Don’t politicise fertilizer, Osun group tells Adeleke

Osun-based rights group, The Osun Masterminds on Sunday continued its war of words with the state governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed on the appropriate mode that should be adopted for the distribution of bags of fertilizer received from the Federal Government by the state.

The group’s Executive Director, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, while reading the group’s monthly State of Osun address for June, disclosed that 11 truckloads of fertilizer had been received by the state.

Oyedokun-Alli, subsequently advised the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, to ensure fairness in the distribution of the items.

But Rasheed while responding said the fertilizer was received only last Friday, adding that the Ministry in charge had announced the receipt of the item to the public.

“How do you start sharing fertilizers that are still arriving in the state? What better way to be transparent than the statement from the state government on arrivals including the number of trucks?

“We note that the group is being mischievous and partisan as usual as it still finds it hard to abandon its old roots as an appendage of the opposition during the pre-2022 election,” Rasheed said in his reaction.

Displeased by the statement, Oyedokun-Alli, in a statement on Sunday, while accusing Rasheed of always branding all critics of the governor as opposition element, further said “He unleashed the same pattern on us in his response to our June 2024 State of the State address, wherein we advised the Adeleke government to ensure fairness, transparency, and sincerity in the distribution of fertilizers recently disbursed to the States.

“We are aware that the fertilizers received constitute just the first batch of the total expected.

“We insist, however, that the distribution, whether of this first batch, or the entire batch, must be with fairness, transparency, and sincerity. There must be no political colouration to the distribution and only true farmers, especially in rural communities, must benefit.”