Ekiti 2022: Why state may not develop

The candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the June 18 Ekiti State governorship election, Wole Oluyede, has raised concerns over the level of indebtedness of the state, warning that the situation could hamper its future development.

According to him, with N88 billion in accumulated debts through loans and an additional N37.8 billion owed to pensioners and other workers, it would require ingenuity and innovative policies to get the state back on its feet economically.

Mr Oluyede, an Australia-based medical doctor, is seeking to become the governor of Ekiti State.

He told journalists on Thursday in Ikere Ekiti that the state may find it a herculean task to develop if it continues to rely solely on federal allocations to drive development.

“As I was told, the state had borrowed up to N88 billion. We have 2.3 million well-educated persons having nothing to do. If all Ekiti is to share from the N2.3 billion monthly allocation, then it amounts to N1,100 per month and N35 per day. This is extreme poverty and there is no plan on how to get out of this,” he said.

“Our politicians are no longer talking about how to improve our IGR. Our election is now see and buy. Until we gain the insight and believe that we are poor, we are not going to solve our problem.”

Mr Oluyede promised to carry out radical development by focusing on wealth creation, encouraging commercial agriculture, attract investments, and make education impressive by giving requisite motivations to teachers.

He said if elected governor, he would allow local government autonomy.

“Why are local governments not autonomous? If government is local, then development will be local,” he said.

“If elected governor, all the LGs allocations will go to them directly to bring development. Too much control of government makes things difficult. We must make government more accessible to people by removing bottlenecks, that is what is obtainable the world over.

Mr Oluyede said under his administration, students will have access to informal and formal education.

“We need to have an education system that is geared towards problem-solving,” he said.

“In Britain, UK, Australia, and China, they started teaching students how to solve problems from age three.

“In the area of health, our hospitals will be equipped based on needs and not by just purchasing equipment that will not be useful. We will ensure effective communication among the primary, secondary, and tertiary health institutions for quality healthcare delivery.”

Mr Oluyede was a former member of the All Progressives Congress but dumped the party after he failed to pick the governorship ticket.

He had alleged that the APC’s process of picking candidates was corrupt.