Also in attendance were the National Director-General of the Council, Hon. (Dr.) Seyi Bamigbade, Prince Tajudeen Olanite, Secretary Oyo APC, state youth leader, treasurer, Public Relations Officer and some other members of the state executives.
However, Senator Teslim Folarin who is the gubernatorial candidate of the party in Oyo State was absent and was not represented at the summit. However, it was learnt that he was out of the country as at the time the summit was holding.
In his keynote address, the National Director-General of the Council, Hon. (Dr.) Seyi Bamigbade said Oyo State chapter of APC Professionals Council has been at the forefront in distinguishing itself as one of the best specimen of the Council chapters across the federation with the zeal and passion it has demonstrated in galvanising distinguished professionals of various fields of human endeavour to the body to chart a workable future for all and the generations yet unborn.
He applauded the quality of programmes that have taken place in this chapter in recent times aimed at marketing the ideals of the Council to the grass-root, stressing that the synergy you it has built with the state leadership of the party is also a testimony it is poised to achieving greater exploits.
According to the D-G, “the roles of professionals in finding solutions to seemingly knotty issues in the development of our great country cannot be over-emphasized. Irrespective of whatever profession or artisanship you have found yourself, either a plumber, tailor, painter, builder, furniture expert, mechanic, trader, accountant, educationist, journalist, computer operator, ICT personnel, teacher and so on, you are an asset to this country and your input is critical in making the country work for all.
As professionals, we should be think-tank as well as the solutions warehouse instead of sitting on the fence or outrightly isolating ourselves from the discourse to make our country great. Why has, for instance the issue of energy for decades remained a national embarrassment to our country, where businesses are being suffocated under the heavy weight of poor and epileptic power supply? It has nothing to do with our capacity to generate, transmit and distribute sufficient power supply that will serve the entire country, rather it has a lot to do with the silence of professionals in the energy industry who have
failed to bring forth their technical expertise to end this disturbing situation once and for all. We must move away from the era of hallelujah singing to politically exposed persons and sell our solutions to them in the interest of all.” He advised.
Ambassador Bamigbade, however, charged members of the council to continue to galvanize professionals from all nooks and cranny of the state to build up a formidable platform to support the APC in all elections.
In his remark, the State Chairman, Hon. Ajiboye Omodewu who was represented by the Oyo Central Senatorial Chairman, Hon. Dr. Joshua Oyebamiji stated that professional bodies play prominent roles in the entrenchment of good governance and therefore they must be encouraged and mobilized to participate in politics.
He hinted that with the mass exodus and quality of the PDP stalwarts that are decamping into the APC in Oyo State has being witnessed in recent times, APC has become the number one party and is ready to take over the State from the PDP led government, stressing that to achieve this, all the professional groups must be part of the struggle towards the victory for the@ APC.
Also speaking in the same vein, Barr. Adebayo Shittu who was represented by Alhaji Ismail Gbolagade Oyinlola described the Professional Council as a strong force established to mobilize more professionals to the party.
Barr. Shittu who optimised that the tsunami of election of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, APC presidential candidate will be more impactful in the South West, hinted that the forum has the mandate to play in ensuring that their members are active in the electoral process to make this a reality.
While delivering a paper on the title: The Professionals in politics: Implications on Governance, the guest lecturer, Asiwaju Olalekan Wahab advised professional wishing to go into politics to brace up for the struggle involved.
He said that most Nigerian politicians do not receive any conscious or formal training before venturing into politics because they gather experience through observation of their parents or mentors or senior they called ‘leaders’.
According to him, “party membership may form the base of the volunteer and donors who support political parties during campaigns. This gives expression to today’s summit of Oyo State chapter of APC Professionals Council geared towards the return of the party to power in Oyo State, and working for the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate as the President of Nigeria in the 2023 general elections.”
While speaking on the challenges before the professionals in politics, the guest lecturer pointed out that while the professionals are not saints who do not have their own shortcomings as human beings, there is palpable fear and lack of trust in them because of the highly corrupted Nigeria society they live in.
He stressed further that as a result of this situation which may have been foisted on them by the few bad eggs among the professional colleagues, they are living under the credibility burden such that they need to prove that they can be trusted in politics.
While calling on the professionals to shun the tendency to sell their conscience, Asiwaju Wahab urged the politicians to pave the way and support these professionals to emerge as candidates for either elective or appointed political offices.
Earlier in his welcome address, the State Coordinator of APC Professional Council, Oyo State chapter, Dr. Bamidele Gold disclosed that the summit was organized with the intention of providing opportunities for the professional bodies to meet and interact and chart new path for the mobilization and canvass to win the 2023 presidential and national assembly election and return to power in Oyo State Come 2023.
He further disclosed that the summit was packaged to address some of the challenges that may be encountered in the course of mobilising and creating awareness for the party towards the 2023 election and how to overcome those challenges.
In their separate goodwill messages, the National Secretary of APC, Senator Iyiola Omisore, former Secretary to the Oyo State government, Alhaji Akin Olajide and the Oyo State Secretary of APC, Prince Tajudeen Olanite emphasized the need to involve all professional bodies to participate actively and form a think-tank that will bring about the desired improvement towards the election victory.
