Chief Femi Majekodunmi, a seasoned medical practitioner talks about the conduct of the 2023 general election, impact of technology, attitude of political actors before and after the polls. KUNLE ODEREMI brings the excerpts:
Recently, Ogun State lost an industrious son , Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya (retd), who was a Chief of General Staff during the military era. As a stakeholder in Ogun State, what can you say about his life and times?
General Oladipo Diya was best known as a soldier, former governor of Ogun State, the number two to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. One thing we, in the South-West, will always remember him for was the role he played in trying to see to our wellbeing, both politicians and non-politicians. I remember we used to go to Abuja, irrespective of party affiliation, irrespective of ethnicity. He was always advising us on matters concerning moving the country forward because that time, there were serious issues here and there, especially when we were expecting a return to civil rule. His counseling was proper, sound and we rallied round him. He was so accommodating.
What do you consider as the enviable legacy he has left behind especially based on what you knew about his person, background?
All I have said also constitute part of his legacies and that is why I will always remember him. He was not known to be controversial in anything. He was tough as a soldier, no doubt but when it comes to general conditions of the people, he was always a good listener. I particularly remember him for this.
Based on what obtains other climes, how would you assess the last general election going by pre-election permutations and predictions?
As far as the presidential election is concerned and of course the governorship poll, especially in Ogun state, many of us had no doubt that Dapo Abiodun would win. Not just that, we were expecting a landslide victory for him. Dapo Abiodun performed very well as a governor; he is one of the best governors in the country. There is no doubt about that when you consider all the he has done in Ogun State; infrastructural development, in education, health, in agriculture and many other indices that would determine the performance of any governor. Dapo Abiodun has done exceedingly well. He campaigned the way nobody has campaigned before in Ogun State. He put so much organisation into it; he put so much zeal and we all rallied round him and campaigned in every nook and cranny of the state. Governor Dapo and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were the only one, others you can forget about them. We won landslide and we thank God for our victory. We really worked hard. We performed well. We will continue to pray for him. He is a gift to Ogun State, the way and manner he performed; the way and manner he won the election and he will continue to win.
We have assured the people that his performance will even be better in the next four years, which is his second term in office.
The thinking generally is that for the first four years, governors usually put in their best but it is hardly so when they have secured a second term in office; that they tend to relax. Governor Dapo Abiodun is a man of his words. All the promises he made he tries his best to fulfill. Wherever he has stopped, he is going to continue and he will even do better. That has been his promise. We believe him and he is going to raise the bar, sustain the tempo and take the state to higher heights. He is a man of his words. Every part of the state has been experiencing a fair deal and he is going to guarantee that balance in another four years as the governor of the state.
The general election has come with some attendant issues still in the front burner. What are some of the things that we should take way from the poll?
Like many of the elections we have had over the years, there were adequate preparations and we all expected that the elections would be conducted in a free and fair atmosphere and at the end of it all, the people will choose who they desire and especially who they voted for. Along the line, there were problems. I will give kudos to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) I don’t see where they really deliberately went wrong, except for some associated problems, here and there. It is common with our elections and that is why for years that we have been having elections, there is none that has gone hitch-free. Concerning the 2023 general election, with all intent and purpose, from all observers, INEC has tried. It is not perfect but it is good enough in respect of a good job done. That’s the way I see it.
You talked about some associated problems in the elections. What are you referring to?
I don’t want to go into them now. We all saw what happened and I don’t want to be a judge in any of the situations. The positions are so diverse and people have all sorts of opinion about what happened, there were too many hear says; too many created and simulated events, and so on. So when you have this kind of situation, you don’t know the truth; you don’t know what to say or otherwise. You hear this today, tomorrow, you realize it is not true; that you have been fed with some lies, fabricated allegations, people altering situations to suit their own purpose. When you hear from people, they talk in line with their own expectations. What kind of result do you expect? So most of the time, you are not really sure of what is happening. You have to be a bit circumspect. Take for instance, the issue of old and new currency, the issue of BVAS, the issue of ethnicity along different lines and many other problems. So, I am a very good listener and watcher of events.
Did those innovations meet the expectations of Nigerians at the end of the day?
That’s true. With BVAS, we are also sure that the nagging issues of rigging will be put behind us because BVAS gets things done till collation period. But then, we have heard so many things, people trying to alter the mechanism, people doing all sorts of things. Like I earlier said, it is not something one can confirm because of diverse comments and judgment; we are not really sure, which is true or otherwise. There are diverse comments; there are diverse judgments here and there. BVAS, an electronic device that has been used in many other countries and one will expect it to function and I think it functioned accordingly. And many of these things depend on the operators to make sure that all the guidelines and do’s and don’ts on the usage are well taken care of.
How do you see the way political actors, especially the aggrieved ones are trying to express their disposition after the polls?
This is a common trend in Nigeria. Hardly do you have an election in Nigeria that you won’t have people who win rejoicing and people who lose coming out to reject the results and to antagonize many of the things that have been and wanting a reelection. All this are common. And since no election process or election itself is perfect, then you will always expect this I have chosen not to criticize anybody, except to advice that the 2023 elections has come and gone and from the way many people in Nigeria and even abroad have seen it is not a bad exercise; everything went in a way we should accept the results.
How do we make sure that in subsequent elections, we plug the remaining obvious lapses?
In Nigeria, we have a well-known attitude, negative and positive towards electioneering and electoral processes and the aftermath is always people will reject, criticize, voter cards being stolen, violence, materials being hijacked, you will always get it. What we need to do is to re-examine ourselves. Must we continue like this? Is there no way to end all these? This is a developing country. When you see the situation in developed countries, they are better organised. When we are developing, we expect organisation and maturity like exists in developed countries. I will advise that we position ourselves; we consider being more mature and work towards seeing Nigeria as a place we can be proud of and in doing this, we have to love one another, avoid ethnicity in any form, avoid tribalism, be loyal to the country, which is missing when you consider the populace. You have to accept Nigeria as a place for all of us, see one another as a brothers and sisters.
But many claim that the lack of patriotism on the part of most Nigerians is a function of leadership over the years?
This has been said on many occasions over the years. It goes either way as they say, followers gets the leaders they deserve. It has been said Nigeria has a leadership problem. Yes, I agree but we have a followership problem as well, in the sense that we have a populace where anything goes and all efforts the leadership puts in a way have always failed on the long run. We all need a kind of serious orientation. Things have not been going on the way they should over the years. So, even when we have a leadership that is prepared for a good job, good tenure of office, to get things done the right way, they fail somewhere along the line. That is why there is the need for re-thinking , reorientation of all minds, both the young, the middle age, the old and the people in power, people in other spheres of life to rejuvenate ourselves and retool our minds and psyche because the future doesn’t augur well if things continue like this way. The awkward way we do things is why we are still where we are in the quest for development. Development is not just about the building of skyscrapers.
What kind of paradigm shift do you envisage in the next political dispensation?
Many of us are expecting better government with Tinubu as president-elect; he is a well-experienced person in every aspect of life, not just in politics. He is a very strong mind, somebody who is bold, who loves the masses, somebody who will definitely improve the level of governance in the country. He has the track record to take the country to greater heights and with such outstanding qualities, we expect some paradigm shift in every aspect of our social, political and economic life. All the people are expecting something better from Tinubu. He has the personality that people believe in him as a performer and as a winner because he puts seriousness and brain into whatever he does, especially on governmental processes.
How do we make Nigeria more united in the light of the prevailing situation?
When you have a good leadership, there is a lot you can do to unite the country. Good governance, improvement in commitment to the cause of the people and their welfare, provision of necessary amenities that can make life more meaningful and impactful. The governors have to be honest with their job, show love and understanding, be prudent in the physical affairs of their states so that their people can enjoy the dividends of democracy in abundance. With all these in place, we would have achieved unity. It cannot take place when there is injustice, we don’t have fairness in getting things done, state and national level. Without unity, there will be no peace and when there is no peace, nothing can be done. There will be no progress and development.
The elections have come and gone, we should now team up and forget the past bitterness if there is any so that we can continue rebuilding the country. All hands should be on deck to move the country forward. Anything other than that will breed discontentment, disunity which is an anathema to true development. People can only be happy when the right things are done, without which there will be continuous problems.
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