It was one year last week that your brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, died. How has life been without him?
It has been tough. The whole family miss him because he was, and still is, our hero. We think and talk about him all the time. And for me personally, it has been a big struggle dealing with the fact that he is no more with us, but we are consoled by the love and affection we daily experience not only from the people of Osun State but also people from other parts of the country. We thank God for the privilege to be related to such a great man who led a life of service to humanity and compassion for the empowerment of the downtrodden.
You started your politics with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ended up contesting the last by-election on the platform of the PDP, don’t you feel like an opportunist?
Not at all, we all saw the rigged, undemocratic process that the APC adopted to subvert the will of the good people of Osun West Senatorial District by scheming to impose a person who was disqualified twice as candidate and standard-bearer, the overbearing influence and manipulation of the governor were obvious even to the blind. There is no wisdom in continuing to be in the midst of people who have made it abundantly clear that they despise you and all you represent. The PDP, on the other hand, offered us a chance to continue our legacy of service to the people and protecting the interest of the downtrodden and I remain grateful to the party for welcoming us back home with warm embrace.
Your dad, the late Senator Ayoola Adeleke, was a progressive of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). Now you are conservative in the PDP. Don’t you think you have deviated from the family philosophy?
Our family philosophy is deeply rooted in the service of humanity and empowerment of the downtrodden and I remain a consistent and unrepentant believer and practitioner of this God-given philosophy. Please, what is progressive in oppressing and impoverishing the people you swore an oath to serve and protect? Being progressive is not about cheap propaganda but about the things you do to positively impact the lives of your people.
My less-than-one-year stay at the National Assembly has been dominated with people-focused projects covering education, enterprise building, health and even basic infrastructure provision. We developed and delivered a N250 million scholarship programme for indigent but brilliant students from the 10 local government areas of Osun West. We trained teachers on the use of computers and gave them tools to use. We also delivered agro-based enterprise development training programmes for youths in the senatorial district. We provided electricity connection to our people in Ido-Osun and provided the struggling butchers of Iwo abattoir with a new generator for their cold room, an unfulfilled promise of the retrogressive APC-led government seven and a half years ago. That is what I call being progressive.
Is it true that you want to contest for the governorship of Osun State? What do you think qualifies you for that post?
It is true. I have actually submitted my letter of intent to contest. The level of poverty and suffering among our people is deplorable. Substandard projects are being done at ridiculously exorbitant rates, serving as conduit pipes to drain the meagre resources of our dear state. Our hardworking civil servants and teachers are being robbed of their hard-earned salaries and benefits, yet they are being levied full compulsory taxes.
The school fees of their children and wards have been astronomically increased by the same government that is owing them salaries. For example, at the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, where the tuition used to be N25,000 as of 2010, the students now pay N65,000. At the Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke, the tuition used to be N27,000 but now the students pay N67,000. A 248 percent increase. How callous! This government that is owing salaries, this government that has not promoted staff since 2012 (this last one they did was even without commensurate financial increase). In the health sector also, doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses and medical lab oratory scientists have been on half salaries since 2014, yet the government spends billions planting flowers and executing white elephant projects. Pensioners are dying of starvation because this same government has refused to pay their meagre pension and gratuities. If no one will care and fight for them, I will. That is the reason I am entering this race. My family and I have been totally committed to the alleviation of hardship and empowerment of our people for over two decades now and this ambition is in furtherance of this spirit of service.
Osun is a very poor state and it is also one of the most indebted in the country. If you win the coming election, how would you turn around the fortune of the state for good?
The level of indebtedness is quite disheartening, more worrisome is the lack of wisdom of the Aregbesola administration to spend a sizeable part of these borrowed funds on revenue-generating investments that would have increased the revenue earnings of the state as well as stimulate economic growth instead of these overpriced, white elephant projects that have not impacted the lives of Osun people positively. The report reaching us also is that they are currently making arrangements through a contractor to borrow additional N14 billion for another round of politically motivated white elephant projects in Ilesa just to placate Ijesa people who he has ignored for seven and a half years. I wonder which financial institution would grant such lending to a state that is already overburdened with debts.
The Aregbesola administration has alluded to the fact that the state is unable to meet its obligations to the hardworking meagre-salaried workforce of Osun State because of these projects, thereby forcing untold hardship on the people. When, by God’s grace, we win the election, we will refocus the state’s spending on people-impact projects. We will work with civil servants and other stakeholders to resolve the issues of unpaid salaries.
We will deploy our expertise and expansive business network both locally and internationally to bring investments to the state through Public-Private Partnership to help revive our ailing industries in Osogbo as well as exploit the abundant mineral resources God has blessed the state with.
We will overhaul our agricultural sector and implement carefully designed programmes to reposition the sector to achieve value chain enterprise developments. We will create young graduate agricultural entrepreneurs with the government providing land, training and farm inputs in various areas of farming in clusters across the state. These will run as Agric Enterprise Clusters (AECs) with focus on crops and annual targeted production/outputs per cluster. This will cover cassava, lemon and ginger for export and rice, yam, fruits and other food crops for local consumption.
A dancing governor may not be exactly what a struggling state needs. How will you strike a balance between this your hobby and your work as governor if you win?
There is time for everything. As you have rightly put it, our state is a struggling one and, I will add, with a dying economy. The mission at hand is a rescue mission and we are committed to ending the suffering of our people and returning them to their pride of place. We will put together a team of the best brains and hands to tackle the arduous, multifaceted challenges facing our state and we will work conscientiously to overcome the challenges with the help of God.
Achieving this feat will bring joy to every citizen and I earnestly look forward to seeing our people genuinely celebrate our collective prosperity with dances of joy. When those who can neither afford to feed their families nor send their children to school because of non-payment of salaries coupled with exorbitant tuition fees are now finally able to do so, there will true celebrations in our state. And we shall change the narrative of our state from ‘the struggling state’ to a ‘prosperous and joyful state,’ by the grace of God.
There are so many of you contesting for the ticket of the PDP. What if you don’t win the primary? How would you take it? What is your relationship with other aspirants?
This is a clear evidence that the PDP is a truly democratic party where everyone is freely given a chance to express themselves politically unlike the ruling party that has turned itself into a cultish fiefdom that discourages any expressions that contradict that of the lord and master in charge. They have even placed an embargo on any governorship aspirant coming out to express any ambition while the lord and master is busy touring the state with his anointed candidate introducing him as his only trusted choice. What a travesty!
The race, for me and my team, is not a do-or-die affair. We have chosen to contest for this seat because of our strong desire to serve and save our struggling state from the stranglehold of poverty that has gripped the land at the hands of the maladministration of Rauf Aregbesola’s government. We are true democrats and powers truly belong to our people, therefore I have resolved to abide by the choice of the people and support whoever they chose. I expect the other aspirants to do the same if I become the standard-bearer.
Can you briefly give an assessment of your time in the Senate so far?
Like I said earlier, my less-than-one-year stay at the National Assembly has been dominated with proactive legislative engagement and people-focused projects covering education, enterprise building, health and even basic infrastructure provision. I sponsored a bill — Youth Empowerment Bill — which will go into second reading shortly. My motion on community policing and effective security in rural the country was also well received and acted upon by the Senate. I developed and delivered a N250 million scholarship programme for indigent but brilliant students from the 10 local government areas of Osun West, trained teachers on the use of computers and other ICT devices and gave them those tools to use. We also delivered agro-based enterprise development training programmes for youths in the senatorial district. A lot of intervention projects through the constituency projects are at various stages of completion as we speak. We provided electricity connection to our people in Ido-Osun and provided the struggling butchers of Iwo abattoir with a new generator for their cold room.
Your party, the PDP, has this horrible reputation for corruption unlike the APC which launched an anti-corruption campaign and that is the party currently in power in your state.
Let me start by correcting that impression. It is wrong to say that the PDP has a reputation for corruption. No government has launched a more vicious campaign against corruption than the PDP government. A party that established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) while in government can’t be labelled as notorious for corruption. The PDP administration waged a more transparent and successful war against corruption than the present administration. As for the current administration in Osun, we will be making some revelations in the weeks ahead that will tell you how corrupt they have been in the last seven years. You just wait and see.
You will not probe the administration of Governor Aregbesola if you succeed him, will you?
Probing a government is not a decision you take ahead of taking over the reins of government. Facts we meet on ground will determine the best course of action.
What advice do you have for the people of Osun State as they prepare to elect a new governor in September?
Everyone who is of voting age should ensure they get registered and collect their PVCs. Those who had earlier registered but have not collected that their PVCs should please go to the nearest INEC offices to collect their PVCs. They should then go from door to door telling everyone that cares to listen that this election is about their future and the future of their children. This election is about delivering the state from the stranglehold of poverty and suffering. There is a better deal for the people of Osun State and we must all be counted to be a part of this process.
Your mum was Igbo, do you speak Igbo?
Yes, I do speak Igbo language and I strongly advise every family to encourage their children to learn and speak other local languages apart from their mother tongue. When we can communicate freely across tribal lines we will have a beter understanding and appreciation of our differences and our inter-tribal relations will improve and with that, our relationships. I believe our unity as a nation will be greatly served with this.
On a lighter note, you are rich and handsome, how do you cope with your female admirers?
Well, I am happily married and fulfilled. I don’t allow anything get into my head. No man’s emotion must rule over his reason.
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