A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Akinlayo Kolawole, has disclosed that the performances of the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration would make next year’s governorship election easier for the party to win in the state.
Kolawole, a former House of Representatives aspirant for the Ekiti North Federal Constituency Two in the 2019 general elections, made the disclosure in a chat with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, urging the party leadership not to take anything for granted ahead of the all important election.
He enjoined every member of APC in Ekiti and beyond to show more interest in sharing the good news to the public.
The APC stalwart reiterated commitment to his political aspiration, stressing that ” it is alive and kicking.”
He said : ” You are all around and saw what happened at the last primaries. I was prevailed upon by the party leadership to step down for the current occupant of the position. And as a loyal party man I obliged the directive from my party. But let me tell you that my ambition is alive and kicking.
“We have not commenced campaign now because the electoral umpire has not lifted the ban on it. We, however, have a big task ahead and that is the 2022 Governorship Election. What is paramount now is to start the mobilisation for the APC to rule beyond 2022 in Ekiti. And I think the party has every reason to go beyond 2022 because our leader and governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has made the job easier for us with his impressive performances in all the sector of our economy. And you know the National Assembly elections will come after that.”
Kolawole, who acknowledged that the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government had done much in terms of provision of physical infrastructure also identified lack of trust by Nigerians as another challenge confronting the present administration.
He expressed regret that the APC-led Federal Government was yet to get a commensurate acknowledgement and appreciation for its numerous developmental strides.
The Ikosu-Ekiti born politician therefore urged Mr President to, as matter of urgency decentralize his communication strategy in order to reach the targeted audience.
The APC chieftain described as inefficient and unacceptable, the situation where only three known faces were saddled with the enormous responsibility of inundating Nigerians about the achievements of President Buhari.
The National Assembly aspirant, however, urged Mr President’s information and media handlers to always ensure that useful information get to the right people about the happenings in government.
According to Kolawole, “lack of proper communication, I use to tell my friends that the Buhari-led government is doing a lot, if we want to be sincere with ourselves. But I am not sure whether the government is using the right approach to communicate to the right people about its policies and programmes.
“Let them decentralize the communication channel, instead of allowing two or three people to be speaking for government at all times. You have the Special Adviser, the Senior Special Adviser and the Minister of information. What I will advise is that let each region begin to showcase the projects in their domain. Let the people see and feel it. When you confront the people with empirical evidences about the projects executed in their areas, they can also ask questions,” Kolawole admonished.
He challenged Buhari’s information managers to come out from their alleged comfort zones and devise proper strategy of reaching out to the people that matter in the society about government activities.
“We cannot continue to sitback in our comfort zones and begin to reel out achievements, the people need empirical proofs.
“Take for instance, President Buhari just commissioned the Lagos-Ibadan Rail Project, that is historic and monumental. It is a welcome development. The project, apart from reducing traffic, it will be safer and probably cheaper to travel by rail. But, it appears some Nigerians are not seeing it in that light. Some of them still believe the government is deceiving them.
“When you look at the missing links, poor communication channel and lack of trust. So government need to do more to earn public trust. Once the government earns the people’s trust, they will acknowledge and appreciate her efforts,” he noted.
He also urged party leadership in the state to spread the gospel of the achievements of government at all levels to the people.
“My advise to the party leadership and Mr Governor is that we need to carry the message of our achievements down to the people. Whatever that has been done in each community and local government should be showcased for the public to see. Let them interrogate our claims of performance. And I am sure by doing that the people will discover the truth themselves and they will naturally be the ones advertising to others. So, it is about communication, communication and communication,” he hinted.
