Dapo Abiodun: 100 days of nothingness

By Yemi Babalogbon

When five power blocs came together in April to support the governorship ambition of Prince Dapo Abiodun, the narrative they sold to the electorates was that the current situation across Ogun state was unacceptable and PDA, as he is fondly called, possess the magic wand to bring about the drastic change the state requires. Chief among all the promises was that he was going to hit the ground running. They lied!

It has been almost 100 days since that utopia administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun was sworn into office and as expected, the reality of the Ponzi scheme is manifesting, faster than anticipated.

Across the world, the first threshold to measuring the performance and competence of any administration is the ceremonial 100 days anniversary in such office. This day gives the new government the opportunity to showcase and celebrate its achievements, master plan, planned project and the estimated time of completion. For residents of the gateway state, there is absolutely nothing to celebrate.

In the last 100 days since he came to power, Dapo Abiodun’s administration has been bedeviled by persistence lack of direction, discretion, and initiative to govern the state. Like a proverbial blind man given a pen and paper, Dapo Abiodun lacks the knowledge of what to do with the vast potentials Ogun state possess.  The current Ogun state is a cacophony of motionless speeches, spineless promises, and glamour of advanced photography.

While seeking for office, Abiodun promised to deliver within his first 100 days, among other things, rehabilitation of public schools across the state, building of primary healthcare facilities, economic driven projects, and security. None which he has fulfilled.

The first task that gave him away as not being capable to man the number one seat in the state is his inability to constitute a simple state cabinet. A task his counterparts across the country did with ease. Many have attributed this to the greed of unholy alliance of strange bedfellows who ganged up to hijack the Oke-Mosan seat to him on a platter of gold.

For a government that finds it impossible to constitute a state executive council, even when some states under the grip of individuals succeeded, the hope of getting any tangible work done is nearly impossible as the only constitutionally recognized body authorized to sanction such projects does not exist.

As if under the guidance of power beyond his control, the supposed Chief security officer of the state, finds it convenient to outsource sacred duties and matters of governance to anointed individuals beyond the state. The process of appointing Heads of Agencies and parastatals has become more or less a bedroom affair.

To add salt to an already painful injury, Governor Dapo Abiodun embarked on a jamboree celebration of a website creation. A simple system anyone with a computer and internet service can come up with without breaking a sweat. To make matter worst, this phony enterprise was launched by the Vice President of Nigeria. How low we have fallen!

The newly launched Ogun state job portal is devoid of any critical thinking befitting of a state like Ogun state. The platform looks like the usual thousand and one job portals across the web sphere providing ponzi employment scheme. It is an incontrovertible fact that the public sector does not possess the capacity to employ a fraction of the unemployed youth in the state. In fact, neither does the private sector in Ogun state possess the capacity to give employment to an appreciable number of underemployed or unemployed residents of the state. Why then give hope to residents when there is no platform for them to work?

Taking into consideration the giant strides of counterparts in Oyo and Lagos states in the last few days, what a well thought out process would have provided is a scheme that helps to develop individual skills and talent while promoting entrepreneurship ventures and self-sufficiency for the youth.

Yemi Babalogbon writes from Ifo, Ogun state