By Jamiu Ganiyu
Your Excellency, I warmly welcome you back from the lesser Haji, visiting the holy land at this auspicious period of the most blessed month is indeed a rare privilege, I pray to Allah to grant all your good wishes.
Let me commend your administration’s modest effort at consolidating the achievements of your predecessors, particularly in the area of blocking revenue leakage which has significantly helped the financial profile of the state, and your effort at providing enabling environment for investors through innovative strategies.
Ease of doing business is a well-tested strategy, this is a reflection of the recent high ranking of the state among 36 states of the federation based on foreign direct investment accrued to Osun in the previous accounting year.
Another plus for your administration is the intervention on critical roads across the state.
Your Excellency, I write you as a concerned and passionate Modakeke indigene who cherishes the development of my home irrespective of my party affiliation.
I was in Modakeke recently and decided to assess the 2.8km road which your administration approved for the ancient town. The 2.8km was approved in two phases, it was observed that the Itaasin to B’ Divisional Police Station, Oke-Otubu which was 1.8km was completed with concrete drainage and tarring of asphalt.
Notwithstanding, there are some spots of the road around the Modakeke Town Hall side and others requires urgent patching and corrections to make the road durable as one would wonder how a newly constructed road would wear such a look.
However, the remaining 1km from B’, Divisional Police station to Abaja Olowu tarred for about 500meters, the remaining section was only leveled with a stone base. I had to make several inquiries and engaged critical community stakeholders, I was reliably informed that the contractor has abandoned the project for about eight months, this saddens my heart for many reasons.
That despite the huge support the community gave your excellency in 2018 considering how difficult to achieve the victory within the town and Modakeke adjoining villages including Alapata, one of the units where the rerun was held, this has not been reflected in your intervention in Modakeke considering your sterling performance in sister towns in the state.
This abandoned road was designed to open up our hinterlands to provide easy access for our farmers and villagers within that corridor which stretches over five kilometers but because you were wrongly briefed at the first instance on the desire of the community which birthed the hurriedly put together initial 1.8kilometer and later the abandoned 1kilometer.
Your excellency sir, this road being a state road is in the class of the following roads which your administration has constructed while others are ongoing; In Ife North, your administration constructed 8.1km of the road at record time, the Ipetumodu-Ode-Omu with a length of 5.83km is ongoing, Gbongan Ileogbo/Iwo road covering 24.24km, Ogbaagba/Ikire-Ile/Ajagunlase road with a length of 18km, Ororuwo/Ada road 6.37km among many others.
In addition, the Asphalt laying of the Palace road which your officials promised the community more than two years now has also not seen the light of the day which could have been said to be the only township road we enjoyed from your administration.
We are approaching the rainy season now, I do hope this would not be presented as a reason these roads are not completed before the gubernatorial election.
Your excellency sir, the core politicians might be assuring you that all is well but I would like to inform you that the creation of new polling units making it amounting to eighty-seven from twenty-nine, has practically solved the problem of polling unit accessibility which for many decades have warranted many eligible voters abstained from voting because of long walking long distance and associated stress.
In summary, I humbly seek your Excellency’s immediate intervention through the re-mobilisation of the concerned contractor back to the site while we also look forward to the Asphalt laying of the Palace Road.
In addition, the people of Alapata, where the rerun took place are looking forward to the fulfillment of the electoral promise just as you have done in other affected areas of the state. They did save the party when they were needed most, it will be good if your administration responds to their request.
As you begin a massive campaign for your re-election exercise, I wish you well, your Excellency.
