Ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Dino Melaye, has appointed some prominent indigenes of the state into his policy document development committee.
At the inauguration of the committee on Wednesday, Melaye named former Special Assistant on Cooperation and Integration in Africa to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof Sam Amdi, as Chairman and former Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Prof Olugbemiro Jegede as Vice Chairman.
Other members of the committee are PDP chieftains in the state, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Olusoji Aina, among others.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of PDP, Kogi State chapter, Sam Uhoutu, said the aim of the committee is to churn out a vision for the candidate as well as the core values he intends to champion if he is elected.
According to the PDP chair, the committee, which has two weeks to conclude its assignment, will among others, “Recommend far-reaching measures for bringing Kogi people together for a shared vision and values in order to enhance unity, trust and commitment, undertake a comprehensive analysis of the prevailing socio-economic situation of the state vis-a-vis its potentials, and identity why its enormous endowment in human and natural resources have not translated into the desired development and the improvement in the quality of life of the people.
The committee is also to recommend measures to achieve economic diversification through agriculture, agri-business, industrialization, solid minerals development, tourism and creative industry,” among others.
Speaking shortly after the inauguration of the committee, Melaye, accompanied by his running mate, Habibat Deen, promised to turn around the fortunes of the state if given the opportunity.
He said, “As one of the most endowed states in Nigeria in terms of natural and human resources, Kogi was designed by God to be a confluence of opportunities. Regrettably, it has remained a confluence of unrealised potentials, lacklustre socio-economic performance and massive frustration.
“In order to reverse this unacceptable trend and to actualise our vision, we intend to follow the path of nations and regions in the world who have achieved monumental socio-economic transformation through visioning, thoughtful experimentation, adequate planning and unwavering determination to bring dreams into reality.”
He called on the committee members to propose effective strategies, policies and programmes for attaining the vision as well as the mission of creating an economically vibrant, socially integrated and politically stable Kogi State.
He also pledged to industrialize the state by tapping its mineral resources, and fuel production, thereby addressing the scourge of poverty and unemployment.
