The day is set and preparations are at the crescendo as Senator Babafemi Ojudu, SBO, put finishing touches to plans for the public declaration of his intention to run as governor of Ekiti State in the coming election slated for July 14, 2018, under the banner of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to the Director General (DG) of the Ekiti Rebirth Organisation, the campaign arm of Ojudu 2018, Chief Aderanti Adebisi (aka Opomulero), March 9, 2018 has been slated for the ‘Mother of All’ declarations as it will bring together party faithful, friends, loyalists, professionals, civil society organisations and political associates of Ojudu to Ado Ekiti , the capital city of Ekiti State, for the epoch making event.
Adebisi who spoke in from Houston, United State , on his way to Nigeria after a brief holiday, said: “Ekiti should expect pragmatic leadership from Ojudu as the governor of our state. SBO with his FINE agenda will transform Ekiti both with renewed vigour on human, infrastructure and economic development.
“It is going to be a new dawn in Ekiti with a Process focused government that will give our party APC and the people a new lease of life where investors are encouraged to come in and invest while existing businesses are allowed to flourish.”
At the declaration ground, Ojudu will be unfolding his manifesto to Ekiti people as encapsulated in the FINE agenda standing for: Foster economic growth, Invest in the people, Nurture enterprise and innovation and Ensure the well-being of the people.
Speaking about his aspiration, Ojudu said, Ekiti State is yearning for freedom under an oppressive regime that has taken food from their table and replaced their dignity with humiliation through sundry wicked extortions.
“Our people have been battered, raped and terribly humiliated. We need to go back and found our pride which is embedded in hard work, discipline, decency, respect for and value of human dignity.”
He promised to run a government that will restore the economy of the state through adequate focus on agriculture, investment in the people through human capital development, optimising education and knowledge production.
Ojudu also promised a government that would cater for the well-being of the people through free healthcare to the old citizens and other vulnerable groups by launching the ‘T’Ebi, T’Ara health initiative, while not losing focus on the high unemployment rate in the state.
“The unemployment rate of 20.60 percent in Ekiti is above the national average of 19.7 percent. It is also higher than the rate in other south-west states. We shall therefore direct energy towards evolving a private-centric economy that is market-driven, creates jobs, guarantee self-reliance and dignity,” he stressed.
The Friday declaration is the outcome of a yearlong consultation across the state by Ojudu who kick-started a reconciliatory move within the APC in March 2017 to fix missing links and present a formidable party capable of taking power from the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party, PDP government in the state.
The Presidential Adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Political Matters, SBO, used the opportunity presented by the tour to gauge the pause of the people as well as seek the opinion of stakeholders in the state on ways forward to the declining situation in Ekiti, hence his governorship aspiration.
Asked what should be expected in Ojudu’s camp during and after the March 9 declaration, the ERO boss, Adebisi says:
“Until you see the Zulu warrior dance his battle dance on the hills of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, you know nothing. Until you hear the Ashanti and the Yoruba sing worship songs to the Living God, you have heard nothing.
Until you see brave men fight, suffer and die for a noble and just cause, you know nothing. Until you hear the cries, see the tears, read the words and feel the pain of a wounded, tormented and broken soul, you have seen nothing.
“The Friday declaration will be symbolic, a beginning of a revolution that will midwife the social and economic freedom of our people. It is a date with history,” he said.