Author: The Nation

Dr. Olusegun Osinkolu, is the Patron of Asiwaju BolaTinubu Vanguard. In this interview with Correspondent RASAQ IBRAHIM, he spoke on the prospects of the Tinubu-led government, controversy over the the election of principal officers for the 10th NASS among other national issues.

In a matter of days, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be inaugurated as the 7th democratically elected President. Do you have that confidence that he will deliver?

I am particularly happy today that even the most terrific and most consistent critics of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had always maintained that Nigerians should vote for people with good track records. Asiwaju remains the best among the presidential contenders in terms of good and enduring antecedents in the public service. As a governor in Lagos State, Tinubu turned around the economy by using the best brains available and across all the tribes of Nigeria to achieve this. Firstly, he built the internally generated revenue from the paltry sum of N600 million monthly to as high as N9 billion within a spate of eight years. It was during his time that LASTMA was created to ease traffic logjam in Lagos. He also established LAWMA to ensure cleanliness in Lagos by constantly packing the heaps of refuse and sewages that have made Lagos an epicentre of dirtiness before his assumption of office. It was during his time that the first public -private power generation project started through partnership of the Lagos State goverment with private investors for electricity project in Lagos, which makes many areas of Lagos to be disconnected from the national grid, so that there will be regular supply of power across the megacity.

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This particular policy saw Tinubu signing various Memoranda of Understanding abroad so that industrial development policy of Lagos can be achieved. Similar effort was made in the rail sector. It was during his time an MoU was signed with a Chinese company for the building of a light rail in Lagos and the project has commenced operation now. Asiwaju was the brain behind the BRT project to ease transport policy in Lagos, which Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola implemented and this is being studied by some states today. It was Tinubu that began a one-day governor policy for the best student in WAEC , a project that was meant to serve as role modeling in the society, and many other landmark projects he conceptualised and executed and the one he retained for his predecessors to execute for the benefit of Lagosians. Most visionary was the way he prepared an enduring Blueprint that serves as a guide for all governors in Lagos. It was the blueprint that guided his administration and those that came after him and we could all see the gradual level of development of that state compared to others in Nigeria. So, I have no doubt that Asiwaju will renew the hope of Nigerians in leadership within the next two years. Let Nigeria just give him two years to operate, you will see that change rising up for all Nigerians.

But some people claimed that other leaders before Asiwaju and the federal government developed Lagos. What is your take on this?

I found this fallacious. We were all regular visitors in Lagos before Asiwaju came on board. Nobody is underrating what the federal government did or leaders like Alhaji Lateef Jakande and others did to make Lagos develop, but that of Tinubu was phenomenal. The questions for those in this school of thought are; why was Lagos not leading in revenue before 1999 if truly it had been developed before Asiwaju’s era? Why was it not making billions of naira as IGR despite enormous economic potentials available to it? Why was Lagos not rated the fifth developed economy in Africa before Tinubu? Let us learn how to praise any leader that did well in this country. Don’t let us be doing things with hatred, so that we can have patriotic leaders to govern us. I am not saying this because am a member of APC or a BATIST, Tinubu remains the architect of modern Lagos. Former governor Babatunde Raji Fashola had at various times attested to this fact that Tinubu ease governance in Lagos. Today, Lagos is raking in between N40 and N42 billion monthly as IGR, this is not an easy task to achieve if not for deep thinking and proactive actions. Go and ask the governors of other states how difficult it is to increase their IGRs.

What is your message to National Assembly members- elect on the raging controversy over the election of principal officers for the 10th NASS?

My message is very simple and clear, they shouldn’t allow scramble for leadership positions to divide the party or derail governance at the executive level. Again and most importantly, our members-elect, I mean those elected on the platform of APC must respect the voice of the party and how it feels about zoning policy in this game. I found it so unfathomable that some Muslim members-elect were complaining that the Senate Presidency should be ceded to the North even when they knew that the President elect and his Vice, Alhaji Kashim Shettima are Muslims. I found it so funny that this could be coming up in a country that is religiously sensitive and volatile. We all knew how some opponents made spirited attempts to tag the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket as an Islamic agenda even when they knew it was for political expediency. Should any Muslim get the slot, then that will establish the fact that there was really an underground agenda to islamise Nigeria, so our incoming lawmakers must respect and support the choice of Senator Godswill Akpabio from the southsouth for the position. He is an experienced person, having been Governor and Minority Leader of the Senate. I am not saying that other contenders like Senator Orji Uzor Kalu are not fit for the position, but there will be only one Senate President at a time. After all, there are other strong positions like the Senate Leader that can go to the Southeast to pacify the aggrieved. I appeal to our people to be wary of their actions and support the party.

Some argued that the Southeast or North Central could have been best for the position. What is your reaction to this?

I disagree with this position. Under no guise should the Senate Presidency be ceded to the North. The Senate President was in the North throughout President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years in office, so it is just normal that the south should be allowed to enjoy such privilege. Under Buhari’s presidency, the Senate President was for the Northeast and Senate Leader for the Northwest until recently when it was moved to the North Central. If we are to maintain fairness, then the two positions must come to the South, so that the Southeast can be pacified with the Senate Leader; that is my view on this.

How do you react to the insinuation that the APC was only punishing the Southeast over its pattern of voting in 2023?

I don’t think so. This was an insinuation that was wrongly concocted to discredit the action taken by the party. The APC members had been raising dust over poor reward system in the party. It was on this basis that the party zoned the Speakership and Deputy Senate President to the Northwest because that was where the party had the highest number of votes in the last presidential election. This is to appreciate the party for its good showing in the area. Asiwaju as a way of thanking the North Central people picked his ADC from that zone while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation will also emerge from there. The Southwest and Northeast had already produced the President- elect and Vice President -elect. What then should go the Southsouth that gave APC over 720,000 votes across six states? Are they saying they should be sidelined? This is not good enough. They too must be compensated. For the APC to have got such a huge vote shows that our leaders there worked hard to earn that feat and they have to be rewarded like other zones.

Are you saying the Southeast too shouldn’t be compensated with any position?

No, sidelining them too is not also good. That was why I said earlier that the position of Senate leader can go to the Southeast to pacify the aggrieved. Don’t forget that the party had adopted Hon Benjamin Kalu from Abia State for the Deputy speakership position; this is also a powerful position in the House of Representatives. The APC will not sideline the southeast despite that the party had always been performing poorly in the area. We are even seeing some leaders of the zone already adopting Senator Akpabio, this showed that they believed the party will make them happy after the whole scenario.

Do you think the incoming administration can overcome the scourge of insecurity, unemployment and poor economy?

Absolutely yes. I have lived abroad for over two decades and I knew quite well that there is no nation without its challenges, what we need is good leadership to remove the barriers one after the other. Asiwaju inherited a highly insecured Lagos as a governor, but with technological innovations and local efforts, they were able to tame the dreaded crisis. It was during his time that CCTV Cameras were installed across Lagos and the Lagos neighbourhood security watch, comprising the locals, who understood the terrains was established to complement what the conventional security men were doing. You could all attest to the fact that Lagos is one of the most secured states in Nigeria today, with little or minimal incidences of crime. It was an attempt to solve the problems of unemployment that his administration established scores of agencies to absolve the people into the system: LAWMA, LASEPA, LASTMA ,LSWRC , LSPDA among others. If you read his renewed hope manifesto, you will see how he promised to tackle insecurity via employment generation, so that our restive youths can be engaged. He also promised to key into and make remarkable investments in technology to fight the insurgency, kidnapping and banditry that we are facing. He knew that our military and paramilitary are overstretched and poorly motivated. He promised to recruit good numbers of military and paramilitary personnel into the system while also paying them handsomely, so that they can give their best to the service of the nation. Even when he has not been sworn-in, Asiwaju has been meeting with investors in Europe and other African nations to invest in Nigeria. Virtually all great investors in Nigeria are his friends, who supported him while in Lagos as a governor. I see nothing difficult if we can have a leadership that is committed and who is ready to forge alliances with the right people and groups and make personal sacrifices to develop our dear country.

How would you describe the 200 days of Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s government in Ekiti?

It has been remarkable. In fact , those of us who are members of APC are really happy to associate with achievements he has made so far. We are happy about how the governor has been connecting with the people because governance is about the people and not individual. We have seen how he has been spending personal money running into millions to help the sick, pay tuition fees of poor students and helping others in need. I am also happy about the aggressive road infrastructure and dredging of flood-prone areas in Ado and Ikere Ekiti to prevent loss of lives. I am happy about prompt payment of salaries, pensions and workers’ deductions without delay. His response to payment of gratuities is interesting and putting smile on the faces of our retirees. The most interesting is the 1300 persons he employed as primary school teachers. To me, this is his best achievement so far. He has also approved the recruitment of another 600 teachers into the secondary school by the Ekiti State Tea hing Service Commission. Looking at all these and more, his administration is really keeping our hope alive that better days are coming for us in Ekiti.