THERE seems to be growing opposition against Senate President Bukola Saraki and his political leadership of the state. What is your view on this, particularly as you are from Offa which is now one of the epicentres in the state?
I make bold to say that members of the opposition in Kwara State are all strange bed-fellows. The only affinity they have for one another is the hatred for Saraki and not the development of the state. How come they have not come up with a manifesto on how they intend to further develop Kwara, apart from just chanting “enough is enough”? They have reduced governance to child’s play whereby you tell your playmate he has had enough and should let you have your turn. We should not be deceived by their antics.
Senator Saraki is a leader whose political sagacity and intellectual capacity remain unparalleled. He is a democrat par excellence who allows the doctrine of internal democracy to prevail in party affairs. He is a leader that believes in an all-inclusive system. He doesn’t run a one-man show in the sense that he consults widely with stakeholders before decisions are made. Can we say so of others? How well do we really know of others who are currently fighting for the soul of Kwara? Surprisingly, it is those who have benefitted one way or the other from the Saraki Dynasty that are at the forefront of this mudslinging and character assassination.
My Offa brothers in the opposition should tread softly and stop misinforming members of the public. Such behaviour is clearly a departure from the tenets of our progenitor, the great Olalomi Olofagangan. We should always remember that power is transient; it belongs to God and He gives it to whom He pleases. The slandering of the Senate President has to stop. Enough of politics of treachery and defamation. The interest of Offa, Kwara State and Nigeria at large should be paramount in all that we do, politically or otherwise. We shouldn’t place our personal and selfish interest above the development, stability and welfare of Offa, our beloved community.
What is your position on the ongoing war of words between the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Senate President over the Offa robbery?
The statement made by the Minister of Information and Culture at the just- concluded Ijakadi Offa Festival, a purely cultural event devoid of politics, in respect of the robbery incident and who gave what sum of money or not was a careless statement and highly uncalled for. He is neither from Offa, nor was he at the palace of the Olofa when the Senate President paid a condolence visit to Offa after the robbery incident. What we should rather ask is what assistance has the minister ever rendered to the community before or after the incident? He and his co-conspirators should please leave Offa out of their politricks.
The politicisation of the Offa robbery incident must stop. We should allow the law to determine who is guilty or not. The average Offa man/woman I grew up to know is highly intelligent and I believe he/she would not be easily swayed or brainwashed by politicians wanting to score cheap political points, through character assassination, into believing that a particular political leader was the mastermind.
The robbery incident looks more like a security lapse, as it is noteworthy that Offa in the past had witnessed series of attack on banks. What are the lessons learnt from those attacks and what security measures are put in place to prevent a recurrence?
During the recent robbery incident, though the police station was attacked, there is a SARS unit in Offa that should have risen to the challenge of confronting the hoodlums. But the SARS operatives were nowhere to be found when they were desperately needed and nobody is asking questions. Rather, we are busy playing politics with the whole incident.
The Nigerian Police needs to do more in terms of securing the lives and properties of citizens. For progress to be made in that regard, there is an urgent need to employ the use of technology in solving and preventing crime in view of the fact that such occurrence in Offa has become a recurring decimal. This brings to mind a Yoruba adage that literally means that such a horrendous incident would not have happened without the connivance/involvement of an insider. It is high time we stopped playing politics with a matter as sensitive as armed robbery.
Offa people are known to be independent-minded. What should be the expectation as the election approaches?
Offa people are quite enlightened and needs no form of liberation whatsoever. I was once a local government administrator and thus, I can say unequivocally that I have an in-depth knowledge of the community, the people and the local politics. As a patriotic daughter of Offa, for me, the interest of the community comes first. It is pertinent to reiterate that Offa remains part of Kwara state and not an extension of another state. I would enjoin every Kwara indigene of character, goodwill and conscience to visit the website of the Debt Management Office (DMO) and analyse the debt profile of each state, viz-a-viz the earning capacity (IGR and statutory allocation), spending pattern and the infrastructure on ground in each state for a proper understanding of the viability, sustainability or otherwise of each state. Kwara is actually not doing badly.
We do not want Kwara to be like some states under the control of the opposition because the only style of governance they understand is obtaining huge loans. If there are issues that leaves much to be desired, let us address them with the person that is one of us, who has been with us, who knows our wants and needs and is ever ready to do it the way we want it done.
As the Yoruba will say, “Tiwa n’ tiwa”(what belongs to us is ours). Kwara should not be taken over by people that would take instructions from outside the state and ultimately make use of their crippling style to govern the state. As the saying goes, “the man dies in him who is silent in the face of injustice, tyranny and misinformation”. The cognomen of my beloved homeland, Offa is, “Laa’re, buu’re ikan o gbodo ju’kan” (be equitable, just, truthful and fair in all you do). Therefore, it behooves all indigenes of Offa to be fair, truthful, equitable and just in all that we do. We should not allow any outsider or even fellow indigenes pitch us against ourselves under the guise of liberating us by playing dirty politics with a sad and unfortunate incident, in order to achieve their own selfish and personal agenda.
But the opposition is saying, o to ge (enough is enough)
Their slogan is not a problem for us. If they tell you o to ge, tell them tiwa n’ tiwa Oloye!
and then