A leading gospel music singer, Babatunmise Agboola, has described Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, as a results-driven leader who allows his results to speak for him.
Agboola, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of The Best Event Company, stated this during an interview with The People’s Verdict.
According to him, “Governor ‘Seyi Makinde is an action-driven man who does not talk too much, and some of us have learnt a lot from that. He just allows the actions and the results to speak. In my few years on earth, I have learnt that nobody argues with result and the result is showing.”
Speaking on the effects of the Makinde administration on his industry, the gospel crooner said, “I am in the events world and I sing as well. I am an active player in the industry. One cannot but mention how good the roads are now. It is easier to navigate, to move in and out of town. With that, our job gets easier. We can move at anytime. Even the night life in the city is a lot better now. We now have malls running 24 hours in the city. Before now, it was never like that. Of course, if the security and the roads were not good enough, all of that would not thrive. For me, a direct beneficiary of that, I think it has really helped my business to be better and to do more.”
Agboola linked the ease of conducting business to a surge in the revenue of service providers in the state. His words: “I was saying to somebody recently that before now it was not easy to charge what you are worth; you would be scared because you would hear things like ‘Ibadan people will not pay’. But all of that has changed. Now, people are paying for the value they are getting except if your value is substandard, that is when you will be shy to charge people. Right now, I see clients within the city paying for the value you are bringing to the table. Before now, they priced you like pepper. But right now, I think everybody is seeing that Ibadan is no longer what it used to be.
“I was saying to someone that ‘If you don’t move fast, Ibadan will leave you behind.’ Somebody came into the city recently, he’d been out of town for a while and he said, ‘Mo fe e sonu. I almost got lost, Ibadan has changed.’ I am a proper Ibadan boy from Oritamerin, I have been here all my life. So, I have seen the change and I am glad that I am still here.”
According to Agboola, the administration of Governor Makinde has been a big blessing to the people Oyo State.
He said, “He made a young person Commissioner for Youth and Sports. That has encouraged some of us that we are not just among the number, we are a part of the government. It means that the government is thinking about us for us to have a young person as Commissioner for Youth and Sports. That stands out for me.”
He added, “The enabling environment for us to thrive also does it for me. I am glad that we can now boast of the city of Ibadan. Before now, it was not like that. I remember going to Lagos one time for an event. After the event, people came to me to ask where I was from. When I told them I was from Ibadan they said, ‘It is not possible.’ I said, ‘What do you mean it is not possible?’ I told them to come to Oyo State to see what is going on here.
“To a large extent, the current administration in Oyo State has done very well. I have a mother who was a civil servant, she is retired now. When the current Governor came in, my mother started to say a lot about how the pensions, gratuity and all of those things were being paid. So, the current administration has done really well.
“I will also say this; I have been here all my life. For the first time, I was able to perform at a government function in Oyo State. It had never happened till the current administration came in. This idea of Omituntun Praise Concert gave me that opportunity to be able to stand in front of dignitaries to perform. That in a way has added value to my brand, it has given me more visibility. I remember the last edition we had was televised live on BCOS TV (Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State), a lot of people called and said, ‘Babatunmise, you are now a big boy o. Will you be able to take what we used to pay you?’ I told them that my price has gone up. We can say that because of what we have benefitted from that. Governor Makinde has done really well. It can only get better and better. But of course, we must say that we are glad.”
Babatunmise Agboola’s verdict: “Governor ‘Seyi Makinde is a go-getter who does not talk too much.”
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