Afe Babalola
By Rotimi Ojomoyela
ADO-EKITI — THE founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, yesterday, urged politicians to focus on the development of the state rather than indulging in personal attacks, character assassination, recruitment and deployment of thugs during the July 14 governorship election.
Babalola said the state must do more to attract federal presence to Ekiti state and query why federal projects and the airport that had been approved, were abandoned.
He said this at the presentation of the Ekiti Council of Elders’ manifesto to candidates of political parties participating in the July 14 Governorship elections.
His words: “They should focus on the fact that Ekiti state is landlocked, road-blocked, airport- locked, railway locked, industry-locked and power-locked. These are the critical issues that should dominate their campaigns and strategies.
“What should be the concern of politicians is how to develop Ekiti State and the elders should advise them in this regard.
“It is the duty and responsibility of both the voters and the candidates to assist in doing all we can to make Ekiti a peace-loving state and a toast of its peers throughout the country.”
Meanwhile, the Council of Elders, however, advised the governor that will succeed Governor Ayodele Fayose not to initiate projects he could not complete, saying it is now a criminal offence for any governor to jettison the projects initiated by his predecessor.
Presenting the agenda tagged: ‘Blueprint for Ekiti State Development’, at a summit in Ado Ekiti, the ECE President, Prof. Joseph Oluwasanmi, urged the person that will succeed Fayose to adopt the blueprint as a guide to govern the state.
Oluwasanmi said the blueprint was prepared by Chief Deji Fasuan–led Committee for the creation of Ekiti State before the creation of the State on October 1, 1996, by the regime of Gen Sani Abacha.
He said: “When we prepared it, we presented to the Military administration of Col. Inua Mohammed Bawa and his successor, Commodore Atanda Yusuf, but nothing was done about it.
“We believe that Ekiti must move forward and whatever project a government is instituting should be seen as Ekiti projects and not that of an individual, so we expect the next government to toe this line. With this, we can hold our leaders accountable.”