A governorship aspirant for Kwara, Mr Hakeem Lawal, has said that the state needs a proactive governor that can positively utilise its potentials with a view to changing its fortunes.

The aspirant, who is the son of the state's former late Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Lawal, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said he stood out from other aspirants in the race because he was young and vibrant and had the capacity to think out of the box.

Lawal, who had worked in the private sector within and outside the country, promised to use his experience to turn the state's fortunes around for good, if elected as its next governor.

"We need to bring in new ways of thinking and doing things; investors are available looking for where to invest but we need to create an environment conducive for business.

"For that to happen, we need an infrastructural base to take on that. We do not have the money to play around; we have to grow the economy for the money to come," he said.

He stressed that what Kwara needed was innovation, adding that he had a three-point plan based on infrastructural development, industrialisation and human capital development.

"Under the infrastructural development, I will be focusing on housing, road, water and rural electrification.

"My focus will be more or less industrialisation based on our competitive advantage which is agriculture and the labour force."

He said it was regrettable that though an agrarian state, most farm produce in Kwara never got to the city and other parts of the country because of bad road network.

"My focus will be on building road network so that farmers can bring out their produce to the city and other parts of the country," he said.

He promised to improve education standard in the state and to positively utilise its 1.3 million population, so that its labour force could effectively compete with their counterparts abroad.

This, he said, would prevent capital flight from the state.

Lawal promised to establish an effective contributory housing scheme to ensure that retirees in the state had homes at retirement.

He also promised to invest more in educating the people of the state in 2015 because, according to him, wealth is in the people.

He further promised to revive moribund companies and create more, while ensuring transfer of skills.

Lawal, however, said that he joined the race on the prompting of his people, adding that it was not a do-or-die affair to him, even though he would want to serve his people as a governor.

"I didn't offer myself to contest. I was called by my people even though I tried to resist, they insisted," he said.

He expressed optimism that the PDP leadership would ensure a level playing field for all aspirants in the electoral process ahead of the Feb. 2015 general elections.

"The leadership of the PDP had expressed enough wiliness to be fair and transparent to everybody; the issue is with us aspirants.

"It is us that will determine whether it will be fair or unfair; the party leadership can only do its best and I believe that they will try their best to be fair to all."

He expressed optimism og getting the PDP ticket at its primaries slated for Nov. 29 to contest the 2015 election, having discussed extensively with the state party's stakeholders.

Lawal added that he would, however, support a consensus candidate if the party's leadership resolved on that.

"What I believe is that our party wants the best and what is paramount is to win, particularly in Kwara, Rivers, Kano and other states it lost through court judgment.

"I know that our leaders know that they need to pick somebody that the people want and somebody that is in touch with the people, somebody that the people will vote for and stand by their votes," he said (NAN)