When Will Aircraft Land at Aregbesola’s Airport?
In spite of protests against previous actions, the appointments approved this week into the board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation by President Muhammadu Buhari did not reflect Federal Character. Please, let’s all reflect on the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) Chapter 2, Section 14 (3) which states: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”
I am appalled that there is no single person from the South-east geo-political zone on the lopsided board of the NNPC. Also, the appointment this week, of seven new Deputy Inspectors-General of Police (DIG) was disproportionate. We must consistently remind Buhari that he is the President of the whole country and not that of a section of the country. He must be seen promoting unity and a sense of belonging among our people. Our president should always take a very good look at the map of Nigeria before making appointments.
Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State is one man that never ceases to amaze me. His trickery is legendary. One of such bogus projects he launched with fanfare was the state’s airport project located in Iddo. It is appalling that despite all the abracadabra around the project, the airport remains a pipe dream. This governor told the hapless people of Osun State that the bogus airport would be completed in 2012 or early 2013. A visit to the site last week showed that it had been abandoned. What you find on ground today is the haphazard fencing done without any thought for engineering finesse by a contractor that goes by the name Gardol Nigeria Limited. The other things on site are heaps and heaps of stones and rubbish. Billions of Naira has been expended on this white elephant. The exact figure is a closely guarded secret. Clearly, Osun State does not need an airport, considering the fact that there is one, just a stone throw in Ibadan. This project does not make any economic sense. Why should a governor, who claims to be a man of the people, be wasting the state’s limited resources on an airport project amidst so much hunger, disease, poverty in the state? Workers in this state are being owed salaries ranging from nine to 12 months. Key infrastructure in Osun public hospitals and schools are in a tattered state, yet, Aregbesola is wasting money on an airport project. Just as Segun Akinwusi, former Head of Service, HOS, of Osun State, stated recently, “When a government chooses to indulge in trivialities, the end result is for it to be looking for scapegoats to cover its infamy. Osun state economy today has collapsed, the debt profile has reduced the state indigenes to beggars and destitutes.” Aregbesola is usually not happy with people like Akinwusi. The governor has since sent the EFCC after this foremost critic of his style of government with a dubious petition. A cooked up allegation of abuse of office has been leveled against him. I doubt if this can silence a dogged fighter like Akinwusi. May God save Osun State.