Abiola Ajimobi: Father of Modern Oyo State!! By Morufu Asundemade
Abiola Ajimobi: Father of Modern Oyo State!! By Morufu Asundemade.
I am one of those who believe that late Senator Ajimobi was a father of modern Oyo state, whatever anyone might think. No one has said Ajimobi did it all. Being tagged ‘a father of modern Oyo state’ does not mean he turned the state to Eldorado. We know the sorry state of our health and educational infrastructures. We pride him so because he established a template for Oyo state to move from the archaic state it used to be to a state of modernity. I give some examples below.
Education in the state was suffering due to paucity of funds. To solve the problem, Senator Ajimobi introduced the School Governing Board system which managed token sums being paid by students in secondary schools. Before the system was made defunct by the present government, the few infrastructures we can find in secondary schools across the state were executed through the funds.
In the health sector, it’s true our health centres were hungry for amenities. Few amenities were provided because funds were not there. But the government introduced health insurance scheme for the people so their health concerns could be adequately taken care of.
It was Senator Ajimobi that introduced the system of PPP in the state. This led to the establishment of The Technical University, among others. He started the idea of shuttle buses in the state. Even, civil servants enjoy the service of Ajumose buses till now.
Calling Ajimobi the father of modern Oyo state means that he has laid a template for his successors to build on. It does not mean that he had turned the state into a Dubai. How many years did it take to turn Dubai to a modern state?
