Economic devt: Ondo state will become another Lagos if I become governor — Akinterinwa
By Akintunde Jacobs, Akure
The immediate past Commissioner for Finance and an aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wale Akinterinwa, in the forthcoming party’s governorship primary election in Ondo state, has pledged to turn the state into an economic and industrial hub by encouraging investors to come to invest in the state.
According to him, with the state’s longest coastline and deep sea port coupled with a very large land mass, the state would be able to feed the entire Southwest if elected as governor.
Akinterinwa, who disclosed this on Tuesday during his official declaration at the APC Secretariat, Akure said the Ondo state has the potential to become another Lagos state in terms of economic development.
He said, “We are here today to inform the State Working Committee of our great party, APC and members to let them know that I am declaring for governor in the coming party primary. I am aspiring to be the next governor of Ondo State.
“I have also intimate them with my vision for the state because we need to change the narrative, we need to move Ondo state forward, we need to take it from being a civil service state to an industrialization state.
“We will turn Ondo state to another Lagos state in terms of development because we have many things in common, in terms of coast. So, we must ensure that the port comes alive and that will be a game changer.
“But, beyond that, we also have the landmass and we ought to be an agrarian state. So, we’re going to take agriculture to the next level while we encourage and support the local farmers. We will also attract investors who will invest in agriculture so that we will be exporting finished products. We will not just produce for the table but we will be producing for export.
“It is also my belief that with our knowledge and with the requisite leadership we can make Ondo state the hub for agriculture in the Southwest. We are going to place a lot of attention on industrialisation of the state. We must create employment for our youths. It is something that we must be very passionate about, we can’t afford to let these youths continue to roam about.
“For security, part of our challenges today is because we have many unemployed youths in the society. So, Amotekun founded by our late governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and other Southwest governors will be strengthened so that with appropriate security in place, we can have development.”
The state APC chairman, Ade Adetimehin, who decried the high rate of unemployment in the state, however, said something urgent must be done to reduce the ugly trend.
