ONDO State At 48: A Call for Unity And Progress, By Bright Olorungbotemi
On the 3rd of February, 2024, Ondo State clocks 48 years of its creation by the late Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed.
The attainment of self-governance within the federation of Nigeria by Sunshine people did not come cheaply.
Today, we are celebrating the victory of the arsenal fought not on the battlefield. I salute my people on the joy of today which goes down in history as a remembrance of a day of liberation as we now put our fate in our hands and determine the place of our future.
As we savor the sweetness of the invaluable victory, we have to soberly reflect on the journey so far. Whereas from the indices of development, our state is no pushover in Nigeria.
As citizens, we have made both avoidable and inevitable mistakes as a people in the course of our very challenging journey to statehood.
We have however learned crucial lessons through bitter experiences along the way. We have learned that for democracy to deliver developmental gains, the people must be placed at the centre of policy design and must be its drivers.
As we bask in the euphoria of the electioneering year, we must not fail to pay tribute to those illustrious sons and daughters of the Sunshine State; patriots who expended their energies in pursuit of a state we can all equally call our own in love and brotherhood. We remember them on this day and honor them.
Even so, this anniversary which is coming months after the establishment of the new 33 Local Council Development Authorities, LCDA, and marking A month and few days, we experienced a change of power which was held on December 27th, 2023 of his Excellency, Lucky Aiyedatiwa administration is therefore an opportunity for us to examine how far we have come and our areas of focus going forward.
Anniversary Day not only gives us an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come but also on how far we have to go.
However, the desire of the distance to be covered towards achieving a functional state should not discourage us from taking the necessary first steps.
TO BE CONTINUED…
God bless Ondo state!
God bless Nigeria!!
Written by; Tunde Bright Olorungbotemi One Class.
Tunde Bright Gbotemi, from Idanre.
A Mediapreneur, Publisher of Voice Air Media, Online News.
Convener, Voice for Good Governance And Democracy.
