I’m not ashamed to declare the fact that I’m not much impressed by the present activities of the Ogun State government. I love good roads, but where roads are being built at the expense of every other thing, I detest it.
In fact, roads are being constructed everywhere and nowhere. We are seeing a lot of motions but hardly any movement.
The people are hungry. That is an obvious understatement. People are starving would have been the right expression.
It is especially saddening because with its closeness to Lagos State and with the good soil and climate, one would have expected a government which has the love of the people at heart to fashion a scheme of feeding the teeming population of Lagos everyday, every week, every month and every year. If the government were to make available the conditions for this, most people will go into agriculture.
Let me shock you, the gari that a consumer buys for seven hundred naira in Abeokuta is sold for a whopping one thousand, five hundred naira in Lagos. Maize was sold three cobs for five hundred naira when it just started being harvested, ibe eni. There are more agricultural products that could be sold for profit in Lagos. In fact, I believe virtually every product could be.
In the education sector, I think we should thank God for the private schools. Although there are private schools and there are private schools, the citizens of the state can always differentiate between the five star private schools and the jeleosinmi, seedy ones.
Instead of setting up the so-called model schools with so much money, one would have expected a government that’s worth being called a democratic one to invest in the infrastructural development of the existing schools. Hardly does any public secondary school have a functional library. That is when you remove those.schools that have viable old students’ associations.
I.won’t talk about government workers. If the workers are not satisfied with the government, they know what to do.
The few roads the government has constructed could be given a pass mark in a developing country. Let me remind us that another name for developing country is underdeveloped country. If we are are not underdeveloped, how can we say we are constructing roads with open drainage systems?
But one thing I should praise the administration for is primary health care. While one may not be able to vouch for the effectiveness of the other levels in the health sector, the health centers which are managed by local governments in the state are just superb. They treat patients promptly and at reasonable costs.
The personnel at the health centers are so hospitable that patients feel at home. When patients feel at home in a health care center, it means they believe they are in safe hands.
One can say, to borrow Lagos University Teaching Hospital’s motto:
‘We care, God heals’.
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