From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The governorship candidate of the Action Alliance and a notable Entrepreneur in the country, Mr Olayinka Braimoh has said if elected in the November 11 Kogi governorship election, he would generate over ₦200 billion to the state on tourism alone in every single year of his administration.
Braimoh made this declaration Tuesday when he visited the mountain top of Agbaja Plateau in the Oworo district of lokoja local government area which is about 20 km to the state capital and about 300 km to Abuja, the federal capital.
The governorship hopeful said if elected , he would make tourism one of his thematic areas of concentration which he would use to attract local and international tourists inorder to generate huge resources to the state and create employment opportunities for the teeming youths.
Braimoh had earlier visited the Mount Patti which is about 1,500 feet to the sea level and where the first Governor– general of Nigeria, Lord Fredrick Lugard had his residence and rest room also visited the massive Omi dam in Yagba West local government area of the state and the Confluence centre, lokoja where the River Niger and River Benue meet, among others
Braimoh said he was always pained and in great distress to see Kogi state poor and it’s citizens wallowing in squalor and excruciating poverty inspite of the huge resources and opportunities in the state that can be converted to wealth creation to better the lots of the masses
According to him, if given the opportunity to govern the state he would put smiles on the faces of the residents by turning these sites to money making ventures which will attract no fewer than two million tourists to the state with in a year with over #200 billion as dividends and over 10 million local and international visits in four years which will attract thrillions of Naira to the state.
The Action Alliance governorship candidate, said the state was suffering due to lack of visionary leadership and said development does not occur by wishful thinking or happenstance but by co- ordinated, intentional and multifaceted approach carried out by a visionary leader , which he said he was ready to provide
He said Dubai was a desert but was converted to tourists’ centre by a visionary leader stressing that if elected he would build International resort centres , Golf course, holiday inns , conference and retreat centres on both Mount Patti and the Agbaja Plateau which will rake in millions of dollars to the state.
He said Omi dam will be converted into an irrigation center where a beehive of farming activities will take place and millions of tons of perbioled rice and other farm produce will be processed and sold locally while the rest will be exported to other countries to generate revenue for the state
In all these potential tourists’ sites, Braimoh added that he will create macamadised roads and build social amenities to open up the areas to the outside worlds which will in turn create employment opportunities and drive in cash to the state with ordinary citizens been self sufficient without looking up to government.
Braimoh who said he will create wealth and distribute wealth to the people in order to develop the state and make it one of the best in the country added that God has given Kogi state all the necessary mineral deposits, tourists’ sites and good topography and that kogi has no business with poverty if a selfless visionary leader is elected.
The Action Alliance governorship candidate therefore urged kogites not to allow this opportunity to slip away again but urged them to look critically into the background of each governorship candidate to elect who will create wealth and happiness and not those who will spread poverty and sickness.