The Curriculum Vita that Disqualifies Dr. Bukola Saraki
By Dr Kunle Adeniyi
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The human insect that has been sucking the blood of Kwara State for the past sixteen years has now stuck its proboscis into one of the most blood-rich bodies of our national legislation, the Senate. I was totally flabbergasted to learn that Senator Bukola Saraki has successfully manipulated the bureaucratic system to catapult himself to one of the highest offices in the nation. How could this happen despite the conspicuous resume, which stamps him as the worst managers and most dubious characters in the history of Nigeria? I wonder if either President Buhari his Vice President or Asiwaju Bola Tinubu ever visited Kwara State, which personifies Dr Bukola Saraki’s personal management (excuse me, I mean, mismanagement). How could a man who ran down a state to such an absolute penury function effectively as the head of the highest law-making arm of our nation? Certainly President Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu, and the APC leadership could not be all that ignorant about Kwara State. If they don’t know enough about Kwara State to realize that it is an epitome of Saraki’s maladministration, then this nation is once more on a plunge to an abyss of worse darkness than she ever found herself.
Let us take a tour of the state from Ilorin, via Omu-Aran to Shappa, Eruku, Obbo-Ile and Obbo Aiyegunle. Offa to Oke-Odde via Ile-Ire to Iwo, Ijara to Omu-Aran and Ilofa. The towns, villages or whatever you call them exist only by virtue of the fact that they are occupied by human beings who are virtually ignored by an inept government and left at the mercy of Mother Nature to survive or go to ruins. The only spot which seems to show fragmental signs of governmental development is Ilorin. It is the seat of the Saraki kingdom.
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Throughout the state, Ilorin is the only place where there is pipe-borne water system, which runs Saraki style. The inefficiency of the Saraki hand-picked government is to make sure that the pipes lay dry without water. Fortunate consumers have water drip from the pipes for – perhaps – up to a total of two to three months in a year. Families get together in groups of two or three to buy water from government trucks. Lamentably, the state government collects monthly bill on pipes, which carry no water. As I write, most neighborhoods in Ilorin have no water supply since January 2015. It is no exaggeration. I invite the APC leadership and all inquisitive fellows who seek the truth to verify the facts. Water, the basic necessity for human survival, is a luxury in Ilorin. It is supplied by the act of God (rain) and shallow wells in all towns outside Ilorin.
How about the road conditions in Kwara State? There is practically no reasonable motorable (or paved) road anywhere, five miles outside Ilorin. Casualities mount weekly on the death-trap roads that are considered Federal or trunk A roads. Only Senator Saraki and his hand-picked governor know where the federal allocations for road go. All roads in Offa, Igbominaland and Ekiti land are akin to monkey paths! The roads within Ilorin itself is pathetic.
The life expectancy in Kwara State is below the national average because Ilorin is the only town with a symbolic medical facility. Thanks to Pastor Adeboye who recently started a Landmark University at Omu-Aran, adding a second actively functioning hospital in the state. There is a number of indigent general hospitals in Offa and Otun-Oro. They are maintained through generous donations of people in town. They remain generally ill-financed, ill-facilitated, and ill-managed. Privately owned dispensaries exist only in names. You may not be able to decide whether many of the dispensaries are places where humans go for treatment or a dung center for goats, chickens and rams. Never mind the name it bears, general hospital, dispensary or maternity wards, the environment is more sickening than the sickness within their walls.
In order to discern how pathetic Kwara state looks in the hands of the Saraki family, one just need to compare her with the neighboring Osun State or the nearby Oyo State. It is important to bear in mind that Osun State is much younger than Kwara State. Kwara State is as old as Oyo State. As a visitor to my home state of Kwara in February I went from Oshogbo via Ikirun-Offa to Ilorin. I could not help but appreciate the endeavor of Osun government to transform the state to a landmass of opulent society. Oyo state marches on by gradual development to create a proud environment for its citizens. Kwara State remains economically stagnant, technologically demised, and environmentally nauseating since its creation in 1967. A comparison of the state with its neighbors will make anyone wonder where the money for the development of the state goes. I may not know where the state money goes, but one thing I know is that Saraki Family gets richer as the state gets more wretched.
Kwara is a family-owned state. The late Dr Olusola Saraki has demonstrated to the world at large and to the Kwarans in particular that the state belongs to his family. The Saraki hierarchy lords over the state with impunity. She exploits it with no accountability to anyone. One would think that after the demise of Dr Olusola Saraki, the family would lose control of the state. This is nothing but a wishful thinking. In fact the political and sociological nightmares of Kwarans continued after the demise of senior Saraki. The latter obviously passed the baton to his son. Dr Bukola Saraki, utilizes the state funds to outsmart the people. Don’t blame Kwarans. He has just outsmarted the APC leadership to become the Senate President. This man must be an expert in the game he plays!
During the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo, a group of Kwaran professionals, engineers, architects, medical doctors, university professors, came up with a formula that would free them from the shackles of exploitation of the Sarakis. They felt that the best approach was to create a Yoruba State out of the current Kwara State. I thought it was the wrong prescription for the right ailment. Unity of the Yorubas in the state, I thought, would upset Saraki at the poll. I soon learnt that Saraki’s unbridled access to the treasury was strong enough to make a mockery of their unity. He fragmented the Yoruba groups in the state and became the master from which desperate people reluctantly exchanged naira for votes.
The young Saraki proved to be more dexterous in sickening Kwara people than making a curative use of his professional stethoscope. Believe, this guy is a fox! He inherited the governorship from his dad. He continued the family legacy as the almighty governor in charge of the state treasury and banks. To make sure one of his own is watching over his goldmine in the Kwara State he hand-picked Abdul Fatai, to replace him as a governor before going to Abuja. Abdul Fatai, though an Igbomina from Sare. is a political enigma believed to be, technically, the errand boy of Senator Bukola Saraki,.
The performance of Dr Bukola Saraki in Kwara State, shows the writings on the political wall that I hope, the APC leadership is smart enough to read. Mr Opadokun stated that President Buhari “can’t fight corruption with Saraki-led Senate.” He is absolutely right. To fight corruption with Saraki holding this important position is tantamount to making a hungry lion a “baby-sitter” over a herd of antelopes. It is demagoguery for the Buhari government to even think of ridding our society of corruption when the Senate President wears the crown of corruption on his head. He is being involved with billions of naira of money laundry. He is already an embarrassment to the party and to the nation. He is already a liability to the goals and aspiration of the party for Nigeria. The APC must extract this thorn in her flesh before it develops into an incurable cancer.
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