Adetutu Audu had a chat with Honourable Tajudeen Akingbolu soon after the House of Representative Committee on Local Government gave him awards as the best performing local government chairman in Ekiti and second best in the South-West. He traced the origin of Ayo Fayose’s recent travails in Ekiti and the secrets of his successes
Though Honourable Tajudeen Akingbolu, a lawyer, who was until last year in the Lagos Chambers of Mr. Femi Falana, has been in the saddle as the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ekiti West Local Government for about eleven months, he portrays the picture of an authority in the running of local council in Nigeria. After the first constitutional six months, Akingbolu was reappointed along most of his colleagues for another six months a few months ago.
Recently in Abuja, at a well attended event by politicians, especially members of the National Assembly, the young lawyer shone like a morning star, when he was invited to the podium on two consecutive times to receive awards, first as best performing local government administrator in Ekiti State and later as the second best in the South West. The award was organised by the House of Representative Committee on Local Government to recognize excellence and encourage patriotism and hard work among local government chairmen in the country.
Rather than taking the achievement as a reward for his painstaking achievement, Akingbolu told The Nation that the credit should be given to Governor Kayode Fayemi, who he said created enabling environment and platform for him and his other colleagues to perform. While dedicating the award to the state governor, he commended the effort of the entire work force in Ekiti West for the support he had gotten so far.
“This is not an award I can single handedly claim, this is why I will dedicate it to my boss and governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and all members of staff of Ekiti West Local Government. By extension, the recognition is not only for me but for all the local government caretaker chairmen in Ekiti because we are working with the same blueprint,”
Speaking on his experience and achievements in the last eleven months, he said, “I think my tenure in office has been eventful as a result of the support I get from time to time from good people of my local government, especially members of my committee, who have consistently demonstrated their love for me and by extension for the local government. Really, the work has been strenuous with many challenges because we are the closest people to the grassroots but in our own way, we have learnt to turn all the challenges to our strengths, in such a way that it has improved our act of governance.”
On how he was able to perform in spite of the belief that state governors have taken over the jobs of local government administrations across the country, he said, “Let me start from the point that Mr. Governor has made governance very simple for serious minded chairmen in Ekiti State. This is because the 8-point agenda of the administration is all encompassing and a road map for development. To me, the 8-point agenda has formed a bench mark and a yardstick for all of us.
Reacting to the recent uproar that Fayemi was shortchanging the local government chairmen, he described the incident as unfortunate, saying it happened because some individuals enjoyed brewing controversy, where there was none. He said those who insinuated that Fayemi was shortchanging the local government administrators didn’t know the running of government in Ekiti.
“Ask any local government chairman in Ekiti, he will tell you that Mr. Governor’s assistant to the local government in the area of infrastructural development has been unprecedented in the history of the state. For instance, the construction of five kilometers road in all the 16 local governments by the state government has not only promoted uniformity, it enhanced quality standard. Ordinarily, this is a project that should be handled by the local government but out of the ingenuity of Mr. Governor, he co-funded it and made sure it was done very well. This is but one of such initiatives that was put in place to make sure every community and local government enjoy dividends of democracy. That allegation must have been sponsored by the opposition, who are either hell bent at destroying whatever the governor has done or trying to use it to gain relevance,” he said.
Akingbolu also dismissed the recent outburst by the former Governor Ayo Fayose that he was being victimised because the current administration saw him as a threat.
Akingbolu argued that there was no way the Afao Ekiti born politician could be an headache to ACN, because, according to him, “ his era had gone for good in Ekiti State,” he said, adding, “it will interest you to know that all the attacks Mr Fayose is getting in recent time are not even from ACN but from the Peoples Democratic Party. The former governor is being haunted by his past. In Ekiti, Fayose is like the Shakespearean’s Macbeth, who murdered sleep.
“He is not allowed to rest because of the many faces of violence that characterised his three and half years in government. During his time, Ekiti people were brutalised, traditional institution was embarrassed, students were killed in the College of Education Ikere and even politicians like Engr. Segun Oni, Otunba Yinka Akerele and Ayo Arise were attacked on different occasions. Just recently, his tugs attacked former Deputy Speaker, Taiwo Olatunbosun; the only honourable member during his term, who didn’t sign the impeachment notice against him.
“Why is he being attacked now that he is back in PDP; the truth is that the people are tired of him,” he said.