Janet Samuel, Abuja
An aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Edo State Governorship election, Gideon Ikhine has disclosed that, his top priorities for Edo state is rebuilding tourism and infrastructure to make edo state a top city in Africa.
Ikhine who made this known at the party secretariat while speaking with Newsmen after the submission of his nomination forms said Edo state is backward in term of development that will attracts foreign investors, promised to use his key vision of transforming the state into a destination of first choice for people coming to Africa.
‘Talking about Edo State. Are we where we are supposed to be? Are we challenged by the situation in the country? The answer is yes. It is good to have an ambition. It is good to have a dream. It is good to have personal drive but above all, what is more important is the interest of the people’.
“What drives me in Edo State is my vision of transforming Edo State into a destination of first choice for any person coming to Africa. Somebody might say this is quite laudable. But I want to tell you this is achievable. Edo State today is situated geographically in one of the best zones in Africa. Edo State is like a hub. You cannot go to the East, West and North without passing through Edo State. If you have such a state and you pass by and you look at the present situation you can start from the human capital. An average citizen in Edo State today are barely existing, We must give this people a hope. We must give them a life.”
Ikhine who christen his campaign the “BECKON OF HOPE” said his aim is to reestablish the beckon that made it what it was.
“Today, are we where we are supposed to be, no. What is the value we have as a state? The value we have today as a name is the Benin Kingdom. How have we been able to take advantage of the name? To transform it into socio-economic value for the people? We have not done that. This are some of the things we want to do. Focusing on tourism and rebuilding our infrastructure, my priority for Edo state”
Speaking on Agriculture, the aspirant said, Agriculture outside tourism is going to be one area we are going to focus on. And in focusing on Agriculture, we are going to look at food crops and cash crops. We are going to be looking at ranching, that is cattle rearing. And we are going to look at farming. This are things that can provide basic things for people”.
And if we are going into Agriculture this will help us to developed smart cities around in Edo State. If you look at Edo State geographical history, the names and cities you have been hearing since 1963 are still the same cities you are hearing of. They cannot go any further rather they are deteriorating.”
“So we are going to create smart cities because you built smart cities out out of agriculture. Those of you that have to been to Europe. You go to Europe you will know what is called city centre. You will see what is called industrial area. All the city centres in Europe were developed by the Jewish people and they were created out of farm”.
