GOVERNOR Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State is a man of many parts and means many things to different people and political groups. To some, he is an Omoluabi, a well-behaved gentleman. To others, he is simply a political rascal who must be tamed. Yet, to others, he is a man on a mission to restore a governance deficit that has been denied his people for years. Ever effusive, Aregbesola, in this interview with ABIODUN FANORO, explains why the no-love-lost situation between him and the opposition in his state persists, he speaks on the thorny issue of federalism and how it can quell the Boko Haram insurgence, and also highlights some strides taken by his administration in the state.
Members of the opposition have accused you of breaching the Nigerian Constitution by re-naming your state, state of Osun, a move described as an attempt to secede…
DON’T let us follow the fabricated lies that a section of the media reported as a security report. From my visit to security agents and the agency said to have authored the report, there has been a firm denial of the authorship. So, when you want to make reference, be guided with facts.
Now to your question, the name constitutionally and legally given to this state is Osun. The Constitution in Section 3 sub-section 1, says there would be 36 states in Nigeria. In mentioning their names, the Constitution does not add a prefix or a postfix. We just have Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, to Ekiti, Osun, Lagos, and so on. However, just as it is with the name of Nigeria itself, the Constitution in Section 1 says, the name of Nigeria will be Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Constitution does not in any way indicate how the government or the federation would be called. But the name of the Federal Government officially from the inception of this country called Nigeria, is Federal Government of Nigeria. Flowing from the constitutional title given to Nigeria, to the customary name the government at the federal level is called, the only reasonable way to call the state with the names already given to them by the constitution is to add State Government of Osun, State Government of Oyo and the like.
It is not right; it is not really flowing from the method of constitutional title for Nigeria to say Osun State Government. By the rule of syntax, it is not even correct. As it is incorrect to say, Nigeria Federal Government, so it is incorrect to say Osun State Government. What has been done is to conform with international convention about states.
What do you mean by international convention in a matter that is supposed to be a purely Nigerian internal affair?
There might be more, but I know of seven nations on earth where you have states as the administering units of their nations. These nations include, the U.S, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, India, Malaysia and Australia. These seven nations have states as the units of their political administration. In the U.S, all the 52 states are called individually; state of, for instance, Alaska, state of Florida, state of California and so on. In Mexico, one of the states notorious for drug trafficking is called State of Chiappas. In Brazil, the state noted for Nigerian and Black Culture and mostly populated by Black people is called State of Balia. It is the same in Germany, India and Australia and Malaysia. That is to tell you how deep-rooted their federalism character is. So when you consider all these, it is quite odd for us to carry on the way we have carried on in Nigeria when the convention globally is at variance with our style.
The new style adopted in Osun has also been affirmed as correct when subjected to its true, correct and precise Yoruba translation. It turns out to be Ipinle (State of) Osun. Therefore, what we have done is adoption of the name that is in tandem with our cultural circumstance and international convention, and does not deviate from the provisions of the Constitution.
For your information and as a way of reminding the public, this change was carried out more than a year ago as part of the re-branding process of the state. It therefore calls for serious investigation where this latter-day cry of the wolf comes from. It goes to confirm that those behind this orchestrated campaign certainly have a dangerous agenda, which of course is neither in the interest of the state nor its people.
Could this latter-day eruption be traced to the fact that you didn’t carry the people along?
If we did not carry the people along, there would have been explosion here; I mean social explosion. There would have been social chaos of un-imaginable proportion. There was nothing left that members of the opposition did not do to provoke social explosion here. They got a newspaper to have a special edition only for Osun. If our people were alienated from us, there would have been crisis. That we survived it without hitches is testimony to how well we are engrained with the people and how democratically attuned our policies are. I do not believe that we have any challenge with the people.
You are also alleged to be using thugs and private security outfits instead of the constitutionally specified State Security Service.
I understand you have been looking for me for about two days for this interview. That means you have been around the seat of government in the state for two days. Also right now, since you have been in the Government House for two or three hours, you could not have failed to see the security people around me. Did you see any one that is not the official security agent among the security men all around the Government House premises? Credence is given to this wicked claim when we keep repeating it. What have been read as security report on my administration were tissues of lies. They could not stand any scrutiny, not a line of the stories read is true.
Then why are you the target?
Am I the one they are targeting or the entire country? They are all wicked, selfish and very irresponsible. Because, when you demonise me on religion, knowing the sensitivity of it and the challenges of instability that it could pose to the country, then there should be no sane and reasonable human being that should use it for political reason.
We should emphasise that any one in Nigeria that employs such a divisive, highly volatile factor for cheap political advantage, is an enemy of Nigeria who ought to be prosecuted for sedition. I cannot accurately pick what is behind their mind, but I can, from my understanding of social activities, see that PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) opponents are saber-rattling. The distress, the despair, the agony of total defeat and the consequential humiliation that befell them in the April 2011 elections, by my own assessment, are still very much with them. I am of the view that as a result, they have resolved to either get rid of me if possible or disable me for any future encounter. Otherwise, nobody can explain it.
We did not just merely defeat them; we totally destroyed the basis for their claim for relevance in our state. They did not come anywhere near us, regardless of their claim before that time. We demystified them, we reduced them to political nonentities in their various constituencies, where before then, they were making larger than life claims of relevance. We totally exposed them for all to see that they do not matter here, they would never matter and that they are no longer relevant politically.
Why are you being marked for elimination as it had been reported?
There are people who want the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to see them as his allies, promoters and defenders of his interest here. Those are the ones that could not stand the resistance we pose to their claim, and it is to them that we are directing our charge of being responsible for all the shenanigans of attempting to provoke religious crisis, of labeling me wrongly, of plotting my elimination, of ensuring that I do not pose any threat to their unsubstantiated political influence and power.
You are seen as the arrowhead of plans to bring the Southwest under one ideological umbrella, as it was under late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Could that not pose a threat?
Why I would believe it cannot be a threat is this; they have never been associated with anything that will revive our regional movement and efforts at mobilising our people. They have always claimed to be promoting mainstream (politics) as the alternative to regional political ideology. They are unabashedly mainstream political advocates while we are unrepentant advocates of regional political arrangement and development.
But it is difficult now with what is playing out nationally, to see the wisdom in what they are saying. If the South-south regional summit would have the allure for a region-based socio-political and economic development, one wonders how any responsible person still claim that regional consciousness and regional efforts at development must not be pursued.
But don’t you think your involvement in Ondo State ahead of the state’s scheduled governorship election could be stirring the hornet’s nest?
I have a party. My party, like every other political association, must strive to expand its influence and spheres of political, administrative or territorial control. We did not do less in Kogi, when the election there was on; we didn’t do less in Benue State, we didn’t do less in Akwa Ibom State. So, what is peculiar about Ondo State? Just as we struggled for political power control in those states, so are we committed to equally struggle to take over the leadership of Ondo State. It is normal in any and every political setting in a democracy.
However, what you are probing is our keen interest in Ondo. Nobody can deny the fact that Ondo (State) people are Yorubas and they deserve to have the best of everything. We are not in doubt that our party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which is founded on late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s tradition, a disciplined and irreversible commitment to welfarism and the core values of our people, would best serve the interest of the people of Ondo State.
Would this ambition to have the Southwest under one political party not negate the principle of free choice that democracy is all about?
The essence and tenets of democracy is choice. Mind you, we are not advocating military putsch. Democratic contest is a process in which every party engages the people, via its programmes, and mobilises them to have the party as their party of choice, to give it the mandate for a constitutional tenure. That is what we are pursuing.
However, there is this notion of plurality of parties being the best for democracy. I don’t know from where this consciousness is drawn. Let us pick two or three advanced democracies. The United States of America have been existing for close to 250 years. The 250 years of America was based on the foundation of True-Wig Party, which ruled the U.S. for over 100 years un-interrupted. It was the True-Wig Party that later became Republican. That is not even the issue. The over 100-year rule of the True-Wig Party created the America we see today, that we refer to as the good model of democracy. That is the democratic history of America.
Let’s go to the United Kingdom. British democracy today is over 300 years. Torey Party ruled Britain for over 150 years un-interrupted. This implanted in Britain the legacy of a working democracy you find in Britain today. This happened before the emergence of the Liberal Party and Labour Party much later. In Japan too, the Social Democratic Party ruled for 50 years uninterrupted to set a pattern of governance that is today the norm there. So when we talk of a party with discipline, with ideology, with programme, we are saying, that is ACN - a party that can set the people on the path of development, prosperity and progress. We didn’t start it, Chief Awolowo created this platform; we are simply pursuing a political heritage that is already ingrained in our people. This is a contest; we are not forcing it on anybody. We are simply demanding fairness, transparency and justice in the electoral process.
Members of the opposition say you are a Lagos-resident Osun governor; that you govern from Lagos. How do you react to this?
Those people are charlatans, if not, why must they be repeating clearly illogical lies. They are like a bad gramophone record, repeating the same line of song. From the first day we came on board, this was their claim. We ignored them. They made attempt on my life, still on the same line; we ignored them. They ran me out of town, a week to the election. One week to the April 14, 2007 general election, it had become unsafe for me to operate in Osun, as the then administration had deployed and unleashed all apparatus of government on me. I had no choice than to operate in a guerilla form. In spite of these hitches put on my way, I still went ahead to defeat the incumbent governor. What is most interesting about this is that, I cleared all the wards and units in the capital, Osogbo and the other cities and towns. Remember, that these cities, especially Osogbo are a convergence of all the state’s various ethnic groups, religious, professionals and the likes. They only managed to rig themselves into victory in some obscure and rural areas, the results, which the courts eventually nullified. So, from where do they get all their stories about Lagos? Is it the people of Lagos that came to vote in Osun? Certainly no.
There is the view that ACN governors pay a sort of royalty to ACN leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that his recent 60th birthday was funded by some of you?
The people would decide whether those allegations have any basis at all. This state has received from the Federation Account allocation for 16 months. We began with the allocation of N1.8 billion, it rose to N2 billion; it was like that till June last year before it moved to N3.8 billion. For easy calculation, let us say on the average we receive N4 billion monthly. If this average allocation is multiplied by the 16 months, it gives us N64 billion.
I am delighted to let the world know our revenue profile. Juxtaposing that with our expenditure profile, capital and re-current, people would be shocked and would commend us on how we have managed the little we had and how we got money to fund extra projects that are on-going.
Let me add that the 16th month is yet to be released. As I am talking to you, we have in reserve N12 billion from Excess Crude allocation. When the two are added together, it shows that we have collected in all N76 billion. As at today, we have N35 billion in reserve. I pay on the average N2.3 billion every month as wages and salaries. When you multiply N2.3 billion by 15 months, it gives you N36 billion. That is the amount we have so far spent on salaries and wages. We have awarded development projects worth N30 billion. I have not even mentioned overhead cost.
There is no how you can run any government without overhead. Globally, the standard is 50 per cent of salary and wages. However, in our own case, we put it at 25 per cent. In simple arithmetic, 25 per cent of N36 billion will be N9 billion. When you add all these expenditure together, what you have left is not N35 billion (the amount in reserve). What this simply means is that, we don’t have enough to spend, not to talk of giving out to anybody.
How then do you get extra fund to do extra projects?
We are running a government that is completely different from what operates in any part of Nigeria. This is as a result of the innovations we have brought into our financial operations that make it absolutely impossible for any frivolous expenditure. This knowledge and skill is derived from my experience under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, under whom Aregbesola served as Works Commissioner. Tinubu represents to me one of the world’s best managers of funds in the public sector.
Recently, it was reported that you pardoned a murder convict. How justifiable is this?
You seem to be taking your views from a discredited section of the media. What I did was that I carried out the recommendation of the committee on prerogative of Mercy. The government set up the committee to look into the situation of condemned persons. It presented its recommendations to me and I assented to it. The committee was made up of men and women of integrity and I have no cause to doubt their integrity.
How would you assess Federal Government’s response to Boko Haram’s insurgence and what is your party’s blueprint on this?
I will not speak on Federal Government’s reaction. But I will tell you that Boko Haram is a manifestation of the failure to deal with and resolve the country’s political, economic and social problems over a long period of time. I want to alert all Nigerians that we are all culpable of dereliction of our civic and patriotic duties to our country. Those of us who have over time emphasised the need for fiscal federalism, for devolution of powers and for reduction of the rapacious control that the Federal Government has on Nigeria, as enshrined in the present constitution, must not be tired. Now is the time to cry loud and demand a proper restructuring of the country, along the path of true federalism. Each time we delay, we endanger the life of the country and compromise its future. It is not until we have done this could we be able to address the social, political and economic factors promoting this totally needless bloodletting. It is not totally a religious issue, as people want us to believe. Religion is simply being used as a vehicle of expression of a deep-seated national malaise.
You mean genuine federalism could be a panacea to these insurgencies?
It is core and critical to the remedy of the unrest across the country. Look at their (Boko Haram) demands; they are within the tenets of genuine federalism.
Sixteen months in power, how much have you achieved?
We are pursuing programmes that will radically transform our people and make them viable as individuals. Knowing that 60 per cent of people are into farming, the bulk of our intervention is in agriculture. We are clearing land for farmers free of charge, we are supporting them with new techniques through extension services; we are providing improved seedlings. We have for the first time over 300, 000 metric tons of fertilizer at a heavily subsidized rates for farmers. We are supporting them with credit to ensure that everything they need for productive agriculture is available. We are opening access to rural areas to facilitate the evacuation of farm produce to the urban centres, where the markets are. We are providing free freight for all agricultural products from Osogbo to Lagos; we are negotiating with the Lagos State Government to have Osun Food Mart in all local council areas.
In the area of education, we have now re-structured the sector. We now have three tiers for basic education. Within the next 24 months, we would build 100 new elementary schools that would be within the neighbourhoods. We are building 50 new middle schools that would not be too near the neighbourhoods, but would not be far away. We shall build a number of new high schools, each with a capacity for 3,000 students. In all we are talking of 100,000 school capacity for elementary pupils, 50,000 school capacity for middle school pupils and 50,000 capacity high school. This would cost us between N30 and N50 billion. We are providing uniforms for all school pupils at the cost of N1.85 billion. We are giving free food to all our elementary school pupils; over 3,000 selected food vendors are being used for this programme all over the state. This will cost the state N1.5 billion annually.
In the area of road, our current investment in roads is about N3 billion. Work is ongoing in the alternative road project from Osun to Lagos. We are also building a new road to link the Akure-Ilesa expressway. These two roads have been awarded at a cost of N17 billion.
How do you see the future of Nigeria from the lens of the 2015 presidential election, 100 years of amalgamation in 2014 and the 2015 U.S. prediction?
I have no problem with the future of Nigeria, but I have problem with the quality of our leaders. If we succeed in getting our leaders to be committed to a country that will realise its historic responsibilities to the black man, definitely, Nigeria will soar, roar and be the voice and the full image of the long oppressed, exploited and despised Blackman worldwide. It is my desire to be part of that success story.