Sen. Dino Melaye, who is eyeing
the governorship post of Kogi state, said he will run the state as an
independent country that will not need to rely on monthly handouts from the
Federal Government.
Melaye spoke at a media
interactive session organised by the Kogi State council of Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ) for governorship aspirants, at the NUJ Press Centre, Lokoja.
The two term senator is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said the state is blessed with
abundant resources and promised to revive the state economy and bring it to an
enviable height within four years.
He regretted the pervading
poverty and penury owing to maladministration and widespread corruption.
While noting that countries now
depended on ideas to revolutionise their economies, he promised that Kogi,
under his watch, would not depend on handouts in form of monthly allocations
from the Federation Account to survive.
Melaye, who is the Senate
committee chairman on aviation, said he would revolutionise agriculture and
transform the abundant mineral resources in the state into tangible products
that would earn the state good income.
He said that through ideas,
galvanised and harmonised by quality leadership, Singapore was transformed from
a Third World country to an economically-advanced nation, while Dubai became a
high income generating city in United Arab Emirate.
“In four years, we will revive
the economy of Kogi and the state will become the envy of others. I have gone
round the world and I am sure that I have the necessary capacity and exposure
to achieve this.
“I am talking about Kogi State
and the generations yet unborn. Let us have public nursery schools, develop
education, health and other core sectors to bridge the gap between the rich and
the poor, and restore the middle class.
“The paradox of Kogi is that in
spite of our abundance, we are poor. Kogi is too rich to be poor. We have to
prepare our youths for the future through ICT. Today, ideas have overtaken oil.
“We are focused and
intellectually mobile with vision and mission to drive the process.
“I will operate Kogi like an
independent country. Kogi occupies 30,354 square kilometres of land, with a
population of about 4.7 million people,” he said.
The senator, who disclosed that
he would contest the presidency of Nigeria in the next eight years, stressed
that his governorship aspiration was divine.
“I am an emissary sent to
emancipate the people of Kogi State from economic cowards and financial scavengers,”
he declared.
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