Dr. Olusegun Osinkolu is the Patron of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Vanguard. In this interview with RASAQ IBRAHIM, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain speaks on governance in Ekiti, President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet and challenges before the administration.
President Bola Tinubu recently sworn in members of the Federal Executive Council. What are your expectations from them?
My expectations are not different from that of other Nigerians, which are for them to deliver democracy dividends to the people, and to also bring a paradigm shift to governance and make it one that can bring prosperity. We can’t afford to be moving through a cycle of suffering and vicious poverty. They must break away from the past by shunning corruption, tackle the cankerworm of insecurity, banditry and kidnapping. They must usher in a new Nigeria where things work perfectly like in the 50s and 60s when the African continent was looking up to Nigeria as the giant that would provide shelter and set the pace of development for them. They must make Nigeria a place where local oil refineries can work without sabotage; a Nigeria where we can trust our leaders and make our youths productive, rather than allowing them to waste away due to pervasive unemployment. They must give us a Nigeria where fuel and food prices will be affordable to all Nigerians; a new Nigeria where we can all sleep with our two eyes closed. The new cabinet members would be the most watched and most monitored Federal Executive Council in Nigeria’s history. They have to be circumspect of what history will say about them by working hard in synergy to make Nigerians happy.
You spoke about delivery and this depends largely on competence. How do you rate the competences of the new ministers?
Majority of them are accomplished politicians, technocrats and bureaucrats, who had done creditably well in their past assignments. The new FEC is populated with individuals with strong backgrounds in the corporate world, politics and civil service. Some are from the civil service and some are accomplished politicians, so it was a well-balanced one. I can point to over 85% of them who are very competent based on past records and in terms of delivery.
Some Nigerians seemed to have lost faith in the politicians, but the likes of the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu did well as a Governor of Kebbi State. Nigerians are still remembering with nostalgic feelings how he revolutionised rice production in Kebbi with Kebbi Rice in partnership with Lagos State Government, likewise his former colleague in Jigawa State, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru who is now the Minister of Defence. You could see that former Governor Badaru did so well to provide security in Jigawa State. There were no preponderant cases of kidnapping, banditry and insurgency in his state like other contiguous states in Northern Nigeria. Former Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola also did marvelously well in the areas of payment of salaries and pensions to Osun workers. He increased the state’s IGR and provided many landmark infrastructures. Among the technocrats, Prof. Ali Pate has paid his dues in the field of medicine. His works had assumed an international dimension. He had performed so many responsibilities at the international level. The same thing can be said about Yusuf Tuggar, now manning the Foreign Affairs Ministry. So, these are very good people that parade very rich antecedents who should not betray the confidence reposed in them.
With 48 ministers, don’t you think Tinubu’s government is over bloated?
No, I don’t think so. Don’t forget that we have over 200 million people with over 200 ethnic groups. How could someone think that 48 ministers will be too bloated to administer this number of citizens? I think I agree with President Tinubu’s position that removing burdens of drudgery and overconcentration of powers in some ministries will help the performance of the ministers. We can’t continue to make some ministries too powerful and those at the helms of affairs will later find it difficult to deliver. But if those ministries are streamlined the way he had done and the burdens become lighter and the ministers there can deliver, the better for Nigeria. Nigerians are expecting good results from the President and they shouldn’t allow him to approach governance using the same old pattern and still expect that he will achieve a different and better result. Things are not done that way.
The President also created some new ministries. Do you think that was necessary?
I agree perfectly with the explanations Mr. President gave to defend his actions. Nigeria has lost a lot of revenues due to the lumping of the Ministries of Information with that of Arts, Culture and Tourism. But now, we have the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy. With this, we will be able to maximise our potential in these sectors rather than just allowing them to waste away. With what President Tinubu has done in the areas of culture and tourism, Nigeria is now going the way of Kenya, Rwanda, Isreal and Saudi Arabia that make tourism the bedrock of their economies. Nigeria as big as it is can’t continue to depend only on oil for survival. Let us also look at the billions we are wasting in the maritime sector due to insecurity and lack of focus. But with the creation of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Nigeria will develop that sector and that will make it one of the hubs of its economy. Some experts even said Nigeria has the potential to generate N11 trillion from that sector yearly and now is the time to prove this. Despite the fact that Nigeria is not placing priority on entertainment as a wing of the creative industry, the country makes about $1.8 billion, approximately N730 billion in 2020 as GDP. Now that the focus is on the sector with the creation of a new ministry, we will do better in the 2023-24 fiscal year in terms of GDP measurement.
Your party, APC will be going into governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo States. What is your expectation?
My expectations are that we must retain Kogi and Imo States, while also going ahead to reclaim Bayelsa from the PDP. The APC candidate, David Lyon won in Bayelsa in the last governorship election, but lost the seat to PDP through judicial pronouncement. The APC had been able to establish a stronghold in Kogi with Governor Yahaya Bello winning two times to spend eight years. Governor Hope Uzodinma also came through judicial verdict like we had in Bayelsa. But whichever way it comes, APC remains the most organised and strongest party in Nigeria. I am particularly happy with what his Excellency and National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje is doing by ensuring that the party is united. He has been reaching out to aggrieved members to settle some disputes that are ripping our party apart. Today, former Governor Rochas Okorocha and Governor Uzodinma are on the same page. Similar efforts are being made in two other states to enhance unity in APC. In essence, the party must be united to be able to win and that the leadership is doing. So, I am confident the party will do excellently well in these states.
After 10 months in the office, Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, just constituted his cabinet. Has this slowed down governance?
I don’t think so. Don’t forget that the bulk of the jobs of governance are done by the top civil servants. I had been in the system before under the first term of Governor Kayode Fayemi when I was the Managing Director of Ekiti Investment Holdings. If you go to Ekiti State and feel the pulses of the people, you will know that they are pleased with the pace of development under Governor Abiodun Oyebanji. I think he has brought about some unusual conduct into governance by his humility and closeness to the grassroots. The best legacy he is laying is the fact that the local governments and the local council development areas are now enjoying a high level of financial independence to execute projects on their own. In fact, it has become like a competition among the local government chairmen and that is good for the system. I have also seen some benefits of continuity in governance under him, with the completion of the Bus Terminal in Ado Ekiti and the Ekiti State Traditional Rulers’ Chamber also in Ado Ekiti. Governor Fayemi started all these projects. I have also seen some road projects being completed like the Oke Oniyo road in Ado Ekiti. The Omisanjana- Deeper Life Camp-Ikere road bypass nears completion. The governor has completed the renovation of Ilawe-Erinjiyan-Ikogosi road among others. We are also seeing massive dredging of waterways and channelisation projects to control flooding. So, I don’t think the delay in the constitution of the full cabinet had really affected governance negatively.
Some local council development areas were created by the past administration. Do you consider this a benefit to Ekiti or not?
Just like I said earlier, the local government system is becoming more beneficial and more invigorated under Governor Oyebanji and the LCDAs have been a source of benefit to our people. If you go to some of these LCDAs, they are even contesting in terms of projects’ execution with substantive local governments.
It seems opposition parties are gradually becoming very weak in Ekiti State. Don’t you think this will make the current government complacent?
Well, I am one of those who believe that strong and virile opposition is needed to strengthen democracy. But the opposition too can’t behave irresponsibly when the ruling party is doing the right thing. Though I don’t want to delve into the issues of opposition in Ekiti or in Nigeria because I am not one of their members, but when it comes to Ekiti politics, the kind of politics being played by Governor Oyebanji may make it difficult for the opposition to be attacking him because he is very fair and inclusive. He has maintained cordial relationships with the arrowheads of opposition parties in Ekiti. Just recently, he visited two prominent opposition figures and former governors: Segun Oni and Ayo Fayose. He has also been getting advice from them on how best to deliver for our people. Most interesting is the fact that members of opposition were appointed as Special Advisers in his cabinet in the spirit of inclusivity, so it is a micro Unity Government that Governor Oyebanji is running in Ekiti.
