Engineer Olufemi Adesuyi, an Osun State gubernatorial contestant running on the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) platform in the July 16 election, has stated that if elected, he will use technology to turn a thousand youngsters into stable millionaires within a year of taking office.
Adesuyi stated this during a news conference on Monday in Osogbo, saying that the current government’s misplaced priorities contributed to the state’s inhabitants’ poverty.
He also stated that a monitoring committee will be formed to oversee project evaluations.
Adesuyi slammed the state administration, led by Governor Gboyega Oyetola, calling his performance a dismal failure and claiming that the government has failed to fulfill its statutory obligations.
According to him, the state’s current government has failed in areas such as education, security, worker welfare, empowerment and employment, trade and industry, and social welfare.
Adesuyi ascribed this to a lack of new thinking on the part of those in positions of power, as well as a misallocation of priorities.
He said, “We have the power now and we will transform the power into wealth. As somebody who is an IOT expert, I mean ‘Internet Of A Thing’, I can say if I’m elected as governor of the state, within one year I will transform a thousand youths into stable millionaires through technology.
“We will achieve this by creation of ‘techno-preneurship, because in this world now there is no resource that would drive itself. Every resource relies on technology. In terms of Agriculture, it is very wrong for a government to think that a graduate will go to farm and pick up a cutlass and hoe. It is very difficult for graduate to acquire a tractor. So what do we do?
“We have done our studies and we know that in other countries, there is something we call Power Tillers. It is affordable. A Power Tiller does not cost beyond 1.2-1.5 Million Naira. This can make you cultivate five hectares of land in a day. So if we want the youths to go into farming and we give them Power Tillers, they will be able to cultivate their own portion of farmland and still be of help to people around them.
“This is affordable and convenient to a tractor of N30 million,” Adesuyi said.
Adesuyi chastised the current APC administration for celebrating the payment of employees’ salaries as successes, claiming that the government is not giving the workers any favors and should instead view it as a legal obligation.
“The previous administration gave us O Nonsense – O Agriculture, O Meal, O This that we never seen their effects on the local market. But they kept shouting on the media,” he said.
“Osogbo and environs were known for Commerce, long before it become a capital city. And that was given a boost by the advent of railway station. Where is the Commerce today? They lack innovative thinking to resuscitate these industries which are capable of employing nothing less than 10,000 youths.
“Also we have Ejigbo as an exchange port to Code Vua, especially abdjan. That has been in the news for sometimes now but it has never has an effect on the Osun economy because our government is not thinking about it.
“We should be able to import and export goods to that country in order to strengthen our foreign exchange. Nothing was done. Osun is blessed.”
He then urged the people of Osun to vote for him as governor, claiming that if elected, his government will use technology to transform the state into an economic powerhouse.
