A business mogul, Dr Oluwatoyin Tajudeen Alabi, has declared his intention to run for 2027 governorship race in Kwara State on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said his intention to join the contest was to jealously preserve the legacy of the incumbent Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who he explained, has been laying a foundation for greatness in the state.
Alabi stated this when he alongside members of his entourage visited the leadership of the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at its Press Centre, Offa Road, GRA, Ilorin.
He said if given the opportunity to fly the flag of the APC and went ahead to win the race, he would focus attention on education to ensure that no child is denied access to quality education.
Alabi, whose areas of interest in the private sector cut across hospitality, oil and gas and chain of restaurants, clarified that he was not jostling for the apex office in the state to amass wealth.
“I felt that it is time to come and complement the good work and the foundation that has been laid. And I decided to say I want to run for governorship under APC for 2027.
“Not because I need anything. God has done all things well. Allah has been gracious unto me. In my little capacity, I have been able to give scholarship and help people within and outside the state.
“I believe there is no child that should be out of school. We want to take the burden off the parents so that all our children can be in school. From primary to secondary and to tertiary institution. We want to up the game, that Kwara State will be among the first three States in Nigeria that are educationally advantaged.
“I’m passionate about education because if you want to build a nation, standardize your education, ensure that everyone is properly and appropriately educated so that they can contribute their quota not only to the development of our state but the nation. And most importantly, they can be relevant and useful to themselves and the society.
“So, education is one of the prime things that is so important to me that I want all Kwara children to really have,” he said.
Alabi applauded the state government for its state wide infrastructural projects, saying that his community also benefitted from the development-driven agenda of the present administration.
He said, “I just stepped down as the National President of Igbaja Progressive Union (serving from December 2018 to December 2025). Before now, it is only our one road from Igbaja that leads to Oke-Ode that was tarred. For the first time, we now have a bypass in Igbaja courtesy of Governor AbdulRazaq.
“Our electricity transformer was moribund that Igbaja and its 68 adjoining communities were in darkness for six months. By one stroke of Governor’s intervention, the electricity was restored.”
Alabi commended the Governor for turning around the state with his deliberate focus on rebuilding key sectors of the state economy for sustainability.
He thanked stakeholders in the media industry in the state for the role they play in strengthening democracy, saying that he chose to visit NUJ to declare his intention for gubernatorial seat to show the amount of respect he has for the media as the conscience of the nation.
“Journalists are as important as executive, they are as important as legislature and judiciary. More or less, you are the conscience of the nation, which means you are the voice of the voiceless. Many people are in the rural areas where government cannot reach, you can reach them through the various media outlets where you operate from, be it print, electronic and those operating extensively on social media platforms.
“These have become a veritable platform through which you can reach our people, and that is why we consider it strategic to come to NUJ and to partner with you. We have a very beautiful state in Kwara, and thank God for the good work of the present Executive Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
“He is relaying a foundation for greatness in Kwara State, and when you look holistically at what he has been doing since coming into power, this is his second tenure, you discover that we may not be where we want to be but we are not where we used to be. A lot of dynamics had changed in the areas of education, health, infrastructure and human capacity development.
“When we look at all these things holistically, we believe that the Governor cannot take for granted, who will take over from him. He must be intentional and purposeful about it, because who succeeds you matter so that the good work and the foundation that you have laid will not be rubbished.
“Today, you can’t hear of workers being owed salaries. In fact, I read news of recent that they just concluded the verification of the retirees and they will commence the payment of gratuities to these people. To me, this is a Governor that cares for the people. We need a caring government in Kwara State. We don’t need a boss in Kwara State, we need a leader, who feels the hearts and pain of the people.
“I look at all these things, I was encouraged. I have been in business for over 40 years, playing in the hospitality sector. I run chain of restaurants in Rivers and Bayelsa States. I also play a big role in the oil and gas sector,”
Alabi spoke of his plan to turn around tourism in Kwara State as a major alternative revenue source, pointing out that the state is endowed with natural resources and tourism potential that can be tapped into for the common good of all.
The state NUJ Chairman, ‘Lanre Ahmed Abdullateef, who led the State Working Committee of the union to receive the governorship aspirant, lauded his bold step with his declaration for the gubernatorial seat.
Ahmed noted that the country had grappled with the regime-based policies, a situation he lamented, is causing the series of setbacks in Nigeria.
He said any system of governance that is desirous of meeting the expectations of the people cannot afford to make policies that suit interest of government of the day while the citizens are left to endure the negative consequences that often characterize such system.
The NUJ chairman assured that the media would continue to play its role of advancing democratic governance, which he identified as a system that better serves the interest of the masses.
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