Edo 2024 : My ambition is to add value to lives of Edo people – Dr Dorry Okojie

From Chris Tony Akhabue

A frontline aspirant in the Edo 2024 Governorship election, Dr Dorry Efosa Okojie, under the platform of Labour Party (LP) has said that the growth of the Nigeria state needs the earnest collaboration of well meaning individuals who are desirous of the true change that reflects in the living conditions of Nigerians.

Dorry Okojie made this assertion in a Colloquium and Hall of Fame Award program of the Edo Policy Round Table in association with Mudiame University, Irrua, Edo state held in honour of the national chairman of LP Barr (Dr) Julius Abure at the Bishop Kelly pastoral center in Benin city today Thursday 2nd November 2023.

According to Dorry Okojie, ” the only reason why I am in the Edo 2024 Governorship race is to add value to Edo people through responsible leadership”

Also speaking at the occasion, the
presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi said that the federal government can only lift it’s citizens out of poverty through production rather than consumption adding that he joined the Labour Party because of the good quality leadership the party exhibits.

According to him, ” Nigeria is blessed with all the God given resources and people but lacked leadership.
He said “We have a leadership that is engulfed with waste and consumption, no production so when you are talking about your policy of pulling people out of poverty or creating jobs, if you remove the country from consumption to production, you create jobs for people it is simple. As long as when we wake up in the morning all you think about is what to buy, what to consume, do that ceremony, it will not work, all of us must be involved, we must stop people from stealing public money, we must stop people from wasting public money, it is not their private money, all of us are involved we must stop praising them.
“A country like Nigeria has no reason to be poor if not because of leadership, if you compare Nigeria with the three biggest economies in Europe- Germany, Britain and France, these three countries, if you compared them with Nigeria in land size, they are just about 20 percent bigger than Nigeria when you put the three together.

“If you talk about the population, the UK is about 67 million, France is about 64 million, Germany is about 84 million and three of them put together is 316 million and Nigeria is about 216 million and I can tell you that we have more resourceful people, youths than the three of them have.

“But when you now compare our economy, if you put the economy of the three of them together Germany is GDP of $4.4 trillion, UK GDP of $3.2 trillion, France is about $303.2 trillion and you are getting about about 10 trillion economy and We are about $400 billion, so they are 25 time more.

On why he joined the LP, Obi said “I have known Julius for less than two years now, before I joined the Labour Party I never met him anywhere. But when I met him I said to him, Julius the way you see me here is the way I am. I am joining this party because people have told me that you and your leadership are going to allow free, fair primaries and since then, our relationship has been on that basis.”
Earlier, the president of ERPT, Dr Francis Igberaese called on the LP to establish a research institute to act as policy formulation arm of the party while on his part, the founder of the Mudiame University, Professor S. E. Eromosele said Edo State lacked policies on investment and development unlike Lagos state which he said has contributed to its development.
The keynote address presenter Dr Yanusa Tanko said there was need for electoral reforms in Nigeria to make “The Independent Electoral Commission and its chairman actually independent”
Abure in his speech said the 2024 Edo governorship election would give the people of the state the opportunity to elect the right governor he termed “Shepherd Governor”, who he said would be a bridge-builder and must be selfless and ready to take risk and make personal sacrifices at all times in the interest and well-being of Edo people