Outside politics, you are often referred to as a gentleman. What is a gentleman doing in Nigeria’s politics described as battle field?
With your question, you must be one of those who call politics a dirty game. I don’t want to agree with that view. It is too extreme and general to be accepted by me. Politics, to me, is service and nothing but service to people and humanity as a whole. A politician is expected to bring reform that will improve the lives of his people to them. He is also expected to make a mark, an indelible mark that will live after he might have departed the world. History is there to remind us those great politicians whose tenure brought lots of benefits to their people. The summary of it is that I don’t play in dirty water because I am not dirty. My politics, therefore, is not dirty. It is service to my people. Finally, I must say that politics as an institution is not dirty, but some players who see it as a do-or-die affair; those who see politics as a venture where they must make profit. But for those of us, especially me who came into politics from a sound profession, Civil Engineering, hunger to serve my people lives in me.
How did you even enter politics?
My entry into politics is a long story; it is a story of my upbringing; story of how I used to observe the elderly ones during their party meetings in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) days. I was not really conscious of it, but interested in the way they conducted themselves, debating before making decisions. I grew up with this experience, which later paid off in 1990 when the elders in my community invited me to vie for counsellorship post. I was already practising my engineering in Ibadan at Monatan area.
After some consultations, I considered the invitation an honour and returned home. In the end, I contested for the chairmanship position of our local government on the ticket of the National Republican Convention (NRC). I lost that election. After the result was announced, I went to the house of the winner, Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, an elderly person, and congratulated him. He was shocked; he did not want to embrace me because it was obviously strange to him for a loser to show such attitude.
I returned to my job in Ibadan. When the late General Sani Abacha took over power in November 1993, the military administrator for Osun State picked me as one of his commissioners. My nomination for the position, I later got to know, was influenced by my antecedent, especially the maturity I showed when I was defeated at local government election.
What do you observe really make the people resentful of politics?
Going by my experience, I studied and found out that openness and transparency make a good politician. Don’t hide anything from them. Don’t take politics as business, but service to the people. I have continued to be at the forefront of this campaign for decent politics. I am happy to tell you that I am happy with the kind of name I have built in my politics career.
You left the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) but you are back now. Why did you leave the party of which you were the first chairman?
Don’t forget that politics is all about interest and articulation of interest. When my interest was trampled upon; when the party was passing through dangerous lane, a path different from what we laid at the inception, I left. The party was then witnessing all sorts of impunities that could spell a doom for its future relevance. As the party chairman and Secretary to the State Government for seven years, I felt people should respect my judgment on party matters. Mind you, I did not just leave. I left to prove a point about my political value in the state. I brought Accord Party to Osun and funded it from ward to state level. I picked the bills and mobilized members to the party. That was not a simple thing. Even though I did not win the last governorship election in 2014, I proved that point that my electoral value could not be toyed with because many members also joined me in the new party. I returned to PDP when it was clear that everybody seemed to have seen what I saw that led me to go and bring Accord Party (AP) to the state.
Is the party in a sound health now both at national and state levels?
Yes, I can tell you that we are on course now. Our National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus has started well and he has shown that he can bring back the good old days of the party. At the state here, Honourable Soji Adagunodo is the chairman and he is welcome. God has ways of doing things. I have said it that peace is what matters most to us to form a formidable party. The era of discontent is over. We have overcome that challenge.
The phase we are in now is reconciliation. We are doing everything possible to bring everybody back into the big family, which the party was and still is. Just wait and see how we are going to stage a big comeback that will shock the ruling party. The immediate antecedent is the opposition party defeating ruling party in Sierra Leone recently. If APC (All Progressives Congress) could even do it here three years ago, there is nothing stopping us repeating the history in 2019.
A Third Force is being touted to be in the offing to challenge both PDP and APC in 2019. Aren’t you scared?
What should I be scared of? Politics is a practical thing. It does not thrive on dream alone. You have to put the matter on the table for everybody to see. If any third force is coming, it is welcome. But I can tell you based on my experience that it will queue behind the two. Don’t forget we have over 50 political parties. If at all, the third force will make it, it is going to be at distant third.
When you left PDP, some expected you to join the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to have a big platform. What happened?
I am not cut out for a deceit. Those who know me closely understand that I cannot be comfortable in the midst of a clique. There are so many things which the public don’t know about those people. I am not here to run anybody down, but the kind of politics they play does not suit me. It was exclusive politics in which only those who belong to the clique get their aspiration supported. My former boss who joined them must have realised that fact now. He is reckoned with when and where it matters. He remains an outsider in their midst.
Given your repeated contest for the governorship seat, I am tempted to call you a desperado. Why don’t you try your luck at the Senate to where former governors even retire?
My politics is purposeful. I am not in politics for the sake of being in politics. I am in politics for a purpose, and that purpose is to serve at executive capacity. This arm of government is all I know right from the beginning of my career. That should even tell you I am not a desperate politician because a desperate politician would take just any position. I am a focused politician with my eyes fixed on the executive. What is the essence of being in the Senate where I won’t be able to add right value? Don’t you see many senators who only go there to sleep or watch the proceedings? I cannot be a spectator. I am an actor who must conceive and initiate and execute ideas that will improve the life of the people.
How realistic is your next attempt at governorship seat?
My attempt is as realistic as you may think of it. I am coming in loaded with required experience. I can only urge the party leaders to be transparent and respect the popular wish. Our members know whom they want already. The slogan is everywhere in the state, and I am honoured to have received such support from them. Governorship position is not a child play. It must, therefore, be defined by experience and integrity, both of which I have to the glory of God.
Your Osun West Senatorial District seems to be getting the support to produce the next governor even from the governing party in the state. Aren’t you threatened by the caliber of other aspirants from your zone?
Why would I be threatened? I have told you that governorship position is not for green horns. It is meant for the tested politicians, those who have excelled in private and public life. That is one of my strong points. I am happy to tell you that at Osun West, we know ourselves. We know our strength and limitations. For that reason, I am at a better position without sounding immodest.
Nigerian politics gulps resources, especially money. Do you have what it takes?
I want to be sincere with you. You are right, but don’t forget also that it is not an individual thing. I may be the governorship aspirant, but I cannot run the administration alone. Others will join me in different capacity as commissioners, special advisers and others. And most importantly, I don’t see politics as business. It is not cash-and-carry. But I must tell you that there is nothing it takes to pursue my dream which God has not given me.
Till date, I have my businesses which are doing well. Such experience is what we need to bring to the state instead of getting to the power without knowing what to do with it. My blueprint is clear and unambiguous. It is a roadmap that will take Osun State to greater height.
and then