Just last Sunday, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, commended the state on its intervention to upgrade certain facilities at the Airport and talks are ongoing to get Air peace operational in the state if they’ve not started already. Also, roads leading to the entries and exits of the Airport are being fixed.

Schools in Oyo State are also getting attention. Also, 21 Primary Healthcare Centers have gotten independent solar power supply.

Oyo state is fixing 351 PHCs in all 351 wards, reason given by the governor is “if we can provide polling wards for elections, we should be able to prioritize electorates health just as we place a premium on elections”

Mr Adelabu should visit Awe and see the upgrade that has happened to the moribund farmers’ academy that has become Oyo state / IITA youth in Agribusiness incubation centre. In sane vein, he could extend his visitations to the three farm settlements that are currently undergoing upgrade to special hubs for agro processing by the Oyo State Government.

Plans are ongoing to get a farm implements fabrication centre and farming clusters in Ibadan.


Salaries and pensions with backlog salaries owed to illegally sacked workers are being paid, backlog gratuities are being paid, in fact, the government has increased its monthly commitment towards pensions to 235m from 180m, a figure which was initially set at 100m by the Governor himself. Infact current Oyo state government was commended in the past by pensioners to have paid more pensions and gratuities than any government in Oyo state before him had, that was when the governor was just one year and six months in office. Recently, it was revealed that out of the 56bn gratuities arrears the governor met he had cleared 13bn, that’s huge to me.

I urge Mr Adelabu to be calm and not always politicise everything. Charity is from the heart and not for politics. If he’s building police stations, he’s welcome, we will all benefit from it.

But, let’s not forget that just last week, the Oyo state government established a new security base for police at Ibadan/Ijebu Ode borders with CCTV camera installed and 9 operational vehicles including 6 new model of JAC Frison TX parole vans were provided at the base.

Oyo state has the highest number of vehicles for the Amotekun security network among the states that have the outfit.


At this juncture, I believe we can all agree that the security of Oyo state is paramount to the Governor and he’s not spending N1.2bn on a lodge to abandon other things at home.


More than 300kms road projects are being executed, 4 bus terminals, a junction improvement project, flood management projects across the state.


In fact, a bridge, Mr Adelabu’s party and the govt he was involved with contracted for 1.5bn without any significant work was recently re-awarded at 1.03bn not minding inflation after 4 years of the initial contract.
The 7.2km akobo road that his party contracted for 7bn was re-awarded at 3.3bn including 231m to compensate affected owners of buildings at roadside also after 3 years of no significant work on the road.

We should also speak about how the govt revitalized the Oyo state security control room and fixed the CCTV cameras this same Mr Adelabu put in there as the state’s security trust fund chairman. The software without a license which he got for the state that was putting the state to N42m annual debt was totally acquired by this govt, what will he say about that?

His party said Oyo state could not practice free education. That is laughable. This is the second year of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration, and so far we enjoy free education in the state’s primary and secondary government schools, and still getting a better result with 5,000 new teachers recruited.

Moribund ventures of the state like Ijaye Asphalt plant, Agbowo mall, Oko food processing company and Ilaju cassava processing company are being fixed in conjunction with private investors all in two years. In eight years what was done? OYSADEP now OYSADA HQ in Saki is being fixed after 25 years of being moribund.

Mr Adelabu, talk is cheap but Gov Seyi Makinde has made work very cheaper to talk. His footprints can be seen all over the state.

May 1 was always a day of protest in Oyo state by the workers. This year, they had a befitting celebration.

Mr Adelabu, do you know there’s a shell gas pipeline project in the state?
This is targeted at industrialization. Does Mr Adelabu know that Nigeria’s first electronic agricultural hub opened in Oyo state?

Does he know we have an assembling plant for tricycles and motorcycles now in Ibadan by MAX /YAHAMA?

Mr Adelabu should get to know about Ajoda housing estate which has 360 units of flats ongoing and project scope estate at Bodija with 45 housing units ongoing, not one unit was built in the eight years of the government he was involved in.

I’m not surprised he is politicizing this too as he attempted to politicise the Akesan market fire outbreak last year and the Agodi market fire outbreak recent . Well, the rebuilding of Akesan market is now nearing completion, Agodi Gate victims have gotten 50m naira too and talks are ongoing to rebuild the markets and not just pack some blocks from ongoing sites and print banners on pickup bus to lay the blocks on burnt weakened blocks

On this note, I, therefore, urge Mr Adelabu to keep calm and witness the development in Oyo state which his party denied our state in eight years.