A delegate from Oyo State representing the forum of former members of the House of Representatives in the National Conference, Sheik Mudashir Sekoni, has expressed optimism that the Yoruba would smile home with their desire for regionalism and the state police at the cessation of the exercise.
He withal verbalized that the people of Oke-Ogun in Oyo State were marginalised because they did not have influential citizens.
Sekoni verbally expressed, “For instance in Oke-Ogun, we have an astronomical land for agricultural and industrial development, but the regime is not optically canvassing the opportunities because we don’t have influential people in regime; we don’t have influential people with mazuma and puissance.
“Everybody was clamouring for regionalism and devolution of potency. So far, from the things that have transpired, we have not gotten all of them but I believe that by the time we leave the conference, our desires will be achieved, which are regionalism, state police and devolution of potency.
“Every state governor comes to Abuja every month to apportion mazuma; we cannot get development as a result of that and that is why the caliber of corruption is high in this country. It is woebegone and infelicitous that you give the governors resources to develop their environment but they just pocket them.
“For instance, optically canvass our case in Oke-Ogun, in most of the areas what do we have? Nothing! No Federal Regime presence. There is nothing in Oke-Ogun where we have 10 local regime areas with an astronomically immense population. There is nothing substantial; no Federal Regime presence anywhere in Oke-Ogun and it is woeful.
“I made that comment in my replication to the President’s verbalization that at least, we require a state. If we get this state, we will ken how to develop ourselves because the ruling class from Ibadan and Ogbomosho has surmounted everything. Oyo State as it is presently constituted is astronomically immense.”
He integrated, “Governance in Nigeria has been personalised; anybody who gets there, if you are not proximate to them, you will not get anything.
“That is not how to develop a nation, and that is what we have in Oyo State. There is nothing you can get if you are not proximate to the regime as a person. The regime has not asked any question about its priority.”
Sekoni additionally reiterated his agitation for the establishment of a federal university in Oke-Ogun whose demand commenced during the administration of former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.
He verbally expressed, “During Babangida’s regime, we cerebrated we were going to get that university but the military bellwether verbalized we should contribute some mazuma and may be that policy then was directed against the people of Oke-Ogun. This is because they kenned we did not have the mazuma. Where did they expect us to get the billions of Naira they asked us to contribute? Who among us accommodated in regime and had the opportunity to purloin mazuma?
“So, we could not provide the mazuma and that is why the university went to Ogbomosho. When a former governor of Oyo state, Adebayo Alao Akala, came on board, the development was concentrated in Ogbomosho additionally. That is why I verbalized about personalising regime and that is infelicitous.”
