The All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Oyo State, Oloye Bayo Adelabu Penkelemesi while speaking at a program tagged 'Meet Ibadan Electorates Project' organized by the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), the umbrella body of all the sociocultural groups in Ibadan, on Friday, the 18th of January, made subtle promises on the need to create a light rail system across the major stops in Ibadan outer city.
When asked on how he intends to attract competent technocrats and not political patronage into his cabinet when he assumes office as governor of Oyo state while putting into cognisance the excessive human resources and several layer of government operatives that is costing the government so much money and not delivering the desired value?
The highly beloved candidate of the APC replied with high cerebral capacity and understanding of the core problems facing our evolving democracy, in his words, "I'm not just coming to ask for the governorship of this state, I'm coming from a very high complex and challenging position as the deputy governor of CBN after so many years of experience in the private sector, so administering a complex organization, managing people, managing projects and implementing programs, that is what governance is all about. Politics and governance are different, I've been trained for governance, not politics. Unfortunately you cannot get to governance without passing through politics, the advice is: you minimize the politics as much as possible. Governance is management of the people, administration, resources management, projects implementation and execution, this is all I have done in the last 28 years and I can tell you that likes attract likes. If I become the governor, Insha Allah, a lot of competent technocrats will be ready to work with me to deliver our state, because they will have the confidence and believe in my vision, that I'm a genuine leader."
When also asked of related issues on how past governments travelled oversea especially to China to attract phantom investors to establish industries in Ibadan and Oyo state at large but none of them have been able to point one till date, how do you plan to do this differently
In his reply, Bayo Adelabu said 'this is what I have been trained for in the last 28 years, financing, funding, sourcing and spending. There's no white man that is an idiot, you cannot go to a white man cap in hand begging for investment, you must show value proposition, what does he stand to gain, you cannot come to me pleading for me to invest, why? What are the things that you have that I cannot get in other countries. In Oyo State, we have value proposition, you must specialise in areas where you have the highest comparative advantage, one of them Agriculture, Oyo state is blessed with 28,454²km of arable farmland big enough to contain the 5 south-eastern states of Nigeria: Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra and Imo state which altogether cover 28,300²km. The five of these eastern states can enter into Oyo state. When I mean agriculture, I mean the entire farm chain, from farming: cassava; cocoa; cashew; groundnut, to livestock: we have the best climate for cattle ranching in Oke-Ogun; and finally, food processing: we produce cocoa but we don't produce chocolate, we produce cassava but we don't produce ethanol and glucose, these are the things we show to the white man to invest in. Transportation and Housing is another channel for investment, from Oke-Ogun down here, why should we be moving agric produce by road, it is not efficient, we need rail, across Ibadan, we need light rail, from Methodist to Soka, to Academy Olomi to Muslim to Olorunsogo to Oremeji to Sawmill to Iwo-road, all the junctions deserve to be passed through by rail system which should be complemented by a good, cheap and adequate housing system".
He also delved extensively on his seven (7) point agenda which is a pyramid strategically aimed at forming a basis for Job provision across all spheres of the economy. Security chiefly serves as the base for all the other enlisted sectors to thrive, other sectors include Agriculture, Housing, Education, Health, Environment and Transportation. He also stated the possible ways by which these sectors can all create jobs for the people of Oyo State, especially with his planned resuscitation of 10 of the nearly extint farm settlements in Oyo state, using these medium and others to create about 40,000 jobs in four years.
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