Immediate past chairman, Odu’a Investment company limited, Chief Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli has said that Nigeria’s failure to diversify into the non-oil sector during the oil boom era was one of the greatest undoings of the successive leaders in Nigeria especially since the recent oil windfalls which earned the nation billions of dollars annually among the comity of other oil producing nations in the world.
With the recent fall of the price of crude oil in the international market, Alli, a lawyer, businessman and politician gunning for the governorship ticket of Labour Party in Oyo State said all hope should not be seen as lost yet saying there is still hope for the country if the leaders can put on their thinking caps now and begin prudent management of meager resources accruing to the purse of the government.
As state governments are finding it difficult in paying workers salaries due to the dwindling allocations, Alli said his home state of Oyo could withstand its current state of paucity of funds if those in the saddle could muster enough courage to curb noticeable wastage, capital flights and other sundry spendings like junketing across the globe without corresponding effects on investment drive to boost the economy of the state.
Alli said that the state has the capacity to be financially independent if the resources are properly utilised adding that, ‘Oyo State would still be flourishing if funds have not been wasted on projects that were not masses oriented.’
During a mega rally organised by his campaign team in Ibadan, Alli expressed worry that older politicians were still aspiring to hold sensitive positions after being in the saddle for several decades.
He said, ?Today, government is saying that it has no money to execute projects and pay salaries. I think this is false claim that is totally avoidable if the government had planned for the future of the state. What has it done with the huge allocation collected in the past years before the recent problem? It is possible for this state to stand tall and be financially independent if we have utilised our resources. We should be in the fore front of agricultural revolution in Nigeria if our vast arable land and willing farmers have been positively engaged. This is an area where we can begin serious export. We do not need to politicise issues that affect people?s lives directly
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?A younger blood is open to fresh ideas which are the kernel of primal leadership being promoted across the globe. The position of governor is for a generation of people that understands their immediate society.?
Alli also urged the people of the state not to jeopardise the future of the state by voting for the right people, stating that there was an urgent need for change in the state.
