Ondo 2020: Why I’m after Akeredolu’s job in Alagbaka- Egunjobi

Adeyinka Egunjobi, who once contested for the ticket of Akoko North-East state constituency, speaks with DAPO FALADE on his governorship ambition and declares that the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) needs a new breathe of life.

Egunjobi, Sileto

During the last elections in Ondo State, you contested to represent Akoko North-East state constituency in the House of Assembly on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and lost. Why did you think you are good for the governorship race this time around?

The experience was an eye-opening one. It really afforded me the opportunity to see and realise the need for quality leadership in the state at a very close range. The experience also exposed me to the hypocrisy of our leaders at the level of party administration.

I was particularly disturbed that a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a sitting governor can disregard party guidelines and regulations and encourage undemocratic means of selecting party candidates for the House of Assembly election.

However, this act by the powers-that-be has enabled me to interact at close range with other aggrieved aspirant across the state who were cheated and denied the opportunity of testing their popularity at the primary. Today in Ondo State, this group of politicians, along with the vast majority of our abandoned party men and women, are the largest political structure in the state. By the grace of God and with the support of my political block across the state, I am going to emerge as the All Progressives Congress (APC) standard-bearer in next year’s governorship election in Ondo State.

The governorship seat is the highest office at the state level. Don’t you think this is a tall order, given that you have not held any political post before now?

I have held several political and corporate positions right from my school days till now. If it is about service to our people and not for self-agradisement, it is never a tall order. The good people of our dear state are looking for a young, vibrant, unpolluted, incorruptible and purposeful leader to be their governor. All these aspirations can be realised through me. I have what it requires to take the state out of its sleeping mode into a more prosperous state.

I am ready to use my youthful energy, enthusiasm, strength and mental alertness to make Ondo State better for all of us. I am old enough, educated enough, experienced enough, prepared and very ready to be the governor of the state in 2020.

Do you think you stand a chance, given that the incumbent governor is interested in a second term?

If the incumbent feels he has delivered on his promises and the people are happy with him, that means his feedback mechanism is faulty. My chance is very bright, indeed. The vast majority of the people of the state are disenchanted with the unsatisfactory level of development in the state. There is a total breakdown of trust between the people and the government in power. The election will be a referendum on the incumbent as he is spent already and will be easily discarded for ample evident non-performance reasons. Youths, market women and men, traditional rulers, farmers, civil servants and artisans, having been fed up, are the ones calling upon God to anoint me as their governor. Our party is in disarray; our party men and women are treated like fugitives within the government. I am a unifying factor that represents the aggrieved aspirants and the forgotten members of the APC that formed the grassroots and are the party pillars.

What are you bringing on board for the state?

I will bring on board a breath of fresh air and a radical departure from every wrong of the past. I will ensure that Ondo State becomes the destination of choice for both local and foreign investors. I will simplify the ease of doing business in our state by deploying technology and retraining of our civil servants to guarantee prompt and quality service delivery.

Security of lives and properties will be given the topmost priority by engaging the locals, deploying technology and providing of necessary weapons and motivating security personnel.

I will harness the energy of our youths, their enthusiasm, intellectual and physical abilities to drive our industrial, agricultural, entertainment and sports revolution to create massive jobs for our teeming population.

Programmes such as youth talent discovery, talent horning and harnessing, will be vigorously pursue in all areas of human endeavours. Our market woman will be organised into cooperatives for easy access to interest free revolving loans to support and expand their businesses. For the elderly, a social security will be provided.

Our educational system will become more functional and tailored to the needs and challenges of the 21st Century. Existing infrastructure will be upgraded; teachers and non-teaching staff welfare will be attention. Technical and vocational education will be accorded the priority it deserved. Education will become affordable for all. Ondo State will become a hub for medical tourism in Nigeria. Our health institutions will be upgraded; medical professionals will be retrained and their comfort will be well taken care of. Alternative medicine will be regulated and encouraged by my administration.

Rural communities will be connected to the urban centres through good roads network and provision of basic social amenities. Food security will be given top priority. We shall create massive jobs opportunities through agriculture and agro-allied industries. Our farmers will be exposed to modern farming technique and experts, improved seedlings and fertilizer. Land will be available for agricultural purposes. We will deploy technology in our revenue generation by blocking leakages and we will encourage more of our people to pay their taxes. As a government, we will be prudent in the management of our common resources in our care for the good of all.

You have been endorsed by a socio-political youth group, the Ondo State Youth for Good Governance (OSYGG). How do you think this will help your aspiration?

The Ondo State Youth for Good Governance is one of the several groups within the state that has publicly endorsed my candidature. Others have done so in private and are waiting for the right moment to make it public.

Highly-placed sons and daughters of our dear state are massively backing my aspirations. My ambition is divinely ordained and for this purpose I was born.

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