All Progressives Congress (APC’s) victory at the February 25th, 2023 presidential election egged on members of the National Union of Road Transportation Wokers (NURTW) in Oyo State on to believe that their foray for relevance in the wilderness of union policking would soon come to an end.
The national body of the union was already contesting the legality of the parks and garages system that was introduced by the state government after the 2019 governorship election, which Engineer Seyi Makinde won. The new transport board was put in place to put an end to the operation of the NURTW in Oyo State. The sent-packing NURTW was led by Fele who the Seyi Makinde regarded a loyal supporter of the late Governor Izaak Ajimobi, whose choice successor, Adebayo Adelabu, the APC’s candidate in the election, lost at the poll. That marked the emergence of Mukaila Lamidi a.k.a Auxiliary as the Chairman of the Parks and Garages system.
Despite that the Lagos State Government had frustrated, through technicality, the robust legal battle of the NURTW national body to shove the MC Oluomo-led Parks and Garages body out of the Lagos State motor parks, its Oyo State counterpart led by Abidini Ejiogbe that was fighting the Oyo State’s motor parks body took advantage of the loose end of the Lagos NURTW court case to tighteen all loose ends in Lagos NURTW’s case and blocked the loop holes to make a success of its contending the illegality of the Parks and Garages officials in Oyo State.
The victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the February 25 President-election was a boost for the Ejiogbe NURTW members. This was not unconnected with the fact that Makinde is a People’s Demoractic Party (PDP). The loss of the PDP’s candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, at the presidential poll was regarded by the Ejiogbe group that was perfecting its strategies to edge out Auxiliary’s faction of relevance.
The issue engendered what some PDP’s stalwarts lagged high-wired politicking in Oyo State. Recall that the Governor, Engineer Makinde, supported the aspiration of President Tinubu, despite that the two of them belong to different political parties. Makinde was a member of Five People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governors called G5, who cast their lots for rotation of the presidency to the South.
Grapevine revealed that Makinde’s support for President Tinubu at the national level visa-vice the intra-transport union squabble in Oyo required a new template for resolving the crisis in the motor parks.
The NURTW national body was not ready to backdown on its legal battle against what it called the illegality of the Auxiliary-led group running the affairs of motor parks in Oyo State. The state government could not afford a court defeat, hence it must do something and quickly too to prevent what would amount to a shame.
That, City People learnt, was why the state government, on its part, took the initiative to resolve the crisis brewing between Auxiliary and Ejiogbe’s groups. The move to put a permanent end to the intra-union crisis in state’s mator parks led to consultation of all persons, who the government regarded as stakeholders. Past State Chairman such as Akinsola Tokyo and many others were invited to a general meeting held at the State House of Chiefs, Agodi in Ibadan.
Those invited were told to unveil, review and resolve all grey areas that had long ago been bone of contention. The late Governor, Alao Akala’s Chief of Staff, Dr. Saka Balogun, presided at the meeting.
It was there that it was agreed that the Makinde’s baby, Parks and Garages system stays with a proviso that members of Ejiogbe’s faction would, however, be accommodated. With this decision, Oyo State became the pacesetter just, as its motto, in peacefully resolving motor parks policking that was always steeped in violence and bloodbath.
As days followed weeks towards the governor’s oath taking for his second term on the 29th May, 2023, the Auxiliary group learnt about the card up the sleeve of Engineer Makinde. That of accommodating Ejiogbe’s men. They raved, boiling with anger, saying among themselve that those behind the decision of allowing Ejiogbe’s people were ingrates, but myopic. They boasted that they could go it alone without the cooperation of the other group. Afterall, they had done it for the first four years. Besides, they pointed at the governor’s second term victory as their icing on the cake.
To them, Ejiogbe’s people should go and lick their wounds in their individual privacy City People gathered that unknown to them their confidence was not based on reality or backed up by solid evidence of reality.
Again, they were ignorant of the implication of the national politicking of victory for APC at the presidential poll and the court process that might work in favour of the Ejiogbe’s group. That was why they engaged in gross act of insubordination during the oath-taking ceremony of Makinde at the Liberty Stadium, called Obafemi Awolowo Stadium and with effrontery engaged in the act of foolishness and violence against Ejiogbe people with the private residence of the governor at Ikolaba.
That Auxiliary ran into trouble was not a surprise to those who have been monitoring the wranglings in the affairs of the motor-transport union in the state. It is to Auxiliary eternal regret that he has been replaced by his Secretary General, Tomiwa Omolewa, as he Auxiliary might be facing charges of gun-running and other violent charges to the bargin.
– Tajudeen Adigun
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