Execution of borehole project promised the traders of Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan South-West Local Government area of Oyo State by Seyi Makinde, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant at the wake of fire disaster that gutted some portions of the market about two weeks ago has led to a big row between the traders and the authorities of the local government. 

 Makinde, a PDP governorship aspirant had promised the traders a borehole to mitigate against future occurrence.

During his sympathy visit to the market after the fire disaster which left behind tales of woes through loss of properties worth several millions of Naira.

 The donation of a borehole was born out of the discovery that the fire service men ran out of water when they arrived the scene.

Makinde, had on Sunday sent his contractor to the market and after consultation with the traders' leadership and a site was allocated to him to began work immediately only for the caretaker chairman of the local government, Alhaji Taoreed Adeleke to have allegedly ordered stoppage of work through the use of hoodlums.  

Adeleke was said to have led the hoodlums in three buses and having confirmed the person behind the borehole project ordered the contractor out of the site after which the hoodlums threw stones into the borehole said to have been dug up to about 70ft above the sea level.

When the caretaker chairman was told that the project was being handled by an Individual, he was said to have claimed that "it is local government's duty and nobody should try to pose as being a friend of the masses.

Immediately the Makinde's contractor was sent away, the local government authorities brought in their own drilling machine and attempted to begin their own digging work at the very site from where the contractor was sent away.

Angered by the development, the traders then insisted that the local government should go and look for another site of its own to dig its borehole and not the site already chosen by Makinde.

At the time of filling this report the local government drilling machine was seen parked there doing nothing.

One of the traders, Mr Sakiru Aremu, who was at the scene when the hoodlums came on Sunday disclosed that what saved the situation was that the incident happened on Sunday, when majority of the traders were not in the market.

He maintained that it would have been free for all if it were to be a market day and the traders were around.  He wondered why on earth would a local government that had not shown responsibility to the traders disrupt an individual who made a promise and came to fulfill it within two weeks of such promise?.

Speaking, the chairman Fancy section of the market, Alhaji Ramon Olabamiji said it is unfortunate that the chairman Alhaji Adeleke led people that sent the workers working at the project area away provided by an individual for the market people.

Olabamiji said “We are not politicians but when an individual came to our aid by providing us free borehole water, I don’t think it's necessary for the chairman to send them away. Personally, I’m not happy likewise the market people because we suspected this is turning political".

He recalled that when governor Ajimobi was a Senator and there was a similar fire disaster in the market, he sent lorry load of planks which in no small way assisted the traders in rebuilding their stalls, yet, he was then a member of an opposing party to the ruling one in the state then.

"If nobody disturbed him then and the then gesture went a very long way to assist him in getting the support of our members when seeking votes in 2011, we now wonder why the gesture of Makinde should constitute an offence", he stated.  

Attempts to get the reaction of Alhaji Adeleke proved abortive as mobile number was off. Meanwhile, the Personal Assistant to Seyi Makinde, Akeem Azeez who led the contractor to the place wondered why people who claimed to provide basic amenities, love the people of the state and claimed to be a progressive is now disrupting the effort of a public-spritied, individual like Engineer Seyi Makinde who came to the rescue of the Alesinloye traders.

“The gubernatorial aspirant promised to provide a borehole for the market people during his visit to the scene of the fire incident few weeks ago but the opposition party disrupts the effort of our principal by sending the contractor away", he said.