The Osun Renewal Group (ORG) has issued a pointed press statement sharply criticising Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration since he assumed office in November 2022, alleging “gross ineptitude, a dangerous lack of intellectual capacity, and an unprecedented reliance on family control and cronyism.”
According to the group, Osun State has “been reduced to a shadow of itself”, with “resources mismanaged, institutions weakened, and its future endangered”.
In their statement, the ORG decries the state of education, saying it is “in a state of emergency”. They allege that thousands of teachers appointed before Adeleke’s administration have gone on retirement.
Meanwhile, the teacher’s recruitment exercise, which scooped the applicants’ application fees more than a year ago, is yet to be executed, leaving classrooms understaffed, especially in rural areas where there are as few as one science teacher for all secondary schools. They further accuse the government of neglecting schools for children with special needs and disrupting leadership in higher education to favour political allies and family loyalists.
The healthcare system, they say, “is in tatters” with a paucity of qualified health workers and hospitals lacking critical supplies despite superficial renovations. The group claims that the promised recruitment of nurses and doctors “has failed to materialise”, leaving rural communities underserved.
Economically, the group contends that Governor Adeleke’s policies have yielded “more propaganda than progress”, with cancellation of youth empowerment programmes and the absence of real employment opportunities. They say economic diversification and infrastructural support promised by the administration have not been realised, noting that businesses are leaving “due to erratic decision-making” and lack of policy clarity.
Infrastructure projects, described as “multi-billion-naira”, are alleged to be stalled or abandoned, with roads impassable and rural electrification stagnant. On security, the ORG laments that “Osun was once considered one of Nigeria’s safest states,” but now it suffers from kidnappings, cult clashes, and political violence, attributing this to a government “more focused on survival than security.”
The group also accuses Governor Adeleke of nepotism, stating that his siblings wield “unchecked power”, turning the state into “a closed circuit of family patronage and personal enrichment”. They claim public funds are spent without transparency, with the Governor’s Office absorbing extravagant allocations at the expense of critical ministries.
Issuing a stern verdict, the Osun Renewal Group declares that “Osun State is not a private estate” and demands that Governor Adeleke “return to the path of accountability, merit, and service delivery or vacate the office he occupies so ineptly.”
They call on citizens to defend “our democracy and constitutional order”, emphasising that the people deserve “leadership that is competent, visionary, and focused on the public good”, rather than “family capture, fiscal recklessness, and administrative incompetence”.
The full release was issued and signed from Osogbo Osun State, by Yale Oyerinde on behalf of the Osun Renewal Group, serving as a call to action to “well-meaning citizens” to hold the current administration accountable.
