How Labour Party ’ll end arrogant leadearship in Osun - Gov aspirant

How Labour Party ’ll end arrogant leadearship in Osun - Gov aspirant

Honourable Niyi Owolade was one of the youngest Afenifere members descended upon by the late General SaniAbacha’s junta and he is now a governorship aspirant in Osun State under the Labour Party. In this interview with KUNLE ODEREMI, he chronicles his political odyssey, why Osun people will effect a change of guard in the August election, among other issues. Excerpts:

Some critics say you are inconsistent as a politician because you have moved around all the major political parties and even abandoned your hitherto ‘benefactors’ such as former Governors Bisi Akande and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, to mention just two. Why did you betray them? Why are you inconsistent, politically speaking?
I have always been a consistent politician and I see myself as principled politician. I was a foundation member of the now defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and was elected the Legal adviser of Ife South Local Government Area under the party. I was later adopted by the SDP to stand for the House of Assembly seat in 1991. On the 14th December 1991, I was elected member of the Osun State House of Assembly under the SDP and became the Deputy Speaker. I occupied this position until November 17, 1993, when late General SaniAbacha took over power. So, the SDP was disbanded after the takeover in 1993 and I became a member of Afenifere, the largest group in NADECO.

In 1998, I became one of the foundation members of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). I was a gubernatorial aspirant but, our revered leader, Chief Ige impressed it on me that Chief Akande should be given the chance and that I should understudy him. In fact, he gave me the assignment to persuade other aspirants to allow Chief Akande occupy the position- which I did. There were 10 people interested in the AD for the office of the governor of Osun then.

I was appointed the Commissioner for Health in 1999 and on November1, I was transferred to the Ministry of Works and Transport as commissioner. I occupied this position until we were voted out in 2003. My party, the AD, unfortunately broke up in 2006. This was due to the bitter struggle of national chairmanship between Chief Akande and Senator MojisoluwaAkinfenwa. I followed Chief Akande’s faction to the defunct Action Congress (AC) but, I was skeptical of Senator BolaTinubu’s agenda.

In December 2006, there were six of us interested in the gubernatorial race of Osun under the banner of AC. Instead of holding a primary election, in accordance with the constitution of the party, a committee was set up to interview us. We inquired the criteria to be used and we were told that it was to be political experience and political expediency. The six of us were: MrsRemi Olowu, Mr KunleIge, Chief Ogunkeyede, Dr Muyiwa Oladimeji, Mr Rauf Aregbesola and my humble self. You can be the judge on the issue of the candidate, who had the most political experience amongst the six of us. We knew it was a teleguided committee. Mr Aregbesola was selected.

Immediately, Chief Dosu Oladipo made an observation that it would appear all key offices were awarded to Lagos-based candidates. He then said that since the good people of Osun would complain in the not-so-distant future and since Hussein and Omoworare were from the Lagos stable, he wished my humble self, who resides in Osun, be considered for the Osun East senatorial ticket in the interest of fairness. The following day, Tinubu overruled the Osun leaders and single-handedly reinstated JideOmoworare as the party’s candidate for Osun East senatorial ticket. When I heard about the decision, I made up my mind that I was not ready to be a political slave. Why will one individual be deciding who becomes a governor, a Senator and a House member in our state. So, once you are from the Lagos stable, you become superior to those who reside in Osun.

There is no way I would have stayed in the AC. Even the leadership in the then Osun AC decided to leave the party. They could no longer allow an individual decide all key issues. Alhaji Oyedokun, Chief Oladipo, Chief Abiola Morakinyo, late Ambassador Bidmus, my humble self and others left the AC. We were not prepared to be political slaves.

Why do you think Osun voters are prepared for a change of platform, in view of the progressive tendencies, programmes and policies of the present APC administration in the state? 
I know the people are prepared for a change of platform because their expectations have not been met by the present state administration. But, I honestly do not understand what you mean by the progressive programmes and policies of the administration. Let us start with the educational programme and policy. What is progressive there? The administration suddenly decided to merge schools, so that it will not recruit quality teachers to teach our children. Some children have dropped out of schools, because their ‘new’ schools are about four to five kilometres from their previous ones. They cannot afford the extra costs. What is progressive about this? We have suddenly become an island as the new system introduced in Osun is alien to us. You suddenly introduced the elementary/middle/high school system which Mr Aregbesola heard of or found out when he paid a visit to the United States or Cuba. An educational system cannot be practised in isolation. The students from Osun will proceed to universities, polytechnics or other educational institutions in other states. How about the same uniform school system? So, the uniqueness or identities of each school has now been scrapped. A few months ago, we heard that students of a particular school in Osogbo were fighting with dangerous weapons along Iwo Road. Of course, they could not be identified as belonging to a specific school because all schools wear the same uniform. What is progressive about this? The same uniform system was conceived and executed for purely economic gains and the same uniform for all pupils was originally brought into the state by one outfit. It is sad!

Are you not saying this because of politics?
Not at all! The truth must be told. How about the area of urban renewal? I recall the interview of the iconic Nelson Mandela by Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed in 2007 when the great man said the problem with Nigeria is that ‘your leaders have no respect for their people.’ The area of urban renewal in Osun under this administration is a classy example of leaders not respecting their people. A regime intends to carry out an urban renewal exercise in the state capital without effectively dialoguing with its citizens. So many houses were destroyed without carrying the people along. Juxtapose this with the urban renewal exercise in Ondo State, under the Labour Party, then you judge who is progressive. In Ondo under Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party, the citizens whose properties were to be affected by the urban renewal exercise were all invited for a meeting. A new area was allocated to them. Adequate compensation was paid to everyone affected even without demanding certificate of occupancy (C-of-O). This was done before the exercise commenced. In Osun, it was the opposite.

How about the capital flight? Over 95 per cent of our contractors are from Lagos. By Friday, they disappear to Lagos with Osun’s wealth and they come back by Monday. Our people are impoverished. Our people see the policy of this administration as tantamount to enslavement.

Do you know that out of the 14 commissioners appointed, only three were residing in Osun at the time of their appointments. The rest were mostly residing in Lagos. I can assure you that there is no other place in the history of the country, where the executive council of a state is made up of less than one quarter members residing in the state at the time of appointment.

Do you think the voters of Osun do not know all the issues canvassed above? I can assure you that the said voters are yearning for a change of platform. The good people of Osun are fed up. They have been shortchanged. Osun is witnessing colonialism in another form.

Why did you settle for the Labour Party, which many consider as a weak platform in relative terms of the APC and the PDP structures?  
The Labour Party is my natural place of abode. It is like coming home. I am a progressive and the Labour Party is the natural progressive party to be. It is the party of the people- workers, youths, women, artisans and professionals. It is our party. It is true that the two major parties in the country are the PDP and the APC. I consider the Labour Party as the third force. You will agree with me that the third force can easily become the major one in a short period of time.

When the Labour party was founded in Britain in 1900, it was not part of the two major parties, which were the Conservative Party (Tory) and the Liberal Party. However, in a short period of time, it became one of the two major parties. A lot depends on organisation, steadfastness of members and continuously educating and informing the people. It is important to note that card-carrying members of political parties in Nigeria constitute about eight per cent of the entire population of the country. The 92 per cent, who are not card-carrying members, are yearning for good governance. They want credible people, who will not shortchange them. They are yearning for accountability. They are yearning for integrity. All these are not the strong points of the so-called two major parties: PDP and APC.

The average person in Osun is literate. He knows that there is a major short fall of credibility in those two parties. Our people are yearning for change and I believe the Labour Party is the party that will produce that change. It is important to note that there is mistrust of politicians in the country because of the inglorious roles of those particularly in the APC and the PDP. Power belongs to the people. The people are sovereign. The leaders are supposed to hold power in trust of the people. But unfortunately, the leaders of the APC and the PDP have not lived up to expectation. This has led to a strong demand for change and by the grace of God, we are the change the people of Osun yearn for.

Many say that there is actually no difference between the PDP and the Labour Party; that the latter is indeed a PDP satellite, just like All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)? 
I disagree with you on this assertion. It is the propaganda machinery of the APC that continues to blast this falsehood to the Nigerian people. The PDP and the Labour Party have different constitutions, different manifestos and indeed, different political philosophy. I see the Labour Party as the future in this country. The party has become the third force and I have a strong feeling that within the next 10 years, the Labour Party will become a major political party in the country.

What difference can the Labour party make that the APC lacks the capacity and capability to achieve in Osun? Why and how do you mean?
Osun will no longer be an individual’s fiefdom.  It is common knowledge that Senator Bola Tinubu owns the APC in the South-West and most especially in Osun, where his most trusted aide is the governor. Governance in Osun has not been for the benefit of the good people of our state but for an individual in Lagos and his cabal. So, it has been very difficult for the good people to reap the dividends of democracy. The Labour Party will serve the people of Osun and not an individual and his cronies.

The LP and my humble self will carry the people along in the art of governance. We will respect the wishes of the people, as we will continuously dialogue with our people. We will dialogue with our people as we are conscious of the fact that the people are sovereign. We will listen to their yearnings. All these are missing from the present administration.As genuine democrats, we will be democratic. Decisions of governance will be made in Osun and not elsewhere as is the case with the present administration.

Osun State was primarily created for the good people of the state and so a situation where over 75  per cent of key government appointments at the highest level such as the cabinet, will not be of people who do not reside here as the case with the present administration. There are qualified people residing in our state. Under the Labour Party, I can assure you that we will not be the satellite of any other state, as the situation with the present administration where the Governor stated in 2007 that Osun was a satellite of Lagos. We will run an an all- inclusive administration.  A major difference between us is that ours will not be an arrogant leadership, where the head believes he knows everything. We will respect our people and listen to them at all times.

On our part, we will expand our economic frontiers so as to benefit our people. We know that Osun is blessed abundantly in human and natural resources and we intend to get the best from these. With us, the interests of our people will be paramount. We will not allow our collective interest to be subjugated. Our human capital development and sustainable infrastructural development will take centre stage.