An All Progressives Congress (APC),
Governosrship aspirant and a member of board of the Oil and Gas Free Zones
Authority (OGFZA), Engineer Temitope Kuyebi says he has all it takes to be the
said 'whizkid' who will take the mantle of leadership from the incumbent
Governor, Ibikunle Amosun.
Kuyebi who is from the Imasayi area
of Ogun West Senatorial district, made this known in Ilaro, Yewa South local
government area, while declaring his gubernatorial ambition open to party
leaders in Ogun West Senatorial district.
Governor Amosun had repeatedly said
at many occasions and gatherings that he would hand over the mantle of
leadership in the state to a “whizkid”.
Kuyebi who traced his political
career from the active days of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to Action Congress
(AC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Progressives Congress (APC),
said he remained a progressive and loyal to the party leadership especially the
current Governor, Amosun.
The Imasayi son said that he was the
first consensus candidate that was unanimously presented to contest for the
governorship position by the entire people of Ogun west in the buildup of the
2011 general election, while despite the unanimous endorsement, his party
leaders prevailed on him to step down for the incumbent Governor due to his age
and experience in politics.
Kuyebi who said he was only 35 years
at that time said he obliged, collapsed his structure and work for the
emergence of the Governor, not minding other aspirants who left the party and
those who want him to also pitch his tent elsewhere.
He added that out of all the eleven
aspirants at that time, he remains the only one that has not left the party and
that has been consistent in supporting the position of the leaders and the
Governor in ensuring that the party remains in power at all levels.
The Gubernatorial aspirant said he
wanted to contest for the Senatorial seat during the 2015 general elections in
Ogun state but was asked to step down for another elderly person, Senator
Gbolahan Dada who is presently representing Ogun West at the Red Chamber of the
National Assembly.
He affirmed that he believes the
time is now for him to pilot the affairs of the state, noting that he will
consolidate on the achievements of Governor Ibikunle Amosun in ensuring that
Ogun State remains at the top among the committee of states in the country.
In response to questions on his
continuous trust in the party, even after being denied both the Governorship
and Senatorial tickets, he said, he believes in loyalty and especially in the
leadership style of the sitting Governor.
He said, "Like I said, I
respect the leadership style of our Governor and I believe in the words of our
leaders and now that the Governor has come out to say it is time for a younger
person from Ogun West and it is a whizkid, I am certain that I perfectly fit
the description . I believe that it is God that chose me, whizkid is someone
who is highly intelligent, someone with a clear vision, someone with a clear
goal and when I was telling you about myself, I told you that in my career, I
started with the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and till this
moment, I have been in Oil and Gas.
“I want you to know that when
talking about Oil and Gas, I am in the mainstream, where I have been privileged
to have both local and the international training and it’s my prayers that God
should grant me favour in the struggles.
“Looking at where we are coming
from, I am perfectly the right person, and I believe this is my time, looking
at my persistence and sincerity to the leaders of the party, because it is not
easy to contest in 2011 and they said go and sit down, again I contested in
2015 they said go and sit down, yet you still believe your time will come,
these are great attitudes of good compatriots and I know my time has come.
“I am just 43 years old and I have
learnt a lot in politics, I have toured the 20 local governments before,
knowing all party leaders and giving honour to whom it is due in the party
irrespective of the zone. Sincerely, it has not been easy, but I know that I
was learning through the whole period and I am fully ready for the task
ahead”.
He added “You said some people will
not know that I have been long in Politics and that they will think I am a new
entrant, well, I am not just a new intake into politics and in fact, I was
active during the days of one of our leaders, Engineer Wale Bajomo of Blessed
memory who pulled all of us together then as Yewa elites and made us understand
that we must fight for our land, he also said that if we all pull back who will
then liberate us, but during the struggle we lost him, may his soul rest in
perfect peace.
“After that time, a team of
progressives minded prominent sons and daughters of Ogun west came together and
said who will go for us, since Engneer wale is no more, somebody has to lead the
team, the vision for Ogun west liberation must not be buried like that.
“After due consultation I discovered
I have all what it takes to give it a shot though at a tender age, I was just
35 then towards 2011 , so I was very young but I called people together and we
started in 2008 .
“I started the grassroots mobilization
from Temitope Kuyebi foundation and as at 2009 I called the first leaders
meeting, where I unveiled my intention of wanting to give the race a trial.
“That was a period when nobody will
look at you because, the then incumbent Governor Gbenga Daniel wanted to have a
successor, but the vision was clear and what we started then metamorphosed, and
everybody began to clamour that the Yewa/Awori should be given a chance.
“Consequently, I declared for the
gubernatorial race in 2011, we started all we could do then, I remembered one
thing that happened in the history of Ogun west, we have never had it so good
then because we are always in disagreement among ourselves, as a result, Chief
Olusegun Osoba called leaders in Ogun west to a meeting requesting that we
should unanimously present one candidate.
“After that request we started the
campaign, we held series of meetings within Ogun west and to God be the glory,
shadow election was conducted at Ado-odo Ota at Chief Roqib Adeniji’s house,
where I won convincingly.
“The leaders took me to Chief
Olusegun Osoba’s house at Ikoyi, bourdillon where all the leaders prayed for me
telling me that I should commence the campaign to the 20 local governments in
the state, and that was 2010.
“By the grace of God I proceeded
with the campaign to the 20 local government areas in the state, we did it
fantastically well but, in series of meetings in Lagos state under the
leadership of Chief Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu among other leaders
in Southwest even baba, the former Governor of Oyo state, Lam Adeshina was
still alive then, they were all at the meeting and at the end of the meeting,
Senator Ibikunle Amosun got the endorsement to lead as the gubernatorial
candidate of the party.
“We keyed in, to deliver the state
for our party, other governorship aspirants left the party but I remained and
with the supports of my followers we delivered the local government,
constituencies, senatorial district, wards and even our units.”
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