Michael ‘Laolu Adeyeye, one of the governorship aspirants in Ondo state contesting under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is convinced that the state needs a youthful leader in order to achieve the vision of its founding fathers. The Akure born politician also averred that the incumbent governor, Olusegun Mimiko has been running a window dressing governance in the past seven years. Speaking in an interview with Journalists at the weekend, Adeyeye, a United Kingdom trained lawyer while justifying his gubernatorial ambition said. Excerpts.

Why do you want to be governor of Ondo state? Secondly in been the party candidate you must have a structure in place and you must also have the funds to pursue your campaign. How rooted is your structure and how deep is your pocket?

Been a governor in Ondo state is an ambition that I have nursed very quietly and prayerfully for a very long time. And I believe very strongly that the time is now.

Why do I say that the time is now? I looked around and I can see that there is a gap that needs to be filled. There is a need for an energetic leader for Ondo state, a young visionary leader for Ondo state. A leader with a modern outlook, a leader that can marry modern technology with traditional governance system and achieve great results for the people.

A leader who understands the dynamics of governance in the 21st century and is not bogged down by the politics of sentiments and subjectivism. I realised that there is that gap and I have looked at the field and I have spoken to my people and they have said the only leader that they want to see now is a youthful, visionary leader and I believe by the grace of God I meet those specifications.

In terms of political structure l want to let you know that for a start, l was almost born in Ondo state. I was born a month after the state was created. Within the first six months of my life my family moved to Ondo state. So I grew up in Ondo state. I went to primary school in Ondo state, had my secondary school in Ondo state and l was privileged to have gone to the ObafemiAwolowo University straight out of Ondo state. I enjoyed good public education in Ondo state at some point in time. So l’m not a stranger to Ondo state. 

I presently work and pursue my career in recent years in Lagos state. But I have not been far from home. As a legal practitioner l maintain an office in Ondo state. I’m connected to a structure that is statewide. I have tentacles in every local government area and wards in Ondo state. I want to assure that my structure is solid, it’s virile and it’s far-reaching.

In terms of having a deep pocket and how much money we’re ready to commit to the state, l can tell you we’re not here to play money politics and we’re not playing godfatherism. The only father we’ve is God the father! We’re not here to splash money around. We’re here to make sacrifice. We’re here to effect visible and transparent change that does not need to be sugar-coated or window dressed. That is why we’re in this race.

Looking at Ondo state now would you say it has met the expectations of its founding fathers who envisioned the creation of the state over 40 years ago?

Unfortunately, when you look at Ondo state today it’s a sorry sight. The state which is called the Sunshine state unfortunately the sun is really not shining there. You can look at it sector by sector. Take our educational sector for instance, it is declining. Right now from being one of the top educationally sound states in the nation we’ve now being relegated to the background. The last results of WAEC and NECO computation Ondo was ranked about 13th nationwide behind so many other states. Health wise, our founding fathers like the Awolowos of this world talked about free access to health. There is no access to health in Ondo state. Our basic health centers are run down. And even as we speak right now, we’re not functioning because everybody is on strike.

If you’re unable to afford private medical care in Ondo state today you’re likely to die because the state government hospitals are totally shut down. Our doctors are poorly paid hence doctors have left Ondo state. The Federal Medical Centre in Owo has about almost the same number of medical doctors statewide across all senatorial districts. There are strengths that we’ve that we’re not using. I can go on and on. We’ve debts immeasurable. We’ve taken loans that we cannot really account for. We’ve issued bonds that we cannot point to the money that we raised. With all due respect, I want to say expressly that Governor Mimiko has been running a window dressing governance since he took over from the late Olusegun Agagu in 2009.

From the tone of your voice you seems to regret that the state was ever created.

No l don’t regret that the state was created. In fact, l don’t want to sound like a protestant. It’s a great thing that Ondo state was created. But the resources that Ondo state has have not been maximised. We’re focused on little things. We’re focused on window-dressing, particularly the outgoing government which by the grace of God will not come back. PDP will not come back in Ondo state. The PDP in Ondo state over the last seven and half years have focused on window-dressing by branding the state in white and orange without giving us substance. Giving us caring heart schools without hiring teachers. Giving us structures to see from the road and be excited without making sure that the people who work inside those buildings are happy and productive.

Sir you seem to lay the blame solely on the current government. Why?

The Olusegun Mimiko administration is fortunately a two term government which is a rare phenomenon in Nigeria for governor to have eight full years to implement an agenda of change and improvement on lives. And to have failed to utilise such a golden opportunity is really unfortunate for Ondo state hence my focus on the immediate past government. A number of recent developments were championed. It’s not about the party thing. We’re trying to be objective in our analysis. The government of the late Governor Olusegun Agagu was particularly more focused. They left money in the coffers of the state. That government built good quality roads, bridges in this state that we still point to. That government did a long-term development plan for this state. Every government have had their time. The outgoing government has done a few good things like the Mother and Child Hospital has been a very good development l must say. But it’s not enough. If you have a population of 4.5million and the the hospital is catering to about 20%of that population then you’re saying that you’ve provided for the health sector? You have not unfortunately so.

Why do you want to be governor of Ondo state? Secondly in been the party candidate you must have a structure in place and you must also have the funds to pursue your campaign. How rooted is your structure and how deep is your pocket?

Been a governor in Ondo state is an ambition that I have nursed very quietly and prayerfully for a very long time. And I believe very strongly that the time is now.

Why do I say that the time is now? I looked around and I can see that there is a gap that needs to be filled. There is a need for an energetic leader for Ondo state, a young visionary leader for Ondo state. A leader with a modern outlook, a leader that can marry modern technology with traditional governance system and achieve great results for the people. A leader who understands the dynamics of governance in the 21st century and is not bogged down by the politics of sentiments and subjectivism. I realised that there is that gap and I have looked at the field and I have spoken to my people and they have said the only leader that they want to see now is a youthful, visionary leader and I believe by the grace of God I meet those specifications.

In terms of political structure l want to let you know that for a start, l was almost born in Ondo state. I was born a month after the state was created. Within the first six months of my life my family moved to Ondo state. So I grew up in Ondo state. I went to primary school in Ondo state, had my secondary school in Ondo state and l was privileged to have gone to the ObafemiAwolowo University straight out of Ondo state. I enjoyed good public education in Ondo state at some point in time. So l’m not a stranger to Ondo state. I presently work and pursue my career in recent years in Lagos state. But I have not been far from home. As a legal practitioner l maintain an office in Ondo state. I’m connected to a structure that is statewide. I have tentacles in every local government area and wards in Ondo state. I want to assure that my structure is solid, it’s virile and it’s far-reaching. 

In terms of having a deep pocket and how much money we’re ready to commit to the state, l can tell you we’re not here to play money politics and we’re not playing godfatherism. The only father we’ve is God the father!  We’re not here to splash money around. We’re here to make sacrifice. We’re here to effect visible and transparent change that does not need to be sugar-coated or window dressed. That is why we’re in this race.