Bringing Prosperity to Ondo State

THE PROSPERITY AGENDA FOR ONDO STATE

The Ondo state of my dream is a state with a robust economy anchored on the intellectual property of its citizens. A State that serves as an outsourcing destination for corporate entities in the fields of IT, engineering and manufacturing, It is a State where the natural needs of citizens such as food and shelter are met and the people are given free expression to incubate ideas into businesses and contribute to the economic growth of Nigeria. I dream of a State with green forests of coca and cassava farms, where the value chain of all natural resources are exploited to keep every citizen and resident productive and prosperous. I dream of a State that all sons and daughters would proudly call home and all other Nigerians would see as a place to do business and rest from the toil of other places.

To achieve the Ondo State of my dream I offer myself to the service of the State to serve as a catalyst for its social, economic and infrastructural development using the economic empowerment of the people as a pivot. I place before you my developmental agenda targeted at restoring productivity to our State and prosperity to our people.

AGRICULTURE

1. Cocoa and Cassava revolution: Cocoa was once the symbol of commerce and source of prosperity in Ondo state and indeed the South Western part of Nigeria. The crop remains an integral part of the culture of our people. As governor we will work towards making the Sunshine State the Cocoa capital of the world and turning Cocoa into the source of prosperity for the present and successive generations of Ondo people. We will strengthen the ministry of agriculture and its extension services and liaise with the Cocoa Research institute and International Institute of tropical agriculture in Ibadan to introduce improved seedlings and train our farmers and youths on new planting methodologies. We will encourage the formation of farmers cooperative associations so that risk and resources can be shared among farmers to lower the cost of production. We shall also support the farmers with farming input and other support services so as to increase the success ratio of new farms and cocoa related businesses so that our dream of turning the abandoned forests of Ondo into green gardens of Cocoa and increasing our Cocoa throughput capacity to Two million tons annually can be achieved by 2025. We will pay similar attention to Cassava production and turn the abandoned farmlands into the Cassava hub of West Africa.

   We will develop the Cocoa and cassava value chain to ensure local processing of these products so that our people can tap into the different stages on the value chain such as cocoa and cassava merchandizing, cocoa and Garri processing, starch production, Cocoa juice production, establishment of cocoa beverage industries and involvement of our tertiary institutions in Cocoa and Cassava research.

2. Green house farming: Our youths shall be reintroduced into modern and blue collar agriculture through training and support of green house farming. We will invest in green houses to serve as demonstration farms and provide all needed tools to enable those so trained to go into green house farming.
3. We will encourage the adoption of comparative advantage in the choice of crops and agricultural priorities by each of the eighteen LGAs of the State, so that no part of the State is neglected in our agriculture revolution.

1. Education: We will address the problem of poor quality of education in our State that has resulted in a low WAEC/NECO pass rate and encouraged exam malpractices amongst our young students. We shall adequately address the quality of teaching in our schools through retraining of teachers, provision of decent environment for teachers and students, provision of teaching tools and equipping of science laboratories in all schools, provision of research grants and funding of research in our tertiary institutions, re-invigoration of the inspectorate department of the ministry of education, provision of bursary for students in tertiary institution, award of scholarship to indigent students, involvement of all stakeholders in educational development, rehabilitation and equipping of technical colleges to provide first grade artisanal training and encouraging private sector investment in education. We shall review the curriculum of secondary and tertiary institutions to ensure that the education offered in our State is tailored towards creating an entrepreneurial mindset, meeting business needs and reducing the skills gap.

2. Road Infrastructure: The Ore–Akure, Akure-Owo, Owo-Ikare, Ore-Okitipupa roads shall be dualised, where possible in partnership with the Federal Government or through public/private partnerships. Other Trunk B roads and the internal roads of all major cities will wear a new look. Our target is to ensure that all inner city roads in the major towns are paved so that our cities will begin to wear a modern look. In addition rural roads will be upgraded and rehabilitated to link farming communities to the market/industries in the urban areas.

3. Healthcare: The purpose of government is to improve the living standard of the people. We aspire to lead a government that sees this as its core goal. In particular we are setting for ourselves a target of raising the average life expectancy in people living in Ondo state from the national average of 54 years to 65 years by the year 2025. We hope to achieve this target through a revolutionary approach to health care improvement starting from improved sanitary practices, provision of clean water to providing well-equipped medical centers manned by highly skilled medical professionals within five kilometers radius of all communities. We shall invest in a health insurance scheme to capture those operating in the informal sector, the elderly, the young and other vulnerable persons such that no resident of our state shall lack medical care on account of financial lack.

4. Leisure Infrastructure: We shall invest in providing sports and entertainment infrastructure in schools and communities so as to evolve sports and entertainment related economic activities. One wonders why Ondo State that once produced musicians like King Sunny Ade and Orlando Owoh is unable to tap into the prevailing dynamism in the music, entertainment and sports industries where entertainers and sportsmen are now industries unto themselves employing managers, trainers and other support staff. In the same vein we shall invest in providing tourism infrastructure in places like Idanre  and Akoko areas with emphasis on mountain climbing adventures, as well as the coastal areas of the State where beach resorts can be developed for fishing, boat racing and other aquatic activities.

1. Introduction of entrepreneurship training into the curriculum of secondary and tertiary institutions
2. Managerial skills training for small business owners and artisans. This is particularly important because we are aware that small businesses in Nigeria are unable to access capital due to the low managerial and book keeping skill of the promoters
3. Creating an enabling environment for ease of business through elimination of hindrances  such as multiple taxation, poor infrastructure, red tape, etc.
4. Providing support for the reintroduction and regulation of Cooperative and credit unions in the State.
5. Establishment of business incubation centers where gestating/new businesses can pool resources together, exchange ideas, share common amenities and reduce cost so as to increase the business survival and sustainability rate in the state.
6. Establishment of a State supported Micro Finance Bank to provide seed loans to new businesses.

ATTRACTING INVESTMENTS

We shall address the hindrances to doing business in our State and strive within twelve months to move Ondo State towards the top tier of the Ease of doing business ranking in Nigeria, Ondo State will be positioned to benefit from its location between the Niger Delta and the markets of the South West. Our target is to encourage investors to invest in a seaport and logistics base in the coastal part of the State so that we can enjoy the benefit of being a peaceful State within the Niger Delta and being the middle point between the markets of Lagos and the gas producing States of the South-South.

We will provide incentives to encouraging wealthy Ondo indigenes doing business in other parts of Nigeria and the Diaspora to invest in Ondo State because foreign investors will not invest in our State if our sons and daughters fail to take the lead. We will also encourage all shades of investors to join us to exploit the rich natural resources in the State so that we can create new jobs, imparts skills in our people and enable them benefit from the  wealth  bequeathed on them by God.

EMPLOYMENT  GENERATION

Employment generation shall be private sector driven. The Cocoa and Cassava revolution is expected to turn engage most of our jobless youths in productive and wealth creating activities. We believe that the introduction of modern agricultural methodology as well as planned re-orientation of youths towards export oriented farming to earn foreign currency is expected to equally translate to new jobs for non- farm owning individuals. Equally, the growth and prosperity of artisanal and other businesses, entertainment businesses and the agriculture value chain will create quantum of jobs. Similarly, our plan to turn the coastal areas of the State to a logistics base for activities in the oil and gas sector as well as development of the bitumen and other natural resources in the State will unequivocally create thousands of jobs.

Conclusion:

The 2016 elections is an opportunity for us to chart a new course for our State. Like a River flowing away from its course the election affords us the chance to retrace and redirect our steps and put an end to the rot in governance in our state. Ondo State is too well endowed to be poor. Our people have a rich history of enterprise, hard work and discipline, our problem has been that we entrusted the wheels of our fortune in the hands of people with narrow vision I offer my wealth of experiences unto you. With your support we can make the light of prosperity to once more shine on our State.