Former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Oyo State and the only political son of late Aare Arisekola-Alao, Honourable Umar Farouk Arisekola-Alao, speaks with OLAWALE OLANIYAN on his experience as a politician, genesis of the crisis in the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the dawn of 2023 general election, among other contentious issues.
HOW will you assess the state of the country, almost 25 years after the military era?
As a politician and an individual, I have been following the economy of Nigeria for a while, listening to experts like His Royal Highness Lamido Sanusi’s speech about where we are, where we are going, and what is going on. I have seen his words manifest. In one of the interviews he granted in 2013, he talked about the state of affairs for a country that does not manufacture or produce. We have been living behind what we call subsidies, and for us to see the reality of what the country’s economy is, the government has been using our own money to make our life better but at the same time, it has been to the detriment of the country’s economy, because we barely produce anything. We don’t even have [Made in] Nigeria pencils. We don’t also have Nigeria-made toothpicks or the least of the things you can say you produce in a country. We import most of them which is to the detriment of our economy. This implies that most of our money goes to other countries instead of circulating within our country. Electricity has always been a challenge, and I don’t understand why the people in top positions cannot find a lasting solution to it. There’s no reason why Nigeria cannot have 24/7 electricity across the country. I remember when I was much younger, Exide battery was manufactured in Nigeria. In those days, there were a lot of things being manufactured in the country, tyres, and cars were being assembled but everything died because of poor electricity supply, and most companies, especially foreign companies, left as they could not afford to be using diesel or generators to manufacture or produce what they need. Electricity has not been constant since then; it is getting worse.
I believe the Federal Government should make a policy whereby each local government would have a worthy industry. In Oke-Ogun, Oyo State, that is where we get most of the charcoal that we use. They should allow each local government to have an industry that is suitable to what they have. Give them a challenge, let them produce. We have 774 local governments across Nigeria; let them give us one industry each and decide what is best based on their peculiarities, what they can work on and produce that will create jobs, opportunities, and revenue, and in the long run, we can export what we make. There are so many initiatives that can be done, but with the state of affairs today, we can only thank God for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because anybody will say most people that are coming into the government are looking for money.
President Tinubu is well blessed. There is nothing he ever wanted that he has not achieved, even before he became the president. Looking at the series of policies he has initiated, you won’t see their effect now until in a couple of months or a year. Last month, private company owners like me were given some anti-money laundering forms to fill by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The forms are meant to ensure an effective financial monitoring of our companies so that funds are not laundered through us.
You will recall that all through the last administration, naira notes were scarce. At some points, there was no money anywhere; the banks were even rationing the few notes they had. But why would a bank not give you your money? But as we speak, a lot of people still keep cash at home, which should not be. Yet, some people are fighting against the policies President Tinubu is bringing to the table. People have been asking why the government’s solution to power failure isn’t yielding results. But some people have also claimed that once the power crisis is solved and electricity becomes stable in the country, generators will become useless, that as a result, the generator dealers, instead of going out of business, will rather find a way to sabotage the government’s efforts to revamp the power sector. People like this are enemies of progress. Nigeria does not have any other problem than Nigerians themselves.
How do you mean?
It is about leadership and the people’s level of understanding. People vote more for political parties like All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Labour Party (LP) but the truth of the matter is that it is the individuals behind the parties that determine the fortune of the country, not the party themselves. So if the individuals are not good, then, you shouldn’t expect any progress. Besides, the reason President Tinubu is being blamed today is because he is the one who brought former President Muhammadu Buhari and everybody expected a lot and we got disappointed. I will just advise that we should give him time and let him work. Let’s see what he is going to do. Every government is like soldiers go, soldiers come, you add your quota and the system remains. But you will be remembered for what you did, one way or the other. We need someone capable of governing and who has integrity to lead Nigeria to an enviable height.
Buhari rose to power on the promise of integrity, yet a lot of people said his tenure as president left so much to be desired, going by the avalanche of challenges facing Nigeria now. Why do you think he couldn’t make a difference when he was in government?
I can’t answer for individuals because you don’t know what is in their [hearts]. Only God knows what is in every human. I can sit in front of you and preach that I am the best of the best but in the long run, what is in my heart would manifest. There is a saying that my late father Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao used to say in Yoruba. It says: “Eyan ko le dara ju iwa e lo; kalowo lowo, ko le gba wa sile kuro lowo iwa ti ani. Ai ma lowo lowo na, ko le gba wa kuro lowo iwa wa. Iwa l’ogun eda’. (You can’t be better than your character. People will always be what they are, no matter how much sweet talk or what they say their true self is).
I never expected former President Buhari to run for a second term because, from the first term, he was not that healthy. There were so many challenges; some necessitated his frequent medical trips abroad. Many people should understand the age factor. There should be an age gap in understanding when you become an elder. At such an advanced age, you should simply be advised out of your wealth of experience instead of fighting to be in government. Buhari was a young adult when he first ruled Nigeria. Youths are mostly vibrant between the ages of 18 to 30 plus and after that, especially when you become married and start having children, you enter what we call a midlife crisis. At that time, you have to look after your wife, children, and work. Because you have a family to look after, there is so much pressure that comes on you, such that your creativity may not be as sharp as it were during the youth age.
Meanwhile, allowing the youths to use their creativity at the right time can help the country’s economy. For instance, if you plug the youths into the civil service and government agencies, let them use that creativity, while you use your experience as a leader to guide them. But it is a lot different when someone over 80 years of age is saying he wants to become the president or a governor. It is absurd. You have contributed your quota to life.
But don’t you think our political system is ably monetised?
You have a point. Monetisation, why is that? It is because of poverty. It is hard for a lot of people to understand that it is only God that gives. For instance, someone, who has not eaten for three days but suddenly sees the opportunity to make free N20,000, how can such a person follow your advice to stay with God? So you cannot blame the people. Someone, whose eyes have seen shege, someone whose child has died because of N3000 at the hospital, you are now telling such a person when he or she sees an opportunity not to grab it? It is hard to preach to such people. So, it is a system that we have created by ourselves. Our people no longer trust politicians, who always bribe them. People will say: “Whatever comes first, whether good or bad, whatever you want to take, take it before you ask questions.”
The thinking in most quarters is that President Tinubu should have waited for a while before implementing the process of petrol subsidy removal. Do you have a contrary view and why?
Yes, you have a point, which is a good point to be precise. The cost of inflation now is ridiculous and as I said, all Sanusi had said about when the chicken comes home to roost, everyone will put their hands on their heads, is happening now. But why? President Tinubu is working on the reality and if we are to say that he is putting certain measures in place so that it doesn’t drop on us like a bomb, it is understandable. If not suspended, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs can help in subsidising these things that people are feeling because that is her job. The problem that we have now with food inflation shouldn’t have existed.
In the years past, we used to have what is called market price regulation. Then, if you sell at ridiculous prices, the regulatory task force will intervene. We simply need that regulation to come back.
With regards to phases, may his soul rest in perfect peace; we used to call the late Aare Arisekola the head of Humanitarian Affairs of Nigeria because he reached out to the masses. My father would say, “One minute of suffering is not good. Help people when the problem is there, not I will see you later or I will see you in a week.” The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs’ job is to help or alleviate the sufferings of the people and once you have identified the needs across the 774 local governments, you should create a plan for each of the local governments because money cannot reach everyone, but you can plan it in such a way that it will have a direct impact on the people’s lives. So we need people with integrity, who believe that you are simply a custodian of any position God puts you, and no matter what you do, even if people don’t see it, God sees it and he would question you on how you have done it. Before I entered politics, that was what my father used to tell me.
He would say, “The only thing I fear is the politicians, as they always take what belongs to people.” With the mindset that my father gave me to know that nothing lasts in this world, nothing belongs to us, not the children that you have, or the house you built, because the same way that you came is the same way you are going to go. Once you understand that concept, you will not take this life as something that will not end; you will instead take it as something that is just like a dream. So if you have a passion for helping people, you have integrity and you are appointed into such a stool of Humanitarian, the crucial effect should be able to relieve people across all local governments of pains so that they can thank God.
As an investor, how have you been feeling the impact of this floating of naira policy?
I must thank God that I have businesses not just in Nigeria alone, but also in foreign lands because my children and wife are British. She visits Nigeria often, and I have always depended more on my businesses in Nigeria to send funds to them abroad, but since the time of President Buhari, all that has changed. That’s why we decided to have a business in London that handles UK affairs, so when I had to pay for my children’s school fees or I had to send them things; I had to use pounds to handle the affairs and then change money from Nigeria to send to the UK. Sometimes we still have to do that but the inflation in currency rates poses great challenges. It pays to have a business there to handle more foreign affairs than you spend because sometimes it is times five compared to the common rate you normally spend.
So, what do you think is a way out?
I think what they are trying to do is to encourage Nigerians to produce more, to go more into manufacturing our businesses so that in the long run, our businesses can start exporting abroad, rather than depending on imports to survive. I think that will take a while as a lot of people are used to foreign goods.
Let’s talk briefly about your political career, and the life philosophy your father ingrained in your psyche then, to what extent has it impacted your political career or do you have regrets for going into politics?
I do not have any regret at all because my late dad would always say one thing: “To beget wisdom is to see a lot of sorrow, the only thing that brings sorrow brings wisdom, things that make you happy, so to be a wise person, you have to see things that will make your eyes deep, the more you see, the more enlightened you become.” So, in politics, I have seen a lot as I have been vying since 2015. Though I have never won, I don’t have a mindset to stop because I believe I have something to contribute to my environment, Nigeria, Ibadan, and Oyo State as a whole and I believe that in God’s time, it will come. What we want to manifest to people will eventually come to manifest and people will see the caliber and what one has to offer.
Can you mention the factors towards achieving political goals?
Politics is a long train of smoke. Smoke is not always clear, you cannot always see where to walk or where not ought to walk, what to say and not what to say. You will learn from mistakes as you move. In the past 12 years, I have learned a lot in understanding the pros and cons, of moving on the political lane. If you are saying a factor, I wouldn’t say any factor as it is not God’s time yet because I believe God is preparing my mindset to where He is taking me, so understand that everything comes within His reach to where he ordained you to be.
Are you not surprised you have not been able to get the mandate of your constituency, despite the influence of your father, while he was alive?
During my first contest for an elective position, I felt disappointed. I wondered why I did not get so much support from the people but I realised that my father was a person of his own and I am a person of my own. Being fortunate, I was given to him as ordained by God, who has also allowed me to learn through him. I have learned and now I am a man of my own. I have to work on my path. So, with the lesson I have learned which is to be contented, I have understood that everything comes from God and everything goes back to Him and no matter how much you try, do your best and leave the rest.
What can you say about the future of Nigeria under the APC?
As I said earlier, it is not about the party, it is about the people. We, the people that wear the banner of the party, are the people that are in the party that give the party that name. All that APC is today came because of President Tinubu.
Is that normal, are parties not expected to be institutions, or why are we seeing individuals taking over their responsibility?
How many parties have a blueprint for the economy of Nigeria? The blueprint is written by the people, the party only has its own rules and laws of what you have to abide by as a politician. In America, you have the Democratic, the Republican, and the Conservative parties, and they have individual blueprints of what to do ideologically for the country. You never see them move or turn around. They don’t go out of the line of what they do. They have their policies, but we don’t have that here in Nigeria. What made APC what it is even before its Action Congress (AC) to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was what President Tinubu turned Lagos to be. Lagos changed overnight, becoming like Las Vegas. I witnessed that transformation, and a lot of people left their states for Lagos then. That’s why the state is congested. If Lagos can become this, that means there is hope for Nigeria.
The ruling party has always been PDP and through them, we didn’t solve power problems and that is why I said instead of saying PDP, I would rather mention the names of the individuals who failed in their positions than blame a party. So, the transformation of Lagos State was not because of APC but of the individual who says this is ideology, which should be the way we should go, and the ideology worked. That was the motivation that made me join the ACN before it became APC.
You supported Governor Seyi Makinde during the last election, are you now in PDP?
The last election in APC that made us go to Accord Party with Mr Adebayo Adelabu to contest was unfortunate. We had expected that it was going to be free and fair primary elections in Oyo State, but to our understanding, everything was already cooked up. They already chose their candidates in the Senate, and House of Representatives, except in Oyo South, which was decided at the last minute. On the day of our primaries in Ibadan North, I remember we had a meeting with the representatives of the party from Abuja at the Premier Hotel. They told us that they were just about to decide where we would do the primaries but the place they decided for the primaries was the same the incumbent Representative from Ibadan North, who was going for his second term, had rented before the primaries. He had even put security guards there to stop people from coming in and on the day of the primaries, they locked people and other candidates out from the primaries and they conducted their primaries themselves as the entire delegates voted in one direction for the person that had camped them for three days. How did people who came from Abuja decide to choose the spot that the incumbent has rented to himself and put security there? We still have the videos as they didn’t allow people and all other candidates were barred from entering the venue of the primaries, only for us to later find out that our state leader had chosen all his candidates before the day of the primaries. When there is no true democracy and you break the party into two, you never expect good results from it and that was what broke APC Oyo State chapter. I told people then that the issue would make the party lose Oyo State and it happened. But now, I believe we have to come back together and deliberate on ways to take over in 2027.
On the issue of supporting Makinde, I supported Makinde to prove a point in Ibadan North. I am a veteran politician in Ibadan North. Sometimes in politics, you have to let people understand your value, and what you can do rather than just bending your head. I decided to let them know that I have a quota that I contribute in the Ibadan North and whoever I support will have a majority vote in the zone. That was why I supported Governor Makinde’s second term bid and he won. I think beyond the party but about Ibadan and Oyo State as a whole. I think about people first.
It’s almost a year after the election, but you are still talking about coming together. Shouldn’t you have come together, and started consolidating?
Some of us have come together.
How?
The likes of me have returned to the APC and relating to people. APC is where I belong and I have contributed a lot to the party and now I am back, I will support whoever God pushes to become the governor in 2027 and we will contribute our quota again.
How far can the establishment of state police go in tackling the problem of insecurity that has become almost intractable in the life of the country?
I will say it is a good idea to have state police to have governors given a full directive of how they want their state to be manned. But it takes someone, who has experience in security to understand how to control the security people.
and then