Accord'll revive Kwara dead firms, create mega poultries - Gov candidate, Adedoyin

Date: 2019-01-06

INTERVIEW Governorship candidate of the Accord Party in Kwara State, Ayorinde Adedoyin, speaks with MUDIAGA AFFE on security, violence and his party's preparations for the 2019 elections

Accord Party does not seem to enjoy the same popularity as the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State. What are your chances in the governorship poll under such circumstances?

I have been brought up in life to believe in what you do and not to rely on what is so established. When we started our political moves in Kwara, I could have joined the APC or the PDP because they are the parties that catch the peoples' attention, but I believe in the true development of our state. In order for us to achieve that, we have to bring in a new platform. The so-called political bigwigs in Kwara are either in the PDP or the APC and they have been jumping from one party to the other. They are the same people that you are dealing with. The PDP people of today in Kwara were the APC people of yesterday and the reverse was the case eight years ago. So, if you want to change the narrative of Kwara State, then we need to develop new platforms where new entrants, consisting of young and old people, will come in and their voices heard. When I started, I discovered that even the majority of the new parties were sponsored by the old blocs. But I discovered that the Accord Party is one that is neutral; it does not belong to any bloc. To move Kwara forward, we need to come into this new platform and not the platform that is controlled by one family. By the time we started, we were not given the listening ears; but today, the situation is different. The Accord Party is now a force to be reckoned with in Kwara.

In Kwara State, it is believed that successive administrations have only really developed the state capital, Ilorin. What has happened to other urban centres?

When you say there is so much concentration on Ilorin, it is not true. This is because the government has over the years only limited development to the Government Reservations Area of Ilorin. Apart from the GRA, all other parts of Ilorin are still underdeveloped. When you go into the deeper parts of Ilorin, it is not different from what you see in other towns in the state. I tell you this, we started some water projects and we have been able to do boreholes in 157 communities in the state. It is worth noting that 20 of these borehole projects are in Ilorin central, the heart of the state capital. There is an area in Ilorin where high tension cables pass and unfortunately the area has never had electricity. So, if there is development, why are these areas not affected. The truth is that we are not having it good in Kwara at all. One of the major problems in Kwara is access to potable water and we (in Accord Party) know the solutions to our common problems.

Development is tied to revenue and Kwara is one state that depends on federal allocations. How do you hope to change the narrative?

The old Kwara was one of the most industrialised states because we had a lot of factories such as St. Moritz, Bacita Sugar Company and Jebba Paper Mill; but over time, they disappeared. It is not as if we no longer have the land. The state has about 36,000 square kilometres of land space and as of the 2006 population census, we were about 2.3 million people. Maybe 13 years down the line, we might have reached 3.4 million people in Kwara. It means that we still have enough land space to work with. We need to retrace our steps by reviving these industries, even though some are privately owned. We are already working on the possibility of negotiating with the families to bring in foreign investors and this will create jobs. We have also planned industrial poultry projects to produce 9.6 million chickens annually. Both plans will give rise to other industries and this will lead to improved revenue for the state.

Politicians are known to have made promises that they do not intend to fulfil. Is this not one of such promises?

Most of these projects I have just referred to are already mapped out. They are not just something we are imagining. I am not out to lie to anyone. I have individually spent my money on personal projects and this is not about empty promises.

What are you bringing on board that the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed-led administration in Kwara has not done?

He has not done well. We just talked about water now. If the state government had, for instance, decided to provide water in all the 193 wards at three per ward, it would have only spent less than N500m. But it did not do it. We cannot even see the road projects that the government claimed to have constructed. I can go on and on.

The political milieu, especially in Kwara is tensed ahead of the elections. How can we avert violence?

I cannot predict the future but I believe we need to educate the people on the dangers of violence. The two big parties – the APC and the PDP – might want to use all they have to fight each other. But I do not think it will lead to violence and I pray it does not happen.

What is your view on the preparations of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the coming elections? There is this notion that INEC will be biased; but I do not think so because if the commission is able to conduct the last election and people rated it as credible, I do not see any reason why it would not do the same.

Source

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Mahmud Babatunde Baker     SWAN     Boko Haram     Muhammed Mahe Abdulkadir     Jimoh Akani     Yusuf AbdulRasheed     Madawaki     Abatemi-Usman     Matthew Babaoye     Olomu     Ibrahim Abdulqadir Abikan     Medview Airlines     Amada Jidda     IHS     Binta Sulyman     Olatomiwa Williams     Y.A. Abdulkareem     Shehu Alimi Foundation For Peace And Development     Sidikat Akaje     Bolakale Ayo     Police Commissioner     Shuaib Jawondo     Talaka Parapo     Ajike People Support Centre     Muazam Nayaya     Jimoh Saadudeen Muhammed     Abdulwaheed Musa     Agbarere     Mohammed Jimoh Faworaja     HICA     Share     Taiwo Joseph     Simon Sayomi     Voices Of Tomorrow     Neuropsychiatric Hospital     NTA Ilorin     Atiku     Olusola Saraki     Centre For Peace And Strategic Studies     Eleja     Bolaji Nagode     Micheal Imodu-Ganmo Road     NNPP     Yusuf Abubakar     General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport Ilorin     Taofeek Ibraheem     Balikis Jawondo     Omotoso     Mohammed Danjuma     Alabere     Aliyu Salihu     Hamid Bobboyi     HAMFAT Clinic And Maternity     Umar Danladi Shero     Hassan A. Saliu     Emir Of Lafiagi     Sa\'ad Alanamu     Alimi     BIR     Asa     Rihanat Ajia     Dan-Kazeem     Ibrahim Oniye     Saka Isau     Abdulkadir Jimoh     Hakeem Idris     Ramadan     Dar-Al-Handasah Consultants Ltd     Shola Odetundun     Women For Change And Development Initiative     Ahmed Idris Mohammed     Veterinary Teaching Hospital     Goodluck Jonathan     Oko-Erin     Abdulrauf Yusuf     Bukola Saraki     Olokoba Abdullahi Ayinla    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Abubakar Bature Sulu-Gambari     Ezekiel Yissa Benjamin     Alagbado     Raymond Olaitan     Sheikh Hamzat Yusuf Ariyibi     Abdulmumini Sanni Jawondo     Ibrahim Kayode Adeyemi     Raliat AbdulRazaq     Baakini     Just Law Forum     General Hospital     Yaman     Sola Saraki Educational Foundation     Suleiman Idris     Olatinwo     Sabi     Read With Me     Omotosho     Christopher Odetunde     National Party Of Nigeria     Funmilayo Oniwa     Alanamu     ER-KANG Mining Nigeria Company Limited     Oyedepo     Federal Road Maintenance Agency     Donatus Ejidike     Emir Of Kano     Demola Banu     Public Holiday     Bello Abubakar     Amina El-Imam     Rebecca Olanrewaju     Saadatu Modibbo-Kawu     Femtech     Opobiyi     Abubakar Ndakene     Baboko     Amusa Bello     Elewu     Nigeria Customs Service     Omupo     Saliu Tunde Bello     Gbajabiamila     Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission     Rotimi Atere     Ojuekun Sarumi     Akanbi-Oke     Abdulwahab Ololele     Agboola Abdulraheem     NTA Ilorin     Mamatu Abdullahi     Kwara 2015     Council Of The Wise     Abdulmumini AbdulRazaq     TIIDELab     Hussein Oloyede     AIT Ilorin     KW-GIS     KWASIEC     Mohammed Saidu     Ilesha-Baruba-Gwanara     Oye Tinuoye     BIR     Saad Omo Iya     Valsolar Consortium     Tsaragi     Kaosarah Adeyi     Egbewole     Offorjama     Ali Ahmad     Jide Ashonibare     Pategi     Omu Aran     Abdul-Rahoof Bello     Bluenile Associates     Elekoyangan     Kayode Alabi