Ambassadorial list: Ondo plagued with leadership challenge —Oyewumi

A governorship aspirant on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Boye Oyewumi, on Monday  frowned over the exclusion of Ondo state indigene from the ambassadorial list recently submitted to the Senate, saying the state was plagued with leadership challenges.

Oyewumi, who stated this in Ondo, headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area of the state after meeting the party’s state delegates attributed the inability of the state to produce leaders, who have political relevance at the centre to political differences and inability of past leaders to groom future leaders.

He said: “When you look at the quality of people that had been put forward in the past they are such people that have no relevance in national politics, this are part of the reasons why we have a list of 47 ambassadors and there’s not a single Ondo State indigene there.

“We have a case of 36 ministers and Ondo State the richest state in the South-West in terms of resources and human capital was able to produce just a minister of state. Some board appointment had been made and no mention of Ondo State, we are not fairly represented at the center and that the simple truth.”

He noted that some of the states in the region that were adequately represented at the centre by politicians with relevance, who had been helping to develop their states.

“If you look at other states, like Lagos State, we have leaders like Tinubu, Mobolaji Johnson, Fashola, Jakande, Ambode and many others but in Ondo State who do we have. Look at Ogun, we have Osoba, Amosun, Gbenga Daniela and many others too, but who do we have in Ondo?

“All these states present their best 11, so that even if they’ve left office, they still have useful life in the state politics and project the interest of the state, but Ondo State have history of looking backward, but they said the youths are the leaders of the future yet we are being told to look back to select a leader.