Osinbajo in Ondo, says ‘exploration of bitumen will create jobs’

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, said, the exploration of bitumen deposit in Ondo State was critical to the development of the state.
Osinbajo spoke in Akure when he paid a courtesy visit to the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi.
The Vice President was in the state to attend a stakeholders’ town hall meeting organised for the Ondo State Niger Delta Communities in Igbokoda.
According to him, the exploration of the solid mineral will open up the state and  create jobs  for  the people of the state.
“ If we explore it all, the young men and women will have jobs, it is an employment opportunity,’’ he said.
On the request for a teaching hospital in Akure, Osinbajo stressed its importance and urgency, but pointed out that it was not an item on the budget list.
“The legislators in Ondo State should ensure that the issue is an item in the budget. It is an important and  appropriate request and we will make it a duty. The request for a minister is also appropriate and a good request, but there can only be one minister from the state,’’ he said.
Earlier, the Deji said Akure was as large as a quarter of Ondo State, but still lacked infrastructure.
He said the only university in Akure was a  Federal University of Technology  while the agitation for a teaching hospital had been  on for more than three years.
Aladelusi also called for the appointment of a minister from Akure, saying that the last minister from the town was Chief Olu Falae  who served as Finance Minister in 1986.
“It’s been 31 years  since we had someone from Akure as a minister.
“We are grateful to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for making sure that Akure was represented in his administration and we want the same to apply in the Federal Government,’’ he said.
Osinbajo later moved to Igbokoda where indigenes commended him for attending the stakeholders’ town hall meeting.
Mr Olusola Oke, the gubernatorial candidate of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the November 2016 governorship election said it was a welcome development that Osinbajo was visiting the state.
Oke noted that the meeting would provide avenue for the vice president to know the plight of the people of the oil producing area.
“I am aware he visited other parts of the Niger Delta. He will hear directly from the people because in the past, it has always been through representations.
“Some of the issues that will be discussed are issues of accessible roads, abandoned projects and fair representation in the Federal Government’s amnesty programme,” he said.
Mr Sola Ebiseni, the former Commissioner for Environment under the Olusegun Mimiko administration, said he was happy to witness the visit of the number two citizen of the country.
Ebiseni said that the Federal Government had taken the oil producing area of Ondo State for granted since there was no visible violence in the area unlike other Niger Delta States.
He said that violence not being in the area was not a sign of  weakness but of being civil and peaceful citizens.
“To us, our peaceful conduct is a sign of civility not weakness, we should be remembered in amnesty programmes, pipeline monitoring contracts and so on,” he said.
Ebiseni said that the coastline of Ilaje was peculiar with muddy beaches and deep sea port.
He said that the people of the area would be happy if the Federal Government would take advantage of the proximity of the area to Lagos to develop the infrastructure.
Oba Samuel Edema, Molokun of Atijere in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state, said his community was happy that the vice president was visiting the area.
Edema said that top of the agenda would be provision of roads, empowerment for the youths and provision of portable water.
“The visit of the vice president will afford us the opportunity to tell him some of the issues we are facing in our area,” he said.