Labaran Maku's Good Governance Tour Of Fraud..Soyinka Calls For Stoppage

Noble Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on Friday in Benin City, described the ongoing Good Governance Tour led by the Minister of Information and Orientation, Mr. Labaran Maku, as a big scam. Soyinka’s condemnation came barely twenty four hours after the opposition party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), called for the immediate stoppage of the tour.

Soyinka spoke to journalists at the Edo State Council Press Centre when he made an unscheduled inspection of the historical Benin Moat on which the fence of NUJ secretariat rests. Asked amongst other questions what was his impression of the federal government tour, Soyinka said, “I am happy that Oshiomhole told the leader of the Good Governance Tour, Labaran Maku, to go to hell. It is a big scam.”

It will be recalled that the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, had last weekend allegedly rejected a multi million naira proposal from the minister asking the state government to bankroll the Edo State leg of the tour after describing it as a waste of public fund.

Oshiomhole stated, “The resources accruable to the state cannot afford to accommodate the expenses of hosting the Minister of Information and his good governance tour team. Why should I take Edo State tax payers money to finance a federal government project?

I don’t need Abuja to help me to tell Edo State people what I am doing in the state. “Anytime a state official goes for official duty in Abuja, the state takes responsibilities for the expenses. So, I expect the federal government to finance its official tour.”

Saturday Mirror reliably gathered from Edo Government House that the proposed tour would have cost the state government about N180m, which the governor said he would find it hard to reconcile with his frugal government. Meanwhile, our correspondent also gathered that Soyinka, one of the foremost global voices, is advocating for the listing of the Benin Moat as a UNESCO heritage and site.