The administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola has been in the saddle in Osun State for two years, in this interview with DAPO THOMAS in Osogbo, the governor discusses the accomplishments of his administration, South West regional integration, his relationship with his predecessor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and sundry national issues.
Can you do a reflection of your activities within this period and confess if you are satisfied with the progress made so far.
Let me start by saying that we have rescued the state from financial insolvency, we have created awareness, first for the state and citizenry and a new image for the state through a phenomenal rebranding. The rebranding of the state is not just in giving the state a new image, a new appearance, new symbols, but we reinvigorated the history, the culture of the people to rekindle a value system that was almost extinct. The combination of all of these inspired the populace to a height that was never expected. Alongside with that, we initiated a youth empowerment scheme that was unparalleled. Yes, naysayers and some critics pooh-poohed our efforts at youth empowerment engagement but observers of social affairs will no doubt agree that the engagement in itself is commendable not only in terms of preventing social disorderliness and vices, it equally redirects the energy of the youth to social and community work, which are not only desirable but are very much necessary. Nobody will deny the fact that hitherto the entire environment was filthy, depressing and unattractive. With the engagement of the “O Yes” Cadets and our sanitation exercise, environmental cleanliness, vegetation control by the roadside, we now have a cleaner society, hygienic environment and beautiful state. Those are the fall outs of the fact that these youth engaged in such essential community and social services, would have been indolent had they not been so engaged.
So, we must situate all of these in the overall assessment of our intervention. From there, we moved to other critical areas. As we are doing the rebranding, the rescue from insolvency, the engagement of the youth, we launched an ambitious and massive food production programme. As I am talking to you the capacity of our people to engage in food production, that is, farming has been multiplied in several folds. We initiated collaboration with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) for free freight of agricultural produce and commodities from Osun to Lagos and free freight of manufactured products from Lagos to Osun. During festivals, our citizens or friends, or residents are freely transported from Lagos to Osun and vice versa. That initiative was intended to spur and promote agricultural development or food security essentially. As our commitment to promoting functional education, we are redeveloping basic infrastructure all over our schools. We had a summit on education which led to the following agenda: (1) Basic infrastructure development. The school buildings are to be redeveloped completely. We have started that and the building programme. (2) We are of the view that a well nourished child is more prepared for serious learning than a malnourished child. So, for students in primaries one to four, we provide free meal properly prepared by certified and well-trained food vendors and the meal itself is very rich in mental building, physical development nutrients. I know that they are given carbohydrates, protein in fish and chicken and meat and fruits. So, the children are properly fed for good development of their body, mind and brain so as to be good adults from that formative age. They develop the capacity to learn and utilise the knowledge so acquired as adults when they get to that stage in life.
Road infrastructure is being pursued at a rate that is not common. Besides, we have a programme for urban renewal in virtually all the ancient towns. For your information, this state has the highest number of towns with over a thousand year history. So, all such ancient towns of the Yoruba history are already identified for renewal. The process is almost being concluded in terms of the consultancy for the renewal. We are set to upgrade one kilometre radius of each of the town centres to a standard modern town that would be the pride of all Yoruba and even the black race. It will be expensive but we are undaunted. We are almost concluding the general assessment of that.
On the issue of water, I read of a report involving the previous administration, I mean the Oyinlola government, where chemicals were bought in advance of 10 years and yet you are saying that some areas never had water for up to 50 years. What is the true situation?
By my own style and approach, I will rather not comment on the weaknesses and inadequacies of the immediate past administration. A Commission of Inquiry has been set up to review such misdemeanour. So, I will rather give the commission the opportunity to expose the atrocities committed by that administration than for me to spend my time over flogging a horse that is, though dead, very scandalous. Let us leave it like that. All I know is that the capacity of our water works has just been raised from what you can call zero level to about 50%. And work is on-going to have it to attain the full capacity for water production. What you have just said is true, that payments were made for 10 year-supply of chemicals in advance but the truth is that both the company that was so paid and those who awarded such ridiculous contracts never intended for the chemicals to be supplied. In the first instance, there was no functional water works to take delivery of such chemicals and the chemicals were never supplied up till now. It is a messy and quite disturbing scenario.
In health, we are making efforts as well to meet the challenge of achieving our goals. Our security is very important. For the first time in Osun State, we have a special squad dedicated to fighting crime by prevention and actual engagement of criminals. We have not reached the target we are anticipating but we have some APC’s (Armoured Personnel Carrier) to engage them. We don’t pray we have high scale criminal activities but in case, we don’t wait till when you are surprised by hardened criminals. As part of our efforts to prevent crimes, we have procured some APC’s as well as several patrol vans to prevent criminal disturbance of the security and stability of our state. Those are the things I can run through for now.
The second aspect of your question on whether I am satisfied or not; the truth is that when you compare what we have done with what was the practice in this part of the country and our region, I want to say things are really looking up. But in my own perception, we are still very far away from the target we have given ourselves even though we know that much has been done at the level of engaging the people. We have done a lot within the period of being in the saddle. But in terms of personal satisfaction, I will say I am yet to get to the level when I can say yes I am satisfied.
You rode to power on a popular mandate sealed with a legal victory that was massively celebrated by people of Osun and even beyond. Considering this scenario, there were high expectations by the people for your government to quickly deliver the dividends. Would this not make you to be impressionistic rather than being realistic in trying to meet up with these expectations?
I must tell you straight that I understood very well the sociological, political and economic basis for the expectations of the people on our assumption of office. Very clearly, I have no doubt in my mind why it had to be uproarious. Here are people who for 90 months were saddled with a government that never knew why it was there. A government that understood power purely from the authoritarian prism, and that left the society in a physiologically destabilized condition. The whole environment before our coming was harsh economically, harsh psychologically, harsh socially and harsh in terms of security. Things were extremely difficult to the point that any change would have been celebrated in a similar manner. Any change at all, whether vacuous or real would have been celebrated. And this we captured during the campaigns. We made promises that were not just seen as alternative but met the expectations of the people for a meaningful life. So, our assumption was long expected. As long as our travails lasted it did not in any way affect the zeal, aspiration and the desire of our people for a government that would be truly their own. If you look at our experience from the day we made the first move to engage the people of Osun in the process of change and confront the incumbent administration at that time, from that very day it was a battle. Our emergence therefore was a relief over bottled repression, caged aspiration and failed expectations. As for me, it was an opportunity to demonstrate the capacity to rule that was acquired over a long period of association with humanists, pragmatic executors of meaningful and purposeful government. If we want to outline what has been our approach to it, honestly we have endeavoured to domesticate all that we have acquired theoretically from our old humanist ideologues and the experience we garnered from our exposure in Lagos from one of the best public financial experts in Nigeria. So, it is a combination of these that had inspired us into this rescue operation.
I am not under any pressure or illusion of impressionism. I am focused, determined and quite conscious of the programmes that must be executed, projects that must be implemented and ideas that must guide both the programmes and the projects.
In your inauguration speech two years ago, you made copious references to the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s legacy. You extolled Chief Bisi Akande’s achievements in office. And you identified with Bola Tinubu’s performance in Lagos. Will your admiration for these people not affect the evolution of an Aregbe political model that will also be a reference point in governance in the future?
I don’t know how those other people whose performances I referenced in that speech perceive themselves, I can only tell you how I perceive myself. I see myself as a continuum for the progressive current in Yorubaland in Western Nigeria. And that current cannot be stagnated. If you could recall the title of my speech, it is about continuing the process. That actually was the theme of the speech. There was a point in time where the ultimate leader, Chief Awolowo, working on our own tradition and culture began a movement of modernisation along the welfarist model of development. People like Bola Ige, Olabisi Onabanjo, Lateef Jakande, Adekunle Ajasin advanced the process. This was what Baba Akande and Asiwaju Tinubu tremendously advanced as well.
I, therefore, must not situate myself outside that course of development. It is not about me. If history realises that I deserve annotation, I am not averse to it. But my own mission is the continuation of the progressive current that promises freedom for all, life more abundant. We must be clear on this. It is not about me, it is about a course of action that our people have taken for granted as their own tradition. Chief Awolowo only codified it with superlative government structure and administration. And successive leaders of the political tendency have been cushioning the envelope within the limit of time and resources available to them. It is that tradition that I am advancing. The mantra, the slogan that encapsulates the whole philosophy is the slogan of the AG in the 50’s that summaries it. So, whatever history decides to make of me in the process I am willing and ready but I know I will not be found wanting in total commitment to that tradition.
You have embarked on massive development of the state from all fronts, but people are entertaining fear that some of the projects may end up being abandoned. How do you assure them that this will not happen?
I don’t need to assure anybody. I believe we are factors in the historical process and will be marked down by our promises and deliveries. I am too committed to the ideals of progressivism. I am committed to firing the people to increase their production for wealth for themselves and societies. That I don’t even look at the possibility of failure in any of the things we are doing. I am looking to God for guidance and support. Outside the role of the Divine in guaranteeing success, I did not see why and how any of what we are putting together will fail.
I can understand why there could even be any anxiety. It is because for 90 months, a minimalist administration was there, looting the treasury, violently abusing the psyche of the people, and celebrating lacklustre performance. And as such, the people having been used to such poor governmental activities and performance will want to be afraid of government interventions. Those projects are quite daunting and ambitious but like I have said we are not in any way intimidated. We have put together a team of talented administrators, managers, leaders, well-groomed and highly experienced performers that God’s willing none of our projects will be abandoned.
Is your regional integration campaign a covert agenda for Yoruba autonomy within the Nigerian state or a clarion call for Yoruba awakening. Either way, what is your objective or agenda? And is it not a distraction for your government?
Well, I don’t know how it could be a distraction. In the first instance the states are mere administrative units for our people. The states are not atomised groups. But be that as it may, I will tell you that the Yoruba are the most homogenous ethnic nationality in Nigeria. No Yoruba man is limited to wherever history has found him. Be it in Abeokuta, Ikare, Ijebu-Ode, Omu Aran or wherever. All Yoruba are interrelated. You cannot find a Yoruba person anywhere in Yorubaland that does not have a link with some far-flung settlements and locations in the territory of the Yoruba. What that simply tells you is that we have multifarious relationships and connections. If for instance, the Yoruba man in Lagos will have his roots in Kabba, and the Yoruba man in Kabba is equally and effectively related to another man in Abeokuta, and so on, then it will be clear to you that definitely regional integration is an idea that is relevant for the region as well as the state. No state can really grow in this our sphere of Western Nigeria without collaborations with the others. Don’t forget that the people are already culturally linked, connected and customarily united. Then, there is no way you can prevent them from interacting because they have been interacting since the beginning of time. If you don’t see the clarity of what I am saying, I will assist by further elucidation. We are the most politically, crisis-ridden nationality in Nigeria. For federalism within ourselves, Yoruba fought among themselves not a war of enmity but a war of autonomy within the Yoruba federation for almost 100 years. Not independence against the other Yoruba sub-ethnic groups but at least to achieve ethnic determinism ditto for the Ijesha, ditto for the Igbomina, ditto for the Awori and other sub-groups. The people who for independence and freedom resisted over lordship from any of their kith and kin, no matter how superior, will readily combine to fight any aggressor with the same zeal. This internecine war for federalism however created such movements or has resulted in the mix-up so much that no Yoruba man can correctly or accurately claim affinity to just a particular space. All Yoruba are as related in wherever they are now as they are connected to several other locations within the Yoruba territory. So, that tells you clearly that the only way to mobilize effectively the Yoruba people for economic, political, social and even spiritual advancement is to encourage collective participation of all. That is what can effectively stir the spirit of the people for extraordinary performance. But that is on the academic level.
Is there any alternative to big market? Of course, none. The essence of globalization is market. The essence of the voyages of some 1000 years ago, the adventures of people like Columbus and Lander brothers were all about market. Mungo Park and others were looking for cheap raw materials and that tells you that market is the objective of all these adventures. If nations are established and developed to increase the economic potentials of the people, then regional integration can only enhance the capacity of the individual states for production, economic advancement, spiritual growth and general social advancement rather than being a limiting factor. It is for that reason that I said I am committed to promoting integration, mobilizing my people and encouraging my colleagues in other states to see it as the greatest way of rallying our people for serious development and growth.
Are you in anyway satisfied with the level of support from your colleagues because I can see that you sing the old Western Region anthem at all state functions alongside the national anthem. But I don’t think this is being done in some of these other states.
I have not seen anything from my colleagues to indicate that they are not committed. All of them are committed. I can confidently tell you that we are all committed. There might be local issues that could be responsible for some slow responses but I am very confident that once all these obstructions and obstacles are eliminated, we will all move at a pace that will surprise Nigerians. The need for integration is historical. I have told you we have Ago Ijesa in Abeokuta, Oke-Ijebu in Owo, Egbatedo in Osogbo. There is no part of the Yorubaland that is excluded from the others, we are homogenous entity. It is even beyond individuals. Regional Integration is an idea and a process that is naturally on. Nobody can stop it. Whoever attempts to stop it will be swept by the force of the idea and process. Really, it is a question of time before we all see a total embrace of this idea. People will trade, people will interact, people will be forced to determine what to produce there to complement and supplement one another.
What you should even realize is that Lagos today has turned to be a major focus of Yoruba economic growth. And that in itself drives integration. Lagos is a Yoruba territory regardless of the poor knowledge and understanding of some people. The activities happening daily in Lagos are enough to energise the process of integration and even Nigeria. Lagos supplies three quarter of what is consumed in the entire West African sub-region. The Yoruba speaking parts of Nigeria really have to concentrate on meeting fifty percent of that for it to be economically independent. So, how can you have such a resource within your territory and you want to be deviant? You don’t want to exploit it. So, both the history of our people and economic advantage, that is in integration, have made it an irresistible idea to the region. Whoever is not enamoured must be an enemy of the people.
But I believe you know we have two isolated cases: Ondo and Edo States. I know the Ondo scenario is political. Let us discuss the Edo scenario which of course is structural. The Midwest was a sub-component of the Western Region. In the Second Republic we had the LOOBO states with Bendel State also being integrated into the Western political configuration. But with the new geo-political arrangement that aligns Edo with the South-South zone, don’t you think there is a structural problem here?
I don’t even see any problem here. You know in the real and imaginary spheres of existence, there can’t be a strict boundary, you have overlaps. So, the question of Edo fits into that. Yes, Edo is presently in the South-South geo-political zone of Nigeria but the people of Edo know where they are in terms of the economy and their relationships. It is by far easier for the Edo man to be in Ibadan, Ilesa, Lagos than the other way round. What is the population of Edo people in the areas in which they are now tied to by the zonal arrangement? Besides the attraction of oil, what is it that connects Edo to those other people in the zone where it is now? It is not even Edo alone. The same thing goes for Delta. At the fruition of all these efforts, it will be clear where really the organic linkage between those who are in the marginal zone, just as there would be an overlap at our own end, so would there be an overlap at the other end. There is no fixed boundary. What determines where you will be in the ultimate territorial definition of connection will be cultural, economic and political. There are those who speak Yoruba in Edo and Delta. Just as it is clear that those who are not even speaking Yoruba have a lot of cultural linkage with us. So, besides the political linkage, there is cultural and spiritual affinity. And above all, history cannot be dismissed. That in Benin five out of ten up and coming people will want to be in Lagos and not in other places.
The issues are so clear, particularly on integration that anyone expecting a new thing that will contradict that project will simply be rejected by their people because economically that is the only way out, politically there is no question about what should be, culturally, it is obvious that we are a people united by history, by customs, by culture and values. It will be difficult for any current occupier of any political position to change that.
Still talking about your predecessor (Oyinlola), you seem to be pursuing your crusade against him with an inexplicable passion. What exactly is the problem? Is it a personal thing or simply an official issue?
In what way could it be personal? I have no personal problem with Oyinlola. Yes, I ought to because of the way he handled things here but in all honesty, I have nothing personal against him. Since I assumed office here, I have not in any way taken things personal with Oyinlola. There is nothing personal to him that I have not allowed since I came in. If I am passionate about my commitment to the people of Osun, it is because that is my nature. I don’t do things haphazardly. I am a total man. In the course of it my passion could be misinterpreted to mean animosity against anybody. I have nothing personal at all against him.
During the sitting of the Commission of Inquiry, you saw how he mobilised people to the venue. I could have done the same thing but I did not because there was no need to do so since it was not personal. I must confess though that I never liked his style of administration because it is shallow and without mission. I have no personal grudge against him. I see him as somebody who is eager to rule the people but lacks the capacity to do so. Such a person deserves our pity and sympathy more than hatred and animosity. I see beyond his limitation. He is indeed a man handicapped by circumstances to be a legend or a leader.
In your six-point integral action plan, the word “banishment” intrigues me. Is it that by the time your tenure is over, four years or eight years, there will be no poverty again, no unemployment again, no hunger again in Osun? Please explain.
That is the goal. Every serious leader must have ideals. Idealism is the lubrication of the engine of advancement. Without an ideal through which a leader can stimulate self and people, there can’t be growth and advancement. It is my desire to banish poverty, hunger, unemployment and other ills in the society. So how far I go in that mission will define me.
What has been the attitude of the elite and the opposition to the sweeping changes you are making in the state?
I know the people are so enthusiastic about us, our projects, our programmes, and our policies. If there is any source of joy, inspiration and fulfilment for me, it is the people. They are forever enamoured of us, supportive of our administration and defensive of our programmes. The people are the greatest source of encouragement for my administration.
I will not say the elite are less committed to us. A tiny few are still belly-aching over the loss of power and their irrelevance in the scheme of things. To those people you must expect such attitude because having been removed from reckoning; they are bound to be as aggrieved as they are. But with time, they will get to know that what exists today is not in any way comparable to the regime they first had. Now, there is more freedom, better security, the economy is gradually improving, life is getting better. There is no person in this state today that does not enjoy one benefit or the other from the government directly or indirectly including even the opposition. If your benefit does not come from the school children, it will come from the social services such as roads, security, or support for the Agba Osun. We reduced school fees in higher institutions by 50 percent. We are giving students bursary of almost 500 percent of what they used to get. Honestly, I don’t see any living human being in the state that does not have a benefit no matter how little from this administration. So, with that I don’t think we have any genuine opposition outside what I can call parochial sectarian interests.
Is your closeness to all the religious leaders from the state such as Pastors Adeboye and Ashimolowo and other notable Muslim and traditional leaders, and the practice of allowing the three religions to pray at state functions a strategy for promoting peaceful co-existence among the adherents of the three religions?
There is no effort at promoting unity, harmony and peaceful co-existence among the various religions that can be too much. But really, it is not anything extraordinary. Our people are never bigots. The Yoruba are never religious bigots. We are by nature tolerant of religious differences before the advent of modern religions. In the same home, you can see Osun, Oya, Sango worshippers, Christians and Muslims. That the various gods are traditional won’t mean they are the same. If that is the cosmogony of our people where would we therefore say we inherited our intolerance from? We are a people given to life in a very simple and beautiful form. We are not in any way attracted to tension, crisis and disequilibrium on matter of faith. The Yoruba have left spiritualism to the realm of Divinity. They don’t think it is the responsibility of man to superintend the choices of another in that regard. Our religious differences have nothing to do with politics. It is simply a reflection of the cosmogony of our people. Yoruba do not pretend to know the hereafter as much as they want to know the here and now. We will not want to provoke crisis based on what we don’t fully understand.
