The Ondo Redemption Front (ORF) has alleged that there is a widening disconnect between the government and the governed in Ondo State.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the Chairman and Secretary of the group, Dr Ayodeji Ologun and Barrister Adedotun Ajulo, said there are cracks in the security, education, health, and infrastructure sectors of the state.

Speaking on insecurity, the group said the safety of lives and property remains the foremost duty of any responsible government. “Yet, in Ondo State, the situation is becoming increasingly worrisome.

“Within the Amotekun Corps, the State’s much-celebrated security outfit, morale is at an all-time low. A security personnel, uncertain of his tomorrow, cannot give his best today.”

On the issue of infrastructure, Ologun said the story remains one of unfulfilled promises and exaggerated claims. He said the much-publicised dualization of the Akure–Idanre Road was flagged off with great fanfare, sirens, and speeches.

“Yet, months after, the project drags on at a snail’s pace. Within the Akure metropolis, the inner roads are riddled with potholes, flooding, and neglect.

“Across the state from Ore to Ikare, from Owo to Okitipupa, the story is the same: roads abandoned, communities disconnected, and taxpayers shortchanged.

“With the enormous resources flowing into the state treasury from the federation account, the current level of infrastructure development cannot be justified.

“This administration lacks the capacity for strategic thinking, coherent planning, and sustainable implementation. It thrives on optics, not outcomes.

“Policies are announced without frameworks, projects are launched without designs, and initiatives are publicised without continuity.

“Ondo State is in dire need of leadership that can think beyond press releases, that can translate resources into real development, and that understands governance as service, not spectacle.”

The group reiterated that education remains the soul of development and urged the government to address welfare issues related to payment of salaries and other benefits to staff of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, (AAUA) and Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo.

The group also condemned the recent decision of the state government to transfer the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED) Teaching Hospital in Akure to the Federal Government.

“There is no law that forbids a state from operating two teaching hospitals. On the contrary, with our growing population and the fragile state of our healthcare system, what Ondo State needs is more, not fewer, tertiary health institutions.

“By surrendering one of its key medical facilities, the government has signalled weakness, not wisdom. A responsible government should strengthen its healthcare assets, not trade them off to cover its own inefficiency.”