LEGACY: WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR?

Chief Obafemi Awolowo stood for free education at all levels as well as free Healthcare. And Alhaji Shehu Shagari stood for quality education that was not free. At least, he stood for something.

What do you Stand For? What do you want to be identified with in your leadership journey? And what do you want to be remembered for when it's all over?

Besides the listed items in my manifesto, as a Senator representing Edo Central Senatorial District, I want to be the Headmaster of ACCOUNTABILITY, a champion of Judicial Activism, an enforcer of Regulatory Compliance, and an advocate for the Extention of the Socioeconomic Ladder to the "unrepresented poor majority" amongst us. Ideologically, I'm progressive (Awoist), with unflinching support for Spending and Investments. Austerity measure is a scam. It stultifies the development of infrastructural facilities and impairs economic growth.

On Accountability, no MDAs official should dream of a new allocation, without a comprehensive report, detailing how every Naira in the previous year's allocation was expended. And Padding of Budget would be history. Who can forget the unexpected visit to the Aso Rock Clinic by the First Lady in 2017? Despite the N3B Budgetary allocation, the X-Ray machine wasn't working, and there was no syringe or paracetamol, or hand gloves in the clinic.

On Regulatory Compliance, every law or regulation in our legal encyclopedias, no matter the ministry, organization, or agency affected, must be complied with. Road construction contractors, healthcare providers, and grafts takers in our ministries, departments, and agencies are on notice. And all investors in our natural and mineral resources sector must meet the global environmental requirements or standards in their exploratory activities.

On Judicial Activism, the Ministry of Justice, EFCC, ICPC, and the DSS must be legally blind in their criminal investigation and non-discriminatory on whom to prosecute. It's about diligent prosecution that is ethnic, religious, and social status neutral; similar to the approach adopted by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew that transformed Singapore from "Third Word to First Word."

On Extending the Economic Ladder, every policy by the government must be directly linked to serving and uplifting the standard of living of every "Talakawa" in the Nigerian population. No one should be left behind.

Nigerians have been making sacrifices, it's time the government and the leadership start making sacrifices by being proactive and healing themselves. Purposeful representation and accountability are inseparable.

Ideologically, I espouse the spending and investments culture and the progressive ideological values of Democrats in the United States. The "not leaving anyone behind" progressive culture that has been successfully implemented by President Barack Obama in the United States of America in recent times, with fantastic outcomes, is at the core of the UN Leave No One Behind (LNOB) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

On the other hand, the austerity measures packages of the IMF and the World Bank for African countries are stagnation-prone and have had a stultifying effect on our overall economic development.

The quest for financial discipline and prudence spending shouldn't equate to disinvestment in schools and infrastructural facilities. You can't grow what you don't have or move forward when you stand still.

We cannot forget so soon the estimated $800 billion economic stimulus package that President Barack Obama's administration pumped into public works projects. And the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. In the end, and despite all the criticisms, an economy that was cascading dangerously toward a massive depression was resuscitated.

Consequently, job growth skyrocketed and the unemployment rate went down astronomically. Simultaneously, the Affordable Healthcare Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, was born. And that's, quintessentially, balancing capitalism with populism.

In a similar vein, thanks to the Big Dig projects that lasted from 1991 until 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts, there's no more ghetto in the state of Massachusetts. Today, sitting comfortably and majestically on the South shore of Downtown Boston in an area formally known as the Waterfront is a burgeoning and magnificent brand-new city, called the Seaport Districts. It's almost as big as Downtown Boston. Seeing is believing, and Manhattan should be worried.

The birth of the Seaport Districts and the astronomical surge in the standards of living in Massachusetts are, no doubt, offshoots of the massive flow of cash that defined the Big Dig projects throughout its duration. And that was what they did in Dubai, UAE. Similar projects are ongoing in Cairo, Egypt. We can do better, and help bring Nigerians back to work. After all, we built Abuja years ago.

Finally, I want to reinstate as I said elsewhere that I am not a communist, but a progressive democrat who appreciates social values, private entrepreneurship, a free market economy, and sustainable support programmes for the poor. With accountability in place and judicial activism on standby - fully alerted, we should rest assured that every contract negotiated won't be inflated as usual. And such a contract would be performed consistent with the terms of the agreements and in conformity with global best practices. Above all, every Naira budgeted for specific projects will be judiciously utilized, with the goal of yielding the highest returns and values on the investment.

When it's all over, I want history to record me as the apostle of accountability who brought out the best in the Nigerian man and woman and laid the foundation for the transformation of Nigeria from a Developing Country to a Developed Country.

My Heavenly Father is on the Throne

God's Goodness lives in me

And I've got a Destiny to fulfill