A young frontline Oyo state politician , Ayobami Oyalowo, has reiterated his interest in running for the Ogbomosho/ Orire Federal Constituency to represent his people in the House of Representatives.
He was speaking to newsmen at the All Progressives Congress convention grounds Saturday on the sidelines of the event.
Asked what he would be bringing to the table that is not currently there, he fired a poser: who is the current representative of the constituency? Please tell me if you know.
He continued: “I will bring competence, integrity and vibrance to the people of Ogbomoso. My people deserve a good representative and I intend to use my capacity, know-how and my connections to help my people. The people of Ogbomoso deserve better than to be relegated to the backseat of Nigerian politics.”
Oyalowo who is a well- known Tinubu loyalist, refused to be drawn into choosing between Tinubu and Osinbajo as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
“Well the party will choose, and whoever the party chooses automatically becomes my candidate,” Oyalowo said.
Responding to a question as to whether the current realities agree with his expectations of the Buhari Presidency 7 years ago, he explained that the assessment must be done within the context of world dynamics.
“Well you have to undertsand that the dynamics of the world also counts. Nigeria is not an island. In the last 7 years, the world has gone through a lot, from the dip in oil prices, to the pandemic, and now the war between Ukraine and Russia. All of these have affected in one way or the other the market and economic dynamics, and we have been able to pragmatically handle some of its effects.
“Let me bring to your remembrance – because Nigerians are very forgetful people- of course there are kidnappings and insecurity right now in the country, but if you remember before this present administration, we could not go out of our houses.Anytime I go to church I am reminded of the pain of the past. Abuja had become a bombing hub every sunday. In terms of the economy, we’ve had about 8 years of non reliance on importation of food. Imagine if we were 90% reliant on imported food as it was before this present administration, where do you think we will be right now after the pandemic that hit the world. Yes there are challenges but there also a lot of changes. In terms of infastructure we have done way better than the other party would have, if they had gone on with their free-for-all stealing.
Well, you speak of the ended Abuja bombings, but talks are going around about violence in the country being democratized,. For example, the South East used to be sort of a safe zone, but now it’s a theatre of war so to speak, he was prodded.
“When prople do not like a person this is what begins to happen, there was relative peace in the East because the people were happy, suddenly people began to feed the people that Buhari is your enemy, and then the youths were misguided so we have what we have on ground.
” But let’s look at the reality of things, no government has touched the East like this Buhari government,. I’ll give you some examples, first, the biggest market in Africa is in Aba (Abia state) they have 24hrs light as we speak. The second Niger bridge was on paper forever, with the othrr party lying to Nigerians. Buhari did not do that, he picked the gauntlet and today the Niger bridge would be commissioned before the end of his tenure.
“Again, two weeks ago, federal government for the first time exported our own security vehicles, made by Innoson Motors. See, this government has been focused on development, while opposition has been focused on propaganda. So the people will have to choose what they want, is it developtment or the destabilization that comes with propaganda?
On the alleged human rights abuses in the South East, Oyalowo said “Are you aware of the number of police stations that have been burnt down? FRSC officers? INEC offices, the number of officers that have lost their lives in the process. It’s always easy to talk about one side. When talking about this particular narrative we shoudl consider, should the police fold their hands or lose thier lives? Yes you have a right to agitate, but don’t go violent, because violence begets violence. So these are the issues, and I beleieve that the South East is an integral part of Nigeria., but theyhave a long way to go in terms of calling their youths to order.”
“Look at what happened just a week ago, the house was razed to the ground, how is that agitation? The youths are important to Nigeria. Many years back I went to Kano, and I saw young men riding Okada, but going back there I didn’t see as many of them, I asked why and they said they had all gone to their farms. It is when youths begin to expect money to fall from somewhere that they begin to behave like this, they must be made to understand that to make money you must work for it, they must be made to understand that you do not become a billionaire overnight, then we can come together as one Nigeria and make a better country.