Former Osun State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Chief Sunday Akere, had one of his worst moments in life with his remand in prison custody by the powers that be after what he described as framed up charges. According to him, it all seemed like a scene from a horror movie, given the speed and manner the whole episode unfolded. But he told PAUL UKPABIO and JUMOKE OWOOLA in this interview that the incident only helped to strengthen his resolve never to compromise on his principles.
Was becoming a politician one of your childhood dreams?
I was inspired into politics by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. I actually served as a party agent for the UPN when Chief Obafemi Awolowo contested the presidency. I also served as a counting agent with FEDECO (Federal Electoral Commission) then. It was after then that I moved closer to the progressives. I have always wanted to be among the people who serve the interest of commoners. I later joined the SDP (Social Democratic Party) when (the late) Chief MKO Abiola joined the party. I later moved to GDM, UNCP, AD, ACN and now APC.
Why do you think you were given the portfolio of Information and Strategy as a commissioner in Osun State?
I guess that was because it was the area I had a great flair for. Right from childhood, I had always loved to read the newspapers. At school, I was the PRO in all the organisations that I joined. I later studied Food Technology at the University of Ibadan, where I was the PRO of our organisation both at the school chapter and at the National level. I was also the PRO of several other organisations I found myself in. I was a Students Affairs Council member at the University of Ibadan. By the time I left school and veered into politics, I continued to take the positions of PRO and General Secretary.
During the tenure of Chief Adebisi Akande (as Osun State governor) between 1999 and 2003, several of the committees in which I served, I was either the General Secretary or the PRO. In January 2004, I became the Director of Research and Publicity for AD (Alliance for Democracy) in Osun State; a position I held for eight years before I joined the Aregbesola government as the Commissioner of Information and strategy.
How were you able to forge a good working relationship with the media as a commissioner, given your science background, even though you later studied Law?
Having a good relationship with the media and journalists generally has a lot to do with the individual’s personality. When I was in the party as Director of Media and Publicity, I maintained a cordial relationship with all the media houses in the state. So when I was made the commissioner, it was easy for me.
What did you consider as your challenges then?
The greatest challenge I think any Information commissioner would face in today’s Nigeria will be his principal not according his ministry the necessary attention. To the glory of God, before I got to the Ministry of Information, it used to be seen as one to which the governor sent anyone he felt should be punished. That was because the person used to have nothing doing.
But that changed when I got into the office. At the government secretariat in Osun, the first building you see is the Ministry of Information, which tells you that the ministry is supposed to be the mirror image of the government. Anyone coming into the secretariat to do business with the government will first of all go to the Ministry of Information to make enquiries and get proper information. That is how it is supposed to be. We were given a free hand to perform and we were able to do our job. The governor encouraged us and we were able to do many of the things that were not being done before I joined.
What were some of the things you did?
We introduced training for all level of information officers across the state, at the local government, in the parastatals, the media organs of the government and even the ministry. For the first time in the 26 years history of the state, directors at the Ministry of Information were given foreign training. I led three of my directors to Dubai for foreign training when I was there. Also for the first time in the history of the state, 23 graduate information officers were employed in a day.
What we met as a policy was that an information officer was made to manage three ministries or even four parastatals. This changed while we there. We ensured that we had sufficient manpower to manage the ministries. There was an information officer for each ministry, who reported what was going on in each of the ministries to the main Information Ministry on a daily basis. That way, we were able to coordinate all the ministries.
At the time we came in, not many were watching the state’s owned television stations because of the blurred images that were coming out of the station. But we bought modern equipment for them and gave the staff training. We funded them to acquire broadcasting equipment. Now OSBC is a channel to watch and it now lives up to being the voice of the South West.
What memories did you take with you out of government?
The one I will never forget is the day I was arrested on a cooked up charge and taken to prison. It was on the 14th of June 2007 when it was reported that there was an explosion at the state secretariat just after our election was rigged. I was at the correspondents’ chapel with journalists. And when the news filtered in, I was even the one telling the journalists that it was an occurrence that had never happened in Oshogbo.
Nine months later, the powers that be said that they discovered a diary inside the wreckage of the car that exploded. A car that had been in the sun and rain for nine months! They said they discovered a diary with the names of some politicians in the vehicle. That was how the witch hunting began. They started looking for all of us and declared all of us wanted before they finally got me.
How were you arrested?
Before my arrest, I had abandoned my house for about six months. But used to come to town to do some party work and also to go to school, because I was doing a Law programme then. I was dodging security men to take my exams. But that Sunday morning, I decided to go and see my house. I got into the compound, entered the house and started removing the cobweb and dusting the place. You know, my wife and children were forced to move out of the place too when the harassment by security operatives got too much. I was told that they were coming to the house in the morning, afternoon and night, even at 2am, to ransack the whole place. As I was leaving the house that Sunday, just at the NNPC station here, a Peugeot bus emerged from nowhere. I increased my car speed and they increased theirs too. The next thing was that they crossed my car, forced me to stop, jumped down and pulled out their guns. People scampered away to safety. They told me I was under arrest. I asked for a duly signed warrant of arrest and the Inspector that led them opened a file and showed me the warrant of arrest. They had been carrying it around for six months. That was how they took me. The next day, I was thrown into Ife Prisons. I was there for 40 days. It was a horrible experience.
What do you do these days?
Before I ventured fully into politics, I was into farming. But when you accept public office, you have to be fully in office. It is after I left office that I resumed fully with my farming business. I have a large farm here in Osogbo and also at my home town. I go to the farm early in the morning and return late afternoon. A nation that cannot feed itself is doomed. Most countries in the world do not have the kind of land that we have for farming. I think every family should have a small farm. Let us start from there. In the early era of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, there was no oil boom. It was agriculture that was the main stay of the economy and people were into it. We should go back to it.
What’s your personality like at home?
I am a homely person who believes in my family. I also believe in family harmony, raising children up and imparting the fear of God and service to humanity in them. I believe that what you are outside does not make much sense until it relates well with what you are at home. As a politician, I know that if my home is not well taken care of and at peace, I cannot be a successful or organised politician to people out there.
And to the glory of God, He gave me a wife that loves me; someone that is peaceful, caring and understanding. If a politician of my nature does not have such a wife, then there will be a problem, because we are always on the road, sometimes travelling for three days. So, a politician needs an understanding wife. I thank God for my wife. She is a Deaconess in the church. She is Godly and prayerful. There are two people who are daily praying for me—my wife and my mother. I thank them for their prayers.
What attracted you to her?
We met a long time ago. She was my junior in school. I was in Class 5 and she was in Class 3. We became friends then. We courted for 10 years before we got married.
What is your most memorable day?
That was the day Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola got his mandate. I was with a friend at a mechanic workshop when the whole town erupted in joy. The friend that was with me started crying. I told him he should not be crying but should be happy. He said that he never believed a day like that would come. We thank God that we have been part of that experience. And I remember that after about 30 minutes, the leadership at the state television station called my phone. They wanted an interview with me. Tears dropped from my eyes because it occurred to me that the same people did not call me weeks and days before. They had forgotten about me until the victory was announced.
You are also known as someone who treasures culture…
Yes, you are right, I treasure African culture. I once had an opportunity to travel to Cuba. When you get to Cuba, you see a country with a population of about 11 million receiving over four million visitors. Tourism is the main stain of Cuba. And when you visit 80 per cent of their tourist centres, there are things they copy from us; mainly things from Osun. They will tell you that they have Ojubo Yemoja (Yemoja Shrine) , Ojubo Osun (Osun Shrine), and so on; all the things we do not value here.
I believe in culture. Today, I am the Oluomo of my town. And I believe that one of the ways I can project my town is using my Oriki (panegyrics) as my ringing tone. And I believe sincerely that if we are going to develop the economy, we must focus on developing our tourism potentials in each of the states. Our focus should move away from oil. We should start looking at sectors that can generate revenue our country.
You seem to love agbada (flowing gown) a lot. Is it because you are a politician or it is just your style?
I am a sociable person, though I do not believe in being flamboyant. I believe that in whatever I wear, I must be seen to be decent and presentable. I attend quite a lot of parties, but if you see me at a party wearing perhaps an ankara fabric that is worth just N1500, I will still wear it with a lot of carriage and dignity. That is my attitude to life. If I have five social functions in a day and the five of them bring their ankara clothes to me, I will accept the five and put them all in my car for that day. When I am leaving one party for another, I change into the ankara of the party that I am attending next. I love to identify with those who are celebrating. That is my personality and that is my style. That is how I was when I was in office. And even after two and a half years that I have been out of office, my lifestyle has not changed. I am a socialite to the core. And I enjoy being with people.
