THE OMO OLOORE STORIES
STORY 8:ASSET DECLARATION SAGA
One of the things the constitution requires of anyone leaving/going into a public office is that they ought to declare their assets with the Code of Conduct Bureau(CCB).
When I resigned from the Oyo State cabinet as Commissioner for Industry,Applied Science and Technology to run for the office of Member House of Representatives, I did as the constitution had stipulated.
After I had declared my assets with the Code of Conduct Bureau, I shared the declaration with people on social media. Then came the attacks – people came up to say the assets I declared were not true. Someone even made a bold assertion that he knew of certain properties which I did not include in my asset declaration. I found that allegation disturbing and at the same time interesting.
I am not one to ever shy away from a challenge especially where my integrity is at stake, I told the said person that it would be nice if he lodged an official complaint against me to the authorities and let them know that I lied as he had claimed.
The person refused to do so, yet he maintained his grounds that I had falsified my assets in my asset declaration.
Then, he challenged me to a public, open discussion. I told him to choose a place where he felt safe that we could meet in the open, sit down and talk face-to-face about his allegations against me and that the conversation would be recorded and uploaded online.
I told him I’d gladly show up without any security just to iron the matter out with evidences and hear him accuse me to my face. He chose the Sango Motor Park, he picked 6th January,2014 at 1pm prompt; and we had a deal.
On the day that he chose, I got to the venue at 12:35pm and immediately I dropped from the car, shouts of ‘Up sooting’ (a popular slang for Shooting Stars of Ibadan a club I rebranded when I was a commissioner) and ‘Omo Oloore’ rented the air as transporters and polytechnic of ibadan students who were at the park could easily recognize me.
I was with about three guys (My P.A,A media guy and a friend)– they were supposed to record what would transpire. We had come with cameras and other recording devices; no security. We got to Sango and called the guy to let him know I had arrived. He said he was around too but he refused to show up; he said he could see that I came with thugs.
It was funny because, first, I don’t keep thugs around me and second, we were in a public place – a park for that matter; and a place he chose by himself.
At some point he said he had moved to the Petrol Station opposite the Motor park,so we moved there and still no trace of him.
After we waited for a while and he hadn’t shown up, we went to a nearby canteen inside the motor park had meals and waited, hoping that the guy would call to say he had eventually decided to reveal himself.
We called him again after waiting for about 2hours and this time he said he was writing exams in school.
It was at the point that I made the last phone call to him which I put on speaker that everyone at the park knew what I had come for.They all applauded me for taking up such challenge to clear my name.
When it was obvious that he wasn’t going to show up, my people and I took pictures, made video recordings and left.
I came back to social media to let the people know that the guy who had accused me of falsifying my assets and had chosen to meet with me in his safest zone refused to show up.
He saw the post and, once again, began to claim that I came with thugs to the location. He provided no proof that I had come with thugs. It was a very heated matter at the time.
The interesting thing was that even though I had shown pictorial evidence of me at the location and the people I was with, people did not take the guy up on why he refused to make an official complaint to the appropriate authorities and why he had refused to come out.
People watered the gravity of what he had done and quietly, the issue went away. Till now, no complaint has been lodged against me regarding the declaration of assets I made at that time.
As a people, we have found ourselves in the place where we don’t trust our leaders anymore.
While trust has been eroded truly, we as a people should encourage leaders who try to do the right thing.
I appeal to us to use the same energy that we use to criticize bad leadership to applaud good ones.
When you applaud people who do the right thing, you encourage them to stay on the right path and you make the ones who aren’t doing the right thing to sit up and get on board too.
However, when you distrust the ones who are trying to do the right thing then what incentive do they have to do the right thing when – eventually – you’d still lump them up with those who don’t do the right thing?
It is very hot in there and anyone who comes out unhurt must have a lot of scars inside of them.
In Naira marley’s voice……It is not for children.
(join me every Wednesday at 6pm, as I share with you personal stories from my journey so far and the lessons I have learned from them)
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