Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi
Oyo State Government on Tuesday announced a series of activities to commemorate the sixth year anniversary of the Governor Abiola Ajimobi led administration. In the spirit of this, CEOAfrica took to the streets of Dugbe and Mokola in Ibadan to obtain people’s evaluation of Ajimobi’s administration in the last six years.
In spite of the fact that some people were wary of sharing their thoughts on the issue, many others however expressed their opinion of the Governor’s performance during the past six years as well as suggested the areas the government should improve on in the two years left of the tenure.
While some of the respondents, citing numerous reasons, rated the performance of the Governor as low, some others stated that Ajimobi’s first term was more people-oriented than his second term, thereby rating his performance as average, majority however, noted that Ajimobi’ s efforts in improving Oyo State is quite commendable.
Speaking to CEOAfrica, Mr Dosunmu Oluwasegun, a teacher, said “In my opinion, Governor Ajimobi has done very well, but not perfectly. If I were to score his performance, I would give him at least 60 per cent based on what he has been able to do concerning the environment. He has been able to build quality roads compared to what others have done in the past. However, he has not done very well in the area of education.”
* Mr AbdulAzeez AbdulMumin
Alloysus Edeh, a road construction worker, stated that Governor Ajimobi is doing a very good job in keeping the environment clean. The government has tried in different aspects but as expected, they can’t be perfect.”
“Since I have been in Oyo State, I have to say that Governor Ajimobi has tried as a human being. He is not God, so we cannot expect 100 per cent from him since he is not God. Compared to the way Oyo state was before now, I can say that there is a big improvement,” said Mrs Glory Ikara, a businesswoman.
Also commending the Ajimobi’s administration is Emmanuel Francis, a student who stated that the Governor has been doing his best so far. He added “Although every government has its strengths and shortcomings, I would say Governor Isiaka Ajimobi is doing okay. He is yet to complete his tenure; so let us see what else he still has for the people of the state.”
Chief Odum, a Delta State indigene who also shared his opinion with CEOAfrica stated that although he is not an indigene of Oyo State, he has been living in the state for many years and as such, he can state emphatically that Governor Ajimobi’s administration has performed fairly well. He said “Ajimobi has performed well in road construction and many other areas but he needs to do more. Workers have not got their salaries and if they are not paid, there is no hope for low income earners. So he has to do more.”
* Mr Oritseju Samuel
In his own opinion, Mr Oritseju Samuel, a businessman stated “It is not about assessing Ajimobi alone. There are other people governing with him and governance is a team work. Since Ajimobi is the head of the government, I can say that he is trying but he needs to put more effort because a lot of roads are still bad and a lot of things are still undone but I wish him all the best.”
A Civil Servant, Mr AbdulAzeez AbdulMumin also gave commendation to Ajimobi for his efforts in improving the roads, upgrading security and other achievements in the last six years.
An Insurance expert, Mr Olajide Sanni while expressing his thoughts said that “Governor Ajimobi in the first four years of his tenure performed well. However, I rate his performance in the first two years of his second tenure very low. This is because he has not done much in the area of job creation. A lot of youths are on the streets unemployed. He should do more to create jobs for youths.”
Miss Rachel, an NYSC Member who just got posted to Oyo State stated that prior to her posting, she was told that Oyo State does not pay the state NYSC allowance but to her surprise, she and some of her colleagues received their state allowances. “From the things I have heard about him, I think Ajimobi is a good governor.”
A lecturer who spoke on the condition of anonymity rated Ajimobi’s performance as average because according to him, there are a lot of areas where the governor failed. While explaining his point, he said “There is what we call the physiological needs of people. When you don’t attend to those needs and you concentrate on building structures here and there, as far as I am concerned, you are failing. There is so much hunger in the land and we thought he would concentrate on that when he came in but he just focused on building structures.
In addition to expressing their opinion about the performance of Governor Ajimobi in the last six years, the respondents also suggested the areas they would like the Oyo State government to work better on in the remaining two years of the tenure.
Many of the respondents urged the government to do its best to pay the salary of workers as that will keep the citizens happy. Other aspects of the state the respondents advised the government to concentrate on more in the next two years include; job creation, youth empowerment, infrastructural development, industrialisation, noting that attention to these aspects of the state will boost its economy and general development.