From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A former governor of Ogun State and the Ogun East senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2003 general election, Gbenga Daniel, has disclosed that his desire to stimulate development at the grassroots with quality representation and effective legislation, has been the motivation behind his aspiration to the National Assembly.
He made this disclosure while speaking at Ojowo, Ijebu-Ife, during an empowerment and award of scholarships to indigent students in Ijebu East Local Government Area of the state which climaxed his ward-to-ward tour of the council.
Daniel, who noted that Ijebu East LG has the largest bitumen deposits in Nigeria, called on the Federal Government to invest in the local exploration and development of bitumen to enable the country to create more jobs and preserve its foreign exchange.
He observed that the diversification of Nigeria’s economy would receive a boost with the local production of bitumen which is a crucial raw material used in road construction.
The former governor, however, expressed his determination to work with relevant agencies towards opening the extractive industry for more opportunities.
He said, “This is where we have the largest bitumen deposits in Nigeria. We intend to appeal to the Federal Government to expend money for the development of bitumen in this area. Even if we do not have crude oil here, it is clear that we have bitumen.
“I, therefore, implore the Federal Government to invest in the exploration and development of the bitumen industry in this Ijebu East Local Government. I’m saying that whereas the governor is doing his best, we need to find a way of supporting him and other governors with the correct kind of legislation.
“Current statistics show that while Nigeria has a total bitumen reserve size of 42.74 billion metric tonnes that have remained unexploited for years, the country relies on importation for bitumen and other major road construction materials”.
Speaking further, Daniel restated the imperative of activating the Local Government Autonomy Bill in order to make the nation’s third tier of government fully functioning and accelerate the pace of development at the grassroots.
“In the last one week, I have been in this local government every day from ward to ward. We have seen the problems and we are saying that not until the local government is empowered and given financial autonomy, there can be no development. That is one of the reasons why some of us want to run for the senate to ensure that this Local Government Autonomy Bill is activated,” he added.
The former governor also harped on a mandatory health insurance scheme for Nigerian workers. He noted that such welfare initiatives must be encouraged as obtainable in many developed countries of the world.
“Part of the problems that we have in our country is health care delivery. When you go to other locations in the world, there is medical insurance and anybody who is employed compulsorily must be part and parcel of the medical insurance.
“We know that not many Nigerians are employed but even the few that are employed, when they fall sick they are helpless. But where we have mandatory medical insurance, our workers can get the necessary help. Those are some of the things we want to pursue in Abuja”, he stated further.
The APC senatorial hopeful also toured several communities in Ijebu East, including Ajebandele, Imobi, Itele, Ogbere, Eyin Osun, Ife, Ijebu Imushin, Ikija and Owu, where he solicited massive support for all APC candidates in the 2023 polls.
Dignitaries at the event included the lawmaker representing Remo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Adewunmi Onanuga; Chairman, Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo; some members of the Ogun State House of Assembly, notable APC chieftains and traditional chiefs as well as community leaders.