Posted by By AKEEB ALARAPE, Ibadan on
Oyo State Governor, Senator Rasidi Ladoja, Tuesday, said the mandate given him in May 2003 by the people of Oyo state was not for one individual.
Oyo State Governor, Senator Rasidi Ladoja, Tuesday, said the mandate given him in May 2003 by the people of Oyo state was not for one individual.
Ladoja, who spoke at an interdenominational prayer session organized by the state government to usher in the New Year, also described the purported plan to impeach him as a failed exercise.
In the midst of excited civil servants, who trooped out en masse to partake in the prayer session, Ladoja confessed that 2005 was a traumatic year not only for the state but for the entire nation.
He, therefore, called on the citizens to give peace a chance in 2006, saying that the state would only develop and make progress in an atmosphere of peace and unity.
"The mandate we are holding is not the mandate for one person, but for everybody that voted for us into the office whose interest we ought to be protecting.
"I am glad to see the people who are apolitical for the first time rising to defend democracy. It shows that we are ready to pay the price to safeguard that democracy.
"The essence of democracy is disagreement in order to agree. We put our own sides of the case forward and submit to a stronger argument, where there is a superior view," the governor stated.
Ladoja said that his problem was because he believed politics was for service to the people while some people believed that it was for personal aggrandizement and gain
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He said it had been difficult to convince those opposed to his view to accept that public office was for service to the people, because of their "being deep-rooted in a particular lifestyle, which they find difficult to change."
Ladoja called for more peace in the country, saying that what is happening in Oyo State could "be likened to somebody who is good outside but not good at home."
The annual prayer session, which was attended by workers, members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and political office holders, held without the state deputy governor, Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala.
Apparently referring to the political upheaval that has characterised the alleged plan to impeach him by a section of the lawmakers, Ladoja prayed against a repeat occurrence of the 1963 incident in the state, which gave birth to the 1966 military take-over.
The governor pointed out that when a leader no longer enjoyed the support of his followers, such leader should vacate office. But in his own case, he said he was glad to realize that the support of the people for his administration had not waned a bit "as they still love their governor."
At the prayer session were the embattled Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Abraham Adeolu Adeleke, Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Ayodele Adigun; the Acting General Officer Commanding, 2 Mechanised Division, Nigerian Army, Brig-Gen. U. S. Essien as well as the Deputy Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Jonathan Johnson and the factional Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Chief Jacob Adetoro.
In his sermon on the occasion, Alhaji Nurudeen Azeez, advised state workers to give unalloyed loyalty to the government and to be committed in their defence of democracy.
He commended the governor on the programme of his government in the agricultural, health and educational sectors as well as the welfare of workers.
Also officiating at the session, Pastor Joel Iyiola, whose message centred on 'Mind Your Tongue: It is a Dangerous Weapon of Warfare,' urged the workers to mind their utterances.