…The Titans Clash on Sunday
By: Oladimeji Abitogun and Olawale Oladele in Akure
Four candidates in the governorship election holding in Ondo State, South-West Nigeria, on October 10, 2020, have mounted the rostrum, in a debate session under the aegis of Face the Voter Initiative, organized by a coalition of media organizations and civil society groups, on Tuesday to articulate core views on issues of socio-economic development that could attract the attention of undecided voters.
The four candidates, Prince Martins Kunle Olateru-Olagbegi of African Democratic Party (ADP), Mr. Dotun Ojon of Youth Progressives Party (YPP), Mr. Ahmed Olanrewaju of Allied People’s Movement (APM) and Mr. Babatunde Francis Alli of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). The candidates tackled each other with admixture of serious ideological and philosophical differences and comic farce on matters of leadership, security, education, industrialization, health care and infrastructural developments.
The debate session started at about 5.00 p.m. local time, attendance was by strict invitation. The venue was the International Events Center (The Dome) at Igbatoro Road, Akure, the Capital of Ondo State.
The session was solely anchored by Mr. Akinwumi Abodunde, an experienced journalist with the Ondo State Media Group. It was a stage completely dominated by male politicians. By demeanour and conduct, the candidates did not display the antagonistic disposition that has so far heated up the political landscape of the Sunshine State. Apart from their clear decorous deference to one another, adequate security was elaborately on display at the venue. The peaceful nature may not carry into the next round of debate that could witness the bigger set of political gladiators on Sunday October 4, 2020, including the Governor of the State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu and two of his toughest challengers, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede and Mr. Alfred Agboola Ajayi. The three frontline candidates are Attorneys-at-Law.
To the first interrogation of the essence of and qualification for leadership, Martins Kunle Olateru-Olagbegi said that first taking care of citizens and workers in terms of wages and rewards ahead of the perks and payments to an elected Chief Executive was true leadership. Martins Kunle Olateru-Olagbegi said that a leader who gets everything and privileges free of charge could not truly answer to the calling of a leader if he has no desire to serve first and be served last.
Mr. Babatunde Francis Alli of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, said his understanding of the vision of leadership and why he was eminently qualified to occupy the first office in the State, was succinctly captured in the spirit and the letter of the socialist agenda of the party which he said has had an unbroken engagement and participation in the Nigerian polity since 1978. According to him, the means of production and the control of the same must be with the government, so that the transfer and re-distribution of wealth could be superintended effectively. He did not talk about the endemic corruption and fraud often recorded with such state ownerships of such factories, firms and corporations in Nigeria.
For Mr. Ahmed Olanrewaju of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, setting aside a sizable portion of his monthly security vote, say about N200Million out of N600Million every month for taking care of the citizens, is a clear demonstration of purposeful leadership. Most of Olanrewaju’s fiscal vision on security and industrialization starts and ends with bounties from the security vote. It was almost like juvenile talk although he was good for comic interjections and humor.
Mr. Dotun Ojon of the Youth Progressives Party, YPP, the uniqueness of each community in terms of traditional endowments and natural gifts would inform production capabilities for productivity. Ojon was passionate on the need to open up every community for its potentials. He would pursue the dream of a natural deep seaport for the coastal communities of Ondo State.
However, in retrospect the sales pitch from all the four candidates, that of Martins Kunle Olateru-Olagbegi, stuck as he emphasized the need for the sides and set back to Nigeria’s major highways to be cleared, grassed with lurch vegetations in order to destroy hideouts for bandits and kidnappers to enhance natural aesthetics that would drive tourism.
Kunle Olateru-Olagbegi said that the plains and bank of River Ogbese and farmlands adjoining Ayede-Ogbese have been adjudged by soil scientists and world-class scientists as the best soil in the world and as such the State would seize its opportunity for agricultural business.