The Road to Good Governance is the Path Less Travelled

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Subject: The Road to Good Governance is the Path Less Travelled

THE BUSINESS of GOVERNANCE

Newsletter No 73 | October 2023

Hello Friend,

How are things going with you?

October is Nigeria’s independence month, presenting another opportunity to reflect on nation-building and good governance. So, it was fitting for the Oyo State Government to hold an executive retreat where we talked about how to move Oyo State forward.

It was an opportunity to share my vision for Oyo State and receive feedback from the team on how much of this vision they understand and can articulate. Our interactions again showed how we cannot follow the “popular” political path if we want to achieve good governance. If we agree that it is madness to do things the same way over and over and hope to achieve different results, then we cannot do things the same way we have always done them. We must choose to be different.

I have often been accused of running a populist government. My response is that if by populist, they mean commonsensical, driven by data, science and logic, then they may be right. However, a populist politician would pander to the populace and take palliative measures to look good. This is a course I have never taken. I chose the path less travelled.

When we came into office in 2019, we could have put all our resources into rehabilitating roads in Ibadan. That would have been a populist action. Ibadan has 11 local government areas and the majority of the voting population in the State. But, in choosing the path less travelled, we focused on the bigger picture. We reconstructed the 65 km Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin Road, knowing that linking Ibadan to Oke-Ogun would attract big businesses.

We pushed the envelope further by prioritising opening all other zones to investment instead of limiting investments to Ibadan alone.

Governor Seyi Makinde at the Oyo State Government Executive Leadership Retreat 2023

And so, my message to the leaders at the retreat was that they should see the bigger picture, key into it and then sell that vision to their teams. Not everyone will be happy with our methods, but most are happy about the outcomes. This is why we won our re-election by a landslide 63% of total votes cast. We cannot afford to let our people down.

I am also pleased to see that the data supports the fact that our policies and actions are beneficial to Oyo State in the long term. A recent socio-economic scorecard of States in Nigeria conducted by Analysts Data Services and Resources placed Oyo State in third place among the 36 States and FCT. Of course, we have also noted the areas where we scored below average and will continue to work towards improving.

On that note, let me mention that having set everything in motion to interconnect all zones, including embarking on the construction of the Ibadan Circular Road, we can now give more attention to Ibadan. We will be reconstructing some inner roads in Ibadan instead of just taking palliative measures. We have already advertised for bids from contractors for these projects. This costs us more in the short term but will lead to long-term cost savings and benefits.

I haven’t shared my reading in a while. This does not mean I have not been reading. Let’s talk about my reading in my next newsletter.

Talk to you again soon.

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Subject: The Road to Good Governance is the Path Less Travelled