Our goal is to send Aregbesola packing – PDP guber aspirant

 

 Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi Rasheed is a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State. In an interview with Journalists in his Ode-Omu country home, the senator, who was Minister  of Youths Development, spoke about his experience and unblemished records as a factor in his governorship quest. He chided Governor Aregbesola over his policies and promised to provide alternative, if and when elected. MICHAEL OLANREWAJU was there. Excerpts:

The two other aspirants of your party and yourself collected nomination forms in the presence of members of your party except Senator Omisore, who collected secretly. Do you see that action as a way of imposing a candidate on others?
Honesty speaking, I try as much as possible not to make any comment about actions and in-actions of my colleagues in the PDP because at the end of the day, we must work together with whoever emerges as the candidate of the party. As a result of that, I try to refrain from making any comment about my colleagues or co- aspirants.  But you know, be it as it may, I know
very well that our party at the state level will live up to expectation as  they have assured us of level playing ground for all the aspirants. So, I have no cause at all to doubt what our state party chairman said. I don’t think we should start reading meanings to what manner of whomever aspirant obtained intention form.
I think what matters most is the transparency of our party leaders. Like our party chairman said, three aspirants obtained an intention form to contest for the governorship election this year and I think that is what matters most. And so far, we have three aspirants that have signified their intention to slug it out at the primaries level. Our party’s tradition is supreme and I
know that there would be equal opportunities for all the aspirants. I am sure they will not impose any candidate on Osun people or PDP because our goal is the same. Our goal is to drive Aregbesola out of Government House in 2014- that is our common goal as far as Osun PDP is concerned. And our party will do everything possible to make sure that Aregbesola is out of that Government House this year.
How confident are you about picking the ticket of PDP?
I have said it several times that I believe that I am the most qualified, having  served at the both highest law making body, that is Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and served at the highest Executive level in this country. Don’t forget that I am a Member of National Executive Council from the inception of Yaradua/Jonathan Administration. So, to that extent, I think I am the most qualified out of the three aspirants. There are times people misquoted what I said on the issue of I am the most qualify aspirant. I have a lot of qualifications, and out
of them, all I have mentioned has to do with where I served, that I have served without any bad record. It is on record that I served as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigerian for four years. I always say that, and it is significant because when you are appointed or in any appointment, you know you are serving at the pleasure of the person that appointed you in
this instant. If you are found wanting for whatever reasons, it is not possible for you to last on that job and that was why I said that I have served without a blemish because I was never found wanting in my job either at official or personal level. But some people have tried to misinterpret that. You ask me about my qualification for the job and I am trying to tell you why I am the most qualified out of the three aspirants.
Number one, because of my level of qualification, number two, because of my legislative and executive experiences which none of my co-aspirants possesses.
Between the time you collected the intention form and now, what has really changed?
As far as I am concerned, nothing, my campaign is on course, because I believe that at the end of the day, and like our party said that, we are going for primaries and I intend to slug it out with other two aspirants at the primaries. I am working on our party members to convince them that I am the most qualified aspirant, that I should be the person to be elected at the primary level to confront Aregbesola in the final gubernatorial election.
What does the resignation of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, your Party’s former National Chairman, portend for the party at the national level?
Well, I almost believe that PDP as the biggest party in Africa, and having ruled this country since inception of democracy in 1999, we always have an internal mechanism to resolve our differences. And I am glad at the end of the day, reason prevailed and there are some things
we must learn even for the opposition to take a cue from what is happening at PDP national level that once you know that you are no longer popular, or once you know you are controversial, we should know when to throw in the towel in the largest interest of whichever organization you represent. We should quit when the ovation is loudest. And I want to commend our former chairman for taking an honourable way out because at the end of the day, his interest cannot supersede the larger interest of the party. I have to commend him but it is a lesson that other parties should try to emulate.
What sectors do you think the current administration in the state under Aregbesola is not handling well that you may want to correct if voted in?
I don’t see any sector where he has excelled really, I can’t see any sector. I have always given series of examples, let us look at it. In terms of roads, tell me how he has excelled or has open up everywhere. Project that he cannot complete within the next two or three years. In the road sector he has not excelled, in the education sector even he has messed it up. Either
you are talking of the school uniform where he said that all students should put on the same uniform. I don’t know where that is done in Nigeria, or is it through the education re-classification of schools that you want to say he has excelled? Can Osun be different from other states of the Federation?
Osun cannot be different from other states. Or is it through the mega nonsense that is called mega school that you want say he has excelled? How many of that mega schools has he built? Do we really need that mega school in Osun State? More so, the school feeding programme, Oyinlola actually started it, go and find out. But is it the area of Opon-Imo something that he
has listed as his achievement for the past three years. Go and find out how many of that Opon-Imo he has distributed to our students up till date. Is that an achievement? Is it in the health sector you want to say he has achieved? I cannot see any sector he has excelled except his achievements on the pages of newspapers.
If you are actually elected as the governor of Osun State, would you like to continue most of the project Aregbesola’s Administration is doing?
Let me say this that so many unpopular programmes of Aregbesola will be re-visited by our administration. We are going to re-visit many of his programme policies by the Grace of God if the good people of Osun State vote me in as their Governor this year. We are going to re-visit so many unpopular of his programme. Let me give you one example, religion matter has
never been in problem before, but as at the time Aregbesola came in, all this crisis started, we have seen riot in the state as far as issue of religion is concerned for the first time, we have seen students protesting heavily around the state.
I can assure that we are going to re-visit after thorough consultation of all stakeholders in the state. We are not going to govern as if we are in the military era. Our administration is going to be truly civilian. Like I always say, am from Osun and I schooled in Osun. So what I am saying in essence is that I am familiar with the needs of our people here in Osun and we shall do extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders before we introduce any new policy. Let me go back to the issue of education, the merger of school. Can you tell me that Aregbesola
actually consulted the stakeholders? I have seen some teachers complaining that the policy was imposed on them, complaining that Aregbsola did not consult anybody before he took the step. Let me give you another example, when Aregbesola came in for the first two years, we are battling with the issue of Osun State or State of Osun, how has that affected or improved the life of the people in the state? So, all this unpopular policies will be re-visited.
Can you shed more light on how you are going to rule the state if elected, most especially in the areas of infrastructural facilities?
Yes, you see, my major focus in my first year is going to be education or what I will call human capital development, infrastructure development and employment generation. The first priority is human capital development. Before you can have a sustainable employment generation and infrastructural development, people must be well educated. Education is number
one, when you solved the employment problem of the state, I think 70 per cent of the problem of that state is solved because if a graduate is employed, he is going to have a multiplier effect on not only his immediate family but extended family and that is our system in Nigeria and that is why am going to focus on education development and scheme acquisition. I have done it at the federal level by establishing national youth development centre in all the geo-political zones of this country because I believe in how to teach people on how to earn a
living. So, I will address that. In my first year, I will establish Osun State Youth Development Centre in the three senatorial districts and am talking of world class youth development centres where we are going to develop skills. Entrepreneurs and agriculture will be a corner stone of that, and at the end of that training, I believe, it is going to boost our economy in the state and agriculture is going to be the cornerstone of that programme. That is what I want to do in Osun State to enhance economic development.