Aregbesola: Why I’m Disturbed about Ekiti Election

Aregbesola: Why I’m Disturbed about Ekiti Election

The Gubernatorial Interview

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, in an interview with journalists in Osogbo, the state capital, said he nursed no worries about his reelection as he reeled out the successes of his administration being the basis of his confidence, amongst other related issues. Shola Oyeyipo brings the excerpts:

With your election a few weeks away, how prepared are you to prevent a repeat of the Ekiti experience?
Firstly, I want you to know that I don’t even think about it and that is the interesting part of it. I set about this being cautious of democratic norms. In the statement I made after the Ekiti election, I reflected that a genuine democrat must be willing and ready to embrace defeat as he or she will embrace victory provided the election is transparent, credible, free and fair. The real issue is not about you as a candidate but the quality of the electoral process. Once the quality is good and high, it is whatever the people say because they are the ultimate decider of who represents or governs them. Democratic choices are expected to be correct, good and right but it is not always that the choice is good, correct and right.

To answer the question, long before I assumed this office, I prepared so well for the office in a way that going by the normal run, I should not be working as hard as I’m working now for re-election. A commentator said something to the effect that I am one of the politicians that from day one began my campaign. From the day I entered this office, I started my campaign.

How many governors walk the streets with their citizens? I have been doing that since the first month in office. How many governors create interactive forum in Nigeria before me? There is none. I was the first governor that devotes close to ten hours of continuous engagement on a quarterly basis with the citizens. The people ask any question in a no-holds-barred atmosphere. The Ogbeni Till Day Break is a worldwide engagement because we take feedbacks from social media. The ‘Gbangba Dekun’ is another monthly community interactive forum where the governor sits with stakeholders in the community to ask or make inquiries on any issue.

These are the pictures of direct engagements that we are doing with the people that no government in Nigeria has ever attempted to do. We also have a carnival like procession in ‘Walk to Live’ where we just walk round the communities and it is engaging and popular because everybody wants to be with the governor.

Your question, however, is if I’m bothered about Ekiti; I don’t even think about it. As a loyal APC member, I was disturbed, but as a head of a government that has worked so well with the people, I don’t even see the effect. I look at my engagement with the people, the products of my government which have not left any home unaffected positively, and I said if election is about acceptance, popularity and the impacts you have made on the people, we are waiting for what the dictate of democracy would be. But in a credible, transparent, free and fair election, Rauf Aregbesola does not have any worry at all about what people will say about his administration.

In what ways has your administration been able to make the people feel the impact of governance?
Hardly is there any community in this state that we have not touched in terms of physical and social services. This is the first government that will say that there is no household – be it PDP, APC or others – which our programmes have not reached. There is none! I feed 300,000 pupils every school day at the cost of N3.6 billion a year. I have been doing it since 2012 and I have spent N7.2 billion on that. You can go to the schools by yourself and assess what the children are eating to be sure whether it is worth what we are saying or not.

I can tell you that nobody touches the money except those in charge. Long before we commenced the feeding arrangement, we empowered poultry farmers to produce poultry products so that the chickens and eggs the children consume are all sourced from them and that is the way they paid back to us because we are not going to buy from them. The students consume 15,000 whole chickens every week and it is served twice. They consume 300,000 eggs every week, one egg a week. They consume 400 tons of fish every week. They consume 35 herds of cattle every week.

We gave close to N600 million to the poultry farmers and also the fish farmers. The only people we buy from now are the cattle rearers. We had challenge with eggs supply because the totality of the eggs produced in Osun cannot cope with our demands, so we go to Kwara and Oyo States to make it up and we pick the real foods in the markets. The women, 3007 of them who cook the meals to serve the students take money from the bank. We gave the women a seed capital to set up themselves and start.

The bank pays them for the number of pupils they feed and the bank comes to us for settlement. With that, we have been getting a value to a large extent for the money we spend. They are fed that way every school day. Also, 1000 new farmers that we raised to produce cocoyam are in this; close to 500 O’YES exited cadets are equally empowered to outtake the cocoyam and give to the vendors. Also, tens of thousands are engaged in providing different items. From this alone, close to one million people are directly impacted from just one program, O’meal.

We have the second batch of O’YES cadets, the first batch of 20,000 had gone, the second batch of 20,000 is on and they are from homes. They work two or three days a week and they have the entire days of the week left for them to see what they can do with their hands and earn a living because they are taught entrepreneurial training, but they earn N10,000 monthly as cadets.

On this scheme alone, this administration has spent N9billion. I tell people what this type of scheme means for national government. You can’t say I don’t have 18 friends who I can give half a billion naira contract to, whether they do it or not, I would have still given it. But the maximum amount of that investment that will stay here will be less than 50 per cent. Yes, you will have the project here but there would still be capital flight because we are talking about direct impact on the economy.

O’YES has changed the paradigm. One hundred per cent of that N9billion is in this economy.  The programme has huge economic benefit to the state. You have in that scheme a directly injected N9billion to the economy that has no means of going out because a man earning N10,000, unless you promised to double his investment, has no business travelling to Ibadan with that N10,000 if it is not going to yield anything more. He won't go to Ibadan. Every bit of the money is better spent here.
Every O'YES cadet has a smart card and the issue of anyone handling or tampering with their money does not arise.

We are one of the few governments that develop a meaningful programme for elderly citizens’ care. We are not into a blanket social welfare scheme for the elderly. We have a package that did an extensive survey of citizens that are 65 years and above. We have them in our database. We identified those among them that are without any support. That is the first time any government will so do in Nigeria. We engaged a consultant, who is a professor of gerontology in OAU, Ife. He developed the programme they used and without sentiment or parochialism, they got elderly citizens that lack support, we called them critically vulnerable people who are aged and have nobody to care for them.

If we did not discover them, nobody will know such people exist in Nigeria because they are waiting to die and lack everything. We identified 1,800 of such people statewide. The selection was purely based on their conditions – no primordial sentiment. We didn't do the selection anyway, Professor Ogunbameru of OAU administered everything, gave us the list and the addresses and we have been giving them N10, 000 monthly since 2012.
Still along that line, before now the only usage of ambulances here was to carry dead bodies, whereas it is not meant only to carry dead bodies but the conception of it is simply as a morgue vehicle. We have ambulance points everywhere in the state now working 24 hours.

We are tied with the farmers and there is no farmer that does not benefit one thing or the other from the government. We are almost concluding a process in which all farmers in the state would have credit cards with which they buy their farm inputs by their doorsteps. They will buy on guaranteed credit and will pay back with either their commodity or they sell and pay back.

Is your administration in good terms with four critical sections of the state which are the teachers, civil servants, okada riders and students whose votes count?

Most people don't even know how to assess relationships. They assess it from complains they get from dissatisfied sections of a critical lot. It cannot be! It is impossible for humans to exist without conflict. The Yoruba have an expression which says the “teeth and tongue fight but they are always still together”. A sociologist would not therefore base his assessment of any sector on when there is disagreement. Let us look at what we have done and then situate our relationship within it. Though some people, for whatever reason do not just like you.

I was telling someone that what should concern you are not those who are opposed to you, especially as it gets to the run-up to the election. When you are still far from it, you may be bothered so that you can make it up. But when no matter what you do, that is their attitude, you just stay put. There are not less than 20 parties seeking power, democratically. If you have 60 per cent that does not mean you don't have opposition. The 40 per cent that doesn't want to see you and may cut your head if you are careless not only vote against you. If you have 60 per cent, you are home and dry. In a struggle with other stakeholders, six out of ten is a good number.

What we are doing is to ensure that each of these critical sectors doesn't have any basis at all to be opposed to us. Let us start with the students. We met a condition when we came in that students were given a bursary of N3,000 and they would not even get the bursary on time and it was full of scam. They brought it to me to sign and I said why do I have to sign N3,000 for anybody? It is best if we don't give this bursary or we give it meaningfully. We raised the bursary to N10, 000 flat. For medical and law students, it is N20,000 while our indigenes in Law school get N100, 000.

The school authorities give the money to our students in their system. I don't see how such students will hate us in the majority, I can't see it. Whoever now hates us has something else against us not for the fact that we have not done the needful. The increase wasn't solicited; we did it out of our own understanding of the reality of what the students are going through.
There was clamour for reduction of school fees and we reduced the fees from a huge amount to something that is comparably affordable. Also, we have been investing in developing the institutions much more than any administration has done in the history of this state. Yes, we are having some challenges with the lecturers but it is not peculiar to us but you just have to bear it.

For Okada riders, they have no problem with us. They may want us to do things for them as we have done to some other groups, but it not as if they said compared to others, these are the problems. The roads here are appreciated even by those who trek on them. Has any government succeeded in constructing 200 kilometres of road in all nooks and crannies of the state? There is no part of this state that we have not construct a new road and it is not just any road but roads with concrete drainage, with stone base and tick asphaltic cover.

When I get to campaign grounds, I say our roads have tribal marks. We now have special roads which when we complete some of them, they will be tourism attraction on their own. The road we are building in Gbogan, people will be coming to look at it because it is not an ordinary road. It is a road that took me time to conceive and design and we are taking our time to develop it.
So, when people talk about the cost of our roads, I just laugh because it is not good to be talking to people who don't know what they are saying. We have different types of roads. That road is going to be a reference point in road construction. We are changing the landscape and making the State of Osun a hub of everything that is good.

We also want to tell the world that the black man is a human being. I have two major objectives on earth. One is to help in the process of eliminating poverty because I hate poverty. I wasn't born poor but I feel bad to see people in destitution. Two is that I don't like how blacks are in the world today. As long as I live, I must be part of the process that will give the black man a good reckoning where they are because sadly, we are in the lowest part of non-civilisation. I have been everywhere in the world except the continent of Australia and everywhere in the world, the most depressing portions of it are inhabited by blacks. These are the two issues that motivate me.

Before our advent, the civil servants never knew that salary could be paid before the end of the month. For seven and a half years, salaries were never paid here before the end of the month. But from the time I assumed office, we changed that. Before the year ended, when I assumed office, I paid 10 per cent of their basic as 13th month salary and paid December salary before the end of the year, the civil servants were dazed. Since that day up until December 2013, I pay salary on or before the 25th of every month.
But as from January 2014, we ran into trouble which we explained to everybody six months before then. In July 2013, the federal government began a squeeze that they themselves know that nobody believed them. They said 400,000 barrel of crude oil is being stolen every day. We didn't know problem was coming. Instead of collecting N4.6 billion, they gave this government N2.6 billion, 40 per cent slashed.

We thought it will be temporary because after that month, they said the stolen crude has reduced to 20,000 barrel per day. When the oil being lost reduced, would you still expect a 40 per cent cut? From that July to now, the maximum allocation this state has ever received is N3.2 billion, which was in November 2013. I am not making up anything; I’m simply saying the truth.
Now ask me how was I able to pay up until December 2013? My people are called ‘Osomalo’ - they are very deft in the management of money and I took this from them. I had been saving through the Omoluabi Conservation Fund in which 10 per cent of all allocations must just go and rest, so I had money in and this was a buildup of money that we used to augment payment of salaries till the over N5billion was finished.

Political Will To Implement Confab Outcome Will Make A Difference, Says Adediji

BODE Adediji, a former President of Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers(NIESV), is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bode Adediji Partnership- a frontline property consultant company in Nigeria. Adediji spoke with LAOLU ADEYEMI on the ongoing National Conference and why Gov. Rauf Aregbesola deserves second term in office. 

  Do you think that the ongoing national conference can come out with resolutions that would solve Nigeria’s problems?

  FROM all the conferences I have attended in the past, the import of it all to me is that a smaller, but strong centre, is preferable than an ominous centre that is distant from the constituents. However, the mechanics of such an emerging regional devolution of power will still have to be articulated and crafted in such a way that will not undertake any adventure that will specifically lead to the disintegration of this potentially greatest country in Africa. It is good to dialogue, and I look forward to see a good and robust outcome from the gathering. But what is important is the political will to implement whatever the outcome is at the end of the day.

  Under a democratic system, dialogue is always the best option to resolve challenges. So, I think we have mature people who have the interest of the nation at heart to discuss at the confab. Let us wait and see where it will lead us.

  Is the NIESV well represented at the Confab?

  I am no longer the president of my institution. But I doubt if the people behind the implementation of this confab have reached out to all necessary and appropriate quarters that should participate in the conference.

 Should we really go into another election with the much criticised 1999 Constitution?

My answer is an emphatic no. Next year election is coming; a lot can still be done. Having in mind that this is a great country that must not be allowed to waste either by way of disintegration or perpetual retrogression, we must not go there with the aim of playing game. We must all go with oneness of mind, having in mind that we are not where we ought to be, but we cannot afford to throw away the baby with the bath water.

Looking at the governors on the platform of the APC in the

Southwest, will you say they have performed?

The leadership of the APC in the Southwest is a respite to the general atmosphere of retrogression that we have witnessed over the past decades. However, we still must know that they have not been found wanting.

What is your assessment of his administration Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State?

 With what he has done so far and with the public perception of his energies, when he clinches thesecond term tenure, he can only improve on the marvelous job he has been doing in his first tenure in office.

  I will not limit myself to assessing Aregbesola, or any governor in this country, on the basis of my area of specialisation. Every aspect of life, including economy and politics, affects every Nigerians. The summary of my assessment of Aregbesola is that he has performed beyond anybody’s imagination. During his short period, he has been in the saddle of authority. 

 I was born in Osun, and grew up there and schooled there up to my university level. The sector of development and awareness that has been ushered in by this current regime has been unprecedented. But I must add a rider that every regime that had governed Osun must have done its best within the limit of knowledge, capacity and available resources. But in fairness, whether in the area of social mobilisation, education, infrastructure and others, the incumbent government has performed very well.

But his educational policy has been causing religious uproar. Is that not a minus? 

I will not dabble ordinarily into any religious matter. What I will like every Nigerian to know is that once you have a revolutionary policy being put in place in any state or nation, there will be some fallout of either unintended action or perception. It is then left for all the stakeholders to sit down and dissect what these perceptions may be and find a mutually agreed solution. As far as I am concerned, unless there is a revolutionary policy change in our educational landscape, Nigeria will not grow; Osun State will not grow. So, if a particular government comes on board to bring a revolutionary change in the educational landscape, whatever might be the unintended fallout, we should apply pragmatism, love, maturity and political unity to resolve the fallout. I don’t think any state in the whole Western region should be a state under which religious reasons should be pursued over development. I urge all the stakeholders to at this time sheath their swords and find a common ground to resolve whatever differences might have rising as a result of the new educational policy in Osun State.

In your assessment, does Aregbesola have a chance of winning second term?

If performance is the basis upon which a government is elected to an office, then certainly Aregbesola deserves to be returned to the office. If, however, under some sentiments, some parties have come up with schemes to get the office, then it is left for the citizens of Osun to sit down, look at the past, assess the present and think of their future.

So you will want Aregbesola to come back?

Yes. I want him to come back based on performance.

 Can he do more, particular now that he is being perceived as religious fanatics?

I will answer that question from the perspective of a farmer, who has performed his duty in planting some trees when the tree germinate, they create nomenclature that he cannot consume more than what we are doing now. I will only urge people to vote in for the second term and that is the only way he could reciprocate is to double his efforts on what he did during the first tenure in the second tenure.

Agriculture is the most effective vehicle for poverty eradication –Daisi

Chief Oluwole Daisi Aina, is the chairman, governing board of National Roots Crop Research Institute. He is a man of many parts but one of the most prominent aspect of him is his passion for agriculture, which has seen him work and invested in that sector. In this interview with Senior Correspondent, Hazeez Balogun, he spoke on several issues of national importance and the revolution currently taking place in the agricultural sector and declared that the sector is the most effective vehicle for poverty eradication

You shut down Regent Printing and Publishing; what led to the decision to close it down?

When I started printing in 1994, from the experience I gathered from other people, and from my understanding of the business, I told myself that by the time I am 60 years, I do not want to do printing again because printing takes all your time and  it is very stressful. We built the printing business from scratch with an investment of less than N300,000 in 1994 to the enviable level that it reached.  I put all my life into it, re-investing into the business the profit we were making because I was keen on building an enduring structure.

Other reasons include the fact that my children were not really interested in pursuing printing as a career. My father was a teacher and he never compelled me to be a teacher even though he ended up sending me to ateacher training school but I changed my cause of life and destiny. Another factor is that though, we invested in manpower development as a company, it is sad that just like every other Nigerian employer’s experience, an average Nigerian employee is in a hurry; dedication and loyalty is absent, they want to be like you over night without wanting to pass through the process. I can tell you that by the grace of God, The Regent Printing and Publishing Limited contributed immensely to the printing industry in Nigeria within the time of its existence. I am glad today to see how far the industry has grown and is still growing.

The third reason we decided to leave the business was on the basis of moral and ethical beliefs. At some point, it became difficult to marry the corrupt business environment with my faith.

So in other words, one of the major reasons why you quit is because of the level of corruption in the public sector.

Oh sure. That was one of the major reasons why I had to quit so early. I couldn’t stand the level of corruption in the system and there was no other way because it is the same thing everywhere you go. If you refuse to work according to their dictates, they will stop giving you jobs.

Don’t you think what happened to you is a classic example of how genuine businesses and businessmen are forced out of business in Nigeria because of corruption?

I agree with you. You are not far from the truth. I want to tell you today that from my experience and from what I have gone through, it is very difficult for you to succeed in business today, particularly when you are doing public sector business, without soiling your hand. I am not saying it is impossible, but it is sincerely difficult. So the choice is yours.

You are a politician, and your party is the ruling party in the country, what do you think can be done to correct this culture of corruption?

Well, I don’t need to be a politician before I can suggest what can be done to tackle corruption but I tell you what, sincerely from experience, and from my looking at the system, our values have been perverted and completely eroded and until we reinstate our values, the issue of corruption will not go away.

I am saying this because people no longer have the fear of God in their heart; most of us are very religious but empty spiritually. People no longer look at what you can offer in terms of your professionalism, in terms of the quality of what you can do. It is now how much you can give that is of value and the craze for material needs has again made the daily lives of people miserable. Majority of our people are in a mad rush for material things and the unfortunate thing is that we are busy running after what we don’t need. So the only way you can correct these things is to begin to correct the value system of Nigerians and particularly our youths that are coming up. We need to correct their values, let them know that dignity pays, let them know that integrity pays. They need reorientation right from primary school.

When I was in primary school we used to have a course called ‘civic responsibility’. We were taught all about what the country would do for you and what you can do for the country. Today it is no longer there; religious studies are no longer a priority in schools. Our mentality is totally bankrupt and a nation that is morally bankrupt cannot grow! We need to go back to God and begin to redirect our lives and our future to the path of righteousness.

If you look at the children of Israel, when they came out of bondage in Egypt, God told them if they deviate from His ways, they would suffer and that was what happened but each time they repented and returned to Him, their story changed. Nigeria must come back to God and sincerely too. We must really come back to God!

You sound like a religious man, how do you marry religion, politics and business?

It is very easy; I am not very religious, rather I am spiritual and I fear God. We are religious in this country but we are empty when it comes to spirituality. What I want to tell you is that it is very easy to combine them. The way to go about it is to put your trust in God, try to purge yourself of covetousness and be satisfied with what God has given you. If you can marry these virtues to your life, it will be very easy for you to survive because I can tell you that the basic needs of any human being are food, shelter and good health and you don’t need to steal to get all these things. You don’t need to soil your hands to get all these things or belong to any secret society.

The bible tells us in Philippians 4 verse 19 that “my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in his glory”. God is so rich that He said He will supply all your needs.  So if everybody can focus on his needs, I think there will be abundant resources to cater for everybody in this nation; there will be no reason for poverty or begging.

Can you throw more light on your philanthropic activities?

I don’t like beating my drum but I know God has helped me tremendously to touch the lives of youths around me. First of all, in the Regent Printing and Publishing, we used to have a programme called Graduate Apprentice Scheme, and I know that from this organisation, before we finally close down in 2011, we were able to train well over 150 young men and women in the printing industry. We empowered them; we taught them how to fish rather than giving them fish to eat and this was a huge budget on the part of my company without any government support. Also in my community today, our foundation has about 40 students that we are sending to various tertiary institutions of higher learning in this country; majority of these students are people I don’t know. As a community person, I know that I have done so much in my community with the provision of water and other things. My community is building a higher institution now, a college of technology and God has used us to be part of that project. We have spent so much on that college and as we speak, the college is being accredited by the National Board of Technical Education. It has been a privilege to do all these and more because if I didn’t, someone else will.

What is the motivation? Is it politics or just your area of interest, something you believe God wants you to do?

That is what God wants me to do and nobody can stop me! I don’t have any political ambition. In fact, people have called me several times to come and be this or contest for that but I said I am not interested. It is just a call and I believe I am keying into what God wants me to do. The truth is that I grew up deprived, I grew up without being given the chance to survive in life; so I’m giving back to the society that has brought me to the level I am today.

Let’s know your educational and business background

I have a first degree in economics from the University of Ibadan also a graduate of Haggai Leadership Training Institute, Maui, USA. I hold a masters and PhD degrees in Christian leadership.  I have worked all my life in the private sector after starting my career with NNPC/PPMC in Kano as a youth corper. Thereafter, I went to the agricultural and beverages industries as a salesman and rose to the position of a marketing manager before I went into full time private business in 1989. Actually, I started a company in 1984 and ran it on part time basis until I left paid employment fully in 1989 and today I sit atop a modest organisation called The Regent Group as chairman and CEO.

You also have a large farm in Osun State, why did you decide to set it up?

Well, like I told you, I have been involved in agriculture for a long time. Before now, I used to produce yoghurt from cattle milk in Kaduna and up till now, I still have more than 150 herds of cattle on my farm. I had worked before in Niger First Integrated Farms, Kaduna as the marketing manager and that was one of the biggest integrated farms in this nation. It was owned by retired General Wushishi. My interest in agriculture has been from childhood and I love planting things around me and again, I have a farm in my village where I employed people and we are into palm tree cultivation and cassava. That’s what we do.

How profitable has that been?

Though farming has not been a very profitable venture, I can tell you that with the present transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, the face of farming is changing.

You were recently appointed the chairman of National Roots Crop Research Institute, will you say your involvement in agriculture was noticed and that is what got you the job?

I will like to attribute my appointment to the will of God and at the same time thank the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. I must equally add here that I don’t know what informed his choice but I believe that he was led to choose the right person; the right peg for the right hole. I will say I don’t know his thinking, I don’t know the basis or what criteria were used because I am not the biggest cassava farmer in Nigeria. So it is not because of what I am doing but I believe that God works in his own ways; I believe that God has already ordained it that I will be in this sector because of my interest and passion for the sector. The truth is that I have a big passion for agriculture and there is no doubt about that.

You have been saddled with that responsibility, how do you hope to tackle the problems we have in that sector and get people to embrace agriculture once again?

Well, it is sad that our nation has changed from a producer of agricultural and exporter of agricultural produce to a net importer of it. Before the 1970’s, we were exporters of cocoa, groundnut, palm oil but today we are zero in these areas. Why, because we have made agriculture unattractive but I want to commend this present administration; in all fairness, they have done so much on agriculture particularly because of the zeal and dedication of our present Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Adesina Akinwumi; I salute him for the good things he is doing and that is one of the things that keep impressing me about President Jonathan; he has the right person in that area. I can only build on that through the institute that I head as a board chairman; I can only build on whatever they are doing.

What they are doing currently is good and they are taking it step by step because agriculture is supposed to be a value chain; it is not something you concentrate on just one aspect, it goes beyond planting. Agric involves even research, new technology, products, and new forms of farming and so on. Agriculture is a big business and not a social service. So, what the government is currently doing, which I am aware of, is that they are revolutionising the sector. For instance, the government is involved in land clearing now for farmers which is very good; the government has started making provision for credit facilities to farmers and eradicated racketeering in fertilizer procurement; that is a big breakthrough. Before now, our farmers either don’t get the fertilizers or when they get, it is adulterated, but today, farmers get fertilizers and so many other things. This government is looking at making the private sector very effective in agriculture and I believe over the next few years, we will begin to see the result of what is been done in the sector.

Let me make a prediction; by the time everybody begin to see the returns on the investment in agriculture, people will run back to it. Agriculture is the major and the only effective form of poverty eradication anywhere in the world. When you neglect agriculture, you cannot eradicate poverty because the moment a man can feed, he is not in poverty, and there is always a guaranteed market. I can tell you that the government has done so well by engaging so many private sector organisations, big users, the end users of agricultural products to guarantee market, and so once the market is guaranteed, more farmers will go and plant more. If I plant this season, and I am able to sell off all my produce, definitely next year, I am going to increase my produce.

Nigeria is the biggest, the number one country that produces cassava and yam tuber in the whole world; we are a big player in ginger, cocoyam and that is part of the mandate of my institute and of course, I am happy to be there! I am right in my zone!

What are your agenda?

To start with, my agenda cannot be outside the agenda of the agricultural transformation of the Federal Government; all I am going to do is to see how I can use my passion, experience and network to ensure the effective achievement of the goal assigned by Mr. President. That is all I can do and remember; I am not the chief executive of the institute, I am just heading the board to monitor, evaluate, and guide the policy making process of the institute; that is my job! So the effective execution, the day-to-day running of the institution is in the hand of the chief executive

How did you get involved in politics?

I have been involved in the politics of my community because the only way a community can be empowered and can be integrated to the scheme of things is to belong politically. What I have done so far is to start from my community as a community leader and of course I know that most of the things I say are respected and they know whatever I do or say is selfless. I am currently the Oluomo of Iresiland, which was an honour in recognition of my service to my people. I am currently the Chairman of Iresi Zenith, which is a body of Iresi elite for the purpose of providing direction and advice to the Iresi Progressive Union.   I am not interested in seeking for an elective position. I will never do it, but if I am called to serve in any capacity, I would freely give my service within the limit of my own terms and conscience; I will do it to the best of my ability.

You are a member of PDP and also from Osun State where an APC governor is in charge, how will you evaluate or access the performance of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola so far?

Political differences apart, I think Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has done well within the period he has ruled Osun State. What is important to me is to get the job done and not who does or where he comes from. Of course, it will be my joy for my party to rule my state and I will work for it such that in 2014, my party will rule Osun State and other states in the South West. Remember that the governorship election in Osun and Ekiti states are critical to the fortune of my party in the South West.

Looking at 2015, do you think President Jonathan should contest?

President Jonathan is the one that can answer that question not me. Let me tell you, President Jonathan is a citizen of this country, he has the constitutional right to contest an election in 2015 and nobody can stop him except the constitution prescribes otherwise.

But assuming the President seeks your advice, what will you say to him?

You said if he seeks my advice, that advice should be given to him in privacy. If he seeks my advice, I will give him that advice in privacy and not in public.

Basiru: Aregbesola’s Achievements Guaranty His Re-election

Basiru: Aregbesola’s Achievements Guaranty His Re-election

Interview

Osun State Commissioner for Regional Integration, Hon. Ajibola Basiru, in an interview with Yinka Kolawole, insists Governor Rauf Aregbesola has outperformed his predecessor and that gives him an edge in the August governorship election in the state. Excerpts:

How prepared are you for the governorship election in August?
We are very prepared for it. We were prepared for it from November 26, 2010. We began to think about the next four years and this is why from that day, Ogbeni Aregbesola hit the ground running and he had run very splendidly to the conviction of everybody in Osun.

What is your impression about the APC registration in the state?
It was marvellous. People came out in their thousands and even on the last day, we could not register all the people.

Do you think the achievements of Governor Aregbesola are enough to make people vote for him again?
If you have done well in the class and you reached the level where you have to be promoted, they will promote you; they won't retain you in that same class. Aregbesola will earn the second term not because he is the governor but because he has actually performed as the servant of the people.

When the current governor took over, the state was on the edge of bankruptcy. Education had not only collapsed; the infrastructure in most schools and colleges were decayed. Massive environmental degradation was already causing deaths in numbers throughout the state. The governor declared a 90 day state of environmental emergency immediately he came to power. Road infrastructure was in a parlous state, and the situation in Osogbo especially was totally disgraceful. Youth unemployment at that time was in serious crisis, which threatened peace and stability. In summary, Osun was in meltdown when Aregbesola assumed office in November 2010.

How did it happen?
Before Aregbesola became governor, Osun was at the bottom of the scale of performance at both internal and external examinations. But today the state is amongst the first eleven across the federation, just within 38 months! How did he do it? He restructured, refocused and massively funded the institutions, employing 54.8 per cent more teachers than he inherited.

In all, Aregbesola employed 10,407 new teachers to all categories of schools. Currently, there are 12,715 teachers in primary schools and 7,848 teachers in secondary schools. You also need to understand the implication of the following financial investment in education that Ogbeni has made. Every year, his government pays ₦16.8 billon for salaries and pensions of primary school teachers, and ₦10.3 billion is similarly spent on secondary schools. As incentives for parents and students alike, ₦3.6 billion is spent yearly to feed students in primaries one to four with very rich meal a day.

Besides, ₦900 million was used to provide all students in the state new uniforms. To ensure that there was adequate furniture for students and teachers, Aregbesola’s government has also committed ₦2.5 billion naira. No state owned school in Osun had instructional materials when Aregbesola assumed office in 2010. But since then, he has spent ₦503 million providing the schools with instructional materials. Now compare this: during PDP’s administration that ran for over seven years, they spent ₦122 million on grants to schools but within three years, Aregbesola has spent ₦856 million on the same item (grants to schools).
Added to this is the massive difference in the payment of examination (WAEC) fees. Oyinlola’s PDP government in seven years paid ₦38 million while Ogbeni’s government paid as much as ₦400 million.

One of the outstanding signatures of the Aregbesola achievements on revolutionising education in the state is the electronic tablet for learning (Opon Imo), which envious people have criticised but the world has acknowledged as a model.
So far, on this learning aid the government has spent ₦1.2 billion. And on capital projects, involving the construction of 13 brand new elementary schools, 14 middle schools and 12 high schools (all brand new), Aregbesola’s government has spent ₦14.4 billion; while the sum of ₦1.6 billion has been spent on renovating old structures.

What about other areas?
In the area of road infrastructure, though some so-called engineers brandishing spurious PhD qualifications have been shouting hoarse that Aregbesola has not commissioned a single project since he assumed office in 2010, let it be stated clearly that Aregbesola, unlike some governors in the past, does not take pleasure in commissioning projects which fall within the purview of routine government functions.

But for the information of the public and those so-called engineers who look but don’t behold, since Aregbesola became governor, we have completed more than 3,100 kilometers of roads across the 30 local governments, including Modakeke. There is limited space to name all the roads here, but Osun challenges any doubting Thomas to come over and see things for themselves. What has been done so far on road projects is not only astonishing, considering the limited resources of the state; it is also unprecedented since the state was created.
We should not forget that the more queer elements demonise Aregbesola, the more accolades he gets from the world and institutions of superior assessment abilities. They know better than demonisers of Aregbesola could ever fathom. They saw a model in his OYES programme that so far has taken 40,000 youths off the streets and the unemployment market. Even the British Parliament invited Aregbesola to share with the world his approach to feeding thousands of children in primary schools across the state. And those who know its value were moved to give an award to Ogbeni for his Opon Imo.

What went wrong with the reclassification of schools?
There is nothing wrong with the reclassification. It is some people who tried to influence certain things. Whatever you have seen, either protest or something else cannot be regarded as a crisis; is not a crisis. Reclassification in the first instance is a policy that is aimed at actually transforming our students to first class people in the world. There is nothing in the reclassification that has anything to do with religion. The results of the reclassification will come up gradually and then people will know that the policy is in tandem with the best practices in the world.

The opposition said Governor Aregbesola has taken too much loans and fears that he might be unable to sustain the repayment?
Any intelligent and literate mind will know that no bank, even if the Managing Director is your father, will give a loan you do not have the capacity to repay. It is other people’s money for God’s sake.  When a bank gives loan to a state government, it looks at its income which largely is based on what you take from federation account.

Let’s take the maximum to calculate:  In the last three years, the Osun State income has not gone beyond ₦5 billion a month. To any bank, you have a term of four years. So five times 12 months multiplied by four years, that is ₦240 billion. Will a bank give you all that? No! Won’t you pay workers? Won’t you run government? And since when did taking a loan become a bedroom arrangement? Won’t the Central Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance and or Debt Management Office know about it? Those brandishing these outrageous figures are very lazy.​

The election is less than seven months, what do you think could be the advantage for returning Governor Aregbesola for a second term in Office?
As far as the government of Aregbesola is concern, we have kept our promise to the people of the state by ensuring that we deliver on our campaign promises. In terms of rural electrification, we have also provided rural electrification to more than 136 communities in the state. In terms of our commitment in the area of agriculture through our O’Reap programme, we have provided access road under our rural access and mobility programme to virtually all rural communities in the state in order to have access to take out their farm produce to the market.
In the area of health, we not only provide free medical care, we provide free drugs, immunisation programme; we are presently rehabilitating nine general hospitals in the state. Tablet of Knowledge (Opon-Imo) is to regularise teaching and is recognised as one of the best in the world. We have engaged in serious reconstruction of our basic education infrastructure. As I’m speaking, more than 20 of new modern schools have been completed across the state.

Your mandate, which is regional integration, is to propel political development, how far have you gone on this regional integration and would it assist in the second coming of Aregbesola?
The idea of regional integration is not political, it is for economy, social welfare and social economy of our people and in this regards, it has helped us in the region. So if you go to Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti come to Osun, Lagos you will see that we are developing infrastructure and developing the economy as if it is the same government that is in those places and when you deliver on this very important mandate of ensuring that our societies develop, there is no doubt that it would help you get the mandate of the people.

Senator Omisore has said he would set aside all Aregbesola’s policies and programmes if elected governor; do you think he stands a chance?
He has said it all. He said if elected and which I do not pray for. The truth is that Omisore can never get elected in Osun State again and so he will not be in position to dismantle Aregbesola’s policies. But assuming he has the opportunity to dismantle it, the question is that what does he want to dismantle?

Have you any message for the people in view of the governorship election in August?
They should just remain committed and wait for the best party that will be based on mass welfare and that is our party, APC. That they should resist rigging because that was the opposition stand and God will not allow them to succeed.

Ekiti, Osun guber polls, litmus tests for 2015 –Elebute

Public affairs analyst and chairman, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Lagos Mainland Province, Dr. Moses Tunde Elebute, in this interview with PRODUCTION EDITOR Ejikeme Omenazu speaks on what should be major issues at the National Conference and the importance of celebrating Nigeria’s Centenary. Elebute also discusses the expectations from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections as well as the recent suspension of the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Excerpts… 

As the National Confab took off last Thursday and Friday, what is your view on the ‘No go areas’ decreed by the president?

Dr. Moses Tunde Elebute

The ‘No go area’ is on the unity of Nigeria. The president does not want the nation to be broken under his presidency. I believe that Nigeria should remain one. If for nothing, the ‘No go area’ will keep the nation together. It is a welcome decision. Otherwise, I would have wanted a situation theethnic groups will sit down together, take a decision on whether they will live together. I believe Nigeria should remain one and we settle our differences, work out ways we can live together in harmony and love.

What is your view on the large number of people going to the National Conference through the appointment of the president?

I believe that was wrong. That he is president does not make him the most intelligent person in the nation. While I agree that he should be given someslots, it should not have been too many. The people he nominated can provide stability and unity during the conference. But if they are larger than the other groups, it will no longer be free for people to speak their mind. Most of their opinions will be what the president wants.

What do you think should be the major issues for discussion at the conference?

It has been my view that the issue of indigeneship should be on the agenda. We are Nigerians. Nigerians should have the right to live anywhere they like in the nation, acquire properties, practice the religions they choose, have the right to vote and be voted for where they live. In USA, we have Nigerians who are Mayors. Even naturalised Nigerians should be allowed to vote and be voted for during elections. The situation whereby people are driven away to their states of origin, wrongly termed as deportation, should not arise. They should also be careful in deciding on resource control. They should discuss what will unite the country and encourage Nigerians to be patriotic and contribute in any part they live without fear that one day their properties will be confiscated, or they are asked to leave. They should also discuss the essence of leadership, who should be our leader? We need to know who should be allowed to lead, the process of selecting leaders. They should also discuss the issue of corruption and how corruption will be reduced. They should also discuss the wages of public officers and how our politics will be an avenue of service. They should also discuss how people in government will not be stealing money and how we can develop our export.

President Jonathan recently said that the centenary celebration is more important that Democracy Day. Do you agree with him?

We should celebrate the centenary. It is in order. Things are not as bad as people think. We will benefit from it one way or the other. We have gained from being together as a nation. Majority of people do not worry where everyone comes from. People have been living together in parts of the country. It is our leaders that are fanning the ambers of disunity.  Average Nigerians are not tired of living together. Leaders should watch what they say and do. We should also celebrate the Democracy Day Both the Centenary and May 29 Democracy Day are important to the nation, even as the October 1 Independence anniversary is equally important.

Some people feel that the fund being spent on the centenary celebration is a waste. Do you agree with them?

Wherever human beings are, do not expect perfection. I do not consider structure, establishment of structures and buildings of markets as waste. Look at Festac Town in Lagos and other things built by the government during the FESTAC 77. They are still useful till today. Through the Centenary, businesses will be created for people and a lot of people will be gainfully engaged.

Ekiti and Osun states will hold their governorship elections this year. What do you think INEC should do to avoid a repeat of Anambra State experience?

The INEC should learn from mistakes of the past. They should look at the areas they did well and improve upon them. Where they made mistakes, they should correct themselves. They should do what is called SWOT Analysis. By SWOT we mean S for Strengths, W for Weakness, O for Opportunity, T for Threats. They should look at the dangers and prepare to mitigate all problems. They should prepare their staff, materials required far earlier than what they did during the Anambra election. The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and their teams in the states, Ekiti and Osun, should familiarise themselves with the terrains in the states and know how and when materials should leave their stores and the particular areas they are meant for. The question of materials not available should not be there. If they mess up in these elections this year, people will doubt their ability in conducting free and fair election in 2015. They should make elections the best so far.

What is your view on the recent suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi?

The suspension of Sanusi is a step in the right direction. It is a step that should have come earlier. But it is better to be late than never. If not for the time the president did it, many people would have agreed with him. But now, it seems he is being punished for revealing the corruption in NNPC. There is no doubt that he made some achievements. He is bold and can speak his mind. Nigerians benefited from his tenure. However, there are some actions he took and decisions he made that did not go down well with Nigerians. And he embarrassed the government on several occasions. This is nit the time that the country should be embarrassed when we are expecting investors to come to Nigeria. There were some expenditure he made that seemed questionable. His banking reforms made many people jobless. Reforms are good, but his efforts were not the best. He played to the gallery by the removal of some bank owners and put them in jail. His donation of money on religious reasons was questionable. No one would have questioned him if he had donated to universities for researches in areas of banking and finance, his core area.

What do you mean that the donations he made were questionable?

The donations he made because of Boko Haram were questionable. He could have sponsored and organised trainings for bankers. He should have spent money within his area of jurisdiction. One would advise government to be careful when appointing people. They should not appoint religious fanatics to positions because they will be bias doe to their lopsided views of the society.  We need fair minded people in every section of the country.

However, one has to express reservations over the nominee submitted to the Senate for confirmation as new CBN Governor. Why I have nothing against the persons he nominated as Sanusi’s successor and his deputy, one would have expected the president to nominate someone from South West. It has been a long time someone from the geo-political zone occupied that position. If he had appointed someone from South West, that would have helped to neutralise the allegations of marginalisation of the zone by the Jonathan administration.