Akintola said: “While living in the state, I realised that there is a high degree of hopelessness as our people have been compelled to a condition of dependency on handouts.”
Adewale Sanyaolu
The governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Olugbenga Akintola, has promised to work for the improvement of the economy of Osun State.
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During a live interview at the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), Akintola said he will activate his economic recovery plans that would turn the state around in the shortest possible time if he is elected governor.
Akintola said: “While living in the state, I realised that there is a high degree of hopelessness as our people have been compelled to a condition of dependency on handouts. We now appear like a society that has lost its core values. Can you imagine the hopes and aspirations with which we took off in the 1960s, and if our development trajectory had continued in an upward swing?
“Today, we talk of how Osun’s equatorial climate makes our land very fertile for agricultural cultivation with two major ecological zones of rainforest and savannah; we have over one million ounces of gold under our land as well water resources for the generation of hydroelectricity. All these remain a potential and I begin to wonder when they will become viable reality to create economic opportunities of jobs, industries, and wealth for Osun people.
‘‘We must differentiate from the symbols of development (building schools without teachers or health centers without doctors and drugs) and real development (investments that unleash the talents and entrepreneurial potentials of citizens). When people have jobs and can take care of their families, their character will subsequently evolve and they will be the prime movers of the economy.”