AKURE – ADO EKITI ROAD PROJECT; CORRECTING CHIEF ADENIYI AKINTOLA’S TWISTED NARRATIVE

My attention has been drawn to a piece written by legal egghead, Chief Adeniyi Akintola, CON, SAN FCIArb on the state of affairs in the 6 SouthWest States, and it made an interesting read to the extent that it reflected the information made available to him from sources whose intentions he may not necessarily be able to verify.

I know Chief Akintola to be a very thorough and distinguished personality, and so I was almost arguing with the person who drew my attention to it that the learned silk didn’t write it until I got proof that he actually did using infrastructure as the basis.

He compared governance in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo to governance in Osun, Ekiti and Ondo, and then went in to salute the first three while carpeting the other three.

Anyone who reflects deeply on the piece would see a bit of lack of due diligence but Chief Akintola is human, and so he can make mistakes. Therefore it is important to call his attention to some basic issues so that he does not persist in the error;

1. A look at the first three shows that they all are in their 7th year in office but look at the other three
Ekiti- Just in his 4th year in office.
Osun- About completing his 3rd year in office.
Ondo- Just about to complete his 2nd year in office.

Therefore comparing the first three to the other three may not be very fair.

2. The resources available to the first three by virtue of capacity to generate IGR is clearly not the same.

3. Chief Akintola did not get a good statistics of infrastructural development in Ekiti, Osun and Ondo.

4. While I don’t intend to hold brief for any Governor I am very bold to say there is so much that had been done by Adeleke in Osun and Oyebanji in Ekiti while the youngest in office, Ondo’s Ayedatiwa is a very quiet, strategic and focused administrator who is building huge platforms to launch the state to greatness. His strategies will soon manifest and I dare say the full manifestation is worth waiting for as they are already beginning to show.

I guess the media aides of these three governors are not doing enough to promote/project their bosses. On that note maybe we can excuse Chief Akintola’s mistake.

Another very big error in the piece is the absolute misrepresentation of facts on the Akure-Ado Ekiti road project. On this project I can speak with absolute authority because I was a member of the Federal Executive Council when it was awarded, I was there when it was flagged off with massive mobilisation fee already paid to the two contractors handling it by the Buhari administration.

Also, since leaving government as Minister I have driven on the road a good number of times and I see that work is going on according to the specification approved by Buhari’s FEC.

I agree that the Tinubu administration has done well by not abandoning the project, and I commended him and the current Works Minister, Umahi for that while addressing reporters who cornered me on the road project a few months back.

However to give credit for the project to Umahi instead of Fashola is blatantly unfair and it beats my imagination, especially since the facts on the issue are in the public domain.

Adeniyi Akintola and Raji Fashola are not strangers to each other (they are both learned silks) so I believe that somehow each would know what the other is doing on public/governmental issues, and in any case there has been so much in the public domain about Fashola as Chief of Staff to then Governor Tinubu, and as Governor himself for 8 years, then as Minister for 8 years.

Let me state emphatically that I contributed to the award and take off of the Akure-Ado project, and I will briefly say how;

Ondo State Governor, Akeredolu (now late, and may God rest his soul) and his then Ekiti counterpart, Kayode Fayemi did so much to get the road fixed and at a point they had become so frustrated about fixing it, then I became a Minister and Akeredolu gave me a mandate to achieve 2 things for him; the Akure-Ado road project and the Port of Ondo license, both of which God helped me to achieve within just 9 months.

For the Akure -Ado road project I became a thorn in Egbon Fashola’s flesh and he promised that it will not only be fixed, it will be redesigned, expanded and built to last decades.

A man of honour, Egbon Fashola fulfilled this promise to the letter, and the project took off before he left office.

I must also acknowledge the huge role played by former Governor of Ekiti state, Chief Niyi Adebayo who was Buhari’s Minister of Industry at the time we were trying to give the project life. I must stress that his support for debates that led to the award of the project were very robust and sincerely he is one of the unsung heroes of the project. So it is surprising how Chief Akintola gave the credit to Engr. Dave Umahi.

Let me sincerely acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of our father, leader and President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has ensured that despite the change of government, the road construction which was started before he came on board, is not abandoned. May God bless and keep him for us. Asiwaju had long before Buhari came on board, experienced the ugly side of that road during our Buhari for President campaign in 2014/2015 and so understands the importance of fixing that road.

Having said this much, I leave it all to posterity.

May Nigeria continue to progress.

Sir (Prince) Ademola Adegoroye
Fmr. Minister of State for Transportation