I understand that civil servants in Ogun State, Nigeria, are on strike. Schools, Local governments, hospitals judiciary have therefore been paralysed.
It’s certainly a befitting birthday present for the Eleyi of Ogun State. He celebrated his 65th birthday in grand style. As part of the festivities, the civil servants are offering him the strike action.
As I wrote in some of my posts, if we could go back to the basics, governments across Nigeria don’t need to wait for the federal government to give them stipends to survive.
In any case, this federal government is even giving the states more revenue than any other. But what are the states using the funds for?
Ogun State has an agro cargo airport to show for the increase in revenue. The government is definitely not doing badly, but the airport is a fancy project.
What does the state export?
Poverty and penury!
I learned the state received a small sum of 90 trillion naira from the federal government in 2024. The state generated a paltry 2%.
Why has the state not gone back to the farm? Farming is a people-based project that might benefit the masses at the expense of the ruling class.
One thing I know is, like the Yoruba will say, a person feeding others can never lack. That is, if we could change our orientation and go back to farming, we can’t lack.
A governor of the state has tried it, and people from Lagos were chartering taxis and trucks to buy farm produce from Ogun State.
A long as we fail to elect people who are conscious of the heartbeat of society, we can’t have peace.
071825
