ON OSUN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

For sometime now, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun state mumble about the infrastructure projects embarked upon by the Governor Ademola Adeleke administration in the state, pushing really hard to sell the impression that the projects fell short of standards. But when a technical team led by the President of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NGE), Margaret Aina Oguntala concluded an audit and validation tour of the projects recently, the consensus was that they are of very high standards. 

“The quality is undoubtedly high, and the job is being done to a very high standards. It’s fantastic,” Oguntala who presides over Nigeria’s topmost engineering body declared. This verdict undo the weeks of plain untruth that the main opposition choose as a strategy to attack the genuine efforts of Governor Adeleke to upturn the gloomy outlook of the past and place Osun on the path of enviable development. 

But the mistake, as we have come to learn, is that the APC failed to realize how disjointed their position seemed. Engineering is a technical field that takes more than the jaundiced notions that the APC elements on Osun infrastructure projects generally reflect. This was the clear takeaway from the NSE’s delegation findings on Osun infrastructure projects, spotlighting the sheer ignorance of the rudderless opposition in the state. 

The NSE is the umbrella body for the engineering profession in Nigeria, providing it with the resources and expertise to accurately judge the quality or otherwise of construction works. This is more reason why its verdict on Osun infrastructure projects is sacrosanct, and more, answer for any doubt that the deliberate misinformation campaign that the APC may have stirred.

But that was not all. The NSE team spotlighted what could well pass as the governor’s remarkable commitment to local content as Oguntala noted that “As I said earlier to His Excellency and I will say it again: We commend him for using Nigerian engineers and for believing in them.” While acknowledging that Governor Adeleke got the best hands among engineers for the jobs, the President of the NSE added that “so he (Adeleke) is assured to get the job delivered on time.”

To cap it all Dayo Eluyemi, a member of the American Society Engineers (ASE), attested to the good quality of the projects and went on to “assure that the contractor is doing the right thing here and all quality and control tests are being strictly monitored according to global standards.” To hear him say that, especially when he specialises in Highway construction as a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Highway and Transportation Engineers, is yet an affirmation of the integrity of the Osun infrastructure projects. 

From last year October when Governor Adeleke unveiled his ambitious infrastructure plan for the state, the APC was thrown off course, painstakingly hoping that it did not materialise. Initially, it raised questions on the funding for the projects and when it became obvious that Adeleke was prepared to sacrifice to meet up, the response was to stir doubts in the minds of Osun people on the quality of the job. Governor Adeleke prioritizes the good of all, deploring policies and interventions to correct the misdeeds of the past and set the cause for a better tomorrow.

 Sarafa Ibrahim, Special Assistant to the Osun State Governor on Print Media