Zenith Labour Party (ZLP)

The Ondo State Chapter of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) on Saturday inaugurated a new Executive Committee that will pilot the affairs of the party in the next four years.

Performing the inauguration at the party secretariat in Akure, former Gov. Olusegun Mimiko urged the committee members to ensure that they maintain the socio-democratic ideology of the party.

Mimiko, a national leader of the party, who emphasised that education and quality healthcare should be the bedrock of every government, urged the new executive committee to tow the path.

“What separates our party from others is the social-economic way of life in which education, quality healthcare, especially for the vulnerable in the society, pregnant women and children with the elderly, are taken care of.

“In the UK, you dare not touch the National Health Service (NHS). We must, as a party, be committed to the provision of quality education to improve the lives of our people. To us, this is non-negotiable,” he said.

In his acceptance speech, the new Chairman of the party, Mr Joseph Akinlaja, said he would continue to focus on the principle of the party that is rooted in social democracy.

“We are moving forward, yesterday is gone, and today presents to us, as a party and as a people, a new vista of opportunities to reunite because a tree cannot make a forest.

“We are presented with the opportunity to reaccess, to reach out and to relaunch into the political ecosystem of Ondo State and Nigeria at large,” he said.

Akinlaja used the opportunity to add his voice in support of the Southwestern Nigeria Security Network community policing initiative of the governors of the region codenamed-‘Operation Amotekun’.

“Irrespective of our political beliefs and religious persuasions, these governors deserve to be commended for their proactiveness, responsiveness and ingenuity in handling the insecurity challenges ravaging the region,” he said.

The former House of Representatives member said the initiative was timely and welcomed.

“Amotekun’ will complement efforts of the conventional internal security agencies that appeared to have been incapacitated by the absence of local intelligence gathering architecture,” he added.

Akinlaja, on the recent outbreak of Lassa Fever, urged the government to be more proactive in taming the menace.