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Ayo Alonge
A leading All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship contender in Ondo State, Chief Olayide Owolabi Adelami, has unveiled his development plan for the state ahead of the party’s July primaries.
The 10-point plan rolled out on Wednesday covers security, agriculture, health, local government autonomy, education, youth development, industrialisation, economy, social insurance scheme and women empowerment.
Regarding security, Adelami says fewer ‘resources will be spent if security breaches are prevented from happening rather than deploying the DSS, police, civil defence and the military after a crime had been committed.’
The aspirant’s preventive security plan aims to increase the crime prevention and intelligence gathering capacity of security agencies in the state. The agenda also intends to keep young people susceptible to criminal activity engaged in legitimate economic ventures.
On agriculture, Adelami said: ‘Ondo State used to be the cash cow of the western region because it concentrated on the production of cash crops and it was so rewarding then. Oil is depleting now and we have no other option than to go back to agriculture. But one good thing is that the land will always cooperate with the people. Nothing could be more rewarding than agriculture because it has a long value chain.’
Speaking on local government autonomy, the APC gubernatorial aspirant said: ‘I am one of the strong advocates of local government autonomy because of my background in the National Assembly. I don’t believe that the local governments have no capacity to manage their funds. I don’t believe this reason is genuine enough. I believe in human capital development. It is my priority to allow the local government to take a prominent position.’
On the issue of capital flight in Ondo State, Adelami said ‘local governments will use indigenous contractors and money is bound to circulate around the state through the local government areas.’
Lamenting the present state of the health sector in Ondo State, the governorship contender said he plans to ensure that only competent professionals are brought on board to man the health sector, adding that his ‘attention will be on affordable health care. The Mother and Child [Hospital] that was introduced by Governor Mimiko was very quality and free. It is suddenly no more free, and the quality has really gone down. We will look into this and consider the possibility of reviving the Mother And Child Hospital.’
His health plan, according to him, also involves looking into the NHIS law in order to get it domesticated. It also involves ensuring that the informal sector is captured in the Act. He said that he plans to create an Ondo State Universal Health Agency that will oversee the execution of the health sector programmes.
On the economic front, Adelami said a ‘Knowledge-driven economy will be instituted in Ondo State even if we can’t achieve it in my four-year term. But I will make sure I lay a good foundation for its actualization.’
Regarding Education, Adelami’s said he plans to look into the quality and number of teachers, referencing news that no teacher has been employed in the state in the last 11 years.
He decried what he characterised as the poor morale of teachers in the state, citing resignations, retirements and deaths.
‘We are going to ensure that schools are adequately staffed and prominence will be given to supervision. We are going to revive and revitalise the school inspectorate. The nooks and crannies of the state will be visited by the inspectors to make sure that the right thing is being done and the best education is being given,’ he said.
On youth development, Adelami said the ‘Government of Ondo State is doing nothing about the youths even as they rot away. The focus of this government is tarring of urban roads and not even the rural roads that have synergetic impacts on the economy.’
Adelami said he intends to explore ICT, Agro business, Skills Acquisition and Commerce to absorb as many of jobless youths in the state.
In regards to industrializing the state, Adelami mentioned that the ‘resources of Ondo State will be brought to the fore while irresistible incentives will be designed to attract investors. Security of lives, funds and properties of investors will also be fully addressed. To further convince the investors, the government may have an additional investment aside land, but it will not be more than 15%.
‘Once the companies begin to make a profit, government equity in the companies will be advertised for sale and preference will be given to Ondo State indigenes to buy out the equity. Ondo State may retain not more than 5% of the equity.’
In addressing Women Empowerment, the governorship contender stated: ‘I am women-centric and I have seen that women are very vulnerable when it comes to economic interplay in the society. The most vulnerable amongst the women are the widows. This explains why we have been providing interventions for widows from 2004 to date.’
He said he plans to accommodate a good percentage of women in government, if he is elected, as part of other inclusion initiatives.
