‘I have no godfather’

Chief Stanley Olajide Adedeji, a seasoned administrator, computer scientist, oil magnate speaks on his love for people in his community, bringing sanity into the polity as he believes well being of his constituents signposts productivity among other issues in this interview by YEMISI AOFOLAJU. He also believes that he will bring about good representation at the National Assembly as he is consulting widely on his quest to serve his people in the next dispensation.

 

What is your political antecedent?

I started this journey from primary school days. I always liked to give by sharing my provisions in school with the under-privileged, which has been part of who I am today. I love my people. I remember in the days of Abacha when I bought the land that I built my house in 1995 when many of my colleagues asked me why I decided to build in Nigeria since I was making lots of money in the U.S, I told them that the love I had for my country was the propelling force and that I would like to be part of what was going on in Nigeria. My coming back became a reality in 2008. Afterwards, I started oil and gas company, I have another in upstream and Bentley Energy (downstream sector). While all these were going on, I still did not give up my computer practice because I moved on to life slides  using computer simulations to discover human ailments, rather than clinical trials on human beings. I am not going into hungry politics that many do. I have my profession and businesses.  I don’t have to steal because my pedigree does not even allow that. I have a humble old father that prides himself around with integrity and honesty, the same legacy I hope and pray I pass to my children. I did not particularly decide to run for a particular office, I started with the help of few friends in a forum called the Progressive Youth Alliance as a platform to give to my community through medical, educational assistance and provision of infrastructure. We started with 50 members, but today we are about 6,000 members.

 

In the Diaspora or Nigeria?

Right here in South West Nigeria. We had a whole lot of politicians who solicited for our vote in 2015 election. Few of them won, but immediately after the election, they were nowhere to be found. We wrote them severally, but we were not responded to, soon to find out that they are building mansions all around the city now. Consequently, my people said, “Mr president, if truly you love us, and you have been using your funds to support us all these years, why don’t you go represent us and use that position to help the course that you have started?’.  Initially, I  declined since I have very successful career and business, so, why should I go into poltics with semi-illiterate politicians who have nothing to offer their people? Then they stopped the meeting we hold monthly since I was not ready to represent them. They told me to keep my money as they were going to look for a true representation as they were tired of the present actors. I thought they were calling my bluff, so I stayed back going on with my business. By the sixth month, I realised they were not bothered, rather than budging, they went to my father to tell him reasons for my representation. Afterwards, my father called me and he said ‘my son, at times in life, we don’t want something, but when God wants something for you, there is no way around it’. I then consulted my mother, though scared, she eventually gave me her blessing. Then, I consulted my wife who asked ‘‘are you ready to do it?’ I said ‘yes’ and she promised her support and prayers.

 

Are you sure you are cut for Nigeria’s politics?

I am not a coward, but a bold human being. I only fear God. When God says it is time, it is time. Nobody can harm me.

My friends who would have been involved in politics have spoken a lot about fear of violence. Well, one of the reasons I am who I am is that I have no political godfather. I have leaders that will earn my trust. I have few of them that I want to see as my leaders, but in due time I will mention names. Right now, I am working to earn and also want them to earn my trust and at the end of it all, it will not be about me handing out to them a pep result. Nobody is funding my ambition, I am funding it myself. I am not indebted to anybody financially, which I like to keep that way.

 

How close are you to your constituents?

Well, that is the real heartbeat of our movement because we are closer to the grassroots. I am closer to the market women, petty traders and students who are looking for role models. One key thing that is driving my ambition is mental health because a lot of people are taking undue advantage of our grassroots and young ones particularly teenagers aged 13 and 14. What kind of mindset do we expect from them? These are the sycophants that are used as thugs! Rehabilitation of such people will be my major concern. I’m not going to be a borehole representative, but one that meets people at the point of their needs. If we want a better community, everybody has to be sane; and in order for everybody to be sane, mental health plays a major role in it. For unemployed graduates, we have to establish agriculture schemes to put them to work. We cannot all be in the offices, these youths could be engaged in genetic farming and this does not require a whole lot of hoes and cutlasses.

 

Can you give an assessment of the current National Assembly?

Let me say this, when you have a defective foundation, the results are usually not favourable. The political system is undergoing a process, which I think in years to come, when you see people like me getting involved in politics that is a good sign. We have a political system that is basically flawed and it is going through progressive change.  Nigeria is just over 50 years compared to United States that is over 200 years. Are the lawmakers doing enough? Absolutely not, because the National Assembly has lost focus. It’s not about the people they represent, but the interest they represent. If you are worried about the interest you represent, you will definitely not be too worried about the people you represent; but what we want to do is to focus on the people we represent and not the interest that we represent. There is no way to abandon one for the other, but one has to balance it; otherwise, one will not get the political ticket. I am telling all the people that are helping me politically that when we get there, whatever gets to them, is not for them, but they must ensure that it falls down the chain. We have to make sure that the right flow is happening. For instance, I have told people that are working with me that I am not going to touch the constituency money. We are going to form a committee of trusted allies that will ensure that right projects are done. Again, I am not a borehole, generator, or a grinding machine representative. Mental health is key, the garage boys all around, is a function  of mental illness. Some of these people have mental challenges that need to be addressed.

 

How will you make a difference looking at what your predecessors have done?

Again, I keep saying this thing about borehole. Majority of them, when they get to office first feel what their people need is borehole, okada without helmet and pepper-grinding machine. I know how to make money and I will teach people how to make it if we want a better society. I have a scheme where we loan people money and when we saw the beneficiaries thriving, we decided not to take the loan back. Rather, we advised them to hire more hands. A printing press was given a loan to help the business and as it was thriving, we wrote the loan off with the clause that they must empower more people. If we have a chain of that going, it will widely spread. Our understanding of empowerment is ensuring that a shoe maker is given the right equipment that will make his business thrive as well as hire and train other people in making good shoes in the South-west. A caterer should be taken through proper training in preparing hygienic food.

 

How are you going to change the orientation of your followers?

I think the best teacher is sometimes, punishment. Our people have been punished for the N1000, N500 they collected in the past to vote; I mean they have paid the prize.

 

What do you think is responsible for all these?

Well, they also understand that their choices and decisions are tied to what they are going through now. I think our people are learning and are more aware of the deceit of our politicians irrespective of party affiliations. With the passage of the independent candidacy bill by the National Assembly, very soon political parties will have little say in the choice of candidates; this is not to say that political parties will be fully ignored, but the idea of pay -as -you -go will be out and thus help to resuscitate the care and the love that people need to feel from government. This is the reason I am renovating my house now, so that I won’t be accused of using the constituency allowance for my personal projects. I have houses all around the country and in the United States and these are the things I have documented. It is not a situation whereby I am going into politics because of desire to have mansions. There is nothing bad in having a mansion provided one works for it, but not at the expense of the electorate.

 

Which platform are you thinking of realising your ambition?

We are still consulting, but as we speak, I have two options before me. At the right time the party of my choice will be named.

 

What if the party of your choice refuses you the ticket?

I am the kind of man that would never give up. From the way I have conducted myself, my pedigree and consultation, I don’t have any doubt in my mind that I would be denied the ticket by the party of my choice.

 

How do you intend to carry along your acclaimed leaders?

First of all, one of the problems in politics is that everything has been monetised. Let’s be realistic, it is like a business, if you fund somebody, you expect your money back. But in my case, I am not asking anybody for funds, I would not have to give any return to anybody, but directly to the people

 

Who is Chief Adedeji Stanley Olajide?

I am a very humble, God-fearing, business savvy Ibadan man. I have a very simple lifestyle. The armed robbery attack in 2008 in Lagos was enough to send me back after I moved back to Nigeria with my entire family, but the love I have for my people made me stand. Over 500 bullets were shot at my house as they made away with a lot of valuables that have been replaced to the glory of God, that incident never deterred me. I attended Alaafia Primary School, Mokola, Ibadan. I had my secondary education at Methodist High School. I left Methodist for Rutgers State University of New Jersey, USA for my first degree in Computer Science and minor in Management. I proceeded for my Masters at University of Phoenix in Business Administration, after which I moved into public-America, where I started as a Units System Administrator in charge of computer programming, I worked for series of companies mostly Fortune 50 companies as a consultant, directing diverse companies from various backgrounds.

 

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