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Last Updated: Monday, November 15th, 2004 HOME | Previous Page
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Oil discovery retards Nigeria�s growth, says Oyinlola
By Segun Adeleye
Reporter, Abeokuta
As the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) prepares for a final showdown with the Federal Government on appropriate pricing
of petroleum products, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State has blamed the nation�s problems on the 1958
discovery of oil in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State.
Seeking a return to the pre-oil boom era, the governor said adequate attention on the agricultural sector was needed
to break the mono-cultural economy that is oil dependent, while speaking on sundry national issues in Abeokuta.
The former military administrator of Lagos State, while featuring on an OGTV Current Affairs programme �Hotseat�,
also took a swipe at Afenifere, the Yoruba social-political organisation, accusing it of divisive tendencies by
being partisan.
His words: �I think what I have realised is that the sustenance of a mono-cultural economy is not to the best interest
of Nigerians, and like our people used to say, the chicken was eating something before the advent of corn. Before
oil came, what were we doing?
�It is a pity that those who ascribed to be the disciples of Awolowo do not emulate his traits and character through
and through. For instance, I won the governorship race on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As
far as the Yoruba race is concerned, Afenifere is supposed to be the umbrella for all for as long as you back Yoruba,
but on winning the elections, it seems I�m less a Yoruba man because I�m a PDP man.�
He backed the introduction of a five year single-term for all political office holders as the only way of attaining
reasonable, meaningful and sustainable development, even as he said the state�s wing of PDP has cleared him to
re-contest the governorship slot in 2007.
The Okuku prince also blamed the country�s backwardness on lack of continuity in governance despite claims that
governance is a continuum
�It is just because we are always in a hurry. Nigerians love change even when they are not necessary. We must take
a cue from civilized societies,� the governor stated, while reiterating that his administration would not probe
his predecessor, Governor Bisi Akande, �as it is a waste of time from my experience as Military Administrator in
Lagos.�
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