A two-time governorship candidate in Ondo State and an aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress for the November 16 governorship election in the state, Olusola Oke (SAN), has said his primary mission in politics is the compelling and urgent need to liberate the people of the coastal state from leadership ineptitude and underdevelopment.
Recall that Oke was a governorship candidate in Ondo in the 2012 and 2016 gubernatorial elections, and came respectively second and third in both the 2012 and 2016 elections, first on the platform of the PDP and then Alliance for Democracy (AD).
From Ilaje, the second most populous local government in the state, he left the APC in October 2017 after a controversial primary election which produced the incumbent governor, but rejoined in January 2018.
However, speaking with Journalists in Akure the state capital at the weekend, on his governorship ambition, the former Commissioner who represented Ondo State on the Governing Board of NDDC, lamented that despite Ondo’s natural endowment the state has remained largely economically handicapped, humanly underdeveloped, educationally static and socially sterile with the majority of the population ravaged by poverty.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria who represented Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives in 1992 said: “I am bearing heavy burden of vicious circle of poverty.Ondo State is blessed with natural, mineral, agricultural and abundant human resources, yet, today it is one state in Nigeria that is under the heavy burden of backwardness, and burden of poverty.
“We are in deficit in many respect. In the education sector, there is a wide gap, yarning to be filled. In the health sector, we are lagging behind. I was myself, a living witness to this recently when I was involved in a ghastly accident and was taken to the Trauma Centre in Ondo. My experience during my short stay there showed that Ondo State is far behind in the health sector and I know that nothing is happening in the road sector, in terms of road network. We can’t boast of any dualized 10km road in this state.
“Because of the gap in development, unemployment gap is widening everyday. Yearly, we produce not less than 15,000 graduates but three per cent of them are absorbed because there are no employers.
” In the begging in this state, there was Ifon ceramics company, there was Cocoa industry in Ile-Oluji, there was Oluwa glass, there Oil meal and a host of others that were complementing efforts of government in terms of employment but all these have become history and news ones aren’t coming up. Our economy today has become a civil service economy. Our people leave mostly on transfer payment.”
The former Chairman and of Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC), explained that he has a bold and strategic comprehensive plan of action, aimed at reinvigorating key areas of the state’s local economy, to spur economic growth, generate productivity and prosperity and improve the standard of living for the people of the sunshine state.
“Ondo State needs a leader with vision, direction with sense of commitment not coming to fill any gap but to serve the people and what I’m looking for now is legacy because whether we like it or not, Ondo state is a state of war at this moment and we need a doged fighter with a mission, direction and vision who will be able to change the narrative of our dear state.
“I believe that government can open opportunity towards tapping our minerals resources, which will generate employment that will reduce criminality in our society and even generate income for our people. So the state is in its total state of collapse.
“I had all my education in the rural area, I am a part of the people, I understand their suffering, I had suffered a lot with them, my involvement in the recent accident had nothing to do other than bad road. So having suffered with them, I belief I am the right man for the job.The next governor of Ondo State must be a determined and focused person that will ready to do the work.
Besides, Oke vowed to defeat the incumbent governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa during the APC primary slated for April, stressing he’s banking on his popularity, capacity, acceptability and experience.
“I know President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is one man that will never sit down in the comfort of his office or private room to drop a candidate or an aspirant of the party but he will consider acceptability, popularity, capacity and other factors that could make the party win and excell in governance.
“I am confident that when all these factors are put on the table, I would be the most qualified person among other aspirants. Also the status of the aspirants, experiences, qualifications and other considerations would be put into consideration. So, I belief very strongly that the factors that will determine the next governor of Ondo State would include antecedent, level of acceptability by the people and contribution to the party.”
Fidelis David in Akure
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