Dr. Segun Osinkolu is a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State and Patron of the Tinubu/Shettima Solidarity Vanguard. In this interview he shared his thought on governance in Ekiti State since the coming of the present republic as well as on the reward system of his party which he regretted having been heavily manipulated against him despite his unfailing loyalty, trials and support. He also gave assessment of President Tinubu’s administration, urging Nigerians to be patient with him on the situation of the economy. Excerpts:
As a prominent leader in Ekiti State APC, how will you rate governance in the last one and half years?
With this question, you are trying to goad me to appraise the governance under Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji. Let me say this, since 1999, Ekiti State had been lucky with the kinds of governors that we have had so far. One thing must be stressed here, some might have a lot of misgivings about the performances of our governors, but the fact remains that all of them performed looking at the available resources that accrued to our dear state. Under Otunba Niyi Adebayo in 1999, Ekiti was just a fledging state with no viable source of income. The monies that were accruing to the state were majorly from the civil service, I mean the taxed being deducted from the monthly salaries. In spite of this serious snag, that government started the big edifice at Oke Bareke area of Ado Ekiti, which was to be used for Hotel to generate money for Ekiti. He couldn’t complete this because he lost the second term bid but his predecessor, Dr. Ayodele Fayose, completed the structure and named it New Governor’s Office. It was Adebayo’s government that began aggressive investment in quarry industry located at Igbemo in partnership with private company called ROMACO, likewise Ire Brick Industry in Ire Ekiti. He also built Ekiti Houses in Lagos and Abuja to generate money. These are good things his administration did. To his predecessor, Ayodele Fayose, it was his government that constructed the dual carriage way around Ado Ekiti, built the Trade Fair complex, Adetiloye hall, Jibowu hall, the flyover among others. Engr. Segun Oni despite the cacophony of confusion surrounding his government with the judicial encumbrance posed by the challenge the then Action Congress put up to reclaim its mandate for Dr. Kayode Fayemi, did put up good showings. He established the University of Education, Ikere Ekiti (TUNEDIK), University of Science and Technology, Ifaki Ekiti that were later merged with the Ekiti State University. He started Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki dual carriage way among other landmark projects. Dr. Kayode Fayemi also exposed Ekiti to business opportunities. Look at the quantum of works done on the Ikogosi Warm Spring, Arinta Waterfall, Ikun Dairy Farm that is now generating 10,000 litres of milk daily, the five kilometres of road per council project, the food bank policy, Ado Ekiti metropolis Urban Renewal policy, the International Cargo Airport project and many others. So, if I say Ekiti has been lucky with governors, I know what I am saying.
You have been able to justify your thinking about the qualities of governors Ekiti had produced, what can you say precisely about the present situation?
The situation is not different from what we have been getting: good governance. But I am indeed happy just like an average Ekiti man on the street that Governor Oyebanji’s government remains the most participatory and inclusive in history. He has succeeded in demystifying that position for an average Ekiti man by his humility and accessibility to every citizen. This is how an ideal governance should be. You know every state has its peculiarities, what are obtainable in Lagos are not what you get in Ekiti. Despite that these governors did well, our people had always complained about some governors being too elitist with the exception of Governor Fayose, who appealed to the masses without factoring the elite to his governing strategy. But now, we have a governor who has been able to balance the two. Governor Oyebanji has proven to be appealing to both the elite and common men on the streets. Little wonder he is popular across all the strata of Ekiti. Let me start with security, which is the most strategic function of government, we can all attest to the fact that kidnapping, banditry and robbery have been on the downward trend since Governor Oyebanji took over and this had allowed more business opportunities in the state. Unemployment that has been the bane of development is gradually being tackled with the employment of about 3,000 teachers and civil servants within a year his administration took off. In the area of infrastructure, roads in Ado Ekiti like the Irona-Oke Oniyo, Oke Ila area, Omisanjana-Campground-Ajebamidele, Moferere-Agric Olope-matthew, Ikogosi-Ogotun roads have been reconstructed and made motorable. The current government had also flagged off the construction of Isinbode-Ara- Ikole, Ikere-Igbara Odo, Ikere-Ise roads, while a ring road from Iworoko-Are-Afao-Igbemo- Cargo Airport that will decongest Ado Ekiti metropolis had been flagged off that will increase the economic potentials of the towns in that axis. The flagship is the proposal to build a flyover between Okeyinmi and Ijigbo business district to decongest that axis that is always very chaotic in terms of traffic congestion. So, these are some of the imprints Governor Oyebanji is putting in place and I believe that he is taking the state through the right course of development. Even the mere fact that he pays the salary of workers without deduction and effected a policy where gratuity worth a sum of N500m will be paid monthly to retirees were enough to give this current government a thumb up because the development of human capital remains the best legacy, we can learn this from Chief Obafemi Awolowo free education policy.
You are a notable, active member of APC, do you agree with the nature of the internal politics within the party?
Well, there is no human institution that is absolutely perfect and a political party that comprises people of different characters, nuances and ways of lives cannot be expected to be perfect. However, one thing is sacrosanct to all political parties, members must have the same ideology and the moment they are having variance, the party tends to run into crisis. If I am to appraise our party deep from my heart or using my own view, I will say that the party has not been fair to some of his members in terms of appointments and rewards for their loyalties. When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over the leadership of our party, he was politically savvy enough to realize this difficulty and he did make a pronouncement that he will promote reward mechanism in APC. If you look at Ekiti APC, the party has not been fair to me in particular. I know the level of loyalty I have displayed and resources we have invested to make our party stands even during the trying times. I have contested Senatorial primaries in Ekiti North Senatorial District for four times and each time they robbed me of victory. They normally imposed one person, maybe because he was close to somebody in power and all that. What really marveled me was that, those who came after us without significant investments in our party were being rated higher in terms of being given tickets to contest elections. But in spite of this, I remain a committed member of APC and I am doing this to show my support for President Tinubu and Governor Oyebanji who is in charge of my state because the development of Ekiti supersedes every other ambition. But, I want to advise the State Chairman of our party and those concerned to look into all these things that are agitating the minds of some members. It is not about me alone, others too are affected. We thank God that I have a second address that is sustaining me, but that doesn’t connote that our rights too should be trampled upon; people like me deserve respect in APC.
You are a strong supporter of President Tinubu, how do you assess the current economic situation?
One can’t pretend about the level of hardship in the system, we are all feeling the heat of the fuel subsidy removal leading to the sale of petroleum for N650 per litre. But Nigerians must understand that the removal remained the best option available to President Tinubu for our economy to be strong and to reduce our borrowing. The rate at which we were borrowing under the last administration was alarming and Nigerians were making noise. Let us ask ourselves a salient question: where did Nigerians expect the President to get the money to finance the budget without borrowing if fuel subsidy is not removed? We need to be practical with the way we run our economy in this country. Even some of the advanced countries of the world are adjusting some of their subsidized products to align with the current economic realities. In actual sense, the economic hardship is a global thing, but what made our own more difficult is the level of unemployment in the system. Out of those working in Nigeria, less than 20% of the working population are gainfully employed, about 20% are underemployed while 60% are unemployed, so 80% of the population are relying on the income of just working 20% for survival. That really makes our situation very hard. From my own point of view, this is going to be a temporary suffering, things will normalize soon. If not because of this situation, the federal government wouldn’t have fast-tracked action on the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery that is now being test-run. It will begin operation soon and that of Delta is undergoing similar attention. So, we should see this situation as a blessing in disguise. Can anyone from his wildest imagination have thought our refineries will work in Nigeria due to activities of saboteurs? Good things are beginning to occur that will help our economy like the Dangote Refinery that has started production of diesel and aviation fuel. These are good signs that things are looking up for Nigeria.
Prominent members of the PDP are supporting the second term of Governor Oyebanji, don’t you find it strange, particularly on its effects on the polity?
To me, this is not the best time to start talking about second term because the governor has just spent one year and four months in office out of your years tenure. We must allow him to concentrate. I even commend the governor for realizing this. He had at various forums said that his second term is in the hands of God, that he is not desperate about anything, knowing well that he never imagined becoming a governor. But whatever happens, those supporting him too knew the reason why they were doing so and they have the constitutional rights to do it. In my own mind, they must have been fascinated by the governor’s inclusive action and fair-mindedness to all parties. Look at the way he has been meeting with the opposition leaders and embracing them. He had met with former governors Segun Oni and Ayodele Fayose to show respect. Instead of suppressing and muzzling the opposition by fighting them, the governor has been making friends with them and that is a hallmark of leadership. This state belongs to all of us. As much as I appreciate the opposition for being magnanimous to show love to our governor, I appeal to them to wait for the right time before starting the second term campaign, so that our governor won’t get distracted.
The governor has sworn in new council chairmen, what do consider them to make their agenda?
I don’t have personal agenda than the one our party and the good people of Ekiti State have. What our party and the masses have been craving for is good governance and nothing more. Ekiti State is predominantly agrarian with over 73% of the population resident in the local area, so the local government chairmen have a lot of responsibilities to discharge to make lives better for our people. My advice would be that they should see power as transient and do their best to replicate the six point agenda of Governor Oyebanji at the local government. I am happy that the idea of Local Council Development Area has brought governance close to the people, so if the councils’ helmsmen made enough sacrifices, loyalty, inclusiveness, prudence and bring the right knowledge into their services, things will be better for Ekiti people. They must heed the warning given by the governor that he won’t allow corruption and misplaced priority in councils. This shows that they must be ready to consult widely with stakeholders in all the towns before embarking on any project. Another critical area is that they must patronize local contractors to prevent capital flight.
