Aregbesola’s achievements will speak for him —Ayedun Alhaji Sikiru Ayedun, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture in the State of Osun, hails from Ile-Ife. He speaks on the factors that may determine the August 9 governorship poll in Osun. As we are preparing for next governorship election in the state, what is the chance of APC and Governor Rauf Aregbesola in the coming election? You can even see it yourself. The transformation that we have done in the state in the last three and half years has shown that the administration is a government of the people for the people. These can be seen in all our programmes and activities. Today, we have Opon Imo; we have uniforms for all our students. We have transformed our educational infrastructure; we have good roads now and we are generating wealth. All these will attract investors as we have creating a peaceful environment. Our hospitals have been upgraded for the benefit of the masses. With all these achievements, I believe that no candidate can match Ogbeni. Aregbesola. So, I believe that come August 9, his mandate will be renewed by the electorate in Osun. The PDP governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore is from your ward in Ile-Ife. What are your chances of you delivering your constituency during the gubernatorial election? Yes, he is from my ward. In 2011, he even lost in our ward. Whatever they are telling you outside is just grandstanding. We know our people and they know that we are working for them. So, I am advising those in the rival camp in the contest not to waste their resources and time. They should not take violence into the election as we are propagating our own programmes and manifesto; they should come with their own too and let the people do the comparism. They should compare the period of seven and half years they used in office to our own tenure of three and half years. I know that this is a period of returns and remember our popular slogan: one good term deserves another. The present administration in Osun has done a lot for my people in Ile-Ife; so in whatever way we are looking at it, we want this development to continue. That is why we are working seriously to make sure that, not only that we win the August election but also win convincingly in all ramifications. What is on the ground now in terms of the infrastructural development in Ile-Ife has so much endeared the Governor Aregbesola and our party to the people. They believe any government that has done this much must be supported. I can tell you categorically that the people of Ife are for Aregbesola and they will support him to govern the state beyond 2014. How was the government able to turn around the tourism industry in the state? What is the magic wand? The magic wand concerning the turnaround is not other than our desire to turn Osun into one of the tourism hubs in Nigeria, as the state is the cultural centre of the Yoruba nation and custodian of culture and cultural artifacts of Yoruba land. Also, the turnaround is an integral part of the six master plan of the Governor Aregbesola to develop the state. The aim of the government is to banish poverty and hunger; to create wealth, and to provide qualitative education. All what we are doing is the executing of part of the master plan of the governor. In the first instance, I will attribute the prevailing atmosphere of peace and security in the state as one of the factors responsible for the growth of the hospitality industry in the state. Again, the Aregbesola administration has been busy opening up the state through massive development of road infrastructure, education and health. These are some of the things responsible for the growth of hospitality and tourism in the state.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 03:36:04 +0000
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