By: Oluwatosin Adesola
A stalwart of the people Democratic Party PDP in Ondo state, Pastor Afolami Abdul Olabomi has given reasons why he joined the race to contest as a lawmaker representing Akoko NorthEast / Akoko NorthWest federal constituency at the House of Representatives ahead of the 2023 elections.
This is just as the Ikare Akoko born- trained Banker, assured the people of the Federal Constituency of better, quality and robust representation when if elected to the House in 2023.
Submitting his Expression of Interest and Nomination Form at the PDP Secretariat in Akure, the state capital, Olabomi said he was ready to change the story of the people of his constituency for the better if elected.
Olabomi said: “My ambition is an extension of my call as a minister of God and based on the plights of my people.
“I have been in the United States for over 20 years and I have seen the way politics is being practised in the western parts of the world and it is quite different from what we have been experiencing here in Nigeria.
“Each time I come home and see my people in abject poverty written in the faces of the people, I am worried and have been praying to God to give me the grace to be able to be there for my people and I see this forthcoming election as an opportunity for me to serve my community and give back to them dividend of democracy.
“Many things are affecting my people, especially the youths. Most of them went to school with degrees but there is not job for them.
“I have spent most of my years developing the youths. I have been running youths development programmes, picking homeless children off the streets. If I can do that in America where there is government, I should be able to do more here where the people depend on God for good life.
“I will also take good care of the aged because most of them work and have nothing to take home.
“I am very optimistic because I have been praying to God over the year that God should give me the grace to be there for my people. When this opportunity came, I sought the face of God and He gave me the go-ahead and He is right behind me. I am just in the race.
“This is a mandate that I am going to claim for my people in 2023 with the support of my people in the Federal constituency.
Olabomi, a trained banker, who has practiced in the banking profession for over a decade both in Nigeria and in New York, United States said he is very optimistic of victory because he has the experience and the backing of the people of Akoko Northeast/Northwest Federal Constituency.
He said: “Am very optimistic of victory come 2023, because I am an ordained minister of God. I sought the face of God and I’ve been praying to Almighty God over the years that he should give me the grace to represent my people, I know that God is behind me.
“Am not just in the race, it is a mandate that am going to claim for my people. I am going to represent my people and that is why I have the devine assurance and the support from my people from the two local governments.
Olabomi, a graduate of Community Health and Human Services from Empire State College, New York, specifically said, the motivation is an extension of his call as a minister of God and base on the plight of his people from the two local governments.
“I’ve been in the US for 20 years and I have seen the way politics is being practised in the western part of the world, it is quite different from what we have in Nigeria and each time am home, seeing my people in abject poverty, am worried.
“I have been praying to Almighty God to give me the grace to represent my people and I see this as an opportunity to serve my people and give back to my community.
“Most of our youth are unemployed despite being a graduate, I have been in the US developing the youth, I’ve been running youth programmes and picking up people off the streets. Homeless children, clean them up and providing services for them. So, if I can do that in America, where there is government, I should be able to replicate it here in Nigeria where it seems there is no presence of government.
“People only depend on God in Nigeria, over there people depend on government because they have a responsible government, that was why I said I will focus on the youth and the aged people”.
“There are lots of things around us that we we can create employment with, I have what it takes to do that”, Olabomi added.
