* Says Present Oyo LG Bosses Were Duly Appointed Into Office
Engineer Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State has been described by Pastor Wole Alawode, the Caretaker Chairman, Ibadan South East Local Government area of the state as a leader anybody will aspire to follow.
The local government chairman also has said that the recently inaugurated caretaker chairmen in the state are in office legally because they were appointed by the legally and duly elected governor of the state, Engineer Seyi Makinde.
Pastor Alawode, who stated these while featuring on a popular radio magazine programme, Parrot Xtra Hour on Space FM, Ibadan on Tuesday, disclosed that Governor Seyi Makinde has the right to appoint anybody into any position at any point in time.
According to the banker turned politician, “when the past governor came into office, he had the right to bring those that he wanted there, they were there for a number of years that God wanted them to be there. So, when the new governor came in, in person of Engr. Seyi Makinde, he thought it wise to appoint us into office. For this gesture towards us, I thank the governor once again.
“When they wanted to flush us out in January, instead of us fighting back, we had to go the peace way because we have a governor who has always held the belief that nobody’s life is worth any position. He is the kind of leader anybody will wish to have.
He directed us on the next step which was to make sure that we did not fight back, instead the governor had to go to court, it was the court that guaranteed our being there now because the court stopped them,” Pastor Alawode said.
The council boss, who described the concept of good governance as ability to wipe off tears from the faces of the people, explained that some of his plans for the council area have been yielding good results.
Alawode said, “we have plans for the youth, we have plans for the widows, we have plans for the students especially the brilliant but under privileged ones. We have decided that education will always come first on the list of our programmes. Our local government is loaded with thugs, each time I go round I see people with great future but wasting away.
“There are so many things we are trying to do to re-orientate them on why they should do something meaningful with their life. We decided that we need to put up a programme that can bring them back to the path they lost for several years. We thank God that it is working out. We have been able to bring out a good number of them from what they used to be. We have gotten some of them enrolled in the vocational centres that could really give them a better future,” he added.
While speaking on efforts to reduce crime rate in the local government, Pastor Alawode eulogized the efforts of the Nigeria Police force in the council area. He gave kudos to the Divisional Police Officers at Mapo and Idi-Aro for being up to the tasks given to them.
He expressed his condolence to the Commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu and the entire Police Force in Oyo State for losing one of their men during a robbery attack in the council area recently.
On COVID-19, Pastor Alawode stated that all hands have been on deck since the outbreak of the disease in Oyo State to stop its spread.
His words, “immediately COVID-19 outbreak manifested, we met with the governor, and he has empowered all of us to assist our people at various local governments, and that is why we can be able to contain its spread in Oyo State. We ensured the provision of everything that we can use as protection. We provided sanitizers, hand wash and bowls. We went round the markets to educate them, we also equipped and re-equipped health centres within our locality.
“We have met with the governor on the issue of food and other things for our people. We will pray for spiritual assistance from God, as government, we are going to make sure that we make all things available as much as possible,” Pastor Alawode concluded.
Packaged by Kunle Gazali, Olawale Awe and Olaitan Ige
