Changing Niger Delta narrative with Alasoadura
The people of Niger Delta, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and people of Ondo State heaved a sigh of relief with the announcement of Chief Omotayo Alasoadura as Minister of Niger Delta. Since the announcement, members of the APC and top politicians in Ondo State have expressed impressive opinions. Alasoadura who was the senator representing […]
The people of Niger Delta, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and people of Ondo State heaved a sigh of relief with the announcement of Chief Omotayo Alasoadura as Minister of Niger Delta.
Since the announcement, members of the APC and top politicians in Ondo State have expressed impressive opinions. Alasoadura who was the senator representing Ondo Central Senatorial District in the 8th Senate was initially announced as Minister of State for Labour and Employment and later deployed to Niger Delta Affairs.
The latter appointment has not only lifted the spirit of the party members, it has made the riverine people of Ondo State to express gratitude to God Almighty and President Muhammadu Buhari. In fact, the people of Akure South and North Federal constituency have celebrated it.
Before then, the people of Akure Kingdom comprising Akure South, Akure North and Ifedore LGs have complained of marginalization by the federal government.
The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, had always made a case for an Akure indigene to be made a minister. He told Vice President Yemi Osinbajo when he visited the state that Akure people should be considered for federal appointments with particular emphasis on ministerial appointment.
The grouse of the monarch was that no indigene of the areas has emerged as minister since the beginning of the present political dispensation. Former Governor Olusegun Agagu from Ondo South Senatorial district was made minister after he was defeated by Chief Adebayo Adefarati in 1999. He resigned in 2003 to contest the governorship position.
Even when the ministerial slot was zoned to the central district, it had always gone the way of Ondo Kingdom, making the people of Akure Kingdom to allege marginalization.
With the appointment of Alasoadura from Akure Kingdom as minister, the frayed nerves of the people of the kingdom have been calmed. Before the eventual emergence of Alasoadura as minister, no prominent person from Ondo North Senatorial District eyed the job. Governor Akeredolu hails from Owo LGA in the district. That was the reason nobody expected that the position would be clinched by anyone from the zone.
Although the Deputy Governor, Hon Agboola Ajayi hails from Ondo South Senatorial District, prominent indigenes from the Southern Senatorial District were interested in the job.
It was learned that a group of Abuja politicians sought the ministerial job for him so that he would be well-placed to displace Governor Akeredolu in the 2020 election. But Alasoadura overcame the odds and clinchéd the sole seat for the state.
This development made APC members in the state to express satisfaction with the nomination of Alasoadra as the minister representing the state. The major reason is that they saw him as a party man who would dispense patronage to members of the party unlike in the immediate past where the representative of the state at the federal cabinet was unknown to the party members in the state.
In his reaction to the nomination of Alasoadura as a minister, the chairman of the party, Mr Ade Adetimehin said the members were elated that a man known to them have been made the minister representing the state.
Adetimehin in a statement by the Publicity Secretary, Mr Alex Kalejaye charged the minister to further energize the federal government to improve on security, and measures aimed at bringing succor to Nigerians. The party noted that it is a sure way to dispel misgivings and negativity among the populace and rekindle their hopes and confidence.
The party said it was not by accident that President Buhari selected one of the best experienced politicians in the state, having served as the chairman of boards and parastatals, Commissioner for Finance and a Senator.
He was the Director General of Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in 2012 and played key role in his emergence as governor in 2016.
With the emergence of Alasoadura as a Minister of Niger Delta, the people of Ondo South have expressed confidence in the ability of the minister to push their case at the federal level. They are excited that he will help the Niger Delta Communities reconstruct their areas.
Alasoadura as chairman of the Forum of Commissioners of Finance in the country pushed for the distribution of the Paris Club fund among states which shored up the revenue base of many states. He was also part of Agagu’s administration that initiated the Olokola Free Trade Zone and linked the coastal areas of the state to other parts.
Alasoadura has promised to apply his knowledge of the ministry’s mandate to move Niger Delta region forward. He became a senator under the platform of the APC in 2015. History was made on May 25, 2017 as the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), which had suffered series of setbacks in the National Assembly, was eventually passed.
Dayo wrote from Akure