The All Progressives Congress (APC) under the leadership of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, will make Ondo state the economic hub of the South West and the country at large.
The spokesperson of the party in the state, Omo Oba Abayomi Adesanya who stated this during an interview with The Hope in his residence, said the current government is ready to change the revenue base of the state from income tax of workers to real internally generated revenue where the state will become a producer of so many materials, in terms of workforce and industries.
He opined that Ondo State can move away from being a civil servants state to an industrial state, where the economy of the state will not depend so much on payment of civil servants salaries alone.
He said the current government will put the state in her place of pride where it really belongs; pointing out that Ondo state has economic advantages over many other states in the country.
"We are blessed with natural resources, we are one of the best in terms of Agriculture, and we have the longest coast line and the deepest seaport in the whole of West Africa".
Adesanya added that the seaport at Igbokoda is three times deeper than Lagos ,Seme and that of Port-Harcourt, saying having such deepest Seaport in Ilaje, Igbokoda axis is a blessing to the state and there is no going back in making sure we turn all these Natural blessings to wealth .
He said by the time the Ilaje, Igbokoda seaport is ready, it will decongest Lagos port, adding that most people that patronise Lagos port are from the South East and South South, and having seaport here in the state will bring proximity to other states and zones of the country .
"Planning are on top gear to make sure that bitumen is being explored in the state and Olokola free trade zone that has been abandoned by the previous administration has just been re-awarded by APC government which will geometrically increase the revenue base of the state".
He said if the previous government has harnessed all these natural resources, we may not be waiting for monthly allocation from Abuja before we pay workers salaries.
While frowning at the way the previous government abandoned major sources of income in the state, he reiterated the commitment of the current government in investing massively in both cash crops, arable, forestry and aquatic farming to boost the economy of the state and to create more jobs for the unemployed youths .
"We will make sure we open the state for businesses, and at the same time our priority will be how to create an enabling environment for them to thrive in the state, more infrastructures will be built to make it more attractive to potential investors" .
