Governor Seyi Makinde’s recent approval of ₦45 million for the Oyo State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OYSACA) has drawn harsh criticism, with many describing the allocation as tokenistic when compared to the billions his administration has earmarked for luxury projects.
Speaking through his deputy, Bayo Lawal, at the inauguration of OYSACA Ambassadors in Ibadan, Makinde reaffirmed his commitment to reducing HIV prevalence in the state. The ambassadors, including Shina Peller and Ayo Ladigbolu, are tasked with driving awareness, prevention, and treatment campaigns.
But critics note that the ₦45 million allocation stands in sharp contrast to the ₦63.5 billion recently approved by the Oyo State Executive Council for the renovation of the Agodi Government House—a project already upgraded in 2017 under the Ajimobi administration. The same government also budgeted ₦132 million for professional gardeners to maintain the complex, and ₦14.3 billion for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Ibadan Airport—expenditures widely condemned as misplaced priorities (insideoyo.com, thesourceng.com).
To put this into perspective:
The ₦132 million for gardeners is nearly three times the HIV/AIDS budget.
The ₦14.3 billion ILS purchase is more than 300 times the HIV/AIDS budget.
The ₦63.5 billion Government House renovation is a staggering 1,400 times larger than the HIV/AIDS allocation.
Public health analysts and opposition voices have branded the governor’s move as financial recklessness and insensitivity, questioning how a state battling pressing health challenges can justify spending astronomical sums on cosmetic projects while allocating crumbs to life-saving initiatives.
With thousands of Oyo residents living with HIV/AIDS, critics argue that Governor Makinde’s budget choices expose a government more focused on prestige projects than the health and survival of its people.
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