24/05/2022
SPEECH DELIVERED BY HON. ADEKUNLE ABDULKABIR AKINLADE AT THE OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF HIS 2023 GUBERNATORIAL ASPIRATION THIS TUESDAY 24TH DAY OF MAY 2022.
Salutations
AUDACITY TO RESET OUR DEAR STATE FOR GREATER HEIGHTS
Good morning and thank you all for honouring our invitation to this event. Not only is today a very special day in the history of our dear State, but a defining moment for our fledgling democracy. Looking across this room today, I see faces that remind me of our earlier sojourn, faces that evoke memories of our struggles, renewed strength, consistency, and belief that one day, the manifestation of our prayers for our dear State shall come into fruition and by God's grace, that day shall be 29th of May 2023. Amin.
As key stakeholders in the Ogun State project, I will not bore you with what could have been rather I will crave your indulgence to outline what I will do differently if given the opportunity to serve you as the 6th Executive Governor of this great State come May 29th, 2023. My vision for our dear State is hinged on the domestication of all human and infrastructural development because I believe that only prosperous people can truly appreciate and preserve the investments across our communities.
You will recall that during our 2019 campaign for this exalted office, we conceived, developed, and presented a developmental blueprint that was designed to complement the giant infrastructural strides of the Sen. Ibikunle Amosun CON FCA administration (2011-2019). Our manifesto also elaborated our strategic plans in the area of Agriculture-driven human capital development, Education, Healthcare, Security, Social justice, and Urban renewal. We also stated how we plan to fund those laudable initiatives without placing undue burden on our people.
My dear good people of Ogun State, in the last ten years, I have had the rare honour to serve this great State in various capacities, starting with my appointment as Senior Special Assistant (SSA) Taxation & Revenue between 2011-2014, Member House of Representatives, 2015-2019 and governorship candidate in 2019. I have traversed the entire 236 Wards of this state alongside many of you seated here today. These experiences availed me the opportunity to interface directly with our people thus sharing their passion and expectations. I must say that the noblest way to provide governance with a human face is to sincerely engage the people and provide what is most important to them rather than what we feel they need.
This insight, coupled with the dwindling economic fortunes of our people, because of the harsh post-covid pandemic economic environment, informed our resolve to tweak our 2018 manifesto to address not only the old problems but the new ones that have reared their heads. We also believe that only a shared vision of transformational objectives for our State can bring about a common goal of collective success in the delivery of the core dividends of democracy to the people.
Come 2023, God willing, our administration shall from day one confront the cancerous issue of insecurity headlong to ensure that the safety of lives remain paramount and a priority, without abusing the rights and privileges of our people. To this end, our 6-point plan will inter alia address the following.
1. Security.
2. Agriculture Driven Human Capital Development. 3. Strategic Internally Generated Revenue Modules.
4. Healthcare.
5. Social Justice.
6. Urban renewal.
SECURITY.
The fact remains that no society can develop or progress in an environment of chaos, banditry, and criminality of all shades and forms. As a matter of priority, we shall constitute a security architecture that will comprise all existing security entities in the State with one singular mandate which is, to flush out all criminal elements wherever and whoever they are. The head of the outfit shall be a retired military intelligence officer with counter terrorism expertise and shall operate out of my office. The outfit shall have a six (6) month mandate in the first instance and be funded from the existing Security Trust Fund which shall be replenished monthly with a percentage of our IGR subject to the approval of the State House of Assembly.
AGRICULTURAL DRIVEN HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT.
Unlike our neighbour, Ogun State is a semi-metropolitan state with over 60% of our people residing in sub-rural areas. Apart from Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ado-odo Ota, Ijebu Ode, and Sagamu, the remaining 15 local governments are in dire need of essential infrastructures that will help open those communities to sustainable investments and development. It is also trite to say that the greatest asset of any community is the people.
To this end, we shall provide the enabling environment and partner with the private sector to develop skill acquisition centres and agro-processing facilities across the 57 Local Governments and Area Councils. We shall encourage the development and establishment of large-scale cash crop farms in areas where they have relative advantage across the State in partnership with bodies such as the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). Indigenous private sector investors shall be offered encouraging incentives to drive related initiatives, thereby saving the State billions of naira to be invested in other sectors.
STRATEGIC INTERNALLY GENERATED REVENUE MODULES.
Our dear State is well endowed both in human and natural resources to break the N10billion per month revenue generation ceiling. The present challenge is the inability of relevant authorities to differentiate between income and revenue. I have always opined that sales of landed properties or other state assets are INCOMES while, REVENUE on the other hand are collectibles that are derived from fees, rates, fines, taxes, charges, and levies.
The standard global practice to grow your IGR is that you deliberately and consciously institutionalize the process of creating robust private sector-driven revenue sources and encouraging the people to improve their means of livelihood, only then, can a government legitimately grow a sustainable IGR base. Voluntary compliance is the most efficient and cost effective form of revenue collection but, the people must first see that the government is disciplined, accountable, and serious in the management of its resources..
Upon assumption of office, we shall deploy all resources at our disposal to get at least 500,000 indigenes of the State gainfully employed through our carefully planned agro value chain development schemes, hand-craft skill acquisition, and ICT direct service initiatives. We shall establish a Pond-Concept Tax platform that enables every employed individual (Self or otherwise) to meet their tax obligations conveniently. Unemployed taxable adults shall be encouraged to enrol in our proposed private sector-driven cottage industry 'All Hands Engaged Scheme'.
EDUCATION.
Ogun State ranks first in terms of hosting the highest number of higher institutions in the country which translates to large numbers of young adults across the State. Rather than harness and constructively exploit this great human capital, we have allowed what is simply our competitive advantage to waste away. What we will do differently is to enumerate every young adult between the ages of 18 and 35 across the State and enrol them in our All Hands Engaged Scheme which will enable them to acquire the requisite skills needed for industrial development in the State. While being trained, they shall receive stipends from a special fund that will be created specifically for that purpose. The special fund shall be funded by companies and industries through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and relevant global entrepreneurial entities.
For Infrastructure, we shall renovate all government-owned schools in the State through direct labour with the view to developing our local economies. Teachers will be retrained in the use of modern teaching materials and supported through our self-development initiatives. We shall make sure that every child of school age gets the necessary support to be enrolled in school. We shall appoint the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Special Advisers, and related aides from amongst the teachers. We shall listen and take their opinions on board in making far reaching policy decisions in the educational sector.
SOCIAL JUSTICE.
We clearly understand that with leadership comes great responsibility. We also understand that it is the right of every worker to get paid appropriately as and when due, including those that have served our dear State in different capacities in the past. This is why we shall from day one get the buy-in of relevant stakeholders and formulate a clear part in our people oriented government. We shall request the full cooperation of the workforce, relate with them as partners, and consider their input in the affairs of the State.
This position is important because no government can meet its financial obligations without a sustainable Internally Generated Revenue drive, and in the same vein, no IGR growth can be sustained without the full cooperation of the relevant stakeholders and workforce.
CONCLUSION
My dear compatriots, I stand before you today, with all sense of humility and honour to seek your support and prayers as I formally declare my intention to contest the 2023 Ogun State governorship election on the platform of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Thank you all for believing that this is possible, and for believing in the vision that Ogun State needs a new Sheriff to steer its affairs and destiny now. As we prepare to elect the next flag bearer of our party on Thursday the 26th of May 2022, I call on all delegates and party faithful regardless of the faction you belong to, to be mindful of who you cast your vote for, because this singular process, will determine who leads and governs our dear State for the next four years.
No matter what form or mode of primary the party adopts, the power to DECIDE resides entirely in your hands as well as the destiny of millions of our people. It is to this end that I most humbly plead with everyone here present to go back home and call upon our people to come out and vote for me. May I at this junction state that as a people, all we need is the WILL to strive for success, the COURAGE to remain on course, and TENACITY to take our State back, which I am confident we shall by God's grace on Thursday 26th of May 2022 by electing me, Adekunle Abdulkabir Akinlade as the gubernatorial flag bearer of our great party for the 2023 general election.
To our leaders, elders, party supporters, and the SIA political family, I say a very big thank you. To our loving former First Lady and wife of our leader, Dr. Mrs. Olufunsho Amosun, I say thank you for your prayers and encouragement. To my political mentor and leader, H.E Sen. Ibikunle Amosun CON Fca, I remain eternally grateful, to the national leadership of the party, I say well done. And finally, to our father and leader, His Excellency, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Mohammed Buhari GCFR, I say thank you for your stewardship of the affairs of our nation and Party.
God bless you all,
God bless Ogun State,
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
HON. ADEKUNLE ABDULKABIR AKINLADE. (Triple A)
