As the Ondo State governorship election approaches, more aspirants are throwing their caps into the ring to challenge Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN). The latest is the former deputy clerk of the National Assembly and an accountant Chief Olayide Adelami.

Adelami, who retired from public service two years ago into business, said he is in the race to better the lot of the people, who have not enjoyed good governance since the demise of the late sage, Chief Adekunle Ajasin.

Though, he hails from the same Owo community like the incumbent, he said his focus is how to reduce the poverty level  and make the people feel the impact of government.

He noted that Akeredolu has tried his best. But, he said that more still needed to be done to improve the lot of the people, adding that bowed to pressure from the people in the state.

He said he could not close his eyes to the sufferings “of our people who believe the state is blessed with human and material resources for its development but were kept down by the poor governance of the past.

On his foray into politics, he said: “It was not calculated. I didn’t really plan that I would go into politics after retirement. It just happened. God has a way of ordering our steps. From nowhere, I was called when there were crises in APC.

I was drafted into politics by APC through the presidential Support Committee, a platform created by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

The mandate of the PSC is to promote democracy and ensure peace in all states, reconciliation of warring parties or aggrieved members of the APC, as well as harmonisation of various support groups in the party to ensure victory for the president in the last election.

“So, I was made the coordinator for Ondo State and that was my first foray into politics. We set up our office in Akure and structures in the 18 local governments of the state, and were holding meetings regularly from there.

From there I got to know about the yearnings of our people and the level of disenchantment among party members due to the way things were being run.

The level of poverty in the state is alarming. I had the opportunity to meet with the people and I saw that the problem is so pervasive in the state. So, the welfare of the people takes precedence over  any other thing.”

On why he is running for governor, he said: “The function of a governor is to manage the resources of the state for the benefit of the people.

So, all over the years of my career, what I have been doing is management of resources. I have managed money, materials and people and I have done it very well to the best of my ability.

So, if I have been able to successfully do this, especially in a sensitive place like the National Assembly, which is a mini country on its own, I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that I will bring that experience to bear on Ondo State.

“We need judicious management of resources. Our people are yearning for development. For a long time, Ondo State has been tagged a civil servants state. We want to change that narrative. We want to leverage on our national and international exposure to bring all round development to this state.

Ondo State needs a selfless leader that will not make governance about his inner circles and family alone. I am not coming to government to make money.

I am not rich but I’m comfortable and I have made good name for myself in the country. I am coming to bring that good name and goodwill to bear on this state.”

On the performance of the governor, Adelami said: “Well, I give it to him that his focus is on roads, constructing and rehabilitating roads across the state. But development is far more than that. We are bringing development that is sustainable.

Most of those roads are city roads and not rural roads that can synergise the economic activities in the state. I will rather focus on rural roads and open up those rural communities so that farmers will be encouraged to increase the scale of their farming since there will be roads to transport their produce. There are many things that could easily be done better than they are being done at the moment.”

He also spoke on his chances with about five aspirants from Owo, saying: “I don’t think this is about sentiment at all. For five people to come out from Owo local government to want to contest against the governor that has spoken volume and your guess is as good as mine on why that is happening.

It is not about the governor himself as a person, this is about the state, about the people. This is not just about Owo. There are many people from other parts of the state that believe they can do more than what he has done. So, Owo is not an exemption.

We have to take away the sentiment of Owo vs Owo; the people are wiser than that and the people of Ondo State know what is good for them.”

Adelami said he would be focusing on industrialization, adding: “My major focus will be industrialisation. We need to rebuild the economy of the state and we can do that by promoting investments.

Industrialization will provide jobs for our youths because the youths have been neglected and there is no way we can develop if we continue to neglect the youths.

“We need to rebuild our education system. This is not just about rehabilitating structures. The content of our education in the last few years is nothing to write home about.

We are living on past glory. The state has not employed a single teacher in 11 years and all our public schools are lacking teaching staff. Take my alma matter, Imade College as example. The school needs 155 teachers but only has 55.

That is a shortfall of 100 teachers. Since 2014, I have been paying the salary of a mathematics teacher for the school and there are other alumni who are doing similar things.

If that could be happening in a school like Imade, you can imagine what is happing in other public schools across the state, especially in rural areas.

“We are going to develop quality education here. We are going to establish three ICT centres in the three senatorial districts of the state to make Ondo State an ICT hub. All our unemployed graduates will be absorbed and retrained there in so many areas of ICT to enhance their employability.

“We are going to reorganize our forestry policy in order to generate employment. We will have a policy that will ensure that if you cut one tree, you will have to plant ten in its place. We will have a law to back this up.

“On health, we will introduce the health insurance that will capture the informal sector of the state. Right now, the NHI law only captures the formal sector and it is only about two or three percent that is enjoying the insurance.

We are going to create Ondo State Universal Healthcare Agency that is going to be a parent body that will harmonise the informal sector and bring them into the fold of health insurance. This will capture the parents and children in each household.

Our government will also give prominence to programmes that will benefit women. This current government does not give much recognition to women; we are going to change that to ensure that our women occupy their rightful place in government and governance.

“Our youths will be engaged. Our local government will get the needed element of autonomy to function well. By the time we begin campaign, we will go round the nooks and crannies of the state to capture the needs of the people.

Adelami dismissed the alleged factionalisation of the party, saying it will not affect the chances f the party in the election. “We have the Aketi group and we have the Unity Forum, but the Unity Forum has about 80 percent of the membership of the party in the state.

That is where the majority is. By the time the flag bearer of the party emerges, you will see that the remaining 20 percent will come to join the majority. Whether you belong to 80 percent or 20 percent, the overall interest is to develop Ondo State,” he said.

Born about six decades ago, Adelami holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Lagos and Master of Business Administration from Ogun State University.

He rose through the rank to attain the position of permanent secretary in the federal civil service and retired in 2008 as deputy clerk of the National Assembly.

He is a fellow of many professional bodies, including Certified National Accountants of Nigeria (FCNA), Nigerian Institute of Management (FNIM), Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (FCTI) and Institute of Cost and Management Accountant (FCMA).

He also holds the chieftaincy title of Amuwagbayi of Owoland.

Source The Nation.