The chief press secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, has revealed that the state government is in contact with the family of late former governor Abiola Ajimobi who died on June 25 in Lagos from COVID-19 complications to give him a befitting 8-day Fidau prayer.

OYOINSIGHT.COM understands that there have been reactions and counter-reactions over the handling of the burial of Ajimobi by the incumbent administration.

Adisa disclosed this today while featuring on BOTTOMLINE on IBR 92.5fm.

When asked why the state government chose to eulogized late Oba Adesoji Aderemi in a national daily when it did not give a befitting burial to the immediate past governor Ajimobi who served for eight years, he said “you must do things at the right time. Late Oba Adesoji Aderemi was not eulogized one week ago, or two months ago not because we have forgotten all the things that he did but because it was not the right time so we are going to do things at the right time. Even in burying, mourning and celebrating of the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, we still have to talk about the right time for the government to act. So, the government will determine the right time and the government is even determining the right time. As I speak with you, a committee of the state government is working with the family in line of trying to give him a befitting 8 day FIDAU and all that. So, I can tell you that.

“I can tell you that originally, the state government planned big for the deceased. Yes! He eventually died. We didn’t want him to die because his death is a big loss to the state a lot of people will not know. They kept on jumping up and down on the social media. They don’t know the details of it all. They don’t even know what his death meant to the state. It’s the people in government and the governor that know what his death meant and may be a few family members but we are not going to dwell on all that. We are just going to tell you that the state government is doing things the right time.

“At the right time, you were talking of publication, you are going to see publications. When you are talking of other steps. When he died, the governor was outside the state. He went for a party assignment in Benin. His instinct was to return to the state immediately and take charge of the burial programme as the chief mourner but the system of the family did not allow the governor to take charge because probably because they did not understand the enormity of the power of the governor which their late father wielded as the Governor. They didn’t understand the importance of the office he held as the governor of Oyo State,” he added.

“When you talk of Oyo State, you are talking of many countries put together and when we even talk about Nigeria that we can directly relate with, we are talking of a state that is bigger than the five states in the South East put together. You need to imbibe the enormity of the issue that you are engaging before you can actually appreciate what the problem or what the issues are and you are talking of someone who had governed that state and you want to treat him as somebody that we should be hearing of his death from third parties, you don’t do that. You treat him like an American President. When an American President dies, the family will not say one word until they reach the incumbent president because that will show that you give reference to the office that he holds. If you don’t do that, you have made a great mistake and those are the underlying issues. So, you are not talking of someone who had been a Baale in small cubicle. You are talking of someone who ran a state that is equal to five states in his own country put together. So, you have to reference the enormity of that office. So, if you don’t do that, you have got to take note that you have made a big mistake. Maybe the person did it in the heat of emotion but that is a big error. But when you don’t do that, you don’t go about not picking or not knowing when to call the incumbent people in office to intimate them of the death of their own person who has just passed on.

“It does not have to be the widow, it doesn’t have to be the child. A member of the family will call and the governor will set up a committee that will quickly take charge and take these things off the ground and you would have immediately seen the announcement coming from the state and not that third parties will be making the announcement. These were wrong steps taken in this case which shouldn’t have happened,” he explained.

When asked if any correction has been made in terms of bridging the communication gap between the state government and late Ajimobi’s immediate family, he said “the correction has not been made” but added that the state is pondering over a lot of errors in this matter because we are talking about life and death.

“A lot of people didn’t appreciate the relationship between him and Governor Seyi Makinde and that is we are seeing these things,” he added.