By Temitope Adedeji, Akure
Indigenes of Ondo State have expressed mixed feelings over the appointment of a 26-year-old non-indigene from Imo state, the home town of Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, as Special Assistant on Gender, Research, and Documentation to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
Some of the residents who expressed shock and disappointment over the development said the appointment of Miss Ugochi-Igbo was a slap on hard-working indigenes of the state, as well as loyalists of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State, who worked tirelessly for the actualization of the present government
The appointment of Miss Ugochi-Igbo, an indigene of Imo State had earlier been announced by Segun Ajiboye, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor.
It was gathered that Miss Ugochi-Igbo, who recently completed her one year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) got the appointment due to her close ties with the governor’s wife, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, who also hails from Imo State.
Speaking on her appointment, a resident of the State, Wole Babalola described the move as a deliberate slap on the faces of APC members who he said were yet to be compensated for their unquantifiable role towards ensuring that Akeredolu was elected as governor.
According to Babalola, he said that the appointment had further dampened the morale of other party members, particularly youths across the various wards.
“I’ve never seen a thing like this. It seems the governor is now telling us to our faces that we don’t amount to anything despite our commitments and loyalty to him.
“I have never heard about name of this new appointee. She contributed nothing to the campaign. Now she is reaping from our sweat just because she is close to Betty. They are even saying that she is just her make-up artist. Can you just imagine,” he said.
He said further that many of the Facebook supporters of Akeredolu never see anything wrong in this but rather raining abusive words on anyone that tries to correct their anomalies.
“Most of them have been doing this for more than two years now and not even a single appointment has been given to them. They are always here receiving insults here and there while defending the indefensible
“They need better orientation and prayers because it seems their own destiny doesn’t deserve good things aside defending rubbish and being insulted for it.”
However, some residents of the state stressed that there was nothing wrong with regards to the appointment.
According to them, competence should be the over-riding factor when it comes to appointment which they said that the governor must have seen.
