by Akin Osuntokun

Everything about the contemporary state of Osun State is fevered and frenzied. From the superfluous rechristening of Osun State to the state of Osun; to the self-destructive and the even more superfluous instigation of religious fracturing; to the impossible to ignore landmark infrastructural development accomplishment, the state has become a byword for chaos and seem headed for political implosion.

There are two transportation modes by which you can get to Lagos from Abuja, by air and by road.

For most people, economics and frequency of toing and froing are the determinant factors for either choice. The overwhelming majority who cannot afford the flight fares travel by road not out of choice but of compulsion. A return flight these days is roughly the equivalent of the middle cadre public servant’s monthly salary.

The rich and the brave go by air. I don’t fall in either category. My preference is solely determined by a personal idiosyncrasy. First I’m a control freak and so I balk at any situation that portends a total lack of control and pitches me at the complete mercy of another man. Second is that I’m a nature person, the more natural a situation the more comfortable and relaxed I will be and vice versa. Third is that there is no parking space in the air. Should your aircraft develop a fault en route, repair will have to wait till you reach terra firma at the nearest airport. Fourth is that Nigerian pilots and airline operators do not, to a large extent share the same logic with passengers on which comes first — life or blind pursuit of breaking even and maximise profit. If you add all these factors together, it all amounts to three loaded words — phobia for flying.

It is not always a good trait to have an imagination that ranges unrestrainedly far and wide as mine usually does.

What if the worst case scenario happens?

What if the pilot runs mad for just one second?

I hope you have heard, earlier in the week, the proof-positive news of how an Ethiopian Airlines pilot hijacked his own plane-can you beat that? My friend Ado Sanusi undergoes HIV screening test every quarter to determine whether he has any cause to be pessimistic about life. The purpose of the mandatory screening is to ensure that pilots (Ado is one) are not suicidal but have large appetite for continued existence on mother earth. I’m canvassing the proposition that flying is far from natural, it is against the law of gravity and there is no earthly reason why flying should come naturally to any individual unless that person is a wizard or witch — the succubus-incubus bearing transgender birds of the night — if you know what I mean. My friend Jide Adeniji calls them the air forces. Moreover, levitation is considered a magical not physical art.

On the occasions that I cannot avoid the ordeal of flying I pray ceaselessly through the night as we are enjoined to do in moments of perceived imminent danger-‘keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings’… Rare is that flight within Nigeria that is not a special event.

To underscore my neurosis about flying in Nigeria I got another incriminating validation the last time I ventured near a plane. The plane that was expected to take us from Abuja to Lagos was delayed for about an hour, but less than 10 minutes of its arrival we were shepherded into the aircraft. The pilot was obviously in a hurry to depart because as it later transpired he wanted to beat the descending cumulus rain cloud that was building in the horizon. It was a situation perfectly designed to provoke my panic attack mode.

Notwithstanding the inclement weather the pilot took off and precisely as expected the storm we ran into and the terror it excited was best imagined. For almost five minutes the plane wrestled and tangoed with the demons of the stormy clouds. As the dare-devil foolhardy contestation with the elements subsided, the pilot acknowledged the hazard we went through with a solemn apology to a rattled and rankled audience.

A fellow reluctant flyer, Lekan, who shares my morbidity reasoned the other day that it is wrong of pilots, at points of embarkation, to invite passengers to enjoy the flight. He proposed and I agree with him 100 per cent that the more appropriate salutation should be ladies and gentlemen, please endure (not enjoy) your flight.

In the light of this weighty consolidated  evidence I became thoroughly persuaded of the wisdom of standing with the option of travelling by road. I theorise that since I always have many calls to make in the South-west, beginning with the obligatory call at my country home in Ekiti and the need to have a car at my disposal, there really was no point going by air. One unintended consequence of this choice is that I have become a well- informed pundit on the state of road development and dilapidation-and to some extent, general infrastructural development in the spatial temporal divide between Abuja and Lagos.

The other fallout was the observation I made of an embarrassing false prediction by the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) on the inevitability of another round of severe erosion and flooding last year in the Abuja-Lokoja corridor. From my vantage pundit position, I can now report that the prospects of road travel are on the upswing.

I know that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and others who are allergic to any good report on the federal government may not like this but I cannot deny the evidence of my eyes. The drive from my home to Gwagwalada, on the first leg of the journey, can pass for an experience of plying the autobahn in Germany. The nerve wracking bottleneck in ‘Gwagwalada occasioning hours of traffic gridlock and nervous breakdown had all but disappeared; while the residual module to Lokoja records daily improvement and standardisation.

The cause for hope is that the roads hum ceaselessly with the rumble of caterpillars and bulldozers all the way to Lagos. The massive reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts culminate in the ongoing renewal of the prima donna of Nigerian road network- the Lagos-Ibadan express way. It is not all about the federal government. Along the way I pay keen attention and sometimes my attention gets pulled to efforts being made by governments of the states we pass through, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Ogun States.

It has become an established tradition that once you enter the domain of the state governors especially those of Ondo and Ogun, you are liable to get corralled into impromptu whirlwind inspection tours showing off newly added projects and achievements. If there is any such pathology called project inspection fatigue syndrome it would adequately capture the physical exhaustion I now experience on my visits to Akure. I protest in vain that there is no longer any need to preach to the converted. Heedless you are bundled with the chief servant, at all hours of the day and night, to bear witness to additional governance ‘bragging rights’.

Ogun State replicates the governance exhibition culture of Ondo State. The sheer magnitude of the urban renewal projects is compelling and believe me if you have only one hour to spend with Governor Ibikunle Amosun, he will squeeze from you another hour to be taken round and behold how Abeokuta is throbbing with cranes and excavators. My uncle Akinjide Osuntokun has lived the better part of his life in Ibadan which qualifies him to bear authoritative witness to the infrastructural development history of the historic town.

If I accept to view Oyo State through the prism of his lenses I will be compelled to give kudos to Governor Abiola Ajimobi for giving a befitting functional look to Ibadan.

Everything about the contemporary state of Osun State is fevered and frenzied. From the superfluous rechristening of Osun State to the state of Osun; to the self-destructive and the even more superfluous instigation of religious fracturing; to the impossible to ignore landmark infrastructural development accomplishment, the state has become a byword for chaos and seem headed for political implosion.

I fight shy of passing judgment on the governance of Ekiti State not the least for the reason that it is my state and Governor Kayode Fayemi is a personal friend.

It also matters that we are not members of the same party and we will be squaring up against him in the ‘early rains’ governorship election in June. More significant however is that I object and specifically criticise him for committing considerable resources to a project that shouldn’t  be a priority in the context of the very scarce resources of a poor state like Ekiti — building a new governor’s mansion.

His current residence is named after my father and called Oduola Osuntokun lodge. I’m concerned that my objection be judged strictly on its merit and not be conflated with the politics of what gets named after who. The family already feels honoured enough.

Like his colleagues, Fayemi has added value to the governance of Ekiti State but the question that begs asking borders on the cost-benefit analysis of the alleged unprecedented borrowing to finance development.

All the APC governors are united in the proclivity for tapping the capital market in a manner that rouses considerable anxiety.

This is going to be the central theme of soap box polemics in the election season that is upon us. Whatever is flaunted as achievements would have to be measured against the spiralling indebtedness incurred for this purpose.

The scandalous figures being bandied around are most likely exaggerations but the governors will have their day publically tallying the figures.

The persistent extenuation marshalled in defence of the former Aviation Minister, Ms Stella Oduah, was the visible rehabilitation and renovation she effected on the major airport terminals that were in various stages of disrepair. But then the question was and remains at what cost? It is a question that has to be comprehensively and satisfactorily answered to enable beneficiaries to determine whether they got value for money. It is far from being a commendable effort were we to learn, for instance, that Nigeria picked a $1 billion bill for the project. This is going to be the template for adjudging the stewardship of our friends and brothers who are privileged to hold the lofty office of governor in trust for us.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.