Wale Akinterinwa
'Seun Ibukun-Oni, Abuja
DAILY COURIER - A leading governorship aspirant in the forthcoming primary election of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Ondo state, Chief Wale Akinterinwa has harped on developing the state revenue sources.
The former three-term commissioner for finance in the state rue its continuous dependence on federal allocation and promised to end it.
The APC has fixed April 20th for the conduct of its primary election to pick its candidate for the governorship election slated for November 16 by INEC.
Akinterinwa said: "Without any doubt it is time to take Ondo state to the next level. We have been around for a while and people have tagged us the civil service state without any doubt that is what we have been for some years now. But we cannot afford to continue that way. And I bring a wealth of experience that spans both the private sector, the financial sector and the public sector. I've had the privilege of being sworn in as commissioner for finance three times in this country and I have served on all the three occasions Ondo state.
"So, I come with that strong understanding of what government is all about. Having had or sat on a vintage seat will give me a detailed view of the workings of government and also with my accounting background and finance background and the banking industry. I am very well equipped to take Ondo state to that next level.
"During my time in Ondo state especially during the administration of the late Akeredolu, when that administration came into being, the IGR of Ondo State was just hoovering around 600 million naira but by the time I was leaving we generated over 3 billion naira per month and I can tell you that for any state to have serious development today they must be ready to grow their internally generated revenue. The era when it depends solely on this federation account, whereby you come every month to just pick your allocation and go home will not change the development narrative of this country. And I'm fully poised to to ensure that that narrative is changed in Ondo state. One of the ways to do that is that first and foremost, I'm going to be the Chief Marketing Officer of that state, not just the governor. It is my intention to take Ondo state to the outside world. And market its huge potentials to the whole world. Today, we have a lot in common with Lagos state and I've said it over and over, that we create another state that has a similar economy with that of Lagos state. By that, I mean a state that is self sufficient without the center, and fully utilizes its potentials and is able to grow its internally generated revenue astronomically."
He added, "Ondo state I believe has the longest coastal line in the country today. It is our intention that by the time the port comes into full existence, it will become the game changer. But beyond the activities of the port, the tourism that awaits implementation on that coast line is something that we're going to take full advantage of. Well, I've seen it happen in a lot of other countries Ondo state intends to go that way as well. We will drive tourism massively using our coastal front. We will ensure that every opportunity that has to do with the marine economy is fully engaged, you know those things.
"But beyond that, we also have something that I saw in Lagos State though they don't have that I believe will also help us to move faster and one of them is a huge landmass. So we are going be very intentional about development of agriculture. And by development of agriculture, I'm not talking about just planting and harvesting crops. I'm talking about the full integrated food chain, the integrated line of agriculture would be talking about processing of what we plant and harvest we'll be looking at export opportunities.
"The intention is to ensure that within the first four years Ondo state is able to feed the whole of Southwestern Nigeria. We have the capacity. We have what it takes, I will give it what it takes so that this becomes a reality. We cannot afford to continue to allow the young people to roam the streets. We have a high rate of unemployment in Ondo State, and that is why I'm focusing seriously on industrialization and one of the sectors . We must get our teaming, energetic, resourceful youths fully engaged. This is a no brainer. It's been done by many other countries. We will do it, I will do it better. Those days where our youths used to be fully engaged and Ondo states where our women will be fully engaged. We're going to ensure that the women take their place because the statistics shows that we have more women than men and we must give them the enablement to flourish."
Sixteen aspirants have purchased and submitted their expression of interest and nomination forms at the close of the window for submission yesterday April 5. Some of whom include: Incumbent governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa; business mogul, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim; senior advocate, Olusola Oke; three-term commissioner for finance in Ondo state, Wale Akinterinwa; NPHC executive, Ifeoluwa Adedayo among others.
