Chief Nathaniel Oke (SAN), a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, is seeking to contest the governorship election billed to hold in the state on September 22. He speaks with Deputy Editor, DAPO FALADE, on his ambition and prospects.
What is the motive behind your governorship ambition?
It is nothing personal. Ordinarily, I would have said I want to contest to be a senator or go to the House of Representatives but I want that executive power, not for my own selfish end, because I don’t need it for that purpose, but to uplift the standard of living of the people of Osun State. I am contemplating a situation where the stakeholders in Osun are not mere onlookers. You want to award contracts and you now invite people from neighbouring states to come and execute them in Osun. After execution, you make money available for them to be paid in the state where they came from. If they are going to pay that money, where are they going to spend it? Is it not the place where the payment was effected? And the owners of the place are now onlookers. Artisans are there, but they are not given the opportunities. The money in Osun State, no matter how meagre, should be made to circulate principally in the state for the usage and benefit of the people, and not for the purpose of personal aggrandisement.
Also, my own vision about development is that you develop the people. By the time you do that, you are indirectly developing the state because the people have roles to play which they are capable of playing. But they are not developed and you say you are building infrastructure, to be used by whom? What is the point in doing that? That is the way I look at it
You have been a member of the PDP since 2001, what do you think are the factors responsible for the fall of the party from power in the state?
When you feel too comfortable in office and you believe all is well, that is when danger comes around and is likely to consume you. I used to watch wrestling. While you are jubilating, seeing that your opponent is on the ground, suddenly, he will carry you and smash you on the ground. You felt too confident that there was no other political party in existence that could defeat PDP but here we are. And we have learnt our lessons. The only opportunity we have now is that those who sought change have seen the change. Whether it is acceptable to the generality of the people or not is a different thing. But on our own part, this is not the change we were expecting. We believe very strongly that this is not the type of change that the people were hoping for when they voted in 2014.
As a legal practitioner and as one of the elders of the PDP, what role did you play to stop the identified lapses and prevent the party from falling from power?
Principally, my advice was from the legal angle. But many times, when you are contemplating solutions to a particular problem, you will have various pieces of advice. I just mentioned an aspect which is the legal. We also have political advices and it is all about gambling. When you are sure of a situation at times, you may not have all the facts and so your conclusion may be wrong because of certain missing elements and there is little you could do.
In the last senatorial by-election which produced Senator Adeleke, all the factions of the PDP came together to work for his success. The factions still exist but do you think they will still come together in the next election?
They will and that is what the people of Osun State generally are praying for. They are not happy with the divisions in the PDP. But when you are struggling for power, it is like people wanting to come first in a race but at the end of the day, it is an individual that will emerge victorious. The moment we agree on a particular candidate whose selection must be judiciously and transparently done, then we will all support him because that is the only way out.
You are from Osun East, how do you think you can have your dream realised as some people are clamouring that it is the turn of Osun West to produce the next governor?
That argument cannot be right. It would have been a different thing entirely if the argument is that since the commencement of democracy in 1992, Osun West has not produced the governor. The first civilian governor we had in this state was the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke. This has effectively neutralised the argument that Osun West has been short-changed. Apart from that, I will want to say they still have that right, but let the best candidate emerge from among all the contestants. I don’t even want to limit it to the PDP; I pray that the best candidate that will promote the interest of Osun State and its people emerge and we will all support such a person. But as things are now, we cannot seriously say we are happy and that is why I am making myself available. I want to go the whole hog.
So, you are not in support of zoning?
I don’t support zoning. It is not in the constitution and is not stated anywhere. It is just an idea. I am not saying Osun West does not have good aspirants but we should throw it open so that, at the end of the day, we will have what is the best for the state. I don’t support the zoning system. If the argument is about zoning, Ife has not done it before; it is only Ilesa that has produced the governor and Ife is equally a part and parcel of Osun State. I believe that rather than dwelling on where you come from, it should be about merit.
What gives you the edge over others?
I have passion for service. I am not about any affairs of the world – wanting to build houses or buying cars. I have reached the very peak of my professional career, which is Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and I believe that with this achievement – coupled with the knowledge that I have gained since the time I have been defending the interests of the PDP, as a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and as a holder of some other legal offices – and with the cooperation and understanding of other contestants, we will be able to commonly move Osun State forward.
In what specific areas do think you can make changes if you become the governor of the state?
I must confess to you: speaking from the bottom of my heart, education is there. What is the ranking of the state now in the comity of states? I think Osun is occupying the 28th position in the last WAEC – Osun of all states. You should be able to know, what are the factors responsible?
When a student is not performing in a classroom, if the teacher is very observant, he will know that something is wrong with the student. It may be a combination of several factors that is actually responsible for the non-performance of that student in the school. I have seen what is responsible for the poor performance. It is more than merely building classrooms. The people that are responsible for the teaching of these children, are we making them happy?
If I promise that I will be paying you a particular amount monthly, as an employer of labour but I didn’t fulfil that aspect of my responsibility, will the workers be happy with me?
Would the teachers be happy with the children they are teaching? They will not be happy. The cumulative effect of this is failure and non-performance.
And when you are building schools, don’t concentrate on cities alone; make decent accommodations for teachers who are to be posted outside the cities so that the desire to come home will not even be there. If you make them comfortable in the various villages where they are posted, they will be interested in working there; they will be interested in staying there. But everybody wants to remain in the cities because they believe the facilities are there.
What is your plan for agricultural development in the state?
Our farmers are there planting, even within their own capability. After they might have toiled day and night, during reaping and harvesting, where do they take the farm produce to? They don’t even know where to take them to. They toiled for months, and sometimes for years, but they still sell to the locals; there is no arrangement for regulatory bodies that can take the products. You should be able to predict in advance, ‘what will be the value of my products?’ There should be certain agents who are government-recognised who are ready to accept these products from me. That would create an eagerness for me to do more because I know that at the end of the day, certain people are on ground to buy and make some funds available to me.
You are talking about low value on agricultural products. Specifically, how do you intend to make a change and a clear departure from the existing norms?
It is by creating a board. This is very important and that is what I mean by a regulatory body. You will even make seedlings available to the farmers. By so doing, you are developing a relationship. When you are supposed to inspect, go and go inspect. And when the products are harvested, the farmers will be happy and their children will be happy, too. If you know that some people are waiting to buy your products at the right value, they will be counting days. There will be encouragement; there will be commitment and there will be passion. But as things are now, everybody is just on his own, gambling. We have left these farmers so directionless and they don’t know what to do. The only vision they are having is just to eat.
So, my vision is to set up a regulatory body so that at any point in time, the farmer will be able to say, ‘this is the value of my product and this is my expectation’. And if there is going to be any shortage in whatever form, it will be so minimal and you have even provided cushion for them to minimise the impact.