By Joy Odor
Olugbenga Edema, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Ondo
Governorship aspirant on Friday joined other candidates for the screening of their credentials to emerge as flag bearer in the primary election.
Speaking to journalists in an interview after his screening in Abuja, Edema vowed to cater for 5 million people when he become the governor of Ondo State, like the wise virgin in the Bible who catered for more than1000 people.
According to the aspirant, he would also cater for an additional 2 million or 3 million people within the space of four, five to eight years in leadership through Deep Seaport that would directly employ about 100 to 150 thousands people and build houses for a minimum of 100,000 to 150,000 people with an average of two or three people per household.
Edema informed that when become the governor, he would also develop the economy of Ondo State in such a manner because it’s inadequate, which is what we call potential.
“I have said Ondo states by estimate, we are about 5 million, and you should visualize what I’m trying to do as if you’re the one, organizing an Owanbe party. If you’re organizing an Owanbe party, you’re looking at who are the people I’m inviting? What is the number of people I am inviting? In Nigeria for instance, if you are inviting 1000 people to a party, you have to cater for 3000 people.
“How do I mean? Some of them will come with their wives even when you say this card admits singles. Some of them will come with their drivers. Some will come with their children, their orderlies, for the VIPs and they will also come with the Escorts and you have to cater for them. So if you are a wise virgin as in the Bible, you will have to cater for 1000 people from another 3000 People who are dependants of the people you’ve invited.
“Therefore, when I become the governor of Ondo State, I want to cater for 5 million people at first. And I know that by the time we create the environment that is very, very conducive because of what I’m going to tell you in the next minute. There is going to be an exponential increase in the population of Ondo State. And that means we have to cater for an additional 2 million or 3 million people within the space of four , five, eight years.
“And how do I mean? Ondo State is very blessed with numerous resources, both human capital and natural resources. We have the longest coastline in Nigeria about 85 kilometers and to the glory of God we already have a license by the federal government of Nigeria to do a deep seaport there.
“The implication therefore is by the time we start with the Deep Seaport but when I become the governor of the state , that deep seaport directly will be taken care of in terms of employment about 100 to 150 thousands people directly. The implication is that this 100 to 150 thousands people will not be sleeping on the streets. They will not be sleeping in tents. They will be sleeping in houses, that means we also have to build houses for a minimum of 100,000 to 150,000 people with an average of two or three people per household. Who will build these houses?
“The carpenters, the bricklayers, and everybody so that within one year when we start this deep seaport construction Ondo State population, especially in the southern part of Ondo State will move from the present population, accommodating minimum of 150,000 with their dependants, so we have to prepare for them. Two, we have to also develop the economy of Ondo State in such a manner because it’s inadequate, it’s what we call potential. Blessed with natural resources, yet untapped. So by the time we begin to tap into it. We have bitumen by the time we start the bitumen exploration, and begin the processing, we also expect that people will come in.
“So the potential that we have needs somebody who is visionary to be able to motivate or mobilize it. So we’re talking about the bitumen. We are talking about the oil activities that are going in Ondo State currently, we are not taking the full fledge of Ondo State because we are oil producing. For instance, I had the opportunity as chairman of OSOPADEC to participate in an exploration.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have the political will to push it through. When OML110, the federal government revoked the license and I spoke with leadership that we should take it over as a government because it is right behind our backyard. Unfortunately we lost it.
” If OML110 has been in the kitty of Ondo State investment as I’m talking, we will produce a minimum of 5000 barrels per day 365 days per year. How do you mean so if we look for technical partners, and we take only $10 per barrel, the cost of producing one barrel is now up to $20. So if if it’s $1 per barrel per day, that Ondo State gets its own share of the investment. We will not need to be paying the salary of our workers 30,000 per month and that was when I said here the last time I came that the minimum wage of somebody who works in Ondo State by the time we become governor cannot be less down N250,000, people thought I was joking.
“I was yelling. But these are things we tend to do by the time we increase productivity, by the time we increase the capital activities of our workers, somebody who is unskilled today. If we train him as a carpenter, as a painter, as Tiller , his productivity will increase. If it increases, you will not have a choice but to pay him the face value.
“You won’t need to import a carpenter from Benin Republic, you won’t need to import somebody who will do your tiling work in Togo, you won’t need to go and import somebody who will do your POP from Ghana or any other place. So the issue of capital flight will be eradicated altogether.
“So distinguished gentlemen, what they asked me at the conference is what I’m telling you because I’m not just new in race. I was a member of the Social Democratic Party in 1992- 93, before General Sani Abacha drove us away and I joined as a university graduate which I was very young. But I was a member of the National Convention.
“I was a delegate to the National Convention in Jos in 1993. And I said if I had been in any trade, any organization, I would be a manager or a top manager in that trade. It’s only in politics you don’t have what is it called? You don’t have a reward for a long entrance. It’s only in politics that long service award, it’s only in politics that you don’t have a pension.
“Nobody appreciates the fact that you have been in politics for 20, 30 years, and they don’t see it as a service. I served, I jumped on it , not because I was hungry. Not because I didn’t have a job. in 1990, as a university graduate, I would still get a job. Mind you, My own brother under Ak Oxford was the member representing Ondo State, now Ondo and Ekiti as a member of ONPADEC.
“If I had wanted a civil service job, Adebanjo Edema would have given me. So I wasn’t hungry but because it was a movement and that movement produced Olusola Ebiseni as the chairman of Ilaje/Ese-Odo local government at the age of 29. So I decided I was going to keep on to this and I paid my price between 1993 and 99. I wasn’t jobless, but I knew I had to develop myself during the period that was when I left Geography to study Law at the University of Ibadan. So I prepared myself for this job. I knew a day like this would come and I would need the skills, the intellect that I would have garnered over the years. So of all the aspirants I’m the only one that produced a codified manifesto to tell the whole world about what I stand to do and what I can do.
Answering question on the “petition” he wrote against Aiyedatiwa, On “petition” written against Aiyedatiwa to the leadership of APC, Edema quoted the book of Ezekiel Chapter 33 vs 1- 7, so he will not run foul of God’s law urged the party to take its own position.
“Thank you so much. I did not write a petition against Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa I wrote an advisory to the leadership of APC, about the possible outcome or fielding somebody who has a challenged certificate. And I’m inspired by the book of Ezekiel chapter 33 from Verse one to seven. So that I will not run foul of God’s law. So I have done my own as a watchman, let the party take its own position. That’s is the word of God.
“It’s not everything that is about contest, the party will intervene and I’m bound by the the decision of the party. So when the party intend to intervene, they should be guided. That’s what I have done. If it’s about the contest, I will win but I’m bound to listen to directive of the party leadership and they must be guided in their decision making. That is what I have done” he said.
On why governors fail on their campaign promises, the aspirant observed that “I wouldn’t be able to speak for another person, please let me speak for myself. And speaking for myself, I will rely on one Yoruba adage, which is ‘Arise l’arika, arika baba iregun’. Which means if you do well in little, you will do well in big. I was the chairman of OSOPADEC, Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, and I believe that for a society to grow, you must invest, you must learn to save against tomorrow. But most times our public officers think that when money comes, spend everything and tomorrow will take care of itself.
“I don’t believe in that philosophy. If you invest, and at the end of the day, the investment yields results. Nobody will be poor. The only way to fight hunger, to fight poverty is investment. Therefore as chairman of OSOPADEC,I committed part of OSOPADEC fund into developing investment, industrialization. And what did I do? I bought a license for a microfinance bank called Memphis microfinance bank.
“I’ve mentioned it here. And that bank is at no 22, Ondo Road in Akure today. It has more than 200 million naira equity capitalization as prescribed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. That bank has more than 30 people working under it and they have given more than 40 to 50 million naira out as capital as money for our people to trade because that’s what they need.
” They need a micro finance to be able to buy fish somebody who buys a basket of fish at N40,000 I don’t know how much they buy it now since the era of subsidy is gone but let us even assume it is 150 1000 Naira per packet. They can walk into that bag, get money, buy it, sell it and return the money and they do it diligently. It has helped the people on the street that what I intend to do the Cosby Global Resources Limited, which we have also done is there.
“The only way to drive off poverty from Ondo State is to make sure that our people are given the opportunity for industrialization and investment. We have cocoa today. I don’t think the government is looking at their side by the grace of God when I become we’ll start the cocoa revolution again. We will make sure that there is value added.
“We don’t have to import cocoa beans. Why don’t we do some level of processing so that we can add value to it. If you have read the news lately. Air Peace has a direct flight to go to London now. We have been told that the price of flight from Lagos to London has crashed tremendously. So add value to what you have, we have cocoa, we have oil palm, the price of a barrel of red oil is far bigger than what we get from crude oil but nobody’s talking about it because you can use it for margarine and other things. We have Robber Estate in Iyansan and all those places. Now all our tyre making industries are either in Gbana or we import them from Indonesia and China.
“Why don’t we attract these people since we have the raw materials? We have cheap labor here because even when you still pay 250, 000 Naira per person who thinks that he’s any big, how much is that? it’s less than one $280. I have made the analysis here. So we intend to make sure that one or two to attract investment into the world because we have cheap labour and we have the raw materials.
“So I don’t speak for other people but I Olugbenga by the grace of God when I become the governor of Ondo State, these are the areas I intend to touch and in touching it, it will also touch the lives of the people directly. So poverty will be a thing of the past and we will say farewell to poverty” Edema ended.
