By Ken Afor
Chief Olusola Ebiseni, a prominent candidate for the governorship ticket in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State and the Secretary General of the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, has said that the upcoming election will be a pivotal moment for the state.
A lawyer and former commissioner, Ebiseni firmly expressed firm belief that the citizens of Ondo State are well aware of their genuine leaders.
According to him, Ondo has had the privilege of being led by governors who are not only intellectually sophisticated but also deeply knowledgeable in their chosen careers, having received a thorough education and training.
He said, “If you follow the trajectory of governance from the Ajasin era, our state, has had a rare privilege of being governed by governors who are not only intellectually suave, grounded in their chosen careers, thoroughly-bred, and groomed in the ideology of the Awolowo school of thought which defines our welfarist programmes with which our people and politics have been identified.
“Besides Ondo State people are very proud and having produced Ajasin, Adefarati, Agagu, Mimiko and Akeredolu who were and are men who gave our state delightful corporate image in the comity of governors must always strive, like one of the leaders of the party told me when I visited him on consultations, to maintain such standards.”
Ebiseni further said that to bring meaningful development into the state, the new leader must be acquainted with the terrain and the people.
According to him, this understanding would enable the elected individual to ensure a fair distribution of the state’s wealth.
“Development of our state also requires being fully acquainted with the territory and the people.
“Such knowledge affords the new manager the opportunity of the location of resources, creates wealth from there and fairly allocates the same without undue concentration in one or few places.
“From serving as an elected Local Government Chairman, to being Commissioner three times in the strategic Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, we have comparative advantage in the knowledge of the state and the geopolitical distribution of its natural resources.
“These include oil and gas, forestry resources, economic crops, solid minerals.
“Diversification of the economy of the state from over-reliance on the federation account is the only means of getting out of the woods and must be prioritized.
“There is a creative way of developing our resources within the provisions of the Constitution.
“Certain social services which sets our state apart ideologically and which have been discontinued or totally abandoned must be resuscitated in terms of quality and affordable education and health services including the Mother and Child hospitals which will be fairly extended in the zones and many of such welfare programmes.
“It is a cheap petit-bourgeois mind-set to argue that the state cannot afford such existential programmes. I was privileged to be part of the team that accomplished this for the state.
Ebiseni who was a delegate at the 2014 National Conference hinted that Afenifere will join others in restructuring the country
“As the Secretary General of Afenifere, we shall join forces with progressive forces for restructuring the Federation for true federalism,” he added.
According to the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the Ondo State governorship election is scheduled for Saturday, November 21, 2024.
