By Olasupo Olakunori Michael
DG, Opomulero Group

Barrister Wale Obanigba is entitled to his opinion, but his latest attempt to discredit Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa’s achievements in the health sector is less an objective assessment and more a selective presentation of statistics designed to diminish what is evidently happening across Ondo State.

If Barrister Obanigba wants data, then let us talk about data.

If he wants reality, then let us talk about what citizens can actually see.

And if he wants to question the Governor’s healthcare record, then he must be prepared to explain how the recruitment of over 3,000 health workers by the Aiyedatiwa administration fits into his narrative of a government that has supposedly failed to address manpower challenges.

OVER 3,000 HEALTH WORKERS: WHAT DOES OBANIGBA CALL THAT?

The most glaring weakness in Barrister Obanigba’s argument is his attempt to use manpower shortages to undermine an administration that has taken concrete steps to strengthen the manpower base of the health sector.

Governor Aiyedatiwa has employed over 3,000 health workers to strengthen healthcare delivery across Ondo State.

That is not a press release.

That is not political rhetoric.

Those are people entering the health system to provide services to citizens.

So when Obanigba cites complaints about doctor shortages without properly accounting for the massive recruitment and strengthening of the health workforce under Aiyedatiwa, he is presenting only half of the story.

And half-truths do not become objective analysis simply because they are surrounded by statistics.

If the health sector had manpower challenges—and it did—what exactly should a responsible government do?

Recruit more workers.

And that is what Governor Aiyedatiwa has done.

YOU CANNOT USE A PROBLEM TO HIDE THE SOLUTION

There is something fundamentally contradictory about Obanigba’s argument.

He says the state has manpower challenges, then conveniently fails to sufficiently acknowledge the administration’s response to that challenge.

That is like complaining that a hospital needs more doctors while deliberately ignoring the doctors government has recruited.

Nobody is saying Ondo State has solved every healthcare challenge.

But there is a world of difference between “there are still challenges” and “government has not performed.”

Obanigba appears determined to move from the first conclusion to the second without establishing the connection.

That is where his argument collapses.

AIYEDATIWA DID NOT INHERIT A PERFECT HEALTH SYSTEM

Let us also stop pretending that healthcare challenges in Ondo State began with Governor Aiyedatiwa.

They did not.

Nigeria is facing a nationwide healthcare manpower crisis, including the migration of doctors and other professionals. Ondo State is not an isolated island.

Yet, rather than hide behind the national crisis, the Aiyedatiwa administration has been taking practical steps to strengthen the sector.

The recruitment of over 3,000 health workers is one of those steps.

Investment in healthcare infrastructure is another.

Medical equipment is another.

Improved health-worker interventions are another.

Primary healthcare interventions are another.

The activation of critical medical infrastructure, including oxygen facilities, is another.

So the attempt to reduce the entire healthcare performance of an administration to one ranking is intellectually lazy.

A SINGLE INDEX CANNOT BECOME THE SUPREME COURT OF HEALTHCARE PERFORMANCE

Obanigba repeatedly waves the 2025 Phillips Consulting State Performance Index as though it is the final and unquestionable verdict on Ondo State healthcare.

It is not.

No serious assessment of a healthcare system should rely on one index while ignoring actual government interventions, workforce expansion, infrastructure, equipment, maternal and child health programmes and institutional reforms.

If the survey says citizens are dissatisfied, government should listen.

But if government responds by recruiting thousands of health workers and investing in facilities, analysts should acknowledge that response.

You cannot quote a negative statistic with a megaphone and whisper the positive developments.

That is not objectivity.

That is selective analysis.

THE “MEDICAL MEECCA” ARGUMENT IS BEING DELIBERATELY MISREPRESENTED

Nobody is saying Ondo State has magically become the medical capital of Nigeria overnight.

The argument is that the state is making significant investments and positioning itself for stronger healthcare delivery.

There is a difference.

Obanigba appears to be deliberately interpreting a statement about direction and trajectory as a claim of perfection.

That is a convenient way to create an argument that was never made.

Governor Aiyedatiwa’s administration can be commended for moving the sector forward while simultaneously acknowledging that more work remains.

That is how serious governance assessment works.

3,000+ HEALTH WORKERS IS NOT A FOOTNOTE

Perhaps the most important point that must not be lost in this debate is the sheer significance of recruiting over 3,000 health workers.

Every additional doctor, nurse, midwife, medical laboratory scientist, pharmacist, community health worker and other health professional represents additional capacity within the system.

It means more hands.

More services.

More coverage.

More capacity to attend to patients.

More strength for hospitals and primary healthcare facilities.

And ultimately, a stronger health system.

Therefore, anyone genuinely interested in improving healthcare in Ondo should be asking how this recruitment can be sustained and expanded—not attempting to bury it beneath statistics selected to fit a political narrative.

CRITICISM IS WELCOME, BUT DISTORTION IS NOT

I have no problem with Barrister Obanigba criticizing the Aiyedatiwa administration.

That is democracy.

But criticism must be intellectually honest.

If you say healthcare manpower is inadequate, acknowledge the over 3,000 health workers recruited.

If you say infrastructure is insufficient, acknowledge the facilities and equipment being provided.

If you say healthcare access remains a challenge, acknowledge the interventions targeted at vulnerable citizens.

If you say more must be done, we agree.

But if your conclusion is that the government’s healthcare achievements should therefore be dismissed, then you are no longer providing balanced analysis.

You are prosecuting a political case.

AIYEDATIWA SHOULD BE CREDITED FOR WHAT HE IS DOING

Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa did not create every problem in Ondo State’s healthcare sector.

But he has accepted responsibility for improving it.

And the record shows action.

Over 3,000 health workers recruited.

Investment in healthcare infrastructure.

Improved medical facilities and equipment.

Interventions for healthcare workers.

Strengthening of primary healthcare.

Support for maternal and child healthcare.

Activation of critical medical infrastructure.

These are not imaginary achievements.

They are interventions that directly affect the capacity of the health system.

So, Barrister Obanigba may choose his preferred statistics.

We will choose the record.

He may choose to emphasize what remains to be done.

We will acknowledge what has been done and demand that the Governor does even more.

Because a government should not be condemned for having challenges; it should be judged by how seriously it confronts them.

And Governor Aiyedatiwa is confronting them.

The people of Ondo State are not blind. They can see the difference.

The Aiyedatiwa administration does not need exaggerated propaganda to prove its achievements, but neither will we allow selective statistics and political commentary to erase genuine progress.

If Obanigba wants reality, let him look beyond the headlines. The recruitment of over 3,000 health workers alone is enough evidence that this administration is not merely talking about strengthening healthcare—it is putting people into the system to make it work.

That is the Aiyedatiwa difference.

— Olasupo Olakunori Michael
DG, Opomulero Group