No reasonable politician will join a party with no people —Akinosun

Dr Fola Akinosun is an aspirant for Oyo South senatorial district. He spoke with Tessy Umunakwe on his ambition, his agenda and how to move the nation forward.

YOU are a seasoned and renown banker and educationist, what spurred your interest in politics?

There is something unique about me. I believe in God and His purpose for man. I believe God created every man for a purpose but He never told anyone the reason He created us. Yet, He gave us the ability to explore. And as we move on, the avenues will open to lead us to destiny. The first thing that will lead you is your character, the second is your resources and what you have. These factors will determine where you will get to. These factors have put me at a vantage position to be useful to God. I have been useful to God when I served government and later opted out without any blemish. I started my micro finance bank with N50,000 but I got financial support to the tune of N50 million from people who trusted me. I didn’t fail. I grew my business and was able to return the N50 million to my creditors. Then I discovered I could be trustworthy. And then I discovered there’s no facet of life that I have not passed through. I passed through poverty. I lost my parents at a tender age and was raised by family members. So, I know what poverty and cruelty mean. I know what it is to study in a harsh situation because I sponsored myself. These are some of the phases the average Nigerian youth is passing through that has made them to imbibe certain undesirable behaviours.  I passed through all these and succeeded. Only a person who knows the way can successfully lead the way. With as little as N50,000 and hard work, I now pay monthly salary of N5 million, without stealing, looting or embezzling public funds, I have worked in many parts of the country. I have moved round many countries, especially in West Africa. I know what is happening. I have experience. In a country like The Gambia, you can leave your car in the park for hours with its windscreen rolled down, the ignition on and the key in the keyhole. When you return, you will still find your car the way you left it. I know why the standard of education in Ghana is high. And then I visited my village, Oretu in Iroko recently after 30 years where there was no light, no road, no medical facility or what have you. People trooped out to meet me. I saw poverty boldly written on their faces. I saw a child of about seven years eating on the floor alongside hens and ducks. The sight was pitiable. And then it occurred to me that a child of that age in America or UK would probably be in a laboratory or a comfortable place putting computer  soft ware together. I felt sorry for my generation. And then I told the people I will bring education which is light. I said I will establish a polytechnic there. But, again. I saw an elderly man with his hand on his cheek looking  hungry and wretched and someone whispered to me: ‘Will this man attend your polytechnic?’ I know education can actually turn things around but not for this kind of people and that brought me into thinking of joining politics. I suddenly realized that if I die, questions could be posed at me in heaven about the situation and what I did to change it.

You have investments in the education and health sectors in Nigeria, Ghana and some other foreign countries; don’t you think your veering into politics will affect your business?

I have a track record that cannot be destroyed. All my tertiary institutions will continue to exist and touch lives after me. They will impact lives for the next 200 years and beyond. Every year, I give over 1,500 scholarships to indigent students. I believe I have come to this world to make impact. I am not like many politicians, who didn’t establish institutions for the good of the people from their hard earned money but only had institutions named after them. All they can point to is what they did with government money and not what they did from the proceeds of their sweat. I want to be different. If God is willing to use me, I cannot know until I make myself available and request of Him to use me for a total change in this country. So, I have prepared myself. In my home, I am a very loving husband, a good father. In my local community, everybody wants to see me and identify with me. I see people coming to touch my clothes.  I didn’t create them but I put smiles on their faces. Even in my party, they want to see me all the time. They believe in me. They believe I can do something. They believe I can effect a positive change. And then I begin to think: Could it be a mistake or misplacement of priority? Could it be that God has made people to be interested in me for nothing?

What is your agenda, if elected into the National Assembly?

I have an agenda and that is why I have chosen to start with the legislature. I want to make laws that would transform the lives of Nigerians. The truth is that many of our laws are actually hostile to the people. If the laws were good enough, unemployment would have been reduced to the barest minimum. If anyone becomes unemployed for any reason whatsoever, government should create an alternative means of survival. If the laws are good, nobody at the age of 18-21 would be on the street begging for alms. Look at the vast forest lying fallow. It is money wasting away. But the laws are not creating the avenue through which the forest can be useful to the growing population. Yet, our population is growing everyday and it is already becoming a burden. There’s insecurity is growing. What is the solution? It is the law. The law should take care of Fulani herdsmen, the law should take care of the farmers. The law should take care of every Nigerian. The law must protect them. A group of people should not be a threat to the other. We should be able to sleep with our two eyes closed. Only the law can do this. With the law, the unborn child can be planned for. Why do Africans go to the UK to give birth? It is not because of the laws there. I want to start as a lawmaker and if I have the opportunity to become an executive, the first problem I will tackle is unemployment. I will deal with the problem through education. The question is, are the unemployed employable? Are they gainfully employable, in such a way that they can contribute to the economy? A lot of jobless Nigerians cannot deliver. And it is because they have not been well trained. And they become like a virus that can eat up the society.

Why did you choose the All Progressives Congress (APC) to realize your ambition, in view of the perceived under performance of the party at the federal level and the crisis rocking its leadership?

APC right from the time of ACN when I joined, was a leading party. It was a party that had a true structure, the true structure I’m talking about is its adequate presence in the wards and the state. There were ACN members in all the nooks and cranny of the state. The party was formidable. It was the choice of the people. You will agree with me that there was ACN in all the South Western States. So, with the party’s metamorphosis into APC, it was able to win election at the federal level because it now existed in all the states of the federation. The APC does not only exist in all the states, it has a formidable force and capacity to deliver. We won in almost all the states and it is no magic. Any reasonable politician will not join a party where there are no people. Politics is a game of numbers. It is about people. The APC is the party to reckon with in Nigeria. And then you mentioned crisis in the party. We are not bags of cement. We are human beings. There are bound to be misunderstanding where there are human beings, there are bound to be shades of opinion where people are many people. Rather than call it crisis, I will say it is the alignment and realignment of people’s minds and it is for the betterment of the party. I believe the party will deliver Nigeria and bring her to the destined will of God. Nigeria is a very rich country, a flourishing country, blessed on all sides. The major problem we have had over the years is how to manage our resources. The leadership, the administration was a problem. And of course, a monster attacked us and that is corruption. This administration has been fighting corruption at the federal level. If the mindset is the same at the state and local government levels, Nigeria will be close to being like the United States of America or even better.

What advice do you have for those in public offices and those aspiring to occupy these offices?

Leaders must be committed to service to the people. The leadership must subscribe to the poultry experience. If you keep chickens, you need to provide them with food because if you refuse to do so, they will get hungry and angry and begin to fight themselves. If you are adamant and do nothing still, they will begin to eat themselves. If you do nothing still, the carcass will begin to emit odour and if you still feel less concerned, the odour wil cause epidemic and consume you.