Mr Odunayo Oyewole Akinrinsola is an entrepreneur with local and international reach. The All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant, who is currently eyeing the governorship seat of Ondo State ahead next year’s gubernatorial contest in the state, speaks in this interview. BOLA BADMUS brings the excerpts:
THERE will be governorship election in Ondo State very soon as the incumbent governor, Olusegun Mimiko, is about completing his mandatory two terms in office. What is the situation on ground pertaining to the warm up to the exercise in the state?
I can tell you that a lot of aspirants are coming from the nooks and crannies of the state. I can also tell you that a lot of groups are springing up to agitate for their rights. People are talking about zoning or no zoning, there is nothing like zoning in the APC. As far as I am concerned, the state has to move forward. We have the incumbent governor there in person of Segun Mimiko, who is of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and in my party, the APC, we have quite a number of us who want to run for the same seat. So, what I can say now is that the atmosphere is becoming electrified and interesting; everything is channeled towards next year. We are all building ourselves; we are building up the campaign and strategy we want to use. So, that is exactly what is happening in Ondo State at the moment.
You are a governorship aspirant on APC platform. What prompted your decision to contest the seat?
We cannot sit on the fence and expect that one day our state would move forward.If you have been to the state, you will realise that the state lacks infrastructure, despite its abundant resources. We were clamoring for change at the federal level, which eventually happened. But we have not seen any change in Ondo. For close to eight years that the present governor has been there, you can’t really point to a significant developmental project that has been done. If you want to talk about roads, it is still the same road I grew up to know, which leads from Ondo to the capital, Akure. That is still the one there.
Also, the poverty level is so high to the extent that somebody, having accumulated state funds, has now turned himself to a godfather that people are now looking up to for crumbs to come down to them. As it is now, it is time for Ondo people to be liberated, so I have looked at all these things and realised that it will be nice for us to have new ideas; a purpose driven vision towards reviving the state.
From all you have said, you are creating an impression that Mimiko has not done anything for the state but after his first term in office, he was applauded, which eventually won him a second term. So, how do we juxtapose your claim and that of the people?
I want to correct an impression; it is not that Mimiko has not done anything, but there are several developmental areas which ought to impact in the people’s lives which he has not touched. If you look at the populace in general, the poverty level in the state is a clear indicator of what is on ground in the state presently. And what the people are clamouring for is that there should be improvement in their standard of living. They want employment and job opportunities; they want the environment to be conducive for business to thrive and for investors to come and invest. They want an environment where the youth can have things to do. There are various sustainable programmes other than sharing money; sustainable programme that graduates from the state can be rest assured that when they leave school, they can get jobs.
We are of the opinion that coming into the government; we want to do things that people can see and not cosmetic empowerment programme that we have seen over the years. Empowerment is beyond sharing money. If you want to distribute cash, people will take the cash and just spend it on what is not relevant and the next day, they will still come back. So what we are saying is let us teach people how to fish and not give them fish. I wouldn’t say Mimiko hasn’t done anything at all but I believe there is a room for greater improvement.
Mimiko would definitely want to bring on board a successor. Are you not afraid that the governor’s popularity may affect the chances of your party, the APC?
Personally, I am not afraid. Yes, the PDP may have its agenda; we also have our own plans and strategy too in the APC. If you’ve been able to get feedback from the people as regards the administration of Mimiko, then you will know what I am talking about. Another thing you should know is that Ondo has gone beyond somebody coming to impose a candidate on them. And the APC, which is my party, doesn’t even buy that idea. If indeed it is true that Mimiko’s PDP administration has performed like his loyalists are saying, the electorate would decide.
The leadership of the APC in the state has said there will be a level- playing field all aspirants to contest the primary. Would you want to rely on this word considering the fact that the party is believed to always impose candidate?
The people of Ondo can testify to the fact that the APC is a party of leadership by example. If you look at the way the party is being structured, you will agree with me that this is a party that understands the basic agitation of the people. The party believes that every electorate counts. So, I don’t have any doubt about what the leadership of the party has said that there will be a level- playing ground for all aspirants. The leadership of the party won’t do otherwise; there will be a level- playing ground for all the aspirants to prove themselves.
What is your reaction to the opinion that your party, the APC is a foreign party in Ondo and that it’s being controlled by people from outside the state?
That opinion is not true. If you look at the last presidential election, you will see that APC is not a foreign party in the state. It is a simple analogy of what APC is in the state at the moment. It is a platform that has grown beyond the imagination of any party in Nigeria. The APC has a well-structured platform that cuts across all the nooks and crannies of the state. As we are sitting here now, the state executive members are working. For the APC to have won in the presidential and National Assembly elections, why will anybody be saying that the party is a foreign party? I can’t even understand this, is APC a party registered in Ghana or India?
What should Ondo people expect in your first year in office, if you eventually emerge as the governor of the state?
If the people decide to make me governor, in my first year, we will make the state relevant and conducive for investors to come in. So, if I become the governor, I want to bring my business ideas, experience and exposure into running the government of the state. I will do everything to market the state in such a way that investors will be very willing to come in. Ondo State is blessed with vast land where industries can be sited.
From what we know, election into the position of governor will gulp a huge amount of money and there are people in Ondo who are loaded with cash preparing for the exercise. How prepared are you financially?
You said there are people in Ondo who are loaded with cash and are prepared. I want to make something clear. Loaded with cash is relative. Anything you want to do in life and you are not passionate about it, you can’t achieve it. I must confess to you, whatever we need to do as regards the coming election, it is going to be well taken care of. I am not rich. God is the only rich one, but for this election, I can tell you that I am fullyready financially, spiritually, morally, physically and politically. And I know that by the grace of God, we will be there.
To contest this kind of position in Nigeria, you must be a core party man. How active and strong would you say you are in the APC?
The APC is an amalgamation of some political parties. My being a party man dates back to the days of defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention and if you followed the trend, you will realize that at a point, the SDP metamorphosed into the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and later we moved to the Action Congress (AC) and later to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the amalgamation of parties like the CPC, ACN, ANPP and a faction of APGA gave birth to what we have as the APC today. I am not a new person in the system but the fact that I am a business man doesn’t mean that I am not a committed party man. To God be the glory, what you are seeing now is not something I just came up with. I have identified with this cause in various capacities as a law- abiding citizen over the years. I am a progressive at heart and by birth.
Source : Nigeria Tribune
