Osun Governance: Oyetola Will Deliver On All Promises, Says APC Chieftain

Comrade Adeboye Adebayo is a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun state, Chairman of Asiwaju Grassroots Foundation Campaign Team for Oyetola (ACTO) and a Media Consultant at Reloaded Concepts. He spoke to us in this interview on the new administration of Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the new Governor of Osun. Excerpts:

Adeboye Adebayo

How can you describe the person of Governor Gboyega Oyetola?

Thank you, he Gboyega Oyetola is a calm and an intelligent leader, he is the newest governor in town, he is full of experience both in private and public sector, a good listener, a responsible and responsive leader, a disciplinarian, a good manager of man and resources, a seasoned administrator and he is the governor that will take Osun to the next level of development after our dear Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola had built some level of physical infrastructures.

Now that Osun is having a new governor, what can you say are the expectation of the people of Osun from the new government?

Let me say this, the expectations of our people are enormously enormous but what I can assure Osun people is that, though I am not the spoke man for the governor, however, as a stakeholder in the project Osun, as a major stakeholder in the success of this administration and as a major participatory  and contributory participant during the electioneering process, I can boldly say that HE Alhaji Gboyega Isiaka Oyetola will deliver on all his election promises based on the progressive manifesto of our great party, APC. Coming to people’s expectations, Osun people will want a better economy that will lead to better standard of living, they will want the tempo of educational progress increased, they are expecting that the new administration will build on the infrastructural growth by previous administration to lead to huge industrial revolution that will also lead to sustainable job creations that will in turn lead to more purchasing power in the system which itself will also lead to more revenue for the government because more people with sustainable jobs will be captured in the tax payment net of the government, the expectations are high but I believe and sure that our governor has the capacity to deliver on all promises with the support and prayers of all of us.

Your expectation from the new government in Osun?

My expectation from this government is that it will tap into many opportunities around to improve tremendously on the revenue base of the State which has been a major challenge all these while, the State is blessed with massive land mass, there is water here, there is relative availability of power supply, there is a rail line that passes through the State, our people are ready to work, all of these are critical factors of production, industrialisation, yet there are no industries, so I expect the government to look critically Into that area, it is germane, also area of tourism is key, we do talk about it all the time but I think it is time to take the bull by the horn and start working on this critical sector. The State has a huge rewarding investment potential in that sector, I will expect the government to partner with private sector people to turn around massively the many tourists and heritage centres scattered around the State, our dear state is full of ancient cities and towns, full of unique history linking to those heritage sites, all efforts must be put in place to revamp those sites and turn them to money spinning machine for the State. I expect the new administration to also critically look into the Social Investment Program of the Federal government and see how our people can benefit more, I believe we are not benefiting enough here especially in the area of soft loans for traders, a lot of private people are taking that advantage and stressing our market women too much running helter skelter to pay with huge interest weekly. Also another critical area that I will expect the newest government to look into the Agric loans, our people have satisfied most of the requirements of some of these much touted loans but they are not available anywhere. Like I said my expectations, our expectations are high but I trust and believe in my governor, he will deliver on all promises by the grace of God.

Your advice to the new administration of Governor Oyetola in handling of affairs?

Well my advice will be to the people of Osun first, that we should be patient with the new government, yes our expectations are high but our prayers, support and commitment through payments of taxes will assist a lot. To the politicians especially those around him, I advise they play selfless role because we are watching them, they should not because of selfish reasons mislead the good intentions of our well intended governor, they shouldn’t distract him, they should try to be on the same page of developing Osun with him for posterity sake. For our great party, our leaders in the party as led by Prince Gboyega Famodun did very well in the last election by leading us to victory at the poll, hence I advise our party should be more innovative this time by taking up the challenges of playing better roles, not waiting for the next elections to come or just submitting names for appointment but as a party, we should roll up the sleeves too and be ready to play advisory roles to the government. My team and I have offered to assist our great party in creating a Governance Research Unit (GRU) to assist the party in that critical area and God in his mercy will continue to strengthen the leadership of great party as led by Prince Gboyega Famodun and Alhaji Rasaq Salinsile. And my humble advice to HE the governor is that he should be wary of sycophants, we have many of them around naturally, I humbly advice that he should urge people around him to be people friendly because this is a political arena and not headquarters of multinational corporations and I also strongly but humbly implore him to include youths in his appointments, there are many youths that are agile, full of ideas and worked assiduously during the electioneering processes, doing that can only encourage them to do more and be challenged to deliver in order not to betray the good will repose on them. I wish Mr. Governor the very best now and always, thank you.