24/06/2020
PENKELE, GSM GOVERMENT, COVID-19 AND OTHER STORIES - A DIALOGUE AND EXCURSION INTO OYO POLITICAL CIRCUIT - PART 1
OYO 1: THIS Penkele of a man will not stop springing up surprises anytime one comes in contact with him! He just brings up something new whenever one hears him talk in public.
OYO 2: WHAT do you mean? Are we yet in another round of politics, campaign rallies and political campaigns? Please come down to my level.
OYO 1: SO, you didn't listen to Fresh FM last Saturday, 20th June, 2020 when Adelabu was featured in a 2-Hour Interview programme; Political Circuit. That popular political radio programme anchored by Mayor Isaac Brown?
OYO 2: IS that what you are talking about? As a matter of routine, l don't miss that programme especially after the 2019 general elections. And of course this Saturday, l stay glued to Fresh FM all through the two hours duration of the interview with Penkele. l actually listened in awe to all that he was saying while the programme lasted.
OYO 1: _HEEN HEEN_ ! Can you imagine the man saying he really wanted Seyi Makinde to succeed as a Governor? He even added that it is too early in the day for people to start comparing the one year in office of Seyi Makinde with former Governor Abiola Ajimobi's eight years administration. I can't imagine a politician embarking on such a strong Public Relations or image laundering job for his opponent!
OYO 2: AND what is bad in that? I can only agree with you to the extent that doing that and making such positive comments about political opponents is strange to Nigerian politics and the current tribes of Nigerian politicians.
OYO 1: YES, that is the point l was trying to make. I don't think this Bayo Adelabu man will ever transit into a typical Nigerian politician _o_ ! Unfortunately for him, his APC party members and henchmen would be baying for blood for seemingly patronising GSM so early in that interview.
OYO 2: WHILE l would agree with you that many of his party men would frown at the way he started that interview, the positive derivative of that is that the listeners and the generality of Oyo voters and citizens would be impressed and happy with him for not being outrightly confrontational. To me, that is a plus for Penkele and would earn him some political dividends as intense politics unfold in the land as we move towards 2023.
OYO 1: _O ga o_ , l have never seen this kind of _Alakowe_ and _gentle gentle_ politician like this Penkele man before. Anyway, the guy has a rich corporate and institutional background. So, l am not too surprised with his conciliatory and urbane approach to politics _sha_ .
OYO 2: MY friend, don't be too sure of Penkele o. That man you call _Alakowe_ can really bite with so much venom packed in his words whenever he feels it is necessary to do so. Didn't you follow the tangent of his comments laced with some very scathing words for the government of Makinde within the last one year in office?
OYO 1: CUTS in...Well, truth be told, that Adelabu man is not really an _Alakowe sef._ No one who comes from his _Oke Odo, Oke Ofa_ and Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan background can hardly be a _gentle gentle_ person. If you ask me, the experiences he had garnered over the years from those local Ibadan background is what l will call _"School of Hard Knocks!" Gbagbe joo, street boy ni Bobo 'Bayo yen!_
OYO 2: I agree with you on that _sha_ . But the point l was making before you cut me short was that Bayo Adelabu took GSM to the cleaners and really exposed his administrative laxity in that interview. Didn't you hear him tear apart the N7.6billion Naira Agric Project being financed with bank loan for just only two local governments within the same senatorial constituency of Ibadan/Ibarapa out of the constitutionally listed 33 in Oyo State, leaving out Oke Ogun completely? And he said Oke-Ogun alone accounts for almost two third of our farm land in Oyo state with a climate also most conducive for Livestock farming. Didn't you hear him lampoon the Governor for the multi billion naira Motor Terminus Project which is a commercial venture in Iwo Road and a few other areas all within Ibadan? Didn't you hear Penkele castigating GSM for not effectively delegating authorities and not being in control of his government and his cabinet members in that radio interview? Didnt you hear his views on the state of Security in the state? He also delved into the manner in which the government is handling Covid 19 pandemic and his total disapproval of school resumption at this time. He als asked for the breakdown of N1billion spent within one week of the Covid 19 pandemic with just about three Index cases?
OYO 1: CUTS in... Actually, he really...
OYO 2: CUTS in...Wait, let me round off the point l was making. For me, that seemingly patronising introductory comments about GSM's one year in office was just a clever decor by Penkele. He really wanted to take GSM government to the slaughter slab without appearing to be doing so. And l think by and large, Penkele really achieved that! Like they say on the street, _Penkele wo Seyi gan lori radio interview yen. Iyen ni won n pe ni o fi GSM pa gan ni o!_
OYO 1. YOU are dead right with that observation. He didn't spare the rod against Makinde and his government at all. He even trivialised the much-touted payment of salary by Seyi's Government. He maintained that paying salary is not rocket science anywhere in the world adding that nobody needs any special talent or intellect to pay workers salary! Again, the one that really hit me was his analogy of a student who had spent one hour answering the simplest out of four examination questions and such student has just only three hours to write the paper. Pray what result or outcome would such tactless student get from such examination. What Penkelemesi was simply driving at was that Seyi's government has not really hit the ground running but is only dwelling on the minor instead of confronting headlong the major tasks at hand.
OYO 2: TRUTH is; Bayo Adelabu really made a point and hit the bull's eye with that brilliant analogy. And talking about brilliance and top-notch communication skills, that man Adebayo Adekola Adelabu has it all. Did you notice the way he was reeling out his points with relevant facts and figures? He was gravitating from politics to economy, from economy to social and community issues, from community issues to international organisations and world affairs. He took the entire audience through the history of pandemics globally from 1858 to date. That was so brilliant. Truth be told, the man has stuffs in that his head!
OYO 1: YOU know what? A guy with whom l was listening to the interview suddenly bursted into a loud laughter when Penkele was making his analogy of a student writing an examination. Do you know what my guy said? "A _ma waa daran l'Oyo State o. A ti fi iboo wa ta MMM bayi o. Baa se moo ba lo nuu f'odun merin!"_ You can imagine such a brutally frank comment from that friend of mine.
OYO 2: THE guy must be a clown. What is the relationship between the Bayo Adelabu interview and the _MMM_ digression your man was dragging you into? Was _MMM_ not that 419 ponzi scheme that people fell into around 2014-2015?
OYO 1: TRUST me, l actually asked him what brought the matter of _MMM_ into the Penkele Interview on radio. My brother, his response eventhough made much sense but the guy's uncanny knack for wicked humour really threw me into a long moment of laughter!
OYO 2: SPARE me the long story Bros. _Ewo ni MMM ninu oro oselu to wa nle yi joo?_
OYO 1: THE guy asked whether l had ever listened to Seyi anytime he was granting an interview on any broadcast media. He said the Governor would always interject his every sentence with " __Emm Emm Emm_. " As he puts it;, "we have entered the era of _MMM_ government led by GSM for the next our years!" The guy had hardly finished that his wicked comparison before l myself busted into a bout of laughter too!
OYO 2: OH my _gawd_ ! That your man must be bearing "Wickedness" as his surname!
OYO 1: _ABEG_ , spare my friend o. Is he the one that says people should have accent in their voice or be bland, tentative and uninspiring in speech? My guy didn't tell anyone _wipe ko ko ila s'óhùn o!_
OYO 2: WE were talking about serious issues before you brought in your _yeye_ guy and his nasty sense of humour. I also noticed that the Presenter, Mayor Isaac Brown succeeded in dragging Bayo Adelabu into the politics of COVID-19 in that Fresh FM interview.
He was asking Penkele why he didn't donate to the COVID-19 FUND floated by Oyo State Government and how much of personal intervention did Penkele make to alleviate or cushion the effect of the novel pandemic on Oyo citizens.
OYO 1: THAT'S another opportunity Penkele had to come down hard on GSM. He barely comes short of saying there is corruption in the manner through which the state is managing the money donated to the government by various well to do private individuals and corporate citizens. I remember Adelabu mentioned something like GSM government spending over One Billion Naira or so within two weeks on palliatives and other relief items. Penkele in his opinion was of the view that such figure was excessive and reeks of high level financial mismanagement. I recall that Penkele disclosed that such apparent state government recklessness was mainly the reason he decided to personally spend the money he would have donated to the government on the people directly.
OYO 2: l heard that too. And if l remember correctly, l think Penkele claimed he had spent over N80 million in direct cash transfers and the procurement of sundry palliative and relief items to Oyo people. He even maintained that those spending was "verifiable" as he made sure the monies actually got to the needy at that point in time. He specifically mentioned N20,000, N10,000, N5,000 and N2,500 as different categories of monies sent directly into Oyo people's account numbers. For me, that was highly commendable and an exemplary acts that should be emulated not only by politicians but equally by all well to do persons in the society. However, what l don't understand is why would a politician of Penkele's status spend so much money and prefer not to make some noise or create some media events around such philanthropic gesture. This Penkele will not stop amazing one with some of these his unusual styles of politicking!
OYO 1: THE Anchor Man, Isaac Brown was almost putting Penkele in a spot when he raised the issue of thuggery and brigandage in politics. That was when he brought up the issue of an allegation of Penkele buying a car for a certain notorious thug in Ibadan. Mayor was...
OYO 2: CUTS in... That's why being public communication savvy and quick-witted for a politician or any public figure is very important. I figure that Penkele was able to quickly wriggle out of the spot Isaac Brown was trying to put him. I think l heard clearly even if faintly on the radio that Bayo Adelabu had quickly laughed the allegation off even before Isaac could conclude that line of questioning. And if you really paid attention to the details of the entire 2-Hour interview, you would notice that Penkele had earlier criticised and lampooned the current Oyo State Government for harboring and indulging many of these notorious criminal elements. That was when Adelabu was dressing down the state government as not performing to expectation in the area of security.
OYO 1: TALKING about security now, can we even vouch for any of our politicians when it comes to making use of thugs and other criminal elements in their quest for power? I tell you, all the politicians without exception, have them on their train and all around them as they struggle to get into power and government!
OYO 2: OF course, that is obvious but they will always deny having these thugs around them. Even the prominent Pastors and Alhajis among the politicians can't afford not to romance these elements especially when they can not trust the Nigerian Police to provide the required security for them. And if l should ask you; Who wants to die just in the quest for power? _Olowo kii fee ku my brother!_
The above is an improvised dialogue between two persons who had both listened to the live broadcast of a radio programme, " POLITICAL CIRCUIT", a FRESH FM, Ibadan political interview programme aired on Saturday, 20th June, 2020. The programme featured Chief Bayo Adelabu as Special Guest.
