Chief Olusola Oke, the governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, has said that the state is under the burden of backwardness and poverty, News About Nigeria reports.
He stated this while speaking with newsmen, noting that this is his reason for entering the governorship race again.
Oke, who is a political heavyweight in Ondo State, has contested for the governorship seat twice and is yet again in the race for who will lead the state for the next four years.
He noted that his reasons for contesting previously were multiplying, stating that Ondo State is still in deficit and lagging in many aspects, including the education and health sectors, despite being blessed with abundant natural, mineral, agricultural, and human resources.
He further disclosed that he is running once again for governorship because of the gap in development and unemployment, noting that the situation worsens with each passing day.
“We cannot boast of any dualized 10-kilometre road in this state. Again, I am running because of the gap in development, and unemployment. The gap is widening every day. We produce nothing less than 20,000 graduates yearly, yet not up to three percent of them are absorbed.
“In the beginning, in this state, there was Ifon ceramic, cocoa industry in Ile-Oluji, Oluwa glass, Okitipupa oil mill, and a host of others that were complementing efforts of the government in terms of employment. All these have become history, and new ones are not coming.
“Our economy has remained a civil service economy, and our lives depend massively on transfer payments, and whoever money is transferred to adds no value to the society because it is not money earned from productivity,” he lamented.
