The idea is not to have a super star but small stars in Ogbomoso’s devpt agenda – Soun
Femi OGUNLANA
As the Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye Orumogege III, ramps up efforts to come up with a road map for the transformation of his domain into a 21st century compliant-city, he has charged his people to be ready to travel the journey with him borne by excitement.
The Soun who is into his second month as monarch of the ancient city has emphasized he is not on the throne for frivolities or fun but to contribute his quota to the transformation of the city stressing however this would better be achieved if all indigenes rally round in the task, everyone contributing in their little ways especially through cooperation and support.
The monarch submitted he is not out to have one super star in the project but for everyone to be small, small stars declaring that is how the mission could be accomplished. This he has enunciated in several fora, drumming home the agenda with eloquence, power and passion.
Oba Olaoye who said he is overwhelmed by the support and goodwill he has received concluded this constitutes a big challenge and that the only way he would not be regarded a failure is to meet and surpass the people’s expectations.
He asserted the money to develop the community belongs to the people of the community particularly those outside underlining the need for foreign direct investment.
Recently when he received the Ogbomoso Grammar School Old Students Association, he had charged: “The response of the people has been very amazing. I see it as a call to duty, because the country is now at a trying moment and the expectation of the people is high, we can only try our best to make an impact in this town. And to make an impact we must harness our resources and one of the things Ogbomoso is blessed with is people who have capacity, who are financially buoyant and we have the numbers.
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“Everybody knows today Nigeria is not at the best of time, things are difficult as they are but we want to try and make Ogbomoso a model town, we have what it takes to make this town a model town. We need things like education, health and other infrastructures, and the money to change this town is in the hands of the people of this town. And I don’t mean Ogbomoso people living in this town but in the diaspora – the diaspora, starting from Ilorin, Oyo, Iseyin, anywhere where Ogbomoso people are.”
Emphasizing on the imperative of foreign direct investment he said, “And one thing is that there is no society or any nation that can survive without foreign direct investment, especially African nations, a state or a town. So, we are going to believe that Ogbomoso people who are scattered all over the world will support the development of this town and so we are coming up and we are putting together a 25-year development plan for Ogbomoso. It is a very simple thing, without vision people perish.”
The Soun also posited, “The difference between and Oba and the politician is very, very great; politicians, the governors they have funds and they can decide how they want the funds to be spent, but they are there for a maximum of eight years but Obas they do not have any budget. The truth of the matter is that the Oba has the ability to galvanize his people to participate in the development of their town, to take part in the development of their town. They might not have a budget to do it but money is in the hand of Ogbomoso people. And one of the things as I said earlier is that God has blessed Ogbomoso with wonderful people.
“Let me intimate you, I have been to 65 countries. And one thing I have seen is that the people there are not wiser, they are not smarter, it is just that they make the system work. And they don’t disrupt the system, they are determined to make the system work. So, the advantage an Oba has is they are there for life, so, they have the ability to make the system in their domain work. And that is what I am trying to do, I believe where there is a will there is way.
“People are talking about going to the mars, we are still talking about mundane issues. I have been to Dubai a couple of times and it is interesting that anytime I go to Dubai I see new things, they have created an enabling environment, the money we see in Dubai is not only money that came from them, they make a lot of money selling houses and hotels. So, we can do the same for ourselves in this town, let’s get Ogbomoso people excited about their town, that is one of the first things. If they are excited about their town and they see progress going on in their town they also will want to be associated.
“We will let everybody see the plan and if what they want is not existing in the plan we present. they can add it. Because things are always changing. Things were not as technologically advanced as what we have today 25 years ago. So, what am I trying to say? We have a twenty five year development plan, How do we intend to see Ogbomoso in 25 years’ time and what are the steps, the road map? We will do it together.
“The whole idea is not having one person as a super star but to have small stars shining in the firmament of Ogbomoso. Let’s all do our part. People do empowerment, they distribute okada and so on, there is nothing bad in that, but we want our children to be decision makers in the boardrooms and in governments. The people sitting round tables, if they say they want to give five towns polytechnics, they want to give five towns universities they want to give five towns these and that, if our people are sitting at that table they can say southwest, give it Ogbomoso but if they are not sitting at that table they will take the thing somewhere else. But riding okada all over Ogbomoso, we will not get there. So, ten years, 15 years we want our people sitting at that table. I am not saying they shouldn’t give people empowerment but make it fantastic, total package.”