Prince Boye Ologbese is the Ondo State Commissioner for Regional Integration and Diaspora. In this interview with OSAGIE OTABOR, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain speaks on a wide range of issues bordering on the forthcoming governorship election in the state, particularly the chances of his party in the race.
Given the prevailing economic hardship in Ondo State, what are the chances of your party, the APC, in November’s governorship?
When you look at the economic hardship, it is a global challenge. The Russian-Ukraine War has its global challenge. The war has led to a worldwide food crisis. Ukraine is the largest producer of wealth in the world. It is the major component of producing bread. Those in IDP camps were farmers. That is why the government came up with different palliatives. People were happy with it. We will go to the polls and win an election because we did not make palliative distribution a party affair. It was community-driven. We are fielding a reliable and competent candidate. Ondo will not want to be cut off from the Renewed Hope agenda of Mr President. We want to key in line with the APC at the Federal level. We will not have any problem with the poll. Aiyedatiwa will win across the 18 local government areas.
What will Aiyedatiwa do differently for Ondo residents?
This is the first time the people of Ondo State will have a serious-minded person like Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as their leader. He is an energetic and hardworking governor. We have a blueprint already. It is not that he does not know what to do. This is part of what has helped the state. That is why you have to give it to late Akeredolu. He did not abolish Mimiko’s project. He completed them. We designed a blueprint and are working towards that. Part of the vision gave birth to the industrial hub. We have the Chinese working there. We now want to expand the hub.
The government pursued the license for the seaport. If it is under our watch, the investment that eluded us that led to the Lekki deep seaport would have been sited in Ondo State. Aiyedatiwa wants to diversify the economy as quickly as possible before Artificial Intelligence (AI) renders our crude oil useless. We want to put the state economy in a global context through tourism. It is achievable. Ekiti State is working with us. Ekiti and Osun states should begin to talk about the dry inland ports.
The Aiyedatiwa-led government appears to have abandoned the late Akeredolu’s REDEEMN agenda…
We are still focusing on Akeredolu’s REDEEMN agenda. It has not stopped. One of the cardinal indexes is to make sure the three arms of government are being run successfully. It focused on rural development. We make sure the local governments are working. We created the LCDAs to open the scope of local government development. This administration is working along that line. Part of the blueprint we are looking at is Vision 2020. In the next 20 years, Ondo will be compared to the world’s big economies. The REDEEMN agenda of Akeredolu has never been in shambles. It is part of the legacies we are standing on. It is part of what we used to form the government we are enjoying today. This government is talking about the development of the Ondo Port. We have not deviated from all the programmes we put in place in the health sector. We are still pushing them to a logical conclusion. These are part of the REDEEMN agenda. We are building institutions and a legacy that will stand the state of time.
What were you doing before you were appointed?
In 2009, I was the candidate of the party, the then Action Congress (AC). I lost the election. I have been forthcoming for Ondo State politics. I was a maritime operator. I was the Chief Operation Officer of the Ogbese Marine Agency before joining politics. I was also in the diaspora and later returned to develop our state.
PDP’s Agboola Ajayi appears to be a strong force and a threat to Aiyedatiwa’s election. How do you rate his chances?
The candidate of the PDP was once a disloyal member of our party. He does not have what it takes to govern our state. The APC will emerge victorious in the election. We have carried the traditional institutions along. We carried them along in all the policies of government. It will be difficult for any party to disgrace us at the polls.
Aiyedatiwa will take us to victory because of his track record. He has passed through the training on the job. He was a former deputy governor and worked tediously under the late Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. He supported the late Akeredolu in achieving the huge success recorded then. When Akeredolu was ill, he did most of the jobs. Ondo people know they are in safe hands. He will give the people the governance they can be proud of. We provided free buses in Ondo. We can feel the yearnings and pains of the people. We are tackling security. We were able to secure our farmlands.
Does the Southwest still nurture hopes of regional integration?
The Southwest governors have adopted a regional anthem, which we have been reciting for the past six years. It shows they want to come together to have a more working relationship in terms of ideology. The governor of Ekiti State was a former Commissioner for Integration. He will see regional integration as key to the development of the Southwest. That is why it was easy for us to bring Oyo State’s Governor Seyi Makinde on board. Regional integration is beyond party affiliation.
The rail system for the Southwest is important and it will be pursued to a reasonable extent. Part of the shortcomings was funding. With the position of the Southwest governors, I think the DAWN Commission will be well funded. Before the push of the bill, Southwest has been forthcoming in the aspect of regional development. It shows we have to appreciate what the DAWN Commission has been doing under the current leadership. Regional development is very key at this point. It will put us on our toes and give us the leverage to do more. We have a common cultural heritage in the Southwest and that is why regional development is key to fostering development. In most advanced countries, they focus more on regional development to enhance their growth. They focus on the provinces. A province is more of a region. The provinces have their laws to bind them together and see how they can use them to foster economic development. In Nigeria, regional development would douse ethnic politics. It will solve security challenges we are facing and that is why we are comfortable and thank the National Assembly for a well done job.
How far have you gone with the proposed Diaspora Estate?
The ministry has worked tediously on this project. We are looking forward to getting the Diaspora Smart City, also known as the Green Economy initiative, approved at the State Executive Council. We want to build a mini Dubai in Akure. This is the diversification of the economy. We want to go into the tourism business. In the next 20 years when Artificial intelligence will render crude oil useless, we want to look at how to run our economy without going to Abuja. This is part of the vision of our Governor. Governor Aiyedatiwa is keen to diversify the economy as quickly as possible. We want to use our Blue economy to complement our Green economy to develop the state. We want to build a global tourism hub to boost the economy. This will open up our state capital to other state’s capital. It will create a lot of jobs and promote lots of diaspora direct investment initiatives. Nigerians in the diaspora are key to us, especially for a state that wants to change its narrative from a civil service state to a business-driven state. We took time to look at why other investments like Tinapa failed. We felt that the government does not have to be in business rather than creating an enabling environment for businesses to strive. These are the kinds of mechanisms we are trying to do. The Diasporas are coming to put those investments on board but the infrastructural development of the hub is the responsibility of the government. We are going to use that to increase the IGR of the state. We want to use the aspect of the Green economy to tackle climate change. We are going to have an artificial lake in that place and with our deep seaport coming on board. The tourism business will also receive a boost. We believe it is going to come to reality.
How much is the project going to cost?
The whole indices have not been well structured in terms of how much we intend to put in but I can tell you if all infrastructures are put in place, it is going to be a tourism hub in the Southwest. We will attract tourists to neighbouring states. It is a global market on its own. The diaspora felt we were on top of security as a state and a region The Amotekun the entire Southwest is enjoying today was a product of this ministry. Amotekun has helped to tackle security challenges. Security is paramount to pushing investment in the country. For a serious government, security is non-negotiable. We are on top of security challenges. Tourism is our next oil in Ondo.
What was the outcome of the Diaspora Investment Summit?
It was part of the initiative we felt that we needed to market our potential to the world. It has promoted a lot of awareness. A lot of people were not aware of our potential. That has helped to put the state on the world map. Investors are seeing Ondo State as a rich market. By the time our seaport is ready, we know we could do better than Lagos because we have agriculture to drive our state. Apart from the commerce Lagos has, we want to focus more on agriculture. Ondo Port will take care of port congestion in Lagos. They will patronise our port if they find it more profitable.
How has the DAWN Commission helped to achieve your dreams?
Ondo State has benefitted from the DAWN Commission. The formation of the Amotekun Corps would not have been achieved if not for the coordination and activities of the DAWN Commission. In terms of bringing up ideas to foster development, the DAWN Commission has been forthcoming. The state government has keyed into the rail system of the Southwest. This will foster the economic growth of Ondo State. DAWN Commission is like a development partner to the state. We hold them in high esteem. This ministry is part of the DAWN Commission and we make sure all programmes of the commission are actualised in the state. The idea is to make the region a robust economy.
What has happened to the electricity project proposed by the DAWN Commission?
The Federal Government has removed a lot of the bottlenecks holding us back. States can now generate and distribute their electricity. These are part of what the DAWN Commission is focusing on. We are bringing in lots of development partners to the power sector. We want to use it in our Diaspora Smart City. DAWN Commission is working with UNDP to see how the region would be more productive in business. The DAWN Commission is coming up with an ideology for the development of the Southwest. Regional development will bring about competition in the region and it will promote unity in the country. Regional integration will not stop the unity of the country. The Eastern Bloc can come up with its own ideology. There will be a lot of competitive thrive. It will make the government more serious and give us that sense of belonging. Nobody will be concerned about who becomes the president.
What has the commission done to boost agriculture in the Southwest?
DAWN Commission focused on agriculture. They did a programme for all the Ministries of Agriculture across the Southwest to see how we can cultivate crops to balance the international trade looking at the geographical nature and areas of comparative advantage. The formation of the DAWN Commission was based on agriculture. The DAWN Commission is pursuing our common values and strengths. They promote export-driven crops to stabilise our forest. We are doing lots of imports more than exports and the DAWN Commission aimed to reverse that. We are working more on our exports.
The DAWN Commission is more concerned about how we are going to have a better economy for future development. The cost of commodities is high. The reason is that most of the foods we consume are from the North. Insecurity has affected agriculture in the North. It is now telling on the whole nation. Most governors are now promoting those crops being grown in the North so that we do not rely on what is coming from the North to sustain our daily consumption.
If we go into serious cultivation of those crops from the North, it will crash the price completely. There is hunger in the land; farmers should focus not only on cocoa but things like pepper, tomatoes and others. That is what the Southwest governors are standing for. That is the commitment of the Governors in the Southwest. We have been playing a lot of roles. We have been brainstorming on growing crops to sustain the Southwest. We aim to crash the prices of stale food items.
