Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has labelled critics of his performance, especially on road infrastructure, as ‘barking dogs’.
In recent months, the governor had come under severe attacks on social media over the deplorable conditions of some roads in different parts of the state.
Many social media commentators had tagged the state as the ‘headquarters of bad roads’ in Nigeria with some of the communities bordering Lagos State considered the worst hit.
On Tuesday, the Department of State Services freed a pastor, Kayode Olawoye, alongside two of his associates who were detained following public outcry.
Olawoye became an internet sensation following his exposé on the poor state of some roads in Ogun State, which he had repeatedly drawn to the attention of the state government.
Amnesty International Nigeria, in a statement on Tuesday, condemned Olawoye’s detention, describing it as unlawful and an abuse of human rights.
The statement read: ‘The Nigerian authorities must end the incessant intimidation and harassment of Pastor Kayode Olawoye — a cleric widely known for advocating for better road infrastructure in Ogun State.
‘Subjecting such a peaceful advocate for good governance to bizarre intimidation by the Department of State Services is unlawful. The advocacy of Pastor Kayode is justified given the shocking and deplorable state of roads in Ogun — his state. Criticising Dapo Abiodun is not a crime.
‘The authorities have an obligation to uphold and protect fundamental human rights. Instead of investing in desperate attempts to punish activists, the government should be listening to them and doing more to address people’s concerns’.
At the commissioning of a 3.5-kilometre Prof. Wole Soyinka Train Station Road in Laderin, Abeokuta, on Tuesday, Abiodun described his critics as ‘barking dogs’, whom he said deserve no response.
‘We are a very deliberate administration. We will not pay attention to any barking dog. Like they say, nobody throws stones at unripe fruits.
‘So, anybody that decides to attack us on social media, we appreciate the fact that it is because of how intimidating this administration is.
‘So, we have no response for them. I will respond to them by commissioning roads every week for the next two months’, he said.
The governor said contrary to criticism, his government constructed about 1,600 kilometres of roads in the last six years.
He said: ‘In the last six years, my administration has constructed, at the minimum, 1,600 kilometres of roads, and that is not a joke. Then, I make bold to say that, at the risk of sounding immodest, that’s more roads than the two administrations before me constructed. They can come and contradict me because facts and figures don’t lie.
‘As we speak, we have at least 20 roads ready for commissioning across the three senatorial districts’.
On the newly commissioned road, the governor said that the length of the road does not matter, but its ‘complementary and impactful service’ does.
