THE flag bearer of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Oyo state and former Governor of the state, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala has stated that he is the only candidate that knows Oyo state like the back of his hands and can therefore adequately attend to the needs of the people.
He stated this during an interactive session with the people of Oke-Ogun on Gravity 88.1 FM in Igboho as part of his campaign tour of Oke Ogun zone of the state, adding that “no governor ever in the history of Oyo state knows the nooks and crannies of the state like I do. I have gone to every community right till the border; I know their needs and can, therefore, give them exactly what will make life easier for them.
“No governor before or after me has ever visited Okerete town in Oke-Ogun here which is 91 kilometers from Saki town. If you don’t even know what the community looks like, how will you know what their needs are; governance is not on paper, I know the people and I know what to do for them,” Alao-Akala stated.
The ADP gubernatorial candidate stated further that he is bold to come to canvass for votes because he knows what he did as governor. “My sterling performance gave me the boldness to say I want to contest again and come here to ask for your votes. I do not make empty promises and you all can see all I did because all our projects are durable and you still enjoy them.
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“I constructed Alaga to Saki road terminating at the entrance to Oke Ogun Polytechnic, Saki to Ilesha Baruba road, Otu-Igbojaiye – Komu -Baba ode Road down to Ilero. So also is the road from Iganna – Ayegun after Iwere Ile down to the border between Nigeria and Benin Republic before Ijio town.
“I ensured that a school was established in town to curb the difficulty of our children in this town crossing the border to Benin Republic to attend school and I made sure teachers were posted to the school with extra incentives to make them committed to their duties. I know what I did but unfortunately, things are not the same again.
“This is not the Oke-Ogun that I handed over to him when I stepped aside eight years ago. All the roads I constructed, not a single kilometer had been added to it; even the ones I constructed are not being maintained; they have all collapsed and in terrible shape. I came into town through Sepeteri, the road is an eyesore. Equipment for the take-off of the Television station at Oje Owode were on ground and ready for installation when I was going on sabbatical leave because the people had no television station.
“I set up Alaga FM because the people only had Radio Cotonou and Kwara to listen to and were cut off from happenings within Oyo state. But as I speak, equipment meant for the television station have been moved to Ibadan and the buildings have been taken over by weed and animals; the buildings are caving in. If not for the initiative of the proprietor of Gravity FM, people would have gone back to the dark era when they listen to Cotonou radio or Ilorin FM because even the Oke-Ogun FM at Alaga was in comatose,” he said.
He concluded that Oke-Ogun area of the state like other zones have been abandoned and left in a state of disrepair, adding that, “this was not my plan for my people in Oke-Ogun and even the state at large, we ran a government that had interest in human capital development and we have series of projects to show for it. Things are not working but I can assure you that better days are ahead by God’s grace.”
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