Tag: critics

Ayo Akinola is the Coordinator of Osun Concerns Group, a group of professionals creating awareness on the political and social activities in the state. In this interview with our correspondent, SOJI ADENIYI, he notes that Governor Rauf Aregbesola is the most patriotic leader the state has had in recent times. He is also of the opinion that the governor is highly misunderstood, deliberately so by the opposition.

You have been an avid supporter of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola since the campaign that brought him into office for the second term. Why is this so?

I have said it in different fora that this is the very first time in the recent past that we are having a semblance of good governance since the creation of Osun. Baba (Bisi) Akande set the ball rolling for a prosperous Osun but was hated for taking the bull by the horn as they often say. You know, people hate honest people. They will prefer those who will deceive them using cosmetic hand-out, cash here and there, patronages here and there. The then opposition propaganda machinery was very rife, coupled with the then federal might; the man was not allowed to finish what he started.

That was the beginning of the sorrow we are witnessing today in Osun. All what Baba did was overturned, to create a false Eldorado. That is what Ogbeni met on the ground and was managing to ameliorate. If this man was governing a more prosperous state like Lagos, he would have turned the state into a mini New York. He is a manager per excellence. Even as commissioner in Lagos, see what he did. Let me tell you this: all the criticisms on Ogbeni you see daily inside the newspapers and in the social media are handiworks of the opposition. They criticize him because they are too lazy to dig deep and appreciate the enormous tasks ahead. And it is deliberate. They want to discredit him for them to return to power, which is impossible. Their time is gone for good and forever. They will soon be tired. See what is happening in Lagos. They have been criticizing and the more they do, the more they lose because they lack credibility. This is because our people in Osun and Lagos are no fools.

To come to your question, some of us from Osun who live in Lagos and witness the rapid development in Osun cannot just sit down and watch them retake our state. We worked underground in 2011 when he was robbed of the seat. I left my home and job in Lagos and relocated to my Irewole Local Government, mobilised the locals and made effective use of the media and, thankfully, he won. But the PDP machinery will not allow it. I have said it in an article published in some dailies that great leaders are made great by horrible circumstances. This man will not let go. Vintage Ijesa man; he fought through the courts and some of us from Osun were almost saying this man should forget the mandate and go into another election, which was fast approaching. That is one lesson I took from him: fight your fight to the last. He did and his mandate was restored.

Within the short span of time, we noticed rapid infrastructural development and deliberate effort at raising human development. He was managing the resources like a private concern; the same way Papa Awolowo managed the economy of the Western Region, which pushed the region to the foremost position in everything: having the first television station in the whole of West Africa, the Liberty Stadium as well as the Cocoa House in Ibadan. You can imagine the kind of criticism the then opposition would be heaping at him then, for having foresight, the same way Ogbeni is today being vilified as wasteful.  Foresight is the difference. The opposition in Osun lacks it. The good thing is that our people are more enlightened than them. Some may be illiterate but they know good governance when they see one. These are the reasons why we supported him during the elections of 2014 and even now.

But the current travails of Osun workers are dire…

This is another annoying thing promoted by the faceless opposition. They are cowards, if not they should come out under the banner of their party with the allegations instead of dividing our loyal workers. A good opposition is never afraid to do so. When the APC was in the opposition, they talked under the banner of their party; they were not instigating the people. I think it is evil, if you ask me. Now, ask yourself or ask them, is Osun the only state in Nigeria owing its workers? Most of the states owing are or were ruled by the PDP. As at the last count, we have about 24 states, including the federal government under PDP owing workers.

Even most of the states whose revenues triple that of Osun, and some littoral states owe. So, what are we saying? The Ondo state workers are threatening to down tools and nobody is shouting. Ondo is a littoral state that earns stupendous from the commonwealth, and nobody is shouting (Olusegun) Mimiko. Is it because Ondo is governed by the PDP, their party? So, with that alone, you can know where the noise is traceable to. I’ve always said it that Ogbeni is the whipping boy because they are envious of him and his achievements. Can’t they at least check the books and the records which are in the public domain? I’ve taken pains to go through it and put in the media, so also has unbiased columnists like Professor Niyi Akinnaso. These are people you cannot buy, even with all the wealth of Nigeria. They have all taken time to analyze the situation and given kudos to Ogbeni. And let me also say it that it is a miracle how Ogbeni has been able to steer the wheel of the state. That shows ingenuity and we must give it to him.

Are you aware that this situation was caused by three major reasons: the daily theft of crude, the fall in crude price and the recently exposed non remittance of revenue to joint account due to corruption? At least former President Jonathan should have control over the first and the third. What did he do? So, it is a complex, yet simple situation for a determined leader. Thank God for the change we now have.

What is the lasting solution to this problem?

Thank God we are in a new dispensation. A lot of things really have to change, if the change we voted for will have impact on our lives. And we will need everybody’s support in this regard. The structure of the country itself needs some change. We’ve been operating our federal structure as if we are in a unitary government. How can you, for example, explain a situation where the federal government will dictate to a state how much that state should pay its workers, without corresponding consideration on how such wage will be paid? Is that not absurd? What is the concern of the centre on that and so many other things? State A may decide to pay minimum wage of N30,000 based on its revenue base and other reasons, while another state B, may not be able to pay more than N15,000. If a worker decides that he is not satisfied with State B, he is free to migrate to seek employment in state A. Don’t forget that state A that is paying N30,000 is taking into consideration, probably, high cost of living in its state, which may not be as high in state B. So, a blanket wage increase for all states is an anomaly, as resources are not the same.

Second solution is that it is high time we started discouraging our citizens from depending on government or paid job for existence. We need to educate our youths that self employment, creative thinking is the new order. Gone are the days of yore when you finish school and get government or paid employment and your financial problem is solved, that is what we used to call job security. No more job security. It is a world-wide change. The only job security there is now is self employment. Nobody can sack you from the job you create. Look at the Pensioners. Those who receive theirs as at when due, is it enough for their upkeep? And the only way you can build wealth and help your state or country is to set up cottage industry, where you will employ people, take them out of employment and contribute in tax to your state. We must all tell our youths the home truth, not to rely on government or paid employment for our sustenance. It’s not really sustainable in the long run. It is like a rat race. Nobody becomes wealthy by relying on paid employment. This is what our politicians are afraid to tell our youths. And this is what Aregbesola has been tactically preaching through his various capacity building programmes.

Let me tell you this: if a university graduate starts a barbing saloon, for example. He’s going to go places because of the education he’s received at the university. Kings and heads of states will invite him. Look at educated youths who are into photography, decoration, fashion, music and and comedy, etc. Imagine the trails they are blazing. These are the things we should be telling our youths instead of encouraging them into the civil services which are already bloated. There is so much redundancy in our civil service, and you can’t believe the level to which this has grown. You will find six staffs doing the job of only one person. So, there’s need for restructuring in the various states and federal bureaucracies. There’s need for very lean civil service, maybe just 20 per cent of what we currently have. People say, if you downsize, won’t there be social vices? I disagree. Look at what they do in the military. Every year, the military downsizes. But what they do prior to that is to create a skill in tailoring, barbing, catering etc for the would-be retirees and then pay their terminal benefits with which they set up. They even live better post-retirement than when they were in salaried employment. States and the federal governments should start to look into that direction. States must start to emulate that by downsizing every year and keep their staff strength at the barest minimum, effective and efficient. Deploying that bogus percentage of revenue to recurrent is bad.