APC's Ajimobi Employs 5,300 Teachers, Mocks PDP's Fayose

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has taken a subtle swipe at his Ekiti State counterpart, Ayo Fayose, over his ‘stomach infrastructure’ slogan.

Speaking at the Obaseeku High School, Eruwa, on a tour of Ibarapa area, Ajimobi said his government's idea of stomach infrastructure was to get citizens gainfully employed, Daily Timesreports.

Ajimobi, who handed also distributed letters to new teachers, part of the 5,300 recently drafted into the state teaching service, said citizens would be able to feed their families.

In an obvious swipe at Fayose, Ajimobi said the Yoruba people are too sophisticated to depend on alms in the name of stomach infrastructure.

“The philosophy of our government is to make fishers of men through engaging them in jobs with which they can feed their families and thereby making them productive citizens,” he said, making an allusion to Jesus Christs and the conversion of Peter to a fisher of men.

The newly employed teachers are indigenes of Ibarapa, which the governor identified as a sign of his government's decision to empower youths from the area.

“We decided to localize the selection and employment of teachers so as to give opportunities to qualified teachers to teach in their communities and contribute to the development of the area, unlike it was done in past administrations which deployed teachers to various zones from Ibadan. We consider this unfair,” he said.

It will be recalled that Governor Fayose had on assumption of office popularised the ‘stomach infrastructure’ which he recently said will take care of all poverty related problems including unemployment.

“However, what we are working on is a total package including the health needs of the people," Fayose Special Assistant on Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, was quoted as saying in a Vanguard report.

“A man is not only poor by lacking the three basic needs of life such as food, shelter and clothing. Sickness can also render a man poor."

Ogunsuyi added that the "need for societies globally to eradicate or at least alleviate poverty cannot be over-emphasised."

“The Fayose administration is placing emphasis on making food abundant and that is why agriculture will be accorded top priority.”