Osun 2014: PDP needs credible candidate to unseat Aregbesola —Senator Olasunkanmi

Osun 2014: PDP needs credible candidate to unseat Aregbesola —Senator Olasunkanmi

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Former Minister of Youth Development and Senator of the Federal Republic, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi is one of the gubernatorial aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State. He speaks with journalists recently on his governorship ambition and other issues. Deputy Abuja Bureau Chief, JACOB SEGUN OLATUNJI brings the excerpts:

WHAT is your reaction to the exchange of letters between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the incumbent, Dr Goodluck Jonathan?
You see, I have tried to say this, that as a thoroughbred Yoruba person, I don’t dabble in the issues of elders. Because as you know, Obasanjo is our Baba in Yoruba land and a national and international figure while currently, President Jonathan is the national leader of our party. I am sure that they will sort out their differences sooner than later. Those people who should intervene are already intervening; the leaders and the elders of the party are already doing that and at the end of the day, they will use the PDP machinery to resolve whatever differences are between the president and Chief Obasanjo.

Let us talk about your aspiration. Why are you in the race? What do you what to do in Osun State?
I am in the race for service; I am in the race because the incumbent governor is polluting the political space of Osun State. Forget about what you read in the newspapers about his achievements, that’s sheer propaganda. Those who are in Osun know that Aregbesola’s government in the last three years has been a monumental waste. I have challenged him when he celebrated his second year in office that we haven’t seen any concrete thing that he has achieved, except what a local government can achieve. The tarring of internal roads of a city is what even a local government chairman can achieve. In terms of concrete achievements, we haven’t seen any. Instead of facing the real job of governance and improving  the lives of the people of Osun State, he is busy impoverishing them, putting them into more misery by destroying their means of livelihood. In the name of urban renewal, he has sent so many people into untimely death. We aren’t saying there shouldn’t be urban renewal, but whatever you want to do, whatever government wants to do, it must do it with human face—there must be human feelings. But I don’t blame him, because he doesn’t know us in Osun, he didn’t grow up in Osun, he is from Lagos. So, he really cannot have that human feeling. In terms of road network, all the roads that he has started, there is none that can be finished in the next three years and they are mostly federal roads. He is doing all these things in order to hoodwink our people that he has turned Osun State into a paradise, that he hasn’t finished his projects, that he still has a lot of things to do.  We will tell him when the time comes that government is a continuum; he should do his bit and let other people that will come after him do their bit. In terms of education, he is a monumental failure. He said he wants to build mega schools. Number one, the concept of mega schools in Osun is a misnomer, because it is a rural state; Osun isn’t Lagos.
What Aregbesola is doing isn’t original at all. All policies and programmes of Lagos government, he is bringing to Osun wholesale, without any review at all. The concept of mega schools can only work in an urban setting like Lagos, like Ibadan.  But in Osun, we don’t have shortage of land. So, when he came with this concept of mega schools, what he first did was to destroy 3,000 buildings that he met on ground and he promised to build 170 mega schools. In the last three years, he has only been able to build one. With less than six months remaining for him, tell me, how many mega schools he is going to build. Then, look at his concept of classification of schools. Tell me, can Osun be an island on its own? We have a Federal Ministry of Education. Even though Nigeria is a federal republic, does that mean we should be an island unto ourselves in Osun? I just mentioned about two major programmes of Aregbesola and how he destroyed the lives of our people. I can talk about the health and agricultural sectors; I can talk about other social services. Everything that he has been saying is propaganda, but our people know better in Osun and they are determined to vote him out in this election coming up this year. So, I am in the race to right the wrongs in the state. I am known for service. I served in the Senate for four years without blemish; I served in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) without blemish. As a matter of fact, I used to say it with all humility that I am the first person to serve four years, conveniently as a minister from Osun. Nobody else has done it. That means I am really for the service of the people.

Still on your aspiration; there are some immediate challenges. One, within the PDP itself, you aren’t the only contender for the ticket. If I may ask, what is your unique selling point?
Talking about my unique selling point, I have already said it. In terms of those of us who are aspiring in the PDP, I am qualified educationally. Even though I don’t have a doctorate degree, I have my first degree and master’s degree in Banking and Finance from reputable and verifiable institutions of higher learning and in terms of political experience, I have been in the Senate and I have been in the FEC. So, I combine both legislative and executive experience at the highest level and as God would have it, I also served the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. When I was appointed into the FEC, I was posted to the Federal Ministry of Youth Development. That put me in a vantage position to know the major problems confronting this country and I want to deploy that experience and exposure to better the lots of Osun people.

But there have been speculations that there is an anointed candidate by the Presidency. What is your reaction on this speculation?
I think Mr. President has debunked that insinuation several times; he has said that he has no anointed candidate. Only recently, he met with all the aspirants from Ekiti State, where he told them that he has no anointed candidate. I must also say that I worked with Mr. President for four years and as a person who knows him very well, I know he is a democrat to the core and that he will never anoint a candidate. He has been saying it; he faced a tough presidential convention in 2011 and he came out first. So, knowing his pedigree, knowing his character, I know he will never anoint any candidate. Again, talking about myself, my character, my humility, my personality is my unique selling point. I believe if PDP wants to win Osun state they will look at all the aspirants—we are now three —they will look at all of us, put us on a scale and put forward the person that can send Aregbesola packing . I am sure that if they put us on that scale, Osun PDP will put me forward because the PDP needs a credible candidate this time around to unseat Aregbesola. Osun people are tired of his administration.