The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Osun State governorship election, Oyegoke Omigbodun, says the carrot and stick approach is the best way to tackle cultism in the state.
He made the recommendation on Sunday in his remarks as a debater on the Osun Governorship Debate 2022 organised by Channels Television in partnership with Situation Room.
“I see cultism like a puddle of water; the carrot and stick approach will handle it,” said the architect. “Let there be an outlet for that water to go – that is the carrot. The ones that are clean will go and the ones that are the dredges will have to be flushed out eventually.”
Apart from Omigbodun, incumbent Governor Adegboyega Oyetola who is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for another four-year term, and Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), took their stand at the stage.
A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and candidate of the Labour Party, Yusuf Lasun, as well as Dr Akin Ogunbiyi of the Accord Party, were also present.
Channels Television’s political editor and the moderator, Seun Okinbaloye, grilled participants on job creation, education, infrastructure, social inclusion, stance on vote-buying, wealth creation, as well as the state’s economic growth among others.
Still answering questions on the security of the state, Omigbodun said, “I am not a cultist, but I know how to take out cultism, and that’s one of the reasons I want to be governor.
“When I was mentioning the other organisations that I will involve the other time, I could not mention the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). I believe that the idle hand is the devil’s workshop. So, when you have a lot of youths that are jobless, there is no way they will not constitute a menace to the society.”
He added, “That’s why I said beyond the electricity that I said I will provide in Osun that will make many more jobs to be more functional, beyond the job creation hub that I said is going to be in the similitude of the one in Silicon Valley, I also have certain things that I termed M.A.T – mining, agriculture, technology. By the time you have all of these, there will be only one thing left for me to do.”