By Tayo Joseph Lagos, Nigeria
A Project Monitoring Group, Ajimobi Legacy Project Group, has appealed to former Governor Rashidi Ladoja and his party, Accord Party to submit the list of projects he dreamt passionately to actualize while in office to Governor Abiola Ajimobi to actualize.
The Group, in a statement at the weekend, said that the statement credited to Ladoja’s Accord Party that the former governor initiated the Ibadan Circular Road project should be commended rather than being condemned. It cautioned however that the violence which the Ladoja administration was known for should not be part of the initiatives to be submitted.
The coordinator of the group, Lukman Babatunde, noted that the statement shows that former governor Ladoja was bereft of the grace to actualize governmental ideas while at the helms of affairs, stressing that former governor Ladoja did not have a worthy legacy to leave except violence, stating that only actualizers were celebrated throughout the world and not dreamers.
The group stated that the habit of Accord Party to always claim being initiators of iconic projects executed by Governor Abiola Ajimobi should not be surprising to the people, adding that the party’s leader also dreamt of constructing a flyover bridge at the Mokola area of Ibadan, which was later constructed by Ajimobi.
The group said: “We are not surprised with the statement credited to the Publicity Secretary of Accord Party on the Ibadan Circular Road. Only those who are not familiar with the habit of Accord Party members will give credence to their utterances.
“When the Mokola flyover was constructed, Governor Ladoja claimed to have dreamt of it. However, he could not construct or flag it off in his four years in office. We want to put in on record that this project was completed two years after Governor Ajimobi assumed office. We want to also put on record that the over N4bn former governor Ladoja is being tried for could have completed two flyovers but nothing was done.
“The party is going round again to say that Ladoja initiated the Ibadan Circular Project. We are not bothered about the initiator but very much concerned about the person who birthed it. The records are there and records do not lie. The records will show the initiator but nowhere in the world is a dreamer celebrated. We believe that Accord Party should have supported the projects going on in the state, rather than claiming undue glory.
“Throughout the world, Government is a continuum, leaders follow up on policies, ideas or initiatives as there is no point sometimes in reinventing the wheel. An idea can be repackaged and carefully executed. We want to appeal to former Governor Ladoja and his Accord Party to submit all the initiatives he dreamt of while in office that will be beneficial to the people of the state for Ajimobi the actualiser to actualize.
