27062021 - Kaduna, Borno, Niger, Benue strruggle over 3 million IDP

PAGE 16—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 27, 2021
BY JIDE AJANI
”Before people decide what they
think of your message, they decide
on what they think of you” – Harvard
Business Review (July-August, 2013)
For Oluwaseyi Abiodun Makinde, his
pedigree spoke volumes about his
message.
But for the arrival of this engineer on the
governorship stage, Oyo State was already
going to the dogs.
Blind sentiment, cronyism, nepotism, greed
and a culture of indolence in high places,
had all been packaged as a staple for the
hapless people of Oyo State, such that
salaries were being paid in ridiculous
percentages, pension payments and
gratuities were wickedly kept on hold and
corruption had taken-up a life of its own.
But because the people of Oyo State made
up their minds on what they thought of the
person of Makinde, they accepted his
message of hope and gave him the mandate
to be their governor. His pedigree! His
message! His intentions!
Makinde, upon assumption of office on
Wednesday, May 29, 2019, made his good
intentions known by abolishing, with
immediate effect and automatic alacrity,
the burdensome N3000 education levy
imposed on students in Oyo State.
Other measures have since been put in
place to demonstrate that his pursuit of
power was to deliver the greatest sum of
good to the largest number of residents of
Oyo State. He’s done other good.
Take, for instance, workers’ salaries and
pension payments! Within its first six months
in office, his administration had paid more
than what his predecessor paid in eight years
as pensions - the Makinde administration
met a N55.9 billion debt in gratuities (There
has been a steady and consistent payment
of N535 Million to retired State and Local
Government workers on a monthly basis).
Today, total pension payments are already
over N13b in just two years. Salaries have
not ceased being paid on or before the 25th
of every month since June, 2019 - perhaps,
the only one of such in Nigeria.
But, whereas some may not really
appreciate what prompt pension and salary
TWO YEARS ON
‘Seyi Makinde: Between
The End And The Means!
•Gov Makinde
payments engender for a society, the import
is not lost on the beneficiaries who now live
like human beings and can plan their lives,
unlike the brutish, harsh and uncertain lives
they were subjected to in the past.
Most importantly for Governor Makinde
are the intangibles that would birth a better
society. His four pillars for accelerated
development (2019-2023), health,
education, an expanded economy and
security - are strung in a symbiotic nature,
because it is only when you have a healthy
body and qualitative education that
opportunities can be explored for the
expansion of an economy; and this can only
take place in a secure environment.
In the area of infrastructure, energy,
healthcare, education, youth development,
trade and commerce, Makinde has
demonstrated that a good name is worth
much more than aggrandisement. He is
walking the talk.
Makinde’s conscience! My conscience!
Your conscience! Our Conscience! Let it
prick individuals as they assess the
governor’s performance in the last two
years.
Because perfection is not for mortals,
there are gaps that the governor openly
acknowledges and strives to fill. And the
people appreciate this.
Yet, in a poisoned environment where the
opposition shamelessly parades an illusory
sense of self-importance, Governor
Makinde says he would not be distracted
in so far as the end justifies the means.
When Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) asked
that “if the end justifies the means, what
justifies the end”, he did not know that a
‘Seyi Makinde would emerge in Oyo State
in 2019 to announce to the world that the
end, which is the output, is justified by the
eventual outcome of a growing Internally
Generated Revenue (IGR) base; improved
education and health infrastructure that
engenders better academic performance
and builds a healthy society; preservation
of lives and livelihood during the Covid-19
pandemic such that almost every protocol
introduced by Makinde became the
standard reference at the national level;
introduction of a value-driven culture of
governance that continues to deliver
diligence and rigour in the performance
and discharge of responsibilities by
appointees; continued improvement of
infrastructure across sectors; provision of
tools such as cars, protective vests and
communications equipment for the Police
and other security agencies in the state as
well as AMOTEKUN; and a governance
model steeped in a display of human face
and milk of human kindness. The list goes
on.
Governor Makinde continues to justify
the end because the outcome to be
engendered when the massive parks and
inter-changes at Challenge, Ojoo and Iwo
Road are commissioned to allow for
organised flow of traffic and commerce
around the edifices, the remodeled Lekan
Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, expected
to drive sporting activities both local and
international, and the street lighting project
that would improve night-time business
activities, security and social life, would be
massive.
So, when next you say the end justifies the
means and you’re asked what justifies the
end, tell them Governor Makinde of Oyo
State is justifying the end because the people
of Oyo State are living a better life, while
he continues to fill gaps for even greater
outcomes.
*AJANI is the Special Adviser, Media, to
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State*
Anambra Women Engineers celebrate Oko
Poly Rector, Francisca Nwafulugo, three others
By Vincent Ujumadu
THE Awka chapter of the Associa
tion of Professional Women Engi
neers of Nigeria, APWEN, has celebrated
one of its own, Dr. Francisca Nwafulugo,
a Chemical Engineer and Rector of
the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra
State. Nwafulugo, the first female Rector
of the institution, was honoured as Engineering
Hero during activities to mark this
year’s International Women in Engineering
Day.
Anyafulugo, who is a Fellow of the Nigeria
Society of Engineers, obtained Ph. D in
Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria and, after a successful
career at the Kaduna Polytechnic, made
history when she was appointed the first female
Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko.
Since becoming Rector, Nwafulugo has
executed numerous projects, including
mounting Chemical Engineering Department
in the institution, completing many,
and projects and rehabilitation of dilapidated
buildings, as well as improvement of
staff welfare. APWEN said Anyafulugo
was given the award as a source of encouragement
to young girls and to remind them
that they too can attain such a height.
In her acceptance speech, Nwafulugo
commended her professional colleagues for
the honour and called on female secondary
school students to aspire to be engineers
because it is a rewarding profession. She
said the celebration of the Engineering Day
was to showcase the amazing works women
engineers around the world were doing
and their impact in supporting lives and
livelihoods every day.
She said: “I tell people that one does not
have to be a genius before becoming an
Engineer. What it requires is focus and trust
in God. There is nothing stopping the girl
child to aspire to be an Engineer like her
male counterpart and after graduation can
go into the field to practice like men.
Dr. Francisca Nwafulugo and
her husband, Chief Nwafulugo
“I always say that what I am today is by
the grace of God as many people I attended
schools with are no longer around. I,
therefore, encourage the girl child to be
determined to be able to achieve their objectives.”
Chairman of APWEN, Engr. Nneka
Ezeani, said that, as part of the ceremony,
female students from some secondary
schools in Awka and around participated
in Mathematics quiz after which Dr. Nwafulugo
promised to donate mini laptops to
the students.
In a tribute to the Rector, the Head of
Department of Chemical Engineering in the
Polytechnic, Engineer Benjamin Okoye, described
the award as well deserved. “Indeed,
this award did not come as a surprise considering
her immense contributions to the
development of Engineering profession and
her administrative prowess which have positively
impacted the society and repositioned
Federal Polytechnic, Oko on the path
of greater development.
“Your towering achievements especially
in this era of national outcry for technological
advancement and self -reliance have
proved you to be a woman of honour, a pacesetter,
an administrator guarded with humility
and the head who the crown fits. Our
solemn prayer is for the Almighty God to
keep granting you good health, strength and
wisdom to continue with the onerous work
of development of our society that is dear
to your heart for the good of mankind”,
Okoye said.
The Deputy Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr.
Izuchukwu Onu, said Nwafulugo’s sagacy,
vision, diligence and leadership acumen has
repositioned Federal Polytechnic, Oko as a
citadel of learning. He said: “It is not surprising
that you are being honoured as an
Engineering Hero because you have proved
your mettle as an astute engineer through
your publications, research work, conference
reports, innovations, etc.
“The construction of a gigantic Chemical
Engineering department, which you
started at Federal Polytechnic Oko, as well
as equipping the School of Engineering
with necessary gadgets, among other
things, has further distinguished you as an
Engineering Hero.”
Also honoured at the ceremony were Engineer
Adeyemo Ajani, Federal Controller
of Works in charge of Anambra State, Engineer
Ifeanyi Okoma, Lead Consultant
Structural Engineer for the construction of
International Conference Center, Awka and
Engineer Michael Obiekwe, Director of
Highways, Anambra State.
From left: Kwara State Commissioner of Police CP Muhammed Bagega;
State Director DSS Patrick Ikenweiwe; State Commandant NSCDC Makinde
Iskil Ayinla; Secretary to the State Government Prof. Mamman Saba
Jubril; and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; during presentation of
operational vehicles and bulletproof vests to security agencies in the
State at Government House, Ilorin.