By RADO
Delegates!
May I begin by joining all grateful hearts within and beyond Ondo state to give thanks to God Almighty for sparing our lives to endure and savour the misfortunes of this present government. It’s been a truly dry Easter season. If not the driest!
“The era we are waiting for is gradually getting nearer everyday”.
Like play, the obtaining of the N35 million Nomination/Expression of Interest forms and screening of Governorship aspirants has come and gone for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo state and so the scrambling for delegates continues ahead of the April 25th, 2024 Governorship primary of the party. Many consultative meetings day and nights would be going on and so many endorsements overtly and covertly would be done but my message to the delegates is that they should not sell their conscience but should with integrity reflect deeply on who truly deserves to be rewarded with votes as the party flag bearer come November Guber election.
Arguably, it is no longer a new thing in politics that the essence of a democratic government or any form of government whatsoever is good leadership. This intangible virtue is the veritable remedy being adopted by most great countries in the world in solving crisis situation. Suffice to say that great societies are products of good governance affected by good leadership and strong political leaders who are never in short supply.
In the case of the Nigerian politics, good governance and leadership have always been lacking, though not without exception, as we still have few young Nigerian politicians in Ondo State who have distinguished themselves over the years through their leadership traits. One of such people is Hon. Kolade Victor Akinjo, who represented the good people of Ilaje/Ese-odo federal constituency in the House of Representatives between 2015-2023 and currently vying to be the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) flag bearer in the Governorship election coming up in Ondo State.
“A party not in power must have what to campaign with”.
As an entrepreneur and philanthropist of high repute, Kolade Akinjo opened up the challenge of progressive representation in his federal constituency, running its affairs like a Governor of a state, touching lives and facilitating projects across all the various wards at will. It is with this same spirit that he has shown greater commitment to the development of education, good representation, and infrastructural progression in his federal constituency.
From being a two-term Special Assistant on Youth matters to President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999-2007 to becoming a two-term House of Reps member under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from 2015 – 2023, Kolade Akinjo has clearly shown great sense of responsibility, exceptional courage, sincerity of purpose and diligence service to Ondo State and Nigeria, which ofcourse distinguished him as a worthy icon of rare breed whose record has been etched permanently in the annals of creative and legendary leaderships in Ilaje/Ese-odo federal constituency and in Ondo South. There is no doubt that his legacies shall remain eternal source of inspiration for many generations to come.
As a loyal party man, it is natural that you reap from where you sowed. Kolade Akinjo has sowed imperishable fruits in the PDP vineyard and it is time to reap from it. When he won his House of Reps election in 2015 with the likes of Sen. Yele Omogunwa, Abayomi Akinruntan and Malachi Coker (as Senator and House of Assembly members respectively) under the platform of PDP, only him stayed when others resigned their membership and left for the ruling party, APC. Be aware that this observation isn’t to blackmail or besmirch the personalities of the trio that left but to substantiate how Hon. Akinjo carried on the burden of leadership and responsibilities of the party unruffled. As nature always reward efforts, and with him being one of the finest and sellable young political leaders of this current era from Ilaje/Ese-odo federal constituency, and Ondo South, having served the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) dutifully, and efficiently invested in the party, endured and suffered defeat with the party and also bore the brunt of being in the opposition when given NDDC appointment, he deserved to be rewarded.
In the last general election, he won his polling unit and other five (5) polling units in his Itebu-kunmi community for People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the Presidential, Senatorial and House of Reps elections. Regardless of his profound relationship with Femi Gbajabiamila, who was the Speaker of the House then and his friend Hon. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo(BTO), the current Minister of Interior, such relationship never tilted the result of his polling units and that of others around him to the APC. Whereas we have those who publicly worked assiduously against the winning interest of our party, PDP in the election on the basis of one national assignment; claiming membership and still vying under the same party. It must be noted that no national assignment can be more worthwhile than the winning interest of ones’ political party. Anything short of that, is deceptive and unacceptable. Our focus now as a political party should be towards rewarding genuine party men, and not intruders that are loyal to their needs and when the ship is down, they find their way.
As the saying goes, it is in the time of unimagined tempest and pestilence that a true lover of the people is made revealed. Also remarkable about Kolade Akinjo is his regular, incisive and helpful interventions in social and governance issues. He’s hardly ever deterred by challenges, adversities, no matter how daunting. As the bearer of the mandate of the people, despite being in the opposition party, he outstandingly proved his worth with his track record of delivering on promises, showing empathy and commitment to the upliftment of his constituents, which ofcourse placed him in a vantage position to make the vision for a prosperous and inclusive Ondo State a reality. His antecedents speak volume, and in him, we have a candidate to lead our great party into the next chapter of our collective journey in Ondo State.
Consequently, let the leadership and stakeholders of our great party, PDP adopt the acceptable template of party loyalty, capacity, and personality in determining who deserves to be rewarded as the party flag bearer in the forthcoming PDP governorship primary in Ondo state.
Peoplesmind
