Exactly twelve months ago, the Supreme Court dealt a decisive blow on a spirited but infamous attempt by the opposition APC to oust the divinely ordained and people oriented administration of His Excellency, Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde in Oyo State.
Like soldiers just won a famous battle, we travelled from Abuja to Egbeda near Ibadan in wild celebration totally oblivious of the danger lurking in the shadows.
Led by the dimunitive Asiwaju Adekola Adeoye, Oyo State PDP Youth leader, we simply could not hold our excitement as we approached the ancient city singing and drumming.
But joy, in the words of the late Prof. Ola Rotimi, has a slender body that breaks up too soon. Hasn’t it been said severally that the world was created in multiples: “Tibi Tire La’da ‘le Ayé” my late grandmother would admonish during moments of great tribulation in a clever attempt to lift your broken spirit.
And so when the front wheel suddenly peeled off and the vehicle in which we were travelling began to somersault, I knew instantly that we were about to experience the darker side of life.
The transition from good to bad and from joy to sadness was swift, painful and, in one extreme case, fatal.
Thanks to His Excellency, Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, Otunba Seye Famojuro, who immediately dispatched a rescue team to the scene of the crash, a host of top government functionaries and Party members, the response to that unfortunate accident was swift, soothing and deeply comforting.
I recall vividly how the current treasurer of the park managers personally drove all the victims from the Catholic hospital at Iwo road express to the better equipped and apparently more expensive Molly hospital at Idi Ape where we were treated at the instance of the governor like royalty
Comrade Yemi, whose case was of a far more serious nature, was taken to the UCH where unfortunately a strike action by resident doctors was ongoing. Sadly, he gave up the ghost while in transit to the Adeoyo State Hospital.
Like the rest of us who survived that accident, Comrade Yemi died for a cause he so passionately believed in. Indeed looking at the numerous achievements of the Seyi Makinde administration in less than two years, it is safe to conclude that his death was not in vain.
As we mark the one year anniversary of that unfortunate and sobering incident, our thoughts, prayers and best wishes are with the family of the deceased. Many thanks to His Excellency, Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde for living up to his promises in the aftermath of the accident.
May we never again be victims of such mishap.
