Odanye: Aregbesola Made Religion His Campaign Trust
Tunde Odanye
Hon. Tunde Odanye, a stalwart of Peoples Democratic Party is a member of the Governing Council of Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Osun State. In this interview with Omololu Ogunmade, he speaks on a wide range of issues including the 2015 polls, challenges confronting the All Progressives Congress, religion and politics in Osun, among others. Excerpts:
How do you see the move to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from seeking re-election?
I find the arguments a bit baffling, not what you would expect from otherwise intelligent men and women, but I think it is the emotion that has given way to reason and common sense. Some argue that the late President Umaru Yar'Adua did not finish his term whilst some others argue that President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to serve for only a term and therefore, the presidency should return to the North.
First, what becomes of President Jonathan and the South-south region's right to two terms? Applying their logic, if it goes to the North for how many years, is it to reside there and when will the South-south get its second term? Is it two years (to the end of late President Yar'Adua's first term); four years (a new but single term for the northern candidate); six years (the balance of the late presidents unfinished term plus a second term) or eight years (two full terms); is it immediately after this that the presidency will return to the South-south or is their second term forfeited until the presidency comes round to them in another 40 years?
And if so, how is that fair to the South-south? And on the issue of a signed agreement that the President wouldn’t run for a second term, any decent lawyer would tell you that agreement assuming it exists is not enforceable for being against public policy and is therefore illegal.
Lastly, assuming for purposes of argument that it is legal and enforceable (though denied) what are the consequences of default or penalty or penalties agreed to should he default? Of course, those opposed to his second term are free to canvass that the president in their view hasn’t done enough to warrant a second term or that there are better candidates but their arguments thus far fly in the face of reason.
The PDP appears jittery by the waves that All Progressives Congress (APC) is making across the polity. Don't you think this portrays a tough time for PDP in 2015?
Concerned! Yes. Jittery, I doubt because there is no cause for jitters. Yes, the oppositions ranked together in one party is bigger and better now than in 2011 when they were scattered across several smaller parties but that is where it ends. In life, for every benefit there is a burden. So, the APC is now open to and has indeed started experiencing the burdens that big parties like the PDP have been experiencing and managing for years. Such burdens include big egos, laxity and disloyalty, vaulting ambitions of money mongers, confidentiality problems, defections of displeased big players et cetera.
Lastly, assuming for purposes of argument that it is legal and enforceable (though denied) what are the consequences of default or penalty or penalties agreed to should he default? Of course, those opposed to his second term are free to canvass that the president in their view hasn’t done enough to warrant a second term or that there are better candidates but their arguments thus far fly in the face of reason.
The PDP appears jittery by the waves that All Progressives Congress (APC) is making across the polity. Don't you think this portrays a tough time for PDP in 2015?
Concerned! Yes. Jittery, I doubt because there is no cause for jitters. Yes, the oppositions ranked together in one party is bigger and better now than in 2011 when they were scattered across several smaller parties but that is where it ends. In life, for every benefit there is a burden. So, the APC is now open to and has indeed started experiencing the burdens that big parties like the PDP have been experiencing and managing for years. Such burdens include big egos, laxity and disloyalty, vaulting ambitions of money mongers, confidentiality problems, defections of displeased big players et cetera.
Having said that, I believe stiff competition and opposition are very good for democracy, unlike a monopoly, it forces parties in government to sit up and deliver and to do this, they are forced to deploy their best human and capital resources in a most efficient and effective manner. I wish just as we now have the makings of a stiff opposition at the centre, we would have same in the states especially those states that have taken governance and their electorate for granted for too long.
The president has just appointed General Oladeinde Arogbofa, a Yoruba man, as Chief of Staff. Do you think the appointment sufficiently addresses the perceived marginalisation of South-west?
Recently, at Chief Chris Ogunbanjo’s 90th birthday, a former senator and then principal officer in the Senate from the South-south (specifically in Akwa Ibom State, who happens to be a friend and a classmate of mine in the Law School), the chairman of Afenifere, Yoruba-socio-cultural group, in Lagos and I were discussing this issue and the senator said no doubt, the South-west was being marginalised and he noted that even if the South-west lost the position of speaker due to the antics of their brothers, the president could always make up for it by giving them the office of chief of staff which is an appointive and not elective position.
The president has just appointed General Oladeinde Arogbofa, a Yoruba man, as Chief of Staff. Do you think the appointment sufficiently addresses the perceived marginalisation of South-west?
Recently, at Chief Chris Ogunbanjo’s 90th birthday, a former senator and then principal officer in the Senate from the South-south (specifically in Akwa Ibom State, who happens to be a friend and a classmate of mine in the Law School), the chairman of Afenifere, Yoruba-socio-cultural group, in Lagos and I were discussing this issue and the senator said no doubt, the South-west was being marginalised and he noted that even if the South-west lost the position of speaker due to the antics of their brothers, the president could always make up for it by giving them the office of chief of staff which is an appointive and not elective position.
Thankfully, he has. On the man himself, I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting General Arogbofa at his nephew’s wedding in Lagos recently and he struck me as an officer and a gentleman. I am sure we would do right by him. To my mind, it is a good and welcome start but it is not yet Uhuru. We have left Egypt but we are yet to reach Canaan.
The South-west seems is canvassing for a return to a parliamentary system of government at the national conference. Do you share this opinion?
I am sure that if the presidential system is working as effectively as it should, nobody would be canvassing for an alternative. Having said that, I think the bigger question is whether those in government would allow the change. We have all witnessed the time when people at the helm of affairs reject and aggressively oppose many reasonable demands such as reducing the powers at the centre and true federalism, state police et cetera, only to leave office to start canvassing the same position. The status quo is extremely powerful and rewarding and I don’t see many of our officials wanting to give any of that up. I share the view that government is too expensive and far from the people as presently constituted.
Osun State's governorship election is drawing nearer, but nothing has been heard about your participation in the race. Are you giving up the fight?
My 10 years in the wilderness I call it; you know the Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. I guess I was pretty naive at the time. I have since found out that merit, competence, integrity, honour, honesty and decency hardly have a role to play in candidates’ selection and appointments in government in Nigeria. Indeed, I found out to my chagrin that many of the virtues that work in your favour in other democracies tend to work against you here. I believe that explains why we are where we are today as a country.
The South-west seems is canvassing for a return to a parliamentary system of government at the national conference. Do you share this opinion?
I am sure that if the presidential system is working as effectively as it should, nobody would be canvassing for an alternative. Having said that, I think the bigger question is whether those in government would allow the change. We have all witnessed the time when people at the helm of affairs reject and aggressively oppose many reasonable demands such as reducing the powers at the centre and true federalism, state police et cetera, only to leave office to start canvassing the same position. The status quo is extremely powerful and rewarding and I don’t see many of our officials wanting to give any of that up. I share the view that government is too expensive and far from the people as presently constituted.
Osun State's governorship election is drawing nearer, but nothing has been heard about your participation in the race. Are you giving up the fight?
My 10 years in the wilderness I call it; you know the Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. I guess I was pretty naive at the time. I have since found out that merit, competence, integrity, honour, honesty and decency hardly have a role to play in candidates’ selection and appointments in government in Nigeria. Indeed, I found out to my chagrin that many of the virtues that work in your favour in other democracies tend to work against you here. I believe that explains why we are where we are today as a country.
The few times we get it right, those elected or appointed shine like a thousand stars but in most cases, we get it wrong and are stuck with the kleptomaniacs and the mediocre. I put myself forward with a view to rendering service and giving back to the society that gave me so much in my earlier years. I grew up when Nigeria was at its best, however seeing as that now appears un-doable, I have retired to giving back on a smaller scale using other vehicles like charitable organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and my foundation.
I must confess, I feel quite good about it and with myself. More importantly, it gives me more time to face my day job - my legal profession as well as my family. So, if you want to do me a favour now, find me briefs and clients. Really, I guess maybe it just wasn’t the will of God that I be governor.
There are views that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has performed well despite the controversies trailing his administration. Is it true?
Well, he has now started tarring roads aggressively. I have always said Rauf is a wily fox and a good politician. This I knew as far back as 1998 when we were both in the Alliance for Democracy. He was in Alimosho and I was in Ikeja. We were both leaders in our respective local government areas at the time. For the un-initiated, his “Gbangbadekun” and “Walk for Life” programmes were nothing but politics in action. I am sure he has more billboards and posters than all the other governors and aspirants of Ekiti and Osun States put together. However, his major weakness too is that everything he does is motivated by politics and that politics is politics of second term. Ordinarily, I would have been commending him for opening up and tarring roads because he has indeed opened up and tarred a good number of roads in this last year, but unlike his party chairman and former Osun State governor, Chief Bisi Akande, and his co-party governor, Governor Raji Babatunde Fashola, who both appear to have been more motivated by leaving a legacy than politics of the second term, he delayed these road projects to the election year whereby we would not have the opportunity to test the longevity of the roads before the election and many a voter would have forgotten the pains of the last three years without roads in the euphoria of the newly tarred roads. So, on roads, I give him a pass mark but with a caveat.
There are views that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has performed well despite the controversies trailing his administration. Is it true?
Well, he has now started tarring roads aggressively. I have always said Rauf is a wily fox and a good politician. This I knew as far back as 1998 when we were both in the Alliance for Democracy. He was in Alimosho and I was in Ikeja. We were both leaders in our respective local government areas at the time. For the un-initiated, his “Gbangbadekun” and “Walk for Life” programmes were nothing but politics in action. I am sure he has more billboards and posters than all the other governors and aspirants of Ekiti and Osun States put together. However, his major weakness too is that everything he does is motivated by politics and that politics is politics of second term. Ordinarily, I would have been commending him for opening up and tarring roads because he has indeed opened up and tarred a good number of roads in this last year, but unlike his party chairman and former Osun State governor, Chief Bisi Akande, and his co-party governor, Governor Raji Babatunde Fashola, who both appear to have been more motivated by leaving a legacy than politics of the second term, he delayed these road projects to the election year whereby we would not have the opportunity to test the longevity of the roads before the election and many a voter would have forgotten the pains of the last three years without roads in the euphoria of the newly tarred roads. So, on roads, I give him a pass mark but with a caveat.
On the other areas of government such as education (with its many controversies), health, employment, poverty reduction and wealth creation, commerce and industrialisation and tourism, I find it difficult to give him a pass mark. Indeed, his scripts are there for all to see and score.
Indications are that Senator Iyiola Omisore may emerge the governorship candidate of PDP in Osun State. Do you think he stands the chance of defeating Governor Aregbesola?
Frankly I don’t know who will eventually emerge candidate of the party and I don’t think anyone can safely predict that till the primaries have been conducted. My own prayer is that the best amongst the aspirants emerge so that the PDP would stand a very good chance of toppling the incumbent. Anyone familiar with Osun State would tell you the incumbent’s feet are shaky and he is very vulnerable but we as a party need to put our best foot forward.
Indications are that Senator Iyiola Omisore may emerge the governorship candidate of PDP in Osun State. Do you think he stands the chance of defeating Governor Aregbesola?
Frankly I don’t know who will eventually emerge candidate of the party and I don’t think anyone can safely predict that till the primaries have been conducted. My own prayer is that the best amongst the aspirants emerge so that the PDP would stand a very good chance of toppling the incumbent. Anyone familiar with Osun State would tell you the incumbent’s feet are shaky and he is very vulnerable but we as a party need to put our best foot forward.
Whoever emerges our candidate must not only be a poster boy for competence, goodness and decency but must also be someone whose emergence would unite the party as against further dividing it. Pretending that the party is not polarised at the moment with different aspirants and people defecting to other parties wouldn’t help us. In fact, it might be laying the seed for the incumbent to return by default.
What is your view on the religious controversy surrounding the Aregbesola administration?
Truth be told, he made religion a key issue during his campaign even if he didn’t believe its rhetoric. Religion, however, is an unruly horse. You never know where it would stop or how to stop it. He constantly flayed what he called inequity amongst the religions during his campaign. For example, he would say the then governor was a Christian, the deputy governor was a Christian; appointments were skewed in favour of Christians (all non-issues before his arrival) whereby a chunk (mind you not all) of the Moslem voters rightly or wrongly believed they would have a better time and just rule as recommended by Islam if he won. They are the ones constantly upping the ante and pushing religious views to the limit if not extreme. So, what you have is a governor who rode on the back of the tiger, trying hard not to end up in the belly of the tiger.
What is your view on the religious controversy surrounding the Aregbesola administration?
Truth be told, he made religion a key issue during his campaign even if he didn’t believe its rhetoric. Religion, however, is an unruly horse. You never know where it would stop or how to stop it. He constantly flayed what he called inequity amongst the religions during his campaign. For example, he would say the then governor was a Christian, the deputy governor was a Christian; appointments were skewed in favour of Christians (all non-issues before his arrival) whereby a chunk (mind you not all) of the Moslem voters rightly or wrongly believed they would have a better time and just rule as recommended by Islam if he won. They are the ones constantly upping the ante and pushing religious views to the limit if not extreme. So, what you have is a governor who rode on the back of the tiger, trying hard not to end up in the belly of the tiger.
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