Visit To The Palace Of The Deji Of Akure, The Paramount Ruler Of Akure Kingdom

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ONDO STATE SHOULD EXPLOIT ITS LARGE BITUMEN DEPOSITS TO CREATE JOBS FOR ITS YOUTHS – VP OSINBAJO

*Exploit the bitumen deposit and make this state truly second to none in Africa– VP Osinbajo

REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, DURING A VISIT TO THE PALACE OF THE DEJI OF AKURE, THE PARAMOUNT  RULER OF AKURE KINGDOM, OBA ALADETOYINBO OGUNLADE ALADELUSI (ODUNDUN II) IN AKURE, ONDO STATE, ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2017.

PROTOCOL

Kabiyesi, it is such a pleasure and a great privilege to be here. And I want to thank you for the very warm welcome and I bring you very warm greetings from His Excellency, The President Muhammadu Buhari, who, as you know, is one who holds you in very high esteem and I’m glad to say that, when I was coming this way, he did mention that I must give you his special greetings. So, I bring that special greeting.

And all of the requests that you have made, of course, you know that he is the one who would be able to effect those requests. So I shall also take that request back to him, hot and fresh, as you have delivered them, and I will make sure that he not only understands the importance but also the urgency of those requests.

But I want to say two things, sir. The first is with respect to the teaching hospital, and I agree entirely that Akure deserves a teaching hospital; there is no question at all about that. I think the Governor has also pointed out an important reason why that is so. But I am not a politician, so I would rather not make a request that I cannot fulfil. But I want us to take a practical approach to it so that we can achieve that objective. The practical approach is as follows, one, we need to get this item into the budget; that is the first thing. If it is not in the budget, no matter what promise that is made, it won’t happen.

We have legislators from Ondo State, and we must make sure that those legislators ensure that it is an item in the budget. As you know, we always have this conflict with the legislature. There are so many intentions that the Executive has that many times, they may fall through the cracks when it gets to the National Assembly because there are competing interests. But I think it would be very important for us to hold our legislators to account, especially those from this state to say, yes, if they are the ones from Akure, to say, you must make sure that it is in the budget. The Federal Government is prepared to do it, to just say that, because if I go back to say that, Mr President, they want to a teaching hospital in Akure, unless it is in the budget, it is not going to happen.

So, I think that that would be important. And I will also make it a duty to let the legislators know, especially the ones from Akure, and all of the ones from Ondo State, as well as those in the House of Representatives, that it is an important request – that the Akure Kingdom would want a teaching hospital – and it is an appropriate request. This is the capital, so why not? So, certainly, I will work on that, with the legislators.

Regarding the other matter of the minister, again, it is an appropriate request to me. But as you know, we can only have one minister at a time. And that is why I said that the prayer of Erelu is an important prayer because it is possible to have two. Nothing is impossible. If the Lord intervenes, you can even have three ministers, but as I said, it is a very genuine request and there is no reason why not. As we always say, in this matter, at the end of the day, it comes down also to the good fortunes of the kingdom, and I know that under your able leadership, the Akure kingdom will have good fortune and will continue to have good fortune. But all of these requests, as I said, I certainly will ensure that I table them before Mr President.

But an important thing, which I think will create a lot of opportunities and jobs to the state, and also to the Akure kingdom, is the issue of bitumen. This state has the second largest deposit of bitumen in the whole world, second only to Canada. Today, we are importing bitumen; we are not even exploiting what there is. And one of the reasons why I am here for the Niger Delta Council and also to see the oil-producing state is precisely because we think that it is important for us to exploit the bitumen that is there.

Fortunately, one of the first things that the Governor did as soon as he got into office is to set about exploiting the bitumen that is there in Akure. In fact, the very first official, because we’ve had several conversations, the very first official conversation we had was on this issue of bitumen. And I know that he has already set the machine in motion, working collaboratively with the Federal Government to ensure that we are able to do something about it.

If we exploit the bitumen deposit here, all of the young men and women in this state will have jobs. It is a big opportunity, and you have the right person in the person of the Governor, to make you make the Federal Government, ensure that you are able to exploit the bitumen deposit and make this state truly second to none in Africa, because, in the whole world, this is the second largest deposit of bitumen. So, your Imperial Majesty, as I said, I am extremely happy to be here and we will be visiting a number of locations, but we knew that this would be the first point of call and the reason why was because of our great respect for Your Royal Majesty and also our great respect for the Akure kingdom.

So, I want to thank you very much again for your kindness and for your hospitality. And to say that when next I return, I hope I would return with even better news than I came with today.

Thank you very much. God bless you.