Gbenga Daniel - An Emperor's Delusions of Grandeur by Seyi Enitan January 5, 2008 | posted by Mobolaji Aluko (Archives)

 

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Gbenga Daniel: An Emperor's Delusions of Grandeur

Introduction

Otunba Gbenga Daniel once again bared his fang when his hireling,
Wale Adedayo a.k.a Babalawo (Sorcerer) threw caution to the winds and
unleashed ferocious attacks on individuals, groups and associations
perceived to be opponents of the obsession of Otunba Daniel to become
the Leader of the Yoruba people. His treatise, "Yinka Odunmakin:
Hireling of A Failing Emperor" published in the Nigerian Tribune of
Monday December 24th 2007, pages 32-33 is a study in delusions of
grandeur.

For inexplicable reasons, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Gubernatorial
Candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the April
elections, was marked out for veracious attack. It is becoming clear
that Senator Amosun has become a nightmare for Otunba Daniel. He
seems to see his (Amosun's) shadow in any of the endless troubles into
which he drags himself in the course of the laughable ambition to become
Leader of the Yoruba. We believe that many of those mentioned in the
acerbic write-up are competent to defend themselves and we will
therefore limit ourselves to addressing the issues concerning Senator
Amosun.

The accusations against Senator Amosun are two. One, he was accused
of receiving sundry support from the Action Congress and Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, former Governor of Lagos State to unseat Otunba Daniel in the
April elections. In the words of Adedayo,

"Apart from the support
given to Senator Ibikunle Amosun to unseat OGD by the powerful forces
operating from Abuja at the highest level of government, Tinubu's
camp gave the failed All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) gubernatorial
candidate enormous helping hand. Media support, among other
logistics, including personnel, were provided to assist the former member of the
upper legislative chamber who could not be compared with the
brilliant Senator Femi Okunrounmu during his tenure in the senate. The support
for Amosun was complemented with the shoring up of a failed
businessman, Dipo Dina, who wasted all the funds channeled to him by
Tinubu on a disastrous effort to get OGD indicted on fictitious
allegations of corruption. But we are also aware that that with the
Dina failed gubernatorial campaign getting nowhere about a month to
the last elections all the support from Alausa were dried up and re-
directed to Amosun's cause. Yet, despite all these shenanigans, the
combined forces of Tinubu camp and those helping Amosun from Abuja
could not unseat OGD".

Contending that the power that be in Abuja
supported senator Amosun in the April election,Wale Adedayo further
enthused that

" but we'll keep the reason Amosun was supported in the
last gubernatorial election by the powers that be to our chest for
now."

On the first claim, Senator Amosun contested the April gubernatorial
election in Ogun State on the ticket of the ANPP. The AC contested
the same election with Otunba Dipo Dina as its candidate. It is strange
that Otunba Daniel still sees Senator Amosun as working with the AC
in the disputed election.

Ordinarily, Senator Amosun would have loved to contest the election
on the ticket of the AC because of the democratic credentials of leaders
of the party. He opted out of that platform because of his enormous
interest in protecting the ancestral unity of the Owu people. He
related well and appreciated the democratic credentials of former
Vice President Alh. Atiku Abubakar and former Governor of Lagos State,
Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu among several others. However, because of the
raging conflict between the then Vice President and former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Amosun decided against joining AC so as not to be
seen as joining forces against his kinsman, former President Olusegun
Obasanjo. The claim that Senator Amosun received any form of support
from the AC or former Vice President Alh. Atiku Abubakar and former
Governor, Bola Tinubu is therefore, false and without any basis.
Former President Obasanjo and the April Election in Ogun State
The accusation that Senator Amosun enjoyed the support of "the powers
that be in Abuja" to unseat Otunba Daniel is even more laughable.

There was no other "powers that be in Abuja" at the time of the April 2007
elections than President Olusegun Obasanjo. It is common knowledge
that "the powers that be in Abuja" subverted the overwhelming
majority decision of the good people of Ogun State to vote out (Otunba Daniel
and the PDP. Otunba Daniel and the PDP) know the authentic result of
the election, and who truly won the April 2007 Gubernatorial election.

About two years into the tenure of Otunba Daniel, concerned citizens
of Ogun state began to express worries about the substitution of
competent governance with unbridled propaganda. At different fora, they
expressed concern that the grandiose claims of performance by Otunba Daniel in
the media did not reflect in the kilometers of roads that are
constructed or rehabilitated: schools that are constructed or
rehabilitated; hospitals that are built or rehabilitated, nor the
increase in the number of school enrolment or reduction in infant
mortality rate. The inability of the government to supply portable
water to the people and Otunba Daniel's love for esoteric projects
that has little or no positive impact on the lives and well-being of the
people.

It was in the bid to save the state from a megalomaniac whose
strategy was to ride on the crest of false achievements to claim Yoruba
Leadership that concerned indigenes of Ogun State began the process
to change the government in the state. This is the background to the
emergence of Senator Amosun as a candidate in the governorship race.
Senator Amosun's gubernatorial effort was a patriotic response to the
yearning of concerned people of Ogun State for good governance.
Posers for Otunba Daniel on President Obasanjo's alleged Support
It is curious that the same "powers that be in Abuja" that subverted
the popular wish of the good people of Ogun State is ironically being
accused by the same Otunba Daniel today as working for his removal
from office in the April 14th 2007 election. When the "powers that be in
Abuja" hounded all viable opponents of Otunba Daniel out of the PDP
ahead of the party's primaries, was it working against Otunba Daniel?

When "the power that be in Abuja" deployed the police to persecute
Senator Amosun and ANPP supporters during the campaigns, was "the
power that be in Abuja" working against Otunba Daniel? When the "power that
be in Abuja" deployed the police to protect thugs and officials of
the Otunba Daniel –led Ogun State government as they hijacked ballot
boxes and stuffed them with already printed ballots in the April election,
was it working against Otunba Daniel? Was the "power that be in
Abuja" working against Otunba Daniel when it used the police to arrest and
prosecute Senator Amosun and hundreds of ANPP supporters shortly
before the April 2007 gubernatorial election?Some of who are still in Court
on trump-up charges. Was the powers that be supporting supporting
Senator Amosun when they unleashed the combined effort of the police, SSS,
INEC and the Army aided the thugs and officials of the Otunba Gbenga Daniel
and PDP to wreck havoc-maim,terrorise,intimidate and dehumanise the
good people of Ogun State all in the bid to subvert the people`s
wish.

Otunba Daniel knows that the "power that be in Abuja" has been his
sustaining power in Ogun State. Every indication shows that the
people of the state are no longer deceived by his propaganda of performance
and are yearning for a change of leadership. The raw evidence of the
gubernatorial election has shown this beyond doubt. It was in the
frantic effort to stop the truth from coming into the open that
Otunba Daniel decided that all means must be exploited to stop the Election
Petitions Tribunal from going into full trial.

That the people of Ogun state are no longer deceived by Otunba
Daniel's propaganda is evident in the outcome of the last illegal local
government election in the state. In an election excluding ANPP, AC,
and seven other parties, the OGSIEC presented a total of about 30
chairmanship candidates, out of which PDP alone had 20 candidates.

And  what greater evidence do we need to show that the people of the state
have given up on Otunba Daniel and PDP than the almost empty polling
units that dotted the landscape of the state during the December 15th
election when the largest number recorded anywhere were 50 voters
before the state machinery moved in to stuff the ballot boxes with
already thump-printed ballot papers while OGSIEC completed the farce
by  announcing fake and inflated figures.

Otunba Daniel and Crisis of Identity

We have decided not to be involved in the controversy concerning the
position or shifting opinions of Otunba Daniel on the issue of
Nigerian federalism. It is understandable that as he characteristically
changes his political affiliations, so would his opinions on such national
issues be changing.

We are also not willing to join issues, for now, on Otunba Daniel's
identity crisis. Otunba Daniel knows very well that we know that he
is  from Ilesa in Osun State. At the fullest of time, the people of Ogun
State will be told of the trajectory of his emergence in Remoland and
the roles played by individuals who will be identified at the
appropriate time including those who offered him the use of their
house as a base while he hurriedly concocted a link with Oje quarters in
Sagamu as well as those who facilitated his Remo Chieftaincy title.

Otunba Daniel and Politics of Opportunism

Anyone conversant with the political history of Otunba Daniel will
not be surprised by this new attempt to distance himself from former
President Obasanjo and hug the limelight of popular opinions on
Nigerian politics and the Afenifere. At the commencement of the
present democratic dispensation in 1999,Otunba Daniel was a member of the
Afenifere whose anointed party was the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

Before the 2003 elections when he was seeking Remo ancestry for
political purpose, the AD Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu was one of those who added value to the crowd that graced the
occasion of his installation as Asoludero of Remoland (His 1st and
badly needed chieftancy tittle in Remoland) on Saturday February
23rd, 2002. By 2003,Otunba Daniel was already in PDP working for the
dismantling of the Afenifere. In 2007, he is back romancing
Afenifere, which he hopes will serve his delusion of becoming the Yoruba leader.

In Otunba Daniel's new quest, former President Obasanjo is not an
asset anymore, hence the audacity of his Press Secretary, to derisively
refer to former President Obasanjo as "the Ota farmer" or the "powers that
be in Abuja" who betrayed his party and committed anti-party crime
by "supporting" Senator Amosun of the ANPP. Otunba Daniel knew that
former President Obasanjo supported him and that indeed, it was
former President Obasanjo's protection that made him eligible for the
election in spite of a damning report on him by the EFCC.

Otunba Daniel said he would keep the reason why former President
Obasanjo supported Senator Amosun against him to his chest. We hope
that when he finally decides to make it public, he will also tell the
people of Ogun State what he told the EFCC about the beneficiaries of
the looted resources of Ogun State that got him a reprieve from the
anti-corruption agency. In the fullest of time, the good people of
Ogun State will know the details of the report and the level of rape the
state has suffered under Otunba Daniel.

Propaganda of false achievements

Finally, Otunba Daniel repeated many of the falsehood with which he
is claiming good performance as Governor of Ogun State. Otunba Daniel
claims to be building 24 housing estates across the state. How many
has he completed after almost five years in office? And, at what cost?
What managerial philosophy recommended the construction of 24 housing
estates simultaneously? Otunba Daniel by this has indicated that his
legacy in Ogun State will be countless uncompleted and perhaps, white
elephant projects. Besides, a government that claims commitment to
providing houses for people, we heard, is in the final stage of
selling the Ibara housing Estate to private developers who he said would re-
develop and obviously sell it to his cronies.

The claim that industries are springing up across the state is
equally false. As at today, nothing concrete has been recorded in the name of
industrialization despite the millions of Naira that are spent on
media campaign on the invisible industries. Just to mention instances,
Otunba Daniel has spent millions of Naira creating media hype about the
establishment of a five star hotel on Ogun State land located beside
Sheraton Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos State. For three years, Otunba Daniel
has sustained media hype about a cargo airport. Three years on,
nothing has been done on the site of the project. In the two instances, the
projects only germinate in the imagination of Otunba Daniel and his
hirelings. They claim to be doing " visibility studies" after three
years.

His claim of reviving farm settlements established by the late Chief
Obafemi Awolowo is another fraud. It is true that money was voted and
publicly pronounced for the farms. The issue is whether the farms are
today functional. From Apoje to Eweje, the infrastructure constructed
in the 1960s by the government of Chief Awolowo remains the mainstay
of the farm settlements. Otunba Daniel will have to explain to the
people of Ogun State what he has been done with the hundreds of millions of
Naira purportedly spent on the rehabilitation of the farm
settlements.

We challenge him to take the media on a facility tour of the farm
settlements to prove that those hundreds of millions were truly spent
on the farms.

Otunba Daniel flaunts around the establishment of four ICT
polytechnics. This again, is fraudulent. Moshood Abiola Polytechnic,
the state owned polytechnic inherited by Otunba Daniel is grossly
under funded and has lost its glory acquired over the years. Today,
students in the polytechnic are being made to pay about N120, 000 school fees
per session. Otunba Daniel justified this by stating that tertiary
institutions should be self-sustaining. The consequence of this
conflict in vision and service delivery is the resultant decay in
educational infrastructure and the falling standard of education.

Many of the courses in the Polytechnic have been withdrawn by
supervising authorities. The same applies to the Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago Iwoye that has become the most populated university
in Nigeria because the school authorities have been forced to depend
virtually on internally generated revenue to run the institution. The
consequence is that the students have been denied proper education
and facilities. A reasonable government will improve on the facilities of
existing institutions and expand their capacity for more in-take. The
consequence of opening new schools in spite of failing infrastructure
is the production of half-baked students in a world that discriminate
between competence and incompetence.

Nothing symbolizes Otunba Daniel's disdain and contempt for education
than his decision to demolish the oldest private nursery and primary
school in Ogun State, St Bernadette -a school established by the
Catholics before Otunba Daniel was born- for a so-called modern- day
car park! . If the park is so important as the government claims,
there are several alternative locations that could be used for the same
purpose if only to protect the sanctity of the school and education
of our children. For instance, part of the Old State Secretariat, Oke
Ilewo , which is about 200 meters from the school, could be utilized
for the motor park.

Health does not fare better under Otunba Daniel. Ogun state under him
has emerged as the state with the worst record of Guinea Worm in
Nigeria because the state supply of water has reduced from an average
of 18 hours per day before Otunba Daniel to less than three hours per
day. In some parts of the state, the supply of public water has
stopped in the past three years. HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Ogun State has
increased from 1.5% in 2003 to 3.5% in 2005. Ogun state has emerged
as the most afflicted by the malaise in the whole of the South West.

The dualisation of the Abeokuta- Sagamu road,a federal road, which
has been fully paid for by the Federal Government, is the flagship of
Otunba Daniel's roads projects which he readily flaunts. The road,
claimed to have gulped about N1billion has become dilapidated within
three years of construction and the same government has spent about
N500million to rehabilitate it. As we write, the road is still
undergoing rehabilitation. This is symbolic of the state of roads in
Ogun State. Road network in Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode, Ota, Ilaro, Sagamu
and other places in the state is pothole ridden. Roads that are
constructed by the State government in the last four years have failed even when
others constructed by the government of Chief Olabisi Onabanjo and
Chief Olusegun Osoba about 25 and 15 years ago respectively remain
strong and reliable. Otunba Daniel's ill-advised approach to road
construction in the name of dualisation is creating undue hardship in
the state.

As unviable as Otunba Daniel's projects are, Otunba Daniel has
exposed Ogun State to the worst debt profile in its 31 years of existence. It
has been estimated that Ogun State is indebted to the tune of between
N15 and N20 billion. We challenge Otunba Daniel to publish the
audited account of the state. If the government has no fund for the exercise,
Senator Amosun has offered to pay the professional fee of any of the
five foremost audit firms in Nigeria engaged by the government to
carry out the exercise from 2003 to date.

In spite of this parlous record, Otunba Daniel prides himself as the
best thing to happen to Ogun State, nay the Yoruba people. In five
years, he is yet to achieve any tangible landmark four years after he
claimed that he had surpassed the achievements of the late Chief
Obafemi Awolowo.

As Ogun State groans under Otunba Daniel, we implore our good people of
Ogun State to be patient and continue to pray for the quick and
favorable resolution of the election petitions over the gubernatorial
and other elections. The days of Otunba Daniel's misguided government
are numbered. In the words of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, after darkness
comes a glorious dawn. The glorious dawn in Ogun State is around the
corner. Our people should not lose faith. As we have always said, the
victory of evil over good can only be temporary.

Eyi o wu awi, t'oluwa lase!

Seyi Enitan
Press Secretary to Senator Ibikunle Amosun
December 26th, 2007.

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