GOV. AMOSUN IS A BUNDLE OF DISSAPOINTMENT-
BY Hon.(Dr.) Sikirulai Olawale Ogundele
Dr.Sikirulai Olawale Ogundele is one top politician in Ogun State who is popular within the grassroots. The consummate politician began his active party politics during the NRC/ SDP era where he vied for elective office. However, in 1999, he contested and won the seat to represent Ifo constituency in Ogun State House of Assembly under the then Alliance for Democracy(AD).
It was the same story in 2003, when he contested for
the same seat on the platform of Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP). He later made an entrance to the executive arm and contested for the chairmanship position in Ifo local government area, where he emerged victorious.
Inthis interview, Hon Sikirulai Ogundele speaks on why the PDP lost to the ACN in Ogun State in the last election, among other sundry issues.
Hon. Ogundele you have been out of circulation for a
while, where have you been?
I have never been out of circulation, I have been much more around both home and abroad. I only travel out on business trips abroad once in a while but i am always with my people.
(Cuts in) but you have been quiet in the political scene for some time?
Yes, it is important to do a critical internal self-
examination after the last general elections, and give the new government enough space and time to settle to perform. So, i deliberately stayed away from the media, but I'm active politically within my party, the PDP and my political group is still bubbling.
Your Party, the People Democratic Party (PDP) spent 8 years in power in Ogun State, but lost in the 2011
general elections. Some people have blamed either
former Gov. Daniel or ex-President Obasanjo for this
failure, what is your personal view ?
No doubt about about that, we had a mismanagement
of our success, and it led to the failure at the 2011 general elections. I strongly believe that we had a collective mistake from left, right and centre, we all committed the electoral blunder. Maybe the joy of victory at all times then was too much on our head, but it was quite unfortunate that we could not manage the success. Philosophically, when you allow things like that to get into your head, you are bound to commit blunder.
Are you now saying that if the in-fighting was not
there, the PDP would have won the elections in 2011?
I want to confirm to you that if the PDP members were in harmony and because of the performance of the immediate past governor who is an achiever per
excellence, the ACN would not have won. Look, there is no single soul in Ogun State that did not feel the impact of Governor Gbenga Daniel directly or indirectly. Look at the activities of the agencies established by ex Governor Daniel, look at OGROMA that worked seriously on our roads, OGSEP that worked on the transformers, OGEGEP trained and provided jobs for the unemployed people and how Ogun state became the darling of industrialists, and foreign investors, to mention just a few. Therefore, I wish to reaffirm it that there was no single soul in Ogun State that did not feel the positive impact of ex-Governor Daniel’s government. So, that would have just reflected in the voting pattern in April 2011, and we would have won tremendously.
People were talking about change, and the
change was sweeping across the South West of
Nigeria?
Let me tell you, it was not that change per say, it was few people that were using the media as a propaganda tool to clamour for change. Change for what? Is it from the good governance of Gbenga Daniel to the disaster we have now? For eight years people did not see anything that Bola Tinubu did in Lagos, despite the huge resources available to him. It was after he was able to install Fashola that people began to appreciate the fact that it was Tinubu that laid the foundation for the successes attributed to Fashola. The Ogun people were feeling the good impact of the OGD administration and would have voted for PDP again if not for the infighting we had. There were so many people saying this your intra party wahala is too much.
Even, up till now, people still give it to PDP when it comes to performance. OGD performed tremendously
well. I have said it at so many times that I am looking forward to see a government that can challenge OGD on performance, I mean you cannot compare the present administration in Ogun State to that of OGD, no way, the legacies are there.
The present ACN government in Ogun State is now a
year old, what is your candid evaluation of this
government?
That’s a good question. I am very happy that you did
not ask me to compare or pass judgment, I would have
said that I am not good at passing judgment, but that does not mean one should not look at the past and look at the present. I want to say with all sense of responsibility that the present ACN GOVERNMENT IN OGUN STATE IS A BUNDLE OF DISSAPPOINTMENT.
The ACN government in Ogun State is vindictive and not a progressive government, and made up of intellectually bankrupt bunch of propagandists. The ACN government that never had the love of the people at heart. So many people have been turned homeless
today. So many businesses have been paralysed, so
many people are now jobless or displaced by this failed government of Governor Amosun. I want to say again, the state that was tremendously lifted from the civil servant state, with viable economic process by OGD has now been criminally turned back or taken back to a civil servant state. The government of ACN in Ogun State is a bundle of disappointment.
But the ACN supporters would say that Gov Amosun is
performing, with the newly dualised Ita Eko Road and
has promised other good things to come?
My brother before you dualise a road, before you
displaced people from their homes, and shops where
they earn their daily bread, you ought to have put into consideration two major things. One, what is the economic value of that road, what is the traffic volume of this place you are dualising, and in the case of that Ita Eko-Sokori road, the place is dualised already, you are now putting extension, displacing people, sending people to uncertain future, destroying many families.
There are other roads calling for rehabilitation and
extension, look at one road beside Madojutimi Food
Canteen along Abiola Way. The road to Asero beside
the Stadium enroute Obantoko, if rehabilitated it would have reduced the traffic congestion at Asero/Moore Petrol Station axis. The road from Idi-aba to link the secretariat was opened by OGD. One would have expected an intelligent governor to embark on people oriented projects. I believe an ordinary extention of road already dualised is a pay back of some political debts.
May be the governor is taking things gradually, why
don’t you give him some more time?
That’s what I am talking about, even 4 years is too
small for a very focused governor to perform but a
governor that has a vision, mission and laudable plans in his blue print ought to have embarked on people oriented project within a year of its existence. This is a government that promised free education, free health programmes, where are they?
(Cuts in) but the government paid WASCE fees for
SSS3 students and distributed textbooks to students
free?
All government do that. As Local Government
Chairman, I did all these when I was there at Ifo local government on quarterly basis, and didn't see it as something spectacular. He promised students free text books and the students are getting the books in their third term. Which parent would wait for such irresponsible government before they buy their children's textbooks. This man would have done some rehabilitation of structures at schools, you can’t make education free, and expect it to be qualitative, even Lagos State cannot handle free education with all her intimidating I.G.R. You only need to subsidize it, you can’t make it totally free, don’t deceive people.
Anyway, I want to believe that the man didn't know
what he was coming to do as a governor in the first
place. The original ACN members are not in the inner
circle of government at the state level. Look at the
structure of the state executive council, how many
original politicians from ACN are there? Non.
I want to say that Amosun has disappointed the people of Ogun State. The forth coming local government will show the diminishing popularity chart of the present government. I have called some of my friends in his government to go back and check the popularity chat of Amosun before he became governor and now. It has reduced drastically within a year in office. This is a government that embark on tour without the mission of going to commission a single project. A government that is stage managing a first year of meaningless administration. It has never happened in the history of the state that a governor would be stoned in just a year in office like it happened in Ijebu-Igbo. In Ipokia, it was
a gun battle between his security aides, and the
people. It is terrible that this is happening in Ogun state. Gov. Amosun had now made people realized
what they have lost within one year after the departure of OGD.
Look within 100 days in office as Ifo Local
Government chairman, I commissioned over 60
projects that are people oriented. Amosun has lost
credibility, the man has disappointed so many people
in Ogun State. I said it sometimes ago that the shoes OGD left in office is too large for this man to wear.
As a very honest and grassroots person, i said it earlier that the people of Ogun State are not getting what they expected from the man. The best way to pay him back is at the next council elections in July. All we see now is a man with large cap, a particular proverb says uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, now a man wearing a crown is adding more metres to the crown, making it larger, and comical thereby adding unnecessary weight to the head. Each time I see Mr. Governor with his large cap like that of a particular jester, it makes me laugh, and think our number one citizen is not a serious man.
PDP is now working seriously to mend fences, and unite. How can a governor spend over N300 Million
Naira to plant flower? I mean you can’t compare the
topography of Ogun state with that of Lagos State.
Ogun State is rocky. Is planting of flowers the next
thing, when people are walking around with empty
stomachs. A very intelligent governor would have been more focused and active than planting flower.
You don’t play politics with the future of the youths. Look at what he did to TASUED, the first University of Education in Nigeria, and second in Africa. You want to scrap it, and spend the money in planting flowers so as to create avenue for friends to waste our money. In just a year in office, Amosun has borrowed about 60 billion naira and we have not seen a single thing he has done.
They were saying that Gbenga Daniel left a debt
burden of 80 billion in eight years of his administration,
let the Ogun people now judge for themselves and
compare. Eight years of 80 billion debt, and one year of 60 billion naira debt. We are in deep trouble in Ogun, and must kick this impostor called Amosun out of power in 2015, but we must show through the local government elections, that he can no longer deceive Ogun people again, with his bunch of political neophytes and brigands.
Hon. Ogundele, lets come back to you, what is your
next political step, after your experience as a two-
termed state legislator and former council chairman?
After a lot of consultations, I have come to the
conclusion that I want to join in the gubernatorial race of Ogun State come 2015, and nothing will stop me from achieving this INSHA ALLAH. I am a politician with experience, and I strongly believe in my ability. That has always reflected in my elections. I lost only during the NRC & SDP days when i contested for the House of Assembly seat under the NRC, but since then, I have been winning all my elections; from my second term in House of Assembly to Ifo Local Government seat as
chairman. The records are there, go to Ifo local
government, go to both constituency 1 & 2, you will see my legacies and foot prints there. I constructed the ultra-modern market at Ifo, and I completed it, the same structures were put in place at Akute, and
Agbado, and no single kobo was taken from the council purse. It was done through my personal initiative and contacts. Each time I travelled abroad then, I used to feature on TV programmes and used the opportunities to call on indigenes abroad to come and join in the developmental process of our local government area, and they responded positively. One major project that nobody can take away at Ifo is the relationship building project. I was able to manage Ifo local government, a volatile council area very well, this won me several awards as the best local government council boss in Nigeria.
I constructed roads and gave out over 100
transformers. My vast experience in politics had earned me credibility within and outside Nigeria. I am still waiting for anybody to challenge me because up till today, I am the only ex-council boss that did not owe anybody, whether a political appointee, staff, or contractors a kobo before I left the council. The issue of whether PDP, my party will give me the governorship ticket or not does not arise, I know they will not deny me this opportunity, and the leaders can attest to my
qualities. I want to serve my people, and we need to do away with these empty headed elements with large
caps, and please help me tell the whole world that I Dr. Sikirulai Olawale Ogundele is set to bring Ogun State back to the good days as established by OGD.
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