Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election, the Alliance for Democracy(AD) candidate, Mr Olusola Oke has assured that he is the man to beat in the exercise. He believes that he is most qualified for the job and says so in this interview with some journalists.
You contested in 2012 and you are contesting again as in 2016. What inspires you, what drives you to want to be the governor of Ondo State?
You are quite right, I contested in 2012 to be governor; there were good reasons for me to contest then. These reasons have only multiplied, they have increased, expanded and therefore, so long as those conditions are still prevailing and multiplying, I will be failing in my responsibilities not to come out at this time.
And what are these? Ondo State is a state generously loved by God. If we look at the resources available to us, we should be leading, a shining example to others in Nigeria. I am talking in terms of natural resources, human resources, agriculture; whatever resources you can imagine that would help the development of a state, Ondo  has it in abundance. The largest rich human resources, they are all there but we are not doing well.
A critical assessment of Ondo State today would show that the people of Ondo are poor. They are not poor in their heads but in their pockets. And I have come to appreciate that over time that poverty of the pocket could also affect the poverty of the head.
If you traverse the entire landscape of Ondo today, you cannot find one industry that is producing anything. The concomitant effect of that is that employment cannot be generated anywhere. Government has come to a standstill in terms of the employment of its citizens.
We need to diversify our economy to be able to get our citizens engaged.
For seven years running, graduates from the universities have come out in their hundreds of thousands every year with no employment opportunities. The effect today is that humiliatingly, most of them have become Okada riders, drivers, beggars and idling away at cheap joints of the communities. This is not good for us, it is the recipe for revolution any moment and therefore, I cannot fold my arms.
You look at our infrastructure, they are in a state of decay, industrialization is zero and these are also affecting the educational sector, the health sector and the total being of the citizens of Ondo State. When you have a situation like this, it calls on men who have the fear of God, who have vision, who have direction and who have mission to come on the stage. I believe that given the opportunity to be the governor of Ondo State, I can start to re-direct the development of the state. And the starting point will be to examine what is on ground. I already have the database on what is on ground; how do we utilize what we have to solve the problems confronting us. Look at the various industries mid-wifed by the last regime which are in different and varying stages of completion that were abandoned.
For whatever justification, I do not share the view that those resources should be allowed to waste away. If they are completed, not only would they add value of their own that can be disposed off at anytime for consideration; they will help in solving the problem of unemployment; they will help in creating wealth for our people; they will help in adding value to the communities where they are situated.
I believe further that anyone who must lead Ondo State at this crucial period must have the fear of God, must be one that is well known to the people and that knows the length and breadth of the state, and I fit into these descriptions.
That is why I cannot relent until we sing a new song in Ondo until we have a new lease of life; until we have a new sense of direction; that is only when I can say okay, let others run. For now, it is a man that fits my description that Ondo State needs.
You have been going round the state on campaign tours. Apart from your vision, what are the re-current issues you have been hearing from the people you have been interacting with?
The aggregate opinion of the people of Ondo State is that the present situation is no longer tolerable; they want a change. They want a change that will bring about creation of wealth, that will bring productivity back on the table; a place where a labourer will earn his wages for work done; that will see the emergence of industries in this state; not government initiative alone but private engagement in flourishing business in the state.
The people want reduction in poverty level; they want job opportunities; they want infrastructural decay to be addressed. They want our schools to wear good looks; they want the transport sector to be organized and less chaotic as it is today; they want the coastline resources to be developed and exploited. They want those abandoned industries to come back on stream. So, the desire of the people of Ondo State fits into my dream, it fits into my manifestoes and we are on the same page as to the Ondo we desire and deserve.
How do you hope to achieve all of these lofty ideas and projects if elected?
We are not unaware that the economy is in bad shape and Ondo State is worse for it. And of course, it has to be so, when we had enough, we never build a solid foundation for the future. Lagos State is said on record to have the fifth largest economy in Africa today because while there was abundance, preparation was made for the future. We didn’t prepare and now we have been caught unawares and therefore, we need a lot of vision to be able to bring about all the good things I have said. First, the major burden is debt burden.
I may not be able to be too specific but I am told and I readily believe that we are down with over N108billion indebtedness in Ondo State. That is a major challenge to the incoming government. But government liabilities are valid assets. Government assets and liabilities are valid assets; no government can take asset and run away from liabilities.

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