Chief Gbenga Babalola, a former federal civil servant and senator who represented Oyo North Senatorial District between 2007 and 2011, is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State. He speaks with MOSES ALAO on why ADC has become the party to beat in the country and especially in Oyo State and his vision for the state.
You obtained the Expression of Interest and Nomination form of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the governorship position, but what is your motivation for seeking to become the governor of Oyo State?
The motivation is when you wake up and you see the suffering of our people, you cannot but be moved to take action. That is my motivation and it was the same motivation that led to my journey into politics.
It was my motivation for joining politics in 2003; how to alleviate the suffering of the people was my prime objective.
How can we be suffering in the midst of abundance and plenty? We have a lot resources — human and natural. So, I don’t see why people should be suffering. I don’t see why Nigeria should continue to be a Third World country.
So, my motivation for seeking to be the governor of Oyo State is to see that we lift the people out of poverty and return the state to its enviable heights.
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If your intention is to lift people out of poverty, why are you hell-bent on being governor when you can do that through other means?
Hell-bent is not the right word; that would portend desperation and I am not a desperate politician. But as I have said, if you are from the part of Oyo State that I have come from, that is Oke Ogun, you would discover that, without taking the leadership of this state, our people can never get the best of anything in the state.
And the development that we are hoping would go round the nooks and crannies of the state would always be elusive until that is done. I am seeking to be the governor of this state because I want to raise this state from its present state of underdevelopment and its people from squalor. If I am given the opportunity, we are going to make Oyo State great again.
When you say words like making Oyo State great again, doesn’t that sound political as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has continued to say that it has transformed the state?
What is political about it? Oyo State used to set the pace in everything in the past, but in the last eight years the state has gone backwards. You mention any area: is it the widespread poverty among the people that is not obvious or the fact that Oyo State now hovers between number 25 and 29 on the list of states in terms of performance in WAEC? They have drawn Oyo State back to mundane things.
The poverty rate has skyrocketed in the state. Human capital development is zero. So, we want to run a government that would focus on human development, while not closing its eyes to infrastructure and physical development. We would run a government that has as its focus the well-being of the people and the development of human capital rather, than concentrating on white elephants.
It is not new for office-seekers to use catch phrases and slogans to persuade voters. So, what does your promise to make the state great again really entail?
My number one plan for making Oyo State great again is education. Government is going to spend massively on education. I once said before that if elected governor, my first priority would be education, my second priority would be education and my third priority would be education.
If education is well-handled, it would be the springboard for the development of the state. After education comes agriculture and following that closely is the economy, because agriculture is going to become the source of the state’s economic development.
If elected governor, I would make sure that education is not only free but also compulsory. It would be treated like something that must be done; such that if you are a mother, you must know that you have to educate the child.
Now, someone would ask how we will get the money to drive the process; that is where agriculture comes in. To me, I think that is the best thing that can happen to Oyo State: to use the land, the fertility of the land and climatic conditions we have to create wealth. Sadly, we are not doing anything.
From Ibadan to Oyo, from Oyo to Iseyin, from Ibadan to Eruwa, we have lands in abundance but we are not doing anything with them. I am telling you that when I am elected governor of this state, after 24 months, no one would go to Abuja cap in hand for federal allocation.
We can have a special account for the federal allocation which would be strictly for development of the state. But on our own as a state, we would have created enough resources through agriculture to pay salaries, take care of people and our state. We are going to concentrate a lot of resources on agriculture. Imagine if Oyo State spends just N1 billion to develop agriculture, putting our resources in agriculture would yield results in multiple folds.
But why have you chosen ADC, a relatively new party in Oyo State, to pursue the ambition? Do you think it can garner enough support to win elections in the state?
ADC may be relatively new as you said, but it is the people’s party; it is the party with the right ideals and vision for the well-being of Nigerians. In Oyo State, ADC is a conglomeration of the people; the people who own this state and the real politicians have come together to form the ADC, having realised that all these other parties have been ruling without purpose. ADC has brought together a conglomeration of people with purpose, ideas and interests in the development of Nigeria and Oyo State and I am confident that the party will win elections.
What do you mean by people who own Oyo State and real politicians?
I am talking about the individuals who have the support of the Oyo State masses and their love at heart. Some people have been winning elections in this state for decades; every election we have held in Oyo State since 2003 has been about Senator Rashidi Ladoja.
We know the contribution of Chief Michael Koleoso to the politics of this state. These people have come together to put an end to the reign of inconsiderate and capitalistic leadership in the state and they have the support of the masses. I can tell you that ADC has become the most popular party in Oyo State today and I can assure you that we would win the next governorship election in the state and win in other elections.
You will be contesting the ADC governorship ticket with many other aspirants. Would you be able to muster the needed support and people to win this ticket?
Honestly speaking, in the best interest of ADC, I think I am the right governorship candidate for the party. This is for the leadership of the party: if ADC wants to win the 2019 governorship election in Oyo State and they need a candidate who can win the election for the party, one, the candidate needs to come from Oke Ogun. Two, if the candidate is coming from Oke Ogun, it is between who and who?
I am not proclaiming myself as the all-in-all, but we have done elections before. I have won a senatorial election in this state and we have a lot of commitments from the people and things that we have done for the people. I am not new to the people. ADC needs someone who is accessible to a lot of people and whose exposure and experience is beyond ordinary. We need someone who has the experience to contribute to the development of the state.
Apart from being a senator, I was in the Ministry of Finance for 15 years and when I left the Civil Service in 2001 as an Assistant Director, I went into the private sector as the Chief Executive of many companies, employing so many people. I am trying to say that I have a total experience in the private sector, in the public service and as a legislator. All these experiences would help to bring development to the state. And I think if ADC wants to do the right thing, it has to look in my direction.
It is commonplace to hear states and the Federal Government obtain loans, with experts often differing on the implications of the development. As someone who worked in the Ministry of Finance for years, what is your take on the situation?
You see, the problem is that all these people do not have an idea of what they should do and the types of loans available for government to use in developing their areas.
That is why they go to take commercial loans. These commercial loans have a maximum moratorium of 18 months and if they want to assist you a lot, they would give you 24 months. The issue of states obtaining loans and using all their resources to pay back depends on what they are looking for. When I was in the civil service, I know that the best loans one can take, for instance, are bilateral loans: These are loans between nations and countries.
And all these countries, especially the developed ones, have specific areas that could be of interest or attraction to them and these bilateral loans have long years of moratorium. For instance, when I was in the Senate, I was involved in the negotiation of a loan to develop the Ikerre Gorge Dam to become a source of water supply to the Oke Ogun area.
The arrangement was with the South Korean government; they were going to give us 100 Million Dollars to do the project and it was to come with a 20 years moratorium. That would have been like a gift; I don’t see how it will affect the Oyo State government. Even if you are charging people low rates for the water supply, there is no way you would not recover the money. Unfortunately, it was at the tail end of my time in the Senate and so we could not finalise the arrangement.
Heeeeeee
Even your so-called leader lost to APC in his world
Olagunsoye Oyinlola
You are deceiving yourself, it can happen if your in-laws Adedibu is alive
As it was done in Osun State!
Time will tell.
Mad dog see ur result in today election. FLASH
# OsunDecides
So far each
PDP is leading in Ede
APC is leading in Osogbo, Ilesa, Ila, Odo-Otin, Ejigbo and most other areas…..
-Ayo Ojeniyi
Senator Bayo Salami’s polling Unit Olorunda Ward 3 unit 2…
APC129
ADP40
PDP 76
Ara Egbedore ward 3 Unit 001
APC 154
PDP 92
SDP 22
ADP 3
ADC 2
PPN 1
APA 3
RP 1
Void 17
Ward 5 Unit 4 OLORUNDA LG
APC 108
SDP 50
PDP 87
ADP 13
Adejare Bello’s unit: Ologun Agbaakin Ward (Ede North)
PDP 68
APC 408.
Ward 5 unit 1, OLORUNDA LG…
APC 159
PDP 78
SDP 68
Boripe Ward 1A unit 01 final result
APC 519
PDP 143
SDP 29
ADP 20
Dr. Najeem Folasayo Salaam (IWALOYE) The APC Osun West DG Campaign delivered his polling unit
EJIGBO Ward 4 , unit 6
APC 301
PDP 175
SDP 70
ADP 10
Ejigbo LGA, Ward 9, Unit 4
APC: 81
PDP: 62
SDP: 12
ADC: 2
ADP: 2
UNIT 1 WARD 3 ATAOJA, OSOGBO LOCAL GOVERNMENT
APC 77
PDP 19
SDP 46
Dispensary Odi Olowo, Unit 5 Ward 4, Osogbo LG
ADP — 23
APC — 145
SDP — 92
PDP — 80
Ila Local Govt, Ward 03, Unit 05
APC 114
PDP 99
SDP 29
AD 02
Unit 4 Ward 2 Ilesa West
APC 107
PDP 90
Osogbo ward 13 unit 7
APC 100
SDP 32
PDP 90
Ilesa unit 2
APC -46
PDP 43
SDP -21
Osun College of Education (Ilesa), Unit 2 Result
APC-46
PDP – 43
SDP-21
009 ward 11 Olorunda LG, Ilie
APC -121
PDP – 47
SDP – 17
Ejigbo L.G.
Ward 3 unit 5 result
ADC 2
SDP 11
PDP 73
APC 126
Osogbo ward 13 unit 7
APC 100
SDP 32
PDP 90
Ila Ward 8 unit 12 Oko Awo
APC 34
PDP 20
SDP 1
Ejigbo LG, Ward 9, Unit 4
APC 81
PDP 62
SDP 12
ADC 2
ADP 2
Ward 04 (Faji/Opete), Odo Otin LGA, unit 5
APC 125
PDP 33
SDP 07
WARD 13, UNIT 13 OSOGBO LG
APC: 81 Votes
ADP: 1 vote
SDP: 35 votes
PDP: 17 votes
Ejigbo L.G.
Ward 3 unit 5 result
ADC 2
Sdp 11
App 1
PDP 73
APC 126
Ila local govt
Ward 03 unit 05
APC 114
PDP 99
ADP 02
Ede North ward 10 unit 3
PDP: 122
APC: 42
SDP: 3
Ede South LG, Alajue 11(Aisu junction) Ward 5, Unit 001
APC 34
PDP 212
ADP 2
ADC 2
SDP 10
Void 2
Elerin Ward 9 Unit 10
APC 33
SDP 23
PDP 21
Elerin ward 9, unit 2
APC all the way….