As aspirants to the gubernatorial seat of Oyo State are set to meet with the incumbent governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi on Saturday in what the governor described as open invitation, one of the aspirants, Ayodeji Kareem has said he was sure of being picked as the consensus candidate.
Speaking with newsmen in Ibadan on Friday, Kareem, who insisted that he stood a better chance of being the favourite of the aspirants, said he’s imbued with modern day dynamism as a technocrat that would build on the existing developmental projects of governor Ajimobi.
Kareem, an ex-British military officer and Managing Director of Constain PLC maintained that his foray into politics at this time is to consolidate on the efforts of the current government, who according to him, had laboured within the rigours of politics to lay a foundation for the socio-economic development of the state.
“The state at this point needs someone that is calm and meticulous, somebody who will not be providing analogue solution to problems in a digital era. Oyo State needs somebody who is vast in his thought process because governance all over the world is about project management and I am eminently qualified to hold this position.”
Speaking further on his plans for the state if given the mandate, Kareem said he would launch what he called I-SHAPE, a methodology, which stands for Infrastructure, Security, Sports, Hospitality and Healthcare, Agriculture, Power and Education, even as he added that he was prepared for the opportunity to take the state to the next heights.
“Everything revolves around the I-SHAPE methodology. It’s good to prepare for an opportunity than to wait on the opportunity unprepared. I’m a student of politics and I feel the time is right for us to get involved. I run a public liability company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). When I took over the business I was the youngest CEO on the NSE at that time.”
He added:” We ran a successful business in construction and also farming, we invested a lot of time and effort in Oyo State in creating employment. That is part of my getting ready for the task ahead. The task ahead for the governorship seat is a different level; it is politics, but I know the journey of a thousand miles start with the first step.”
Saturday’s meeting, it was gathered, is to discuss and appease to the aspirants on the possibility of some of them stepping down to streamline the large number of aspirants.
Packaged by Alice Egbedele
