The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for House of Representatives candidate in Akoko North East/West federal constituency in Ondo State, Hon. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo had lamented the deficient representation and performance so far suffered by Akoko land.

Tunji – Ojo who is better known as BTO had never hidden the fact that he was running for House of Representatives so as to be able to position his constituency to benefit from core development and to also create wealth for his people.

He regretted that the key infrastructures in his constituency belong to the federal government and the very roads that cut across the entire federal constituency have since became problems.

But, Tunji-Ojo was upbeat that he will providing effective representation if elected as member House of Representatives.

He had assured of his ability to influence, persuade and lobby the federal government to intervene and embark on total reconstruction of the damaged key roads in Akoko land.

The APC candidate also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that some communities in Akoko have been denied power supply for close to four years.

He was emphatic that the fact that major plights of Akoko people were unknown to people outside the shores of Akoko land simply boiled down to deficiency in representation and performance.

But, BTO was quick to assure that he could not allow such a sickening representation deficiency and non-performance to linger for too long; hence his rescue mission to save the people and his constituency assuring plans to deliver an Akoko nation that all would be proud of.

Tunji -Ojo had further dwelt on his core agenda which included infrastructural development, wealth creation, employment and empowerment; education and healthcare.

He however promised to focus more on infrastructural development if elected. He emphasized on the need to be able to lobby and interact with relevant agencies to ensure that basic critical infrastructures are put in place.

In his words, “The last time the road I mentioned earlier was constructed was during the era of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), when our son, the former Asiwaju of Akokoland, Rufus Giwa was a member of that noble fund. He was able to facilitate the construction, since then the road has not been reconstructed.”

Tunji -Ojo said it was unimaginable that a road that ordinarily supposed not take more than few minutes now takes more than one hour as a result of bad roads.

According to him, “As a grassroots person, I know and feel what our people are going through because I ply that road daily. For me, that road is a major thing for us. Also, electricity is very key for our people. Communities like Irun Akoko have not had power for years”.

He could also not hide his utter disappointment as a result of the deplorable state of health and education facilities in his constituency.

In the words of Tunji – Ojo, “If you see some of our schools and hospitals and you will ask yourself if we truly have representation. And if course the answer is simply no”.

The management expert also reiterated that infrastructural development was needed to make life easier for his people, majority of who are mainly farmers that would need to transport their produce to major towns to sell.

In the words of Tunji -Ojo, “There have to be inter communal trade, but in our area because of the deplorable road network, the people are not making good gains from their farm produce and we hope God will use me to facilitate total reconstruction of these roads, Tunji -Ojo lamented”.

BTO had gone ahead to underscore the importance of wealth creation being one of his plans if elected. He wondered how the people of Akoko North East /West could survive on their own if the constituency was not turned to an economic hub.

He gave examples of Nnewi and Aba where their recent IGR could compete effectively and if not better than that of some state capitals. He further posited that the towns of Aba and Nnewi were not state capitals; which should send a signal that people do not need to be in Lagos before they would prosper.

Tunji -Ojo had taken time to explain that the conceived vision of wealth creation for his people would help to reduce rural and urban migration.

The information communication consultant had again revealed that another area of focus by him would be to facilitate employment opportunities for graduates in his constituency from both private and public sectors.

According to Olubunmi, “We must be able to ensure our people get their fair share of federal character. We must be able to help and assist them to key into government intervention programmes.We must be able to train, empower people and set them up with their business so they can be able to empower others”.

Part of the lofty plans of Tunji -Ojo is to partner with federal agencies like BOI, SMEDAN, and others to work out vocational empowerment programmes and provide them with capitals to start their business with the intention of replicatkng what Senator Fatima Raji-Rasaki did in Ekiti state with the Bank of Industry.

Meanwhile, the ultimate plan in this wise is to train some constituents that will be given start up capital and he is willing to make himself available as the collateral for micro-credit loans to be accessed by his constituents saying doing this would set Akoko nation on a true path of development.

He equally plan to partner with the Primary Healthcare Development Agency in his bid to facilitate the building of a primary healthcare center in the communities within his constituency. Olubunmi believe in this regard that this will bring quality healthcare closer to his people.

In his words, “It doesn’t have to be a mega building, it may be small but must be well equipped to cater for basic primary healthcare needs of the people.”

He had queried why his local government area cannot boast of five hospitals. He actually expects Ajowa, Ikaram, Oke-agbe, Arigidi, Ogbagi and Irun to have one hospital each.

Meanwhile, Tunji-Ojo had dismissed fears that the post primaries crisis within the APC would affect his chances in the 2019 general elections.

He was quick to expressed overly optimism that the party’s crisis will be resolved and President Buhari would win the election overwhelmingly.

BTO Nonetheless urged youth in his constituency to take their chances by voting him into office for quality representation and performance to be guaranteed.

Source: Ojuasha