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Tag: AREGBESOLA

Aregbesola urges Muslims to pray for Nigeria

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has called on Muslims nationwide to pray for peace in the country in the New Year.

In a congratulatory message to adherents of the Islamic faith on the occasion of the Eid-el-Maolud (birthday of Prophet Muhammad)celebration, Aregbesola said what the nation needs at this critical stage is sincere leaders who are driven by the desire to redirect the nation from gradual slide into the abyss.

According to a statement by his Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, he said as the nation prepares for the 2015 general elections, the nation needs prayer for a peaceful conduct of elections.

Aregbesola admonished the Muslims to emulate the humility, good neighbourliness, understanding and love exemplified by the life of Prophet Muhammad.

According to him, Muslims must possess qualities such as commitment, discipline, obedience to and love of Allah, and apply same in their daily relationship to their fellow human beings, irrespective of ethnic and religious differences.

He enjoined the people of the state to live in peace and extend hands of fellowship to their neighbours so as for the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere the state has been enjoying in the last two years to continue unhindered.

He said: “The time is ripe enough for us to know that we must either come together to jointly take our country to the height it deserves among comity of nations. All hands must be on deck for us to move forward.

“We must stop paying leap service to fundamental necessities which are catalysts for development or else this nation would remain a dwarf to other nations which ought to take directives from us.”

January 3, 2015
Aregbesola promises steady growth

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has promised to ensure steady and continuous growth of the state.

In his New Year broadcast, he said his administration would meet and surpass the target it has set for the state’s development.

Aregbesola said he would maintain good speed in road construction and rehabilitation, assuring that he would soon begin new projects.

The governor described last year as one with serious financial challenges, saying that the situation grew worse when allocation from the Federation Account dropped to less than 25 per cent of what the state used to get.

He said: “Last year witnessed an unmatched upsurge in sectarian violence and destruction of lives and property in some states in the North. This is most regrettable. I will like to express our heart-felt condolence to the people of the affected states.

“I want to call on you all to be vigilant and security conscious. Please report all suspicious activities and strange behaviours to the police, security agencies and other relevant authorities.

“We look forward to the New Year with hope and courage. We shall do everything possible to ensure we are not slowed down in any way by the inclement financial weather.”

The governor urged Nigerians to take wise electoral decisions that would redirect the nation into peace, prosperity and safety, away from the chaos, insecurity and poverty.

Aregbesola advised those who are yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to go to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s offices and collect them.

“We must brace up to the responsibility of developing our state, generate our own income through productivity and wealth creation and change the culture of dependency on others for our sustenance.

“In the last couple of months, some of you have had to endure hardship and make sacrifices on account of dwindling income. This is unusual and we are doing everything possible to address it.

“We shall resolve this and return the smile to the faces of those affected, especially workers in the state. We shall deploy all our God-given resources, human and material, to shore up our revenue base.”

January 2, 2015
Aregbesola urges activists to convene for Buhari

OSUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged pro-democracy activists and organisations to meet to ensure victory for All Progressives Congress (APC’s) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in next year’s election.

Aregbesola spoke in Osogbo at the weekend at the 50th birthday lecture and presentation of a book in honour of a pro-democracy and human rights activist, Amitolu Shittu.

His Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, quoted the governor as telling pro-democracy activists who came to honour Shittu that the challenges facing Nigeria arose from the ineptitude of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government.

The governor said the government lacked transparency in management of oil revenues, adding that before the prices of crude oil crashed in the international market, Nigerians were robbed of oil revenues through frauds.

“The Federal Government is the authority in charge of the Navy, the Army, the police, Air Force and other security agencies. Yet, they tell us that 400,000 barrels of crude are stolen.

“Who is stealing the crude oil? And these are despite a questionable contract for the protection of oil pipelines and waterways awarded to an individual.

“They have no other excuse to give. The only way is to vote them out,” he said.

Aregbesola reminded Nigerians of the roles played by the likes of Shittu and others, who were jailed, forced to exile, killed and harassed unjustly for the enthronement of a people’s government.

“This is the time for all of you to reconvene and ensure that we rescue our country before it is too late,” he said.

Shittu, who lamented the hardship pervading the country, urged Nigerians to use their voting power to vote out anti-people government.

December 30, 2014
Why Nigeria needs Buhari, by Aregbesola

OSUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has reminded Nigerians that the country needs All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) presidential candidate Gen Muhammadu Buhari at this critical time.

He added that Nigeria needed Buhari just as the former head of state came at the nick of time in 1983, when the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) had brought the country to its knees.

Aregbesola said Nigerians must recollect that the economy, security and social welfare of the citizens were completely destroyed after the defunct NPN’s rule from 1979 to 1983, when the military took over and gave Buhari the platform to restore the hope of Nigerians.

He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had done worse damage to the country.

He, however, noted the significant difference in the Buhari of 2014, who is a civilian and a democrat; and the Buhari of 1983, who was a soldier.

The governor said the first step towards salvaging Nigeria from the PDP was to vote out the party and demand for explanations why there was so much poverty and misery in the country despite the fortunes it had been blessed with.

The governor, in a statement by his Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, spoke when labour leaders met him to submit a report of the efforts by workers to develop fresh means of economic sustenance and increasing the state’s internally generated revenue.

He also spoke at another forum of directors of water and other environment officials.

Aregbesola, who reeled out social disorders caused by the PDP’s government, said: “In 1983, it was Buhari that God sent to rescue the situation of Nigerians where the conservative elements had brought Nigeria to a rot.

“Buhari has come again to lead us out of the quagmire and sweep away all three anti-democratic and anti-development elements, who have brought Nigeria to this deplorable state.

“The PDP and their wicked allies have been known over the decades for misery. If you have them around you for whatever reason, you would realise that they represent nothing other than misery. They represent the best of wickedness, misery and misfortune. Only the misguided would claim to belong to the PDP in Nigeria.”

Aregbesola said President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP could not be excused from the crises bedeviling the country, adding that a country that sold crude oil above $100 for more than three years, must be asked what it did with the resources that accrued to it.

He said: “The responsibility for the economic tragedy that we are witnessing in Nigeria today rests permanently and absolutely on the PDP and its government at the federal level. There is no way that party and its government can be excused. As a first step to salvage our nation, we must vote out the PDP.

“How can we explain that oil sold for more than three years above $100 level and yet, we are faced with this calamity without any redemption in sight? How can we explain it?”

Aregbesola was confident in the capacity of Osun people to make the best choice, saying: “Our people can distinguish between the selfish and the selfless.

“Those who voted for me in the August 9 election in Osun have another assignment on their hands. If you voted for me and you don’t vote for Buhari and our representatives in the next elections, you have missed it.”

He said what Nigerians required was “a careful easing out of Jonathan and an installation of a government that knows what to do with power to transform the lives of the masses.”

Aregbesola added: “Don’t fight and don’t carry cutlasses, guns or any other thing. Just go to the polling booths on that day and vote for our party. That is the power we all have to rescue ourselves from these elements.

“If we love ourselves, our towns and our country, we must all promote Buhari and campaign for him vigorously.”

December 25, 2014
National service requires dedication, Aregbesola tells corps members

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged members of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) to see their national service as a call requiring dedication and commitment.

Represented by his deputy, Chief Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, yesterday at the NYSC orientation camp, Ede, Osun State during the formal opening of orientation exercise and swearing-in ceremony for corps members in the batch ‘C’ deployed to the state, the governor charged the youths to see themselves as change agents.

The Chief Judge of the State, Justice Oyebola Adepele Ojo administered the oath on 2,780 corps members comprising of 1,339 males and 1,441 females.

Governor Aregbesola told the corps members that their deployment to the state was designed for a purpose and charged them to strive hard to be relevant in the state in the next one year.

Aregbesola, who said the young people should be given chance to play active role in political, economic and other areas of national development, ýnoted that the success of the nation now and in the future depend on the youths.

He said: “With the present realities of our political and economic landscape, it is very much necessary that the largest echelon and cream of our future, the youths should be mainstreamed into the challenging task of nation building.”

Aregbesola told the corps members that his administration has provided a tolerable level of comfort for them in the camp.

He maintained that he would continue to partner with NYSC in a bid to meeting the national aspiration that the scheme was meant for.

According to him: “On our part as a government that is passionate about the youth, we have done our bit to make you comfortable here and If there is any situation that elicit flaring of temper, you should express your grievances in a disciplined and matured manner.”

Also speaking, the Coordinator of NYSC in the state, Mr. Abada Okpiroro, said the corps members cut across the thirty six states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory and that since their arrival in the camp, they have shown remarkable interest in the orientation activities in the camp.

December 6, 2014
Aregbesola: Humanist, leader, compatriot, friend
Rauf Aregbesola is an enigmatic individual whose trajectory epitomizes the building of a unique brand. And that brand is Ogbeni.

I first came into contact with him sometime in the early days of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tenure as governor of Lagos State. A mutual friend had initiated an International Tennis Championship called Governor’s Cup. The press briefing was slated for the National Stadium, Surulere Lagos, with many prominent individuals and potential corporate sponsors and stakeholders in attendance. So impressed was I by the zeal he showed and the uncommon loyalty to his boss, evident in the energy and passion at which he drummed up support for the project, that I unhesitatingly volunteered my own area of support, which I would then sustain for the next six years of the annual championship.

His performance as the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in Lagos is legendary, and needs no further mention here, other than to say that his days of selfless, innovative service proved to be an incubation which prepared him for his sterling public service delivery being experienced in Osun today.

In retrospect I was happy, not only to answer the call to be part of the people he reached out to in the early days of his consultations preceding his decision to throw his hat in the ring for the Osun gubernatorial race, but also to play a pivotal role in the evolution of his philosophy of people-friendly government which we later put in print as his social contract; The Six-Point Integral Action Plan.

Coming from leftist a background, he realized very early in his political life that the welfare of the people is the only reason to be in government.

The six-point integral action plan is a testament of welfarism borne out of a conviction that you can never go wrong if you put in place institutional framework and policies for satiating the yearnings of the masses.

His strategy of happiness in the short run for the masses whilst embarking on long run programmes and projects is manifested in his unique social safety net programmes such as Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), elementary schools free lunch programme, senior citizens welfare programme, programme of succor for people with special needs and the list is endless, which have engendered a bonding with the people he governs.

At the approach of the August 9 Osun gubernatorial election, a governor had just been declared the looser in the gubernatorial election in a sister state under questionable circumstances and the predominant rationale for the electoral failure was lack of due attention to the masses, giving rise to notion that the progressive states, anxious to put in place modern infrastructure and amenities in their domain, often neglected the people and overlooked their hunger, and the obnoxious terminology “stomach infrastructure had just slipped in our consciousness like a thief in the night. He was confronted by the Press with the probability of losing his bid for the second term for the same reason, and this is what he had to say:

“Those trying to embark on stomach infrastructure in this late hour will have a lot of catching up to do because we have begun long ago and are four years ahead of them. We are masters of the game”.

June 2014, while granting an interview to Businessday, Aregbesola proudly and confidently gave assurance of his victory in the then forthcoming August 9, gubernatorial election thus: “Let me assure you, the overwhelming majority of the people of the state will vote for us because we have represented them well in our first term, we have been accountable to them and we have served them with passion and integrity”.

Indeed, he would not brook any doubt about his popularity with his people. He said this again at a public forum: “I am a product of the popular forces, the people and I am part and parcel of them. I emanated from them and I am a product of their struggle.”

August 9, was therefore payback day, and, predictably, the people voted with their hearts, and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was given renewed mandate to govern Osun State for a second term.

When Aregbesola story is going to be told, it would be that of a people-conscious leader, who has put in place some of the most audacious policies in rapid infrastructure upgrade, urbanization, and highest quantum of social service delivery ever experienced in this clime.

Interpersonally, Ogbeni is a good man. He has, over the years been surrounded and followed by a huge community of loyalists who believe in his worldview, and the sincerity of purpose with which he has pursued it. He shows extra-ordinary compassion for his fellow man, and he is quite generous.

When you come into contact with him, you instinctively become cognizant of the strength of his personality. He has read far and wide and has held his own both honorably and with uncanny eloquence in any multicultural and intellectual gathering we found ourselves throughout my foreign travels with him.

As a family man, he is the doting husband of his sweetheart, Sherifat, who, during their courtship provided the much needed encouragement to reconcile this restless young activist with his Creator, and has remained a strong pillar ensuring that he receives all the comfort and succour a General needs whenever he returns home from life’s many battles. It is difficult to believe how a man of the people like Ogbeni could create quality time to attend to the nurture of his children who are all well behaved and now pursuing their various callings.

In matters of faith, Ogbeni remains unapologetic for his depth of piety, and why should he be? I have said on several occasions, I wish I could be as faithful to my religionas he is to Islam.

Yet he displays incredible understanding of the Bible which he quotes frequentlyand copiously whenever we get into discussions around ethics and morality. Not once has ever displayed discrimination against any religion, rather he is a foremost advocate of equality of the religions, and that is a disposition which is made poignantly clear by the fact that Osun is the only state where prayers are said in the Christian, Islamic and Traditional ways at every public function.

Little wonder that he bedazzles even his most volatile traducers, and continues to wax strong as he pursues, with profound sense of urgency, his truly progressive and people-centered developmental agenda. His unique brand of people-friendly government.

May our world be continually populated and enriched with multiple OGBENIS!
- Barrister Ifaturoti contributed this piece from Osogbo
November 27, 2014
Re: Banire, Aregebsola and Osun Polls

I have been eagerly awaiting a critique of my paper of last week titled ‘Osun Election: A Pathway to Nigeria’s Democratic Growth’. At last, I got one in the reaction of my friend, Segun Ayobolu, on the last page of The Nation, Saturday, November 8, 2014 edition. As usual of such reactions (some patronage here and there before the slicing knife is applied), Segun introduced his discussions of my paper with some pejoratives and later took a descent into his opinion of what is right.

His allegation that “Banire treads treacherous and slippery analytic terrain” (whatever that means!) was supported by what he thought did not make sense in making a distinction between a party and his candidate. I am sorry to say that while that assertion might appeal to ordinary consciousness, a good understanding of politics would prove otherwise. In any political clime where a party fields an unpopular candidate, there is no assurance that the electorate would gullibly buy into the party’s craze. A good understanding of Osun politics reveals that Aregbesola’s emergence in the first term was kindled by his political records in Lagos and the declining popularity of the government then in power whose policies the people were clamouring against.

It is to that extent that the fate of a party and his candidate may roll into each other. If the Action Congress had produced a candidate of less public approval in 2007 in Osun, the story could have been different as the people would not see any difference between the government in power and our offer of redemption. There, I believe my friend did not get the purport of our analysis. If in 2014, we had presented in Osun a candidate not better than the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, the outcome would probably not worth the celebration of today. That emphasizes the need for our political party to be more pragmatic in its choice of candidature.

Segun queried what would have been the incentive for the electorate to vote against our party in Osun. What was the incentive for the electorate when they voted against our party and candidate in Ekiti on June 21 (not August 9 mistakenly stated by Segun in his article)? Whether the party and its candidate are gnashing their teeth now is not the issue but that our party would have been out of power just as happened in Ekiti. The fact remains that popular programmes of Aregbesola largely retained political patronage from the masses in favour of our party and no emergency gospel of ‘stomach infrastructure’ recklessly flaunted by the PDP would have dissuaded the masses.

Segun did not seem to follow the opinion poll conducted by some reputable organizations before the election which justified my assertion that the popularity of the candidate overwhelmed the rating of the party in Osun. The politics of today requires every candidate to organize direct grassroots interaction with the people which we did on the basis of door-to-door campaigns by which we distilled our facts and got better acquainted with the feelings of the people. It was a direct practical approach we adopted and not an armchair analysis of events. We practically learnt from the less-privileged who did not seek any political appointment and are not in any vantage position to seek political appointments. They are political followers of many aspirants at the grassroots level who felt disappointed by the pranks of such leaders and a fortiori, the party, but expressed great satisfaction about the policies of Ogbeni. Segun’s stance that probably those who condemned the party were political appointment seekers did not come out of reality but mere conjectures. Such conjectures would not align with the factual situation which we encountered during the preparations for the election.

The reference to Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Lateef Jakande is greatly misplaced. If those leaders had failed in their performances, they would not have secured the eminent and glorious positions they retained today in history.

Segun also asserted that why Aregbesola was able to contest in the first term was because the party fielded him. This contention smirks of childish historical conclusion as the process by which the party fielded Aregbesola in the first term is what we are concerned with and not merely that the party fielded him. Is Segun suggesting that Aregbesola was imposed on the Osun people in his first term? Far from that! Aregbesola won the primaries of the party in 2007 fair and square. So many candidates came up and a credible primary election was organized in which he emerged winner. The same process was embarked upon in 2014 even when Aregbesola was the only one who purchased nomination form on the platform of All Progressives Congress. He was not imposed on the people and nobody hid the form from any other aspirant and neither was anybody prevented from aspiring for the job. The party still ensured that a primary election was organized in line with the Constitution in which Aregbesola was given the party’s banner following a popular affirmation process.

The reference to Babatunde Fashola is grossly misplaced. The fact that the party gave a credible candidate an opportunity to run in the first place does not mean that where the party is engaging in political suicide, we must all remain complacent or coldly indifferent. Such attitude would only be a mark of sycophancy or political indolence. This we eschew, as we are loyalists of the party and not sycophants.

Interestingly my friend said that “it is difficult for one to scientifically determine the meaning of imposition in a situation in which, for instance, over 20 aspirants are gunning for a given position and each believes that if he does not win, it is because the winning candidate has been imposed on the party!” this is a completely naïve appraisal of our paper and the political situation in our party. One would not expect such a political conclusion from Segun since we both served in Asiwaju and Fashola’s governments. I recall that Segun was press secretary to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and he ought to know better notwithstanding that he would claim livelihood in journalism and not politics.

The allegation of imposition in our party is not as jejune in nature as Segun tried to paint same. Our understanding and definition of imposition is more scientifically determined than Segun’s understanding of it. Where in a primary election, an aspirant scored the majority votes and the loser was rather imposed by an overlord, can Segun give us a worse instance of scientific imposition than that? As a leader of the party, I received petitions against imposition on a daily basis during any electioneering process and yet some people would prefer that we must keep quiet. What is the usefulness of featuring candidates rejected by the members of the party only to satisfy the political gusto of some few individuals? This menace has wiped away the needed sense of political responsibility among our office holders and now people have been comparing us negatively with our political opponents.

The need to project the party in favourable light to the people has made some us compulsory advocates of the truth. If Segun’s analysis of what transpired between Awolowo and Akintola in the First Republic is actually correct, must we still promote the politics of self interest at all costs which Segun has pretended not to see its negative impacts? If, as argued by Segun, that development brought the crisis that engulfed the West and reverberated all over Nigeria leading to catastrophic consequences, must we now perpetuate same simply because it is not the same characters of the past that are in the saddle today?

It is this kind of attitude among followers that destroys leaders and glorious institutions they profess to build but which over time they tried to pattern along their personal ego. How on earth can Segun justify zoning and religious considerations above merit? Reference to federal character in the Constitution does not justify Segun’s argument as the approach we condemn in Lagos State does not fall in line with theories that dictate progress in plural societies. If such balancing as argued by Segun is a necessity, then today our party must not be celebrating Tambuwal whom we identify as a great asset and align with against the zoning arrangement. Would Segun rather have preferred the PDP-sponsored Speaker? Why must we give fillip to negative sentiments by quoting redundant political theories rather than project the best interest of the people?

Pandering to suggestions such as made by Segun would only justify the negative aspects of our living. We all must endeavour to save our party and even our political overlord from self-destruction as we are loyalists and not sycophants.

By the volatile nature of this issue, I expect further discussions, dissensions and distended dissertations. If telling the truth could be regarded as treachery, then I admit otherwise as always said, truth is bitter and change is usually resisted but constant. The earlier we jettison the unfashionable practices in our party, the better for us.

Dr. Muiz Adeyemi Banire

Principal and Founding Partner,

M. A. Banire & Associates and

National Legal Adviser, APC.

November 15, 2014
Tribunal grants Aregbesola right to verify documents

Osun State Election Petition Tribunal has granted Governor Rauf Aregbesola the right to verify documents tendered before it by the petitioners, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

Aregbesola won the August 9 governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Omisore and the PDP are challenging the victory of Aregbesola at the August 9 poll.

APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were joined as second and third respondents.

Omisore’s counsel Alex Izinyon yesterday tendered the Certified True Copies (CTC) of form EC40A series, which are ballot papers account and verification statements and form EC40B for the 17 local governments in contention.

The counsel for the APC, Aregbesola and INEC, Akin Olujinmi, Kemi Pinheiro and Ayotunde Ogunleye, said they would raise their objections to the documents during their final address stage.

Izinyon claimed that the time spent by the respondents in cross-checking the documents sought to be tendered was long, applying that the tribunal should limit them to two minutes each.

Olujinmi objected, saying it was the right of the respondents to check the documents so that new ones would not be smuggled in.

“My learned friend cannot stop me from looking at these documents, it is my right. If he is saying I should not look at them why am I here?” he said.

The tribunal chairman, Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime, conceded that the respondents had the right to cross-check the documents, but appealed to them to fast-track the cross-checking.

However, when form EC8B for Ejigbo Local Government was tendered, Olujinmi discovered that two of the forms belonged to Ede North Local Government and called the attention of the tribunal to the discovery.

He also noted that some of the documents belonging to Osogbo Local Government were found in the ones belonging to Irepodun Local Government.

November 14, 2014
Banire, Aregbesola and Osun polls

His diminutive physique masks a razor- sharp intellect and wit. Dr Muiz Banire, lawyer, commissioner first of transportation and then the environment for 12 years under the Tinubu and Fashola administrations and now National Legal Adviser to the APC, was the guest speaker at a colloquium in Lagos in honour of Ogbeni Raufu Aregbesola. The colloquium was obviously spurred by Aregbesola’s outstanding re-election for a second term in the bitterly contested August 9th governorship election in Osun state.

There is much to agree with in Banire’s presentation on the occasion titled ‘Osun’s Election: A Pathway to Nigeria’s Democratic Growth’. For example, he paints a vivid and harrowing picture of the security siege on Osun before and during the election. He exposes the many behind the scene bids to manipulate the poll and rig the elections and how these were thwarted through vigilance and proactive action. Among the more sensible of Banire’s recommendation is his admonition that a political party should always monitor closely officials elected in its platform. This is in order to ensure adherence to the party’s manifesto as well as prevent the alienation of the government and the party from the people due to unpopular policies.

However, Banire treads treacherous and slippery analytic terrain when he makes a distinction between a party and the candidate seeking election on its platform. He contends that it was Aregbesola that won the election in Osun and not the All Progressives Congress (APC). The APC, according to Banire, has become unpopular because of imposition of candidates such that the people may have voted for the opposition but for Aregbesola’s charisma, grassroots appeal and superlative performance.

Let us admit without conceding that Banire is right. What would be the incentive for the average voter or APC supporter to vote for the PDP, for instance, when its own candidate for the Osun election emerged through a violence-infested process where a former governor of Osun was savagely manhandled by a serving Minister all because he aspired to fly the party’s flag in the election!

Again, could it be that most of those Banire claimed to have visited on door-to-door campaigns and who reportedly expressed disenchantment with the APC, sought elective or appointive positions and were unjustly denied the opportunity? That would be strange. I would wager that in most polities, those who actively seek elective office constitute less than one per cent of the population. Osun certainly cannot be an exception.

In the first republic, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group (AG) was the cynosure of all eyes due to its spectacular developmental achievements in the South-West. Even though he was enormously gifted as a leader, thinker and astute manager of men and resources, Awolowo never sought to personally appropriate the party’s collective success to himself. It was the same case in the second republic when Alhaji Jakande was easily the most distinguished governor. Again, he never claimed or sought personal glory. He knew that in a progressive party, both successes and failures must be collectively borne.

I am sure that Banire’s thoughts at the colloquium are his and do not necessarily represent the views of Aregbesola. For, being a product of collective struggle himself right from his student days, I think that Aregbesola is too philosophically deep, intellectually sound, historically conscious, and organisationally disciplined to identify with the kind of hubris espoused by Banire.

It is pertinent to ask, ‘Why was Aregbesola able to seek re-election for a second term?’ It is because he had won election for a first term and performed creditably. Why was he able to contest for the first term? It was because he was fielded by the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as its governorship candidate. Here is where I think Banire misses the critical point. The relationship between a party and a candidate is a dialectical one. The party can offer a candidate its platform but it cannot do the candidate’s job for him/her.

If we apply Banire’s logic to Ekiti, then we can surmise that the outcome of the polls there was a vote against Fayemi and not the APC. That would be nothing but sterile intellectual masturbation. Even if it were so, the reality is that both Fayemi and the APC in Ekiti are out of power – at least for now. The APC must gnash its teeth and bemoan the calamity that befell it in the August 9th election. The grief is not that of Fayemi alone. In the same way, the APC is entitled to rejoice at the triumph of the party in Osun while basking with Aregbesola in the euphoria of victory.

If the candidate performs exemplarily, the success belongs both to him and the platform that gave him the opportunity to develop and exhibit his leadership skills. On the other hand, if an elected official performs poorly and is defeated at the polls, both the party and the candidate bear the consequences.

Let us take governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) as an example. By 2007, he came to power relying solely on the machinery and structure of the party as he did not have any structure at the time. By 2011, however, his impressive performance had turned him into a formidable brand. The party gave him an opportunity to run for governor on its platform. He grabbed the opportunity and through industry, competence and vision, endeared himself and his party to the electorate. At the end of the day, both the party and the governor enjoy a mutually beneficial and reinforcing relationship.

Banire rightly stressed the need for internal democracy within parties to allow the best and most popular candidates emerge in free and fair intra-party processes. He argues that imposition of candidates is one of the greatest banes of the APC. Well, it is difficult for one to scientifically determine the meaning of imposition in a situation in which, for instance, over 20 aspirants are gunning for a given position and each believes that if he does not win, it is because the winning candidate has been imposed on the party!

The eminent political scientist, Professor Richard Sklar, is quoted by Banire as describing the defunct AG of the first republic as “the best organised, the best financed and the most efficiently run party in Nigeria”. But nothing in this quote suggests that the AG was a model of internal democracy. In fact, I think Banire should read Sklar more extensively. I would recommend in particular his collection of essays titled ‘African politics in Post-Imperial Times’. He has at least two chapters in this book, which offer a rigorous discourse of the contradictions of Nigeria’s political system as well as the travails of Obafemi Awolowo in Nigerian politics.

When Awolowo, following the failure of his party in the 1959 parliamentary election, went to the centre as Leader of Opposition, he tried to re-fashion the party as a vote harvesting machine capable of winning elections outside the South West. To do that he had to retain a firm grip both on the party as well as the machinery of government in the western region even as he sought ethnic minorities in the North and the East to ally with the AG. This led to a head on collision with Chief SLA Akintola, who had succeeded him in office as Premier of the region. His espousal of the new ideology of democratic socialism further alienated Awolowo from the business interests that formed a formidable pillar of support for the AG as well as many of the elders and traditional rulers who flocked to Akintola’s side. Awolowo’s attempt to have his way against all odds was partly responsible for the crack within the AG that ignited a chain of events that led to the collapse of Nigeria’s democracy in the first republic.

No matter what anybody may think about Tinubu and Fashola, they have managed their relationship with maturity and mutual respect such that we have not witnessed in Lagos, the kind of intra-party implosion that destroyed the Action Group in the first republic and nearly brought the entire country to ruin or the godfather versus godson skirmishes prevalent in different parts of the country in this dispensation.

A third critical issue raised by Banire in his lecture is that of the place of zoning and religion in the country’s politics particularly Lagos State. He is opposed to any form of zoning or concession of positions to accommodate divergent interests in the political process. He declares: “For God’s sake, Lagosians are only interested in good and qualitative governance and no-one cares whether you are a Christian or Muslim”. To put it mildly, this is simplistic and overly idealistic.

I recommend Professor Arendt Lijphart’s ‘Democracy in Plural Societies’ for Dr Banire’s perusal. Lijphart examines the various strategies, including institutional strictures and processes put in place in ethno-culturally plural societies like Nigeria to achieve political inclusiveness and promote political stability and national cohesiveness. Yes, merit must never be sacrificed on the altar of zoning. But the truth is that there are capable and competent candidates for public office cutting across all nooks and crannies of the country? Would Banire, for instance, want the federal character provision, which is a deliberate balancing device in the 1999 constitution abrogated?

November 8, 2014
‘I want to be part of Aregbesola’s success story’

Prince Saheed Lasisi is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State. He is a House of Representatives aspirant in Ede Constituency. In this interview with STELLA BAMAWO, he explains why he wants to represent his people.

Why are you contesting for the House of Representatives in Ede Constituency?

I want to be part of the success story unfolding in Osun State in the next phase. That is why I am contesting. I want to serve my people by going to the House of Representatives. I think four years down the line I should be able to say glory be to God because people will actually see the way politics should be practiced. For me, I am prepared for the job. I have about 15 years experience in the private sector, covering all areas of investment banking, capital market, aviation and maritime. I have over than 100 staff under my control. I am actually a field person and I work seven days a week.

What value will you added to the system at that level?

Initially, I had wanted to contest in 2011, but I withdrew because I felt I was not prepared enough. Two years down the line, I went back home to ask my people if they were feeling the impact of governance, apart from what the governor is doing? Their answer was that they have not actually felt the impact of lawmaking representation. Though the person there may have his own programme, but people say they are not feeling his impact. Through acts that will project the position of my people, I intend setting up small scale industries across selected wards. I want them to promote youth employment and independence. I know there are some indigent students that are very brilliant, but have not been able to achieve much, because of their background. I would assist such persons, if I’m given the opportunity. In areas of rural development, we will support what the governor is doing. I intend to set up a micro-credit scheme for the elderly.

What is the assurance that you will not renege on your promises?

Thank you very much; this same concern was raised when I formally declared my intention to run. I told them that I am not just an ordinary politician, I am a prince of the town and we occupy the current throne in Sekona. If I misbehave, they know where to go. That is, the king’s palace to report me. Even before the election, in my own little way, I have introduced some empowerment programmes in 42 wards. I intend to divide my salary into three; one would go into my constituency, in the form of empowerment programmes and the other one-third into other logistics. We need to give back to the society. You can see what our governor is doing; we are not talking about stomach infrastructure, but how to empower the youth. We need to teach people how to fish and not give them fish to eat.

Why are you contesting on the platform of the APC?

Right from my adulthood, I have always been a progressive. The only progressive party we have in Nigeria is the APC. I joined the APC since inception because I believe in the ideals of the party; its manifestoes and everything are in line with my thought and philosophy.

What is your impression of Governor Rauf Aregbesola?

Everybody knows that Governor Aregbesola is one of the best performing governors in Nigeria. He has been able to prove that he is a manager of both human and natural resources. Within the four years of his administration, we could all see what others could not do in 12 years. It is just similar to what Pa Akande did during his tenure. The State Secretariat was built by Papa Akande; he empowered local people. He did not bring a foreigner to build the place. The APC has a standard. You can see what Governor Babatunde Fashola is doing in Lagos State. Go to any APC state, you will see the semblance of what true governance is all about. Governor Aregbesola is paying workers’ salaries regularly; he is remodeling schools; he introduced opon imo. That has never happened. You can imagine, opon imo has received international accolade. So, Aregbesola is a performer. Just watch out in the next four years. Osun will be the Dubai of Nigeria. In our own little way, we need to support him.

As a Prince, are you not riding on the back of the king to get cheap votes?

I don’t think being a prince is a crime. I am a Chartered Accountant by profession. I have 15 years experience in top positions. Many of my friends are wondering why I am leaving a lucrative job to join politics. It is not about being in a lucrative job alone. I have been very active for the past 15 years building people’s empires. Why can’t I take the same thing to my people and see how I can influence their lives? After politics, I can always go back to my consulting as a Chartered Accountant.

November 7, 2014