One of the challenges of governance in Africa, especially Nigeria, is that some leaders do not exhibit passionate concern about issues of their time.
The economy is biting hard and there are also other things of concern for the people. It’s obvious now that crude oil cannot sustain the country’s economy. So many analysts have emphasized the need for states in Nigeria to look inward and re-strategise to shore up their struggling economies and stop depending solely on Abuja, the seat of power for their survival. Interestingly in Ondo state, southwest Nigeria the opportunity to decide how it will be run as an economically viable state has come. Election to choose a fresh governor is in few months.
Difficult as the decision is to make, easier is it to choose as even Bloomberg the financial and economic media company in Manhattan, New York has referred to Dr. Olusegun Abraham, an aspirant jostling to be governor of Ondo state as World Bank Consultant and technocrat. Most significantly, what Ondo state needs is not just someone with a good image alone but someone who has a vision, the energy and charisma to drive it.
Segun Abraham, out of the lots has those qualities as seen from his antecedent and the way and manner he champions his campaign. The campaign blitz embarked upon by the APC governorship aspirant, Segun Abraham, popularly called O’Abraham (Ibukun repete), has led many people in the state to conclude that the election would be won by All Progressive Congress (APC) and him as candidate, findings have revealed. He has enlivened APC campaign in the state with his solo campaign runs by meeting and receiving endorsements of key stakeholders within the state. A strong and powerful group of Akoko political leaders and elder statesmen in APC have adopted Segun Abraham as a candidate from the area and an even bigger endorsement came from the leaders of APC led by an attorney and a former state party chairman of the defunct AD and ACN, Comrade Olusola Iji.
Iji said `This is a group of members of APC who have known tradition of being members of AD, AC and ACN before forming the APC. We have come a long way with commonality of aspiration and interest. We believe that whoever wants to be governor in Ondo state must be somebody we can relate with. He must be somebody we can trust and who shares same political interest and reasoning with us. Many of us are with different affinity and affiliation to different governorship aspirants. Inspite of that, we decided to come together and harmonize our interests.
In order to achieve this, we have been meeting on this platform for the past seven months as leaders from our respective Local government areas. At the end of the day we all zero in on Chief Segun Abraham as the most outstanding of them that we can relate with. “As a successful businessman, we have investigated him and we have found the qualities we need in him. We have found out that he could bring his business experience to play in the development of the state and advancement of our economy. We believe that a state under an experienced business tycoon like Segun Abraham will create job opportunities for our youths. We believe that Abraham who has vast experience in private sector would understand how to drive the state economy through PPP which is the in-thing all over the world. We believe he can drive our economy without taking derivation funds. We are banking on his experience to transform Ondo state from civil service state to economically driven state” Iji said. Abraham has within the last 15 years champion the cause of the party since the Alliance for Democracy AD days by donating funds to the party and also for good causes. He has also improved on his understanding and articulation of the many problems of Ondo state.
Abraham has shown that he has a high grasp of issues and has more vibrant ideas than any other aspirants today. Ondo state can make it 3 Seguns in a row, Segun Agagu, Segun Mimiko could it be another Segun in Abraham? Many attributed his openness, simple ways of life and frugality to his success as a flourishing businessman with businesses in Canada, Ghana and Nigeria. He is one sure candidate that has the international connections to draw foreign investment and industrialise Ondo state. If you are looking for a game changer who can turn the economy around for the better, look no further, it’s got to be Abraham.
