By Pascal Oparada
People are picking holes on Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s claim that he washed corpses in the United States to pay his tuition.
Eagle-eyed observers have quickly dismissed the governor’s claim as untrue and unrealistic based on facts.
Temitope Ariyike Ajayi in a facebook stated that the governor was barely 14 years old in 1963 when he traveled to the United United States of America having been born in 1949.
Under the Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA), the minimum age a teenager could get work is 14 years.
According to the Act, jobs for people under the age of 18 include retail occupations, magazine or newspaper delivery, racking leaves, food service such as washing and limited cooking and they are not allowed to work more than three hours daily.
The Act prohibits minors from doing jobs that expose them to hazards like working in funeral homes.
Then the issue of his secondary school education in Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan is also controversial. According to reports, Ajimobi is said to have written his West African School Certificate Examination (WASC) at the age of 13. This means he must have started his secondary school education at the age of eight.
Ajimobi had in a youth Summit in Osogbo, Osun State capital, said that he did menial jobs including washing corpses in America to raise money for his tuition.
His words: “I left Nigeria in 1963 to study abroad, but throughout my stay there, I was washing dead bodies to support myself to got to school”.
Ajimobi said that he wept when he remembers the number of corpses he washed for the day. He said that his parents only sent him $30 throughout his stay in America.
“I am saying this to challenge the next generation youth not to give up. This is our chance as youths, and as Yoruba, to come together to chart a successful pathway for the country”, Ajimobi said.
Critics of the governor’s claim said he did not calculate well before speaking.
“He never thought such utterances will come out of his mouth when he was busy reducing his age for political reasons. But now things do not add up,” said Ishmael Best-ish Sayi.
Foluke Akosile Lawof said: “Our own constituted authority. Guess he used his authority to get a job at the age of 14”.
Governor Ajimobi is not new to controversies having had a long standing fight with students over the closure of their schools for more than six months.
The governor was also seen in a viral video exchanging unpleasant words with protesting students.