Osun: Where’s Gov Adeleke’s phoney N16bn digital economy project?

By Waheed Adekunle

It is appalling that in the last 14 months of unveiling the phoney digital economy policy by the incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke led-PDP government in Osun State, nothing meaningful has been recorded in the sector thus far.

There is no doubting the fact that the current administration in the state has been failing consistently in delivering its electoral promises to the good people of the state particularly in the area of digital economy which was overblown beyond proportion and boastfully promised to turn around the fortune of the state in the technology world.

There are indices suggesting that the initiative has failed woefully like many others previously initiated by the incumbent government.

Recall that Governor Adeleke had on March 6, 2023, unveiled the state’s digital economy policies and flagged off laying of a broadband fibre optic project worth N16 billion purportedly claimed to cover 64 kilometres of the state and place landmarks of the state on Google maps.

Governor Adeleke who signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Oodua Infraco to commence immediate deployment of Fibre Optics across the state boasted that with the new National Broadband policy, free connectivity would be returned to schools and health centres but till today, nothing has been achieved in that respect.

In his words: “This government is waiving payment for Telecom Right of Way in return for free connectivity to our schools and health centres when the broadband project is completed. My good people of Osun State, we are also harnessing the many talents Osun has in the tech sector. We are putting selected Osun tech leaders from all over the world into an advisory board. Today, I am inaugurating the First Digital Economy Advisory Board with 15 members. Their task is to support the state in our dream of transforming Osun into a digital economy state.

“Permit me to commend my team for their wonderful performance on these landmark initiatives. I appreciate the team from the Ministry of Innovations, Science and Technology as well as specialists within the ICT Taskforce. You are consequently directed to work on the next phase which is the commencement of implementation of the policies and the initiatives.”

Anyway, it is not surprising that the incumbent government didn’t come up with anything tangible since the inauguration of the ‘non-existent fibre project’ other than the failure which it had also recorded in all sectors as manifested in the failed Imole Youth Corps; failed O’MEAL Scheme, failed borehole project, and failed attempt to remove the Chief Judge of Osun among others.

Saying lies, falsehoods and propaganda are the trademarks of the current administration is to say the least as it has now become glaring to all and sundry that like Ismail Omipidan said last year, “Osun under Governor Ademola Adeleke is being run in fraudulent claims.”

It would be recalled that the Adeleke government which started on a vendetta mission aimed at blackmailing and silencing the opposition has been witch-hunting suspected members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, instead of facing governance and this has shown clearly the real mission of the government.

Also recall that the Adeleke government started on a zero plan for the state. This was apparently noticed when the governor asked members of the Transition Committee to fashion out what his government could do within the first six months as this practically revealed the lack of capacity and preparedness in the current administration.

One would also wonder how a government which claimed to have campaigned vigorously to win the party’s governorship ticket and subsequently emerged governor would be asking a committee to design what was expected of him to do in six months! This shows a high level of his unpreparedness and that of his team for effective governance of Osun.

Back to the digital economy bogus claims, since the launch of the project precisely 13 months ago, why has Osun not been placed on world Google map as earlier promised by the Adeleke government? What has been the challenges impeding the project? Where have the humongous funds for the questionable project gone into? Who is the contractor handling the project if it exists at all?

Until these salient questions are answered satisfactorily, the government would continue to be held accountable. We should not forget that the masses are watching and taking records of events as they unfold under the Adeleke government. They are awaiting the day of reckoning.

May God heal our land.