One of the governorship aspirants under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Olusola Oke SAN has said his desire to rule Ondo State was not born out of selfish desire to amass wealth but determination to liberate the State.
The legal luminary said this on Friday while addressing journalists after submitting his Nomination and Expression of Interest Forms at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
He noted that it’s obvious all is not well with the State and a visionary leader is the solution to its challenges. Adding that, he’s coming on board with innovations that will put an end to poverty ravaging the state.
“My motivation is not the love of the office, I have enough cash on me. As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, I have reached the pinnacle of my career and I am doing very well in my profession. So if it is wealth, comfort, I have all of that.
“ But I have gone through history and I never read where a man is remembered or recognized for eating very well, dressing very well and having a good house. A man will only be remembered for standing up when his people are being challenged.
“Ondo state at this moment as it’s always in Nigeria, has problems, which require a man of courage, vision, sense of direction. Created in1976, for those of you who are familiar with the environment will agree with me that we have deficits in every phase of our lives which I think require a new order orientation, a new philosophy of believing in Ondo state,” Oke said.
He promised to emulate Awolowo’s legacy of farm settlements to bring about agricultural revolution in the state.
According to him, Ondo State is suffering from the current level of poverty because over the years, little or no attention is being paid to agriculture which used to be the major source of income in the entire South-West region.
“What was a major economic platform of the South West in the past was agriculture. Each time I try to interlocate what is responsible for the level of poverty we have in that community, I discover that it is because we have abandoned the mainstream of our economy which is agriculture. During the Awolowo days, farm settlements were built, creating a situation where people were migrating from urban to rural areas because in those farm settlements there was light, water, basic amenities.
“Ondo state was the major beneficiary of that policy in those days. But since the creation of the state in 1976, no government has made any effort to open up her resources in our forest. Having discovered that this is responsible for the level of poverty in Ondo state, my decision if I become the governor of Ondo state, first by the grace of God is to open up the farmland.
“In every local government area, I’ll open up good roads. We will traverse the entire landscape of the farmland. I’ll build farmer’s guest house inside the farm land. Any farmer who wants to go and do farm work and don’t want to come back on daily basis even if they have a vehicle, the cost of fueling you have a place there where you can sleep one or two weeks. I’ll bring equipments that will help farmers to clear their land . I’ll provide security and other incentives for the farmers.
“If we do these, we will reduce the level of poverty in Ondo state. What poverty does is to take away shame from you. And when a man is shameless, he can do anything. That’s why the level of criminality in Ondo state is very pervasive,” he stated.
While appreciating the efforts of Late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on security, Oke said he will leverage on that to protect the farmers on their farmlands.
On technical education, Oke said: “Another discovery that I made is that technical education which used to be very important in those days is down not just in Ondo state but the entire South West. People who would not make it to university now lack capacity because there is no technical education.
“Most technical schools have gone down. Things that the youths could learn and give them opportunity to work are not there. Under my administration, I’ll revive technical education. I’ll build people’s capacity.”
