GSM - A "GOD SENT MAN" TO OYO STATE. By Bro Mike

GSM - A "GOD SENT MAN" TO OYO STATE

During our last edition which is also our maiden edition, we made it clear that there was no better choice than Engineer Seyi Makinde. The governor of Oyo State in just 100 days has shown that he is well prepared, adequately ready and mentally fit to tinker Oyo State to the place of our dreams.

In the last 100 days, GSM as fondly called by the citizens of Oyo State has showed dexterity, dedication, focus, consciousness, firmness, decisiveness and forthrightness in the business of leading Oyo State. He had done the things that no public servant has tried; He had made bold and deliberate appointments that even the opposition parties had to commend.

One of the many things we have seen in past 100 days of Governor Seyi Makinde is the creative ways he had handled and managed all traditional, government and established institutions and parastatals. It had been copious. He had established a synergy between all the arms of government and Oyo State is again drawing positive attention from external stakeholders.

One of the first responsibilities of any government is the security of lives and properties of the people and in this regard, GSM has shown that he is intentional about the securing the lives of Oyo State citizens and he will not support, aid or motivate anything that will jeopardize the peace and tranquility of our dear state. Only few states in Nigeria can boast of sound, concrete, effective and efficient security architecture as we have in Oyo State.

The way our darling Governor has positioned Oyo State for investors and opportunities in just his 100 days in office is unbelievable. You can literally feel the Midas touch of GSM in every sector of our state. We are no doubt blessed to have a governor that thinks of Oyo State indigenes first. Let me show you if you don’t know and remind you in case you have forgotten about SOME of GSM’s Achievements in 100 days in Office and their implications
Suspension of NURTW activities – The transport union was suspended to ensure and enforce peace in the state. The motor garages have been sanitized and peace has been restored in all our garages.

Free Education – Before GSM came on board, Oyo State was ranking high in the list of states with out- of -school children because of the high handedness and lackadaisical attitude of the last administration in Oyo State towards basic primary and secondary school children. The coming of GSM has introduced new policies and taken bold steps to resolve the educational quagmire in our state. Basic primary and secondary school education in public schools is now free with free books and pens.

Prompt Salaries – Before now, prompt payment of salaries used to be unusual, rare and even when it is paid late in some quarters, it is either half or quarter salaries. Since GSM came, we now enjoy prompt payment of full salaries.
Merited Appointments – Even the opposition parties acknowledge the capacity and ability of the appointees of our Governor. The governor has gathered around himself very brilliant individuals who have what it takes to join hands with him for the total transformation of Oyo State

Record Breaking Commissioners List – When the list of men that will man our various government ministries was announced,  one clear message it sent to our enemies camp is that Seyi Makinde means business and he cannot be manipulated. For the first time, since our return to democracy in 1999, we have a 27 years old as Commissioner for Youth and Sports.

Declaration of Assets – No public official apart from maybe former President Musa Yar’Adua openly declared his whole assets until our own God sent GSM did it. Now, the whole world knows that we have a financially prudent governor in Oyo state. He has also instituted a first time Financial Crimes Commission in Oyo State.
Elaborating on the achievements of GSM in the last 100 days cannot be exhausted in one edition of our magazine. It is so loud that he is the only governor that has trended online for something positive more than once since May 29, 2019 when new governors were sworn in. He has shown that he has what it takes and he is a man prepared for leadership.

The commitment of Governor Seyi Makinde to return Oyo State to the pacesetting status is one that should be encouraged, supported and prayed for.
Let me end by saying that change is a process. GSM has an implementable  Roadmap For Accelerated Development of Oyo State and I am certain that the government appointees and commissioners have bought into it. 
There is no better time to be identified with Oyo State than now.
We are in for the best of times in Oyo State. 

I once read a book and the author said that “Leadership is not by force: It is by example”


 I_stand_With_GSM

GOVERNOR SEYI MAKINDE: 100 DAYS OF WALKING THE PACE SETTING PROMISE. By Deji Ola

GOVERNOR SEYI MAKINDE: 100 DAYS OF WALKING THE PACE SETTING PROMISE

 " Achievers are not born talented but they possess the "I can do it attitude" -Gladys Bejani

This quote reminds me of how the struggle of Omituntun started in our state. Prior to 2015 general elections, the mantra postal flooded the nooks and crannies of the state with two images; ocean and whale.  One will wonder what is the idea behind this unique slogan.

After months of wondering aloud,  I decided to take the responsibility upon my self in knowing the brain behind it. For I know that our party- PDP is in a state of comatose then and nobody is ready to take up the recussitation process. Interestingly, I got to know the prime mover and this further motivated me to get information about his profile, antecedents both private and public life.

The man in question is a successful man in business world and maritally.  It is no doubt the best choice to give such man a chance to rewrite our pace setting goals in State of Oyo.

He tried hard to come on board as Governor of the state earlier but the Divine Creator destined that this is the best time. His achievements so far within 100 days in office is not a surprise for people like me as his ways,  beliefs,  career and people he associate with speak volumes on what could be the end result of his administration. It is however important to itemize some of these achievements for the sake of emphasy.
" There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them " Denis Waitley. Governor Seyi Makinde did not engage in blame games as he was able to commend past adminittration on the area where they performed averagely while also leveraging on the available resources to complete all abandoned projects. This alone is enough to define a man with genuine mission to liberate his people from shackle and manacle of oppressors. When His Excellency forfeited his four years salary for Teachers' pension,  I thought I have seen enough not until I confirmed from pensioners on how they are enjoying uninterrupted salary since Seyi Makinde took the mantle of power. Meanwhile, “Retirement is wonderful if you have two essentials; much to live on and much to live for.”  Verily,  Our pensioners can quote this without any fear of contradictions as they can project enough to live with in this current administration. During his inauguration,  one of many punch line worthy of note in his speech is his readiness to encourage all inclusive  governance while giving priority to accountability. He said and I quote: "We want all of you  to  be a part of the  implementation as we  work  together to move  our  state forward. We may make decisions that  are  sometimes  uncomfortable but we  will try our best  to  always be  just, fair and  act with the  fear  of  God . I am here as  your Governor to serve you.  I  will  work  tirelessly and  take responsibility for the  workings of every  sector. While I will delegate effectively,  the  buck will stop with me. I want you to hold me  accountable and I will  also hold you  accountable as we work  as partners to bring Oyo  State to glory"_

With this,  I can't agree more that he is truly our saviour. In any Government, once accountability is assured, every other thing will be in order as it is a clear signal that his administration will be zero tolerance for corruption. No doubt, we are setting pace for other states. "Accountability breeds response-ability" -Stephen R. Covey. His excellency is no doubt responsive to our challenges as a state and he is ready to achieve a lot before four years which will in turn speak for him after his first tenure.  I am optimistic that he will reposition our party to winning form in the whole South West.

One thing that is worthy of more emphasis about Governor Seyi Makinde (GSM) is his decision on fulfilling his campaign promises. This is unusual in our political settings. He is not deviating from his electioneering promises as steps is being taken in that direction. His action on total free education for primary and secondary school is a clear indication that he is astute follower of Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Awoist) in another flesh.  He has never for once forgoften how he enjoyed absolute free education hence the need to give it back to the people he has promised to serve. His school of thought is that this will reduce level of out of school students in the state. The mother of all is his free exercise book agenda which will further encourage sound education in the state.
I am bold enough to say that GSM mean business after studying his agricultural policies. With the pace at which he is moving and the calibre of people he is appointing to handle various ministries, it is safe for one to say our state will soon become point of reference for other states which are aiming to break-even in agriculture. His effort toward making  oyo state the destination for international business is crystal clear as he is doing everything humanly possible to ensure enabling environment,  friendly policies which will definitely give opportunities to the people of the state. How much can I emphasize on the early payment of salary for civil servants.  No wonder my people are now smiling to various bank on or before 25th of every month.  This will not only be prolific for civil servants but will also ensure adequate circulation of funds in the state economy as research have it that,  once civil servants are being paid salary constantly,  the poor woman selling láfu in molete market will surely feel the impact let alone people in their various workshops.

If you will agree with me,  it is a new dawn in our state. We now have a Governor who is feeling the pains of his people and who is ready to go any length to ensure that they all smile with fulfilled mind. In fulfilment of his campaign promises to ensure adequate security.  He had to retain special security apparatus called Operation Burst.  This shows that he is free from politics of bitterness because in the real sense, one will think since it is not innovation of his party, he will abolish it and introduce another strategy to cub insecurity,  he deserves our nod on this as father of continuity. Unfortunately,  this article can not accommodate all his achievements of the first 100 days in office but the way  and manner to which he is accepted by his people during and after election shows that he is truly the chosen one.
“ It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” Scott Belsky. GSM has ideas and he is ready to make it happen.  I will implore everyone to give him unconditional support while he sails the state to the promise land.

DEJI OLA

GSM @ 100 DAYS AND WHEN OPPORTUNITY MEETS PREPARATION

GSM @ 100 DAYS AND WHEN OPPORTUNITY MEETS PREPARATION

The 100 days that seemed so far has come and the time of first reckoning is here; we will see how far Governor Seyi Makinde has gone with his new era (Omi Tuntun) mantra, how much of his electoral promises he has fulfilled and if the people sighing for relief.  Even scorners will find it difficult to deny the sincerity and determination of GSM to deliver in the last 100 days but what are the deliverables on ground.
That Engr Seyi Makinde lost elections before this great victory is no news and it got so bad that his name was almost synonymous with electoral loss. As a matter of fact, our major opponents in the last election called him their customer, meaning he's a serial loser. However, though he lost elections, he never lost focus, though he didn't attain the throne, he never stopped building his empire.

It is part of the profile of Engr Seyi Makinde that he attended Leadership training in the US, he studied Comprehension and Resolution of Complex Business Problems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. UU and also had a course at Lagos Business School; he was not only making frantic efforts to win elections, he was thoroughly prepared for the tasks ahead.

FAILING FORWARD: This is the title of a book by Dr. John C. Maxwell and I can never forget how this impacted me; every failure is an opportunity to re-evaluate, re-position and re-launch yourself into your vision. For every failed attempt, like Thomas Edison put it, you've known several ways that can never work. From 2006 till date, I have watched and seen how Engr. Seyi Makinde has risen after every major loss, returned with bigger bangs and never repeated same mistakes. I have noticed with interest how the past failures have turned out to be steps closer to his destination and have equipped him for exemplary leadership. Now as Governor Seyi Makinde, he has very good understanding of the people of Oyo State, the politicians and the general masses; they are the lessons from over a decade of different attempts at electoral victory. I can name many money bags that came into Oyo State politics, failed at first and or second attempts and quitted but GSM is not just a good lesson in persistence and consistency, he has demonstrated in the last hundred days that he knows Oyo state very well. You may call those days the wilderness experience if you like but everything has worked out for his good now.
UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE: The value of life in Oyo State has increased; security of lives and properties are not compromised on the table of partisanship. The security agencies were visited, encouraged and motivated while equipments are on the way. The anti-grazing bill too is putting humans ahead of cattle. Can we say many years of relating with the downtrodden through philanthropic activities have taught him what matters to the people? Without mincing words, the GSM administration makes the people feel important, more important than the elected officials. The civil servants have sense of importance and relevance beyond previous experiences, the electorate feel someone is sincere with them and everyone has someone to truly look up to for leadership and direction. This is something that mere turning Oyo state into big construction site can not achieve. The projects are for the people and not people for the project. The supply of exercise books without party logo or Governor's image is new and commendable. Purchase of 100 brand new cars for security agencies, before government appointees and governor's office is classical demonstration of servant leadership. The electorate can now see who is the employer and who is truly serving them, compared to past bullying and executive recklessness.

RESTRUCTURING GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS: With the information garnered by GSM, one would expect him to just complain and give excuses about the rottenness on ground but he has chosen to be solution conscious instead. Though the last administration laid many booby traps for him, he has not only succeeded in evading them, he has turned them around to hunt the predators instead; he has worked assiduously to build institutions, restructure the operations of ministry and parastatals. For instance, all revenue payments are to go straight into government coffers and consultants will be paid their due percentages afterwards. Unlike before when monies are paid directly to consultants and then government gets due percentage. During the campaign, he kept talking about blocking leakages but many of us didn't know how he intended to accomplish this, though we knew he doesn't say what he doesn't mean. No doubt, he has had enough time to prepare mentally, spiritually and psychologically for this task. GSM is indeed for such a time as this.

BUDGET INTEGRITY: The annual budget which is supposed to be a law has always being a documented falsehood in Nigeria; a promissory note without financial backing. The implementation rate has never exceeded 30% because the proposed sources of funding are not realistic, they are not within the controls of the agents handling the budgets execution. GSM has come to reverse the situation and make sure only realistic revenues go into budgets, which makes it a true legal document of annual promises of the government to the people. With this, there's about 90% assurance that once an item is captured in the budget, the funds are sure and implementation certain. What a way to go forward. GSM has not only learnt from electoral failures, he has learnt from failures of previous administrations in Oyo State and Nigeria in generally.

YOU CAN'T SOLVE A PROBLEM YOU DONT KNOW: For instance, the regular payments of salaries and pensions is a demonstration that GSM understands what was responsible for the delay or nonpayment; he understands the roles of  misplaced priority, greed,  wickedness and lack of motivation for those whose duties it is to make prompt payments. I have heard many governorship candidates make promises but deviate from the path as soon as they won because electoral promises are lies to win elections but we have a leader in Oyo State who keeps reminding us of his promises during the campaign and his determination to keep them. This is business unusual and leadership uncommon. GSM in the last 100 days is not providing temporary solution to any problem and that is why he appears slow in his steps; they are calculated and deliberate steps, using his own words. Appropriate diagnosis of a sickness is a demonstration of your expertise and hope of giving right prescriptions that will cure the illness. However, when a physician keeps complaining to the patient about how complex the sickness is and how former physicians failed in prescriptions and couldn't proffer solutions, he has sent the patient closer to the grave. GSM is not telling us about the details of the rottenness, he's just minding the healing and rejuvenation of Oyo State back to the pacesetter status. Whenever I see this man they now call GSM- God Sent Man, I wonder how one can know so much and still remain reticent.

PREREQUISITES TO ACCELERATION: Many people have asked me why things are not running as fast as they anticipated but I always told them that the one who promised accelerated development must first make the roads and vehicles for the acceleration possible. The promise of accelerated development is a road map but the vehicle for the journey must be in sound condition too. Even the Bible says no man starts building without sitting down to count the cost of it. The map is available but the road and vehicles must be in great shape too; the civil servants must be well motivated and the infrastructures renovated, constructed and appropriately prioritised. If the road is bad but the vehicle is good, the acceleration will be poor, though the map is accurate. If the road is good but the engine of the car is knocked, there can't be appreciable movement, talkless of acceleration. However, with good road and vehicle, the roadmap becomes a great asset in the hand of the travellers.
Failing forward is just showing how the best attitudes can make you get the best out challenges; how what you have gone through can make you better if you are not bitter. Past failures in governance and personal electoral challenges and losses have equipped GSM for this great task. The evidence in the last 100 days have shown beyond reasonable doubts that Engr Seyi Makinde did not just prepare well to win election, he was adequately prepared for governance and attendant leadership responsibilities.

The editorial board of The People's Magazine congratulates Governor Seyi Makinde because in 100 days, he has not only done well, his public profile has risen well above when he just won the election and he has become a good reference point in public leadership in Nigeria.

GSM; NOW ON PATH OF DESTINY, POSTERITY SHALL RECKON.