APC governors have set good records in South-West

Dr Olapade Agoro

Dr Olapade Agoro, a cleric, traditional ruler and politician is known for his bluntness on any issue of national interest. Though, the leader of the National Action Council (NAC), one of the political parties in the country, he in this chat with CORRESPONDENT Oladele Ogunsola makes serious case for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South West geo political zone in the coming elections based on the performance of the governors and asks the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to keep off. Excerpts: There has always been this call on the Yoruba by some people on the need to belong to the mainstream politics of Nigeria, what is your take on this in view of Ekiti and Osun States governorship elections in June and August?
First and foremost, I’ m not one of those who believe in mainstream or downstream politics. Politics to me is for service. If mainstream will be denying of right to the common man, then may God remove that mainstream. You are here about the right time. I never knew, I stumbled on an interview I granted one of the newspapers 15 years ago where I defended strongly the cause of the Yoruba, those now talking, where were they then? I defended them strongly then during the late Gen Abacha era. You see, we have the problem, Yoruba are great people unequalled in Africa, we don’t have rivals, but the problem there is, we can sellout. We are easily bought. Start from the home, hardly will you find Igbo girl coming to marry Yoruba unless under circumstances beyond the reach of social comment. Hardly will you see an Hausa man giving his daughter in marriage to a Yoruba man, but if there Hausa men looking for wives, they come over there to marry our daughters. In the business clime, just give the contract to a Yoruba man, he will forget his own people. that has been the problem with us; we are readily bought; we are easily purchased at a low price. So, this issue of mainstream or no mainstream, must we allow for mainstream at the expense of performance?
How?
I’m not in the All Progressives Congress(APC), but at my age and national calling embossed with international respect, I think I’ m in a better position to speak on national issues. If you look at the translation of reality into performance in Osun, in Ekiti, particularly here in Oyo State, tell me any sane mind that will want to vote those who are there out of power? In Osun State, my junior brother, Olagunsoye Oyinlola was there for seven and a half years, he is a living person, he is a gentleman, I respect him for that. I know that in his right senses, he will know that Aregbesola has dwarfed his performance. I was in Osogbo a few days ago, I deliberately went round Osogbo town, the other time it was Ife, then later Ilesa,
the performance of this young man since the state was created has no equal. The only man that did something fantastic was Chief Bisi Akande, the secretariat he built for Osun can never be rivalled by anybody in the next 50 years; he was Awolowo in performance. Look at Fayemi, he met Ekiti in tumble and rumble, in dirty shape. People play politics in Ekiti and this is an opportunity for me to commend this young man, Segun Oni for willingly teaming up with Fayemi, it is one of the best that ever happened, that’s fantastic. On a comparative basis, don’t forget Ayo Fayose is a son to me; Ayo Fayose was himself in government, whereas Fayemi is people in government. Go to Ekiti, if Ayo Fayose is even reasonable, if he has his eyes in his sockets, I think he must say, look I surrender, you have performed nobly. Go to Abeokuta, I was at Ijebu- Ode, I went round, I have never done anything like this in my life, this young man, Amosun, to turn Ijebu-Ode round, if only for this, I don’t know why any reasonable person will want to deny tilting to the winning horse.
But the argument has been that they have not performed?
By who? By the opposition that has not gotten anything to show for 15 solid years that they have been at the centre? So, when you talk of mainstream, is the Federal Government performing per excellence as we have in these APC States? I was in Edo, what I saw was fantastic. Why will you deny right to the wining horse? I’ m not talking of politics, PDP is politics, these people are performers; there is a difference between politics and performance. I was born and bread in Ibadan, Oyo State, although an Ijesa man by birth, but I must say that this man, Abiola Ajimobi, must be one of the best that we ever saw. Ibadan, my birthplace has been transformed, likewise Oyo, Ogbomosho, then, I went to make enquiry, where did he get his money? He has not borrowed one kobo. If there was any governor that has great respect for me, it was Adebayo Alao-Akala, I think Alao- Akala, because he is a Christian must say let me keep quiet, if he is talking, he is only talking politics. I will call such talk by Akala jingoism politics, jingoism, just noise-making politics. But, if it is performance, nothing could be said to have been near the performance of Ajimobi. Let’s look closely, in the last 40 years; we are having Ibadan getting transformed. Have you gone to MKO Abiola Way, commonly known as Ring Road and see the gigantic development going on at a disused refuse dump? We have now a store there, supermarket, the type not seen in the whole of Africa than in the South Africa. We are having sine-qua-non in terms of development. Suddenly, Ibadan has been transformed, suddenly Cocoa House that was moribund became a living entity, suddenly you can move from Apata to Gate within 20 minutes as a result of dualisation.
Aregbesola, I don’t even know that a man who was brought out from the lion’s den could have performed that creditably; he is performing. What could have happened if the young man were not allowed to enjoy his mandate, that place would have been in mess? Omisore that wants to contest, does he have his eyes in his head? Does Omisore have his eyes in his head? Can he see the transformation going on in his father’s place? Look at what Aregbesola has done in the whole state!
As the opposition in hell-bent on chasing all of them away, what is the implication?
Backwardness, retardation of progress, retrogression, simple! My fear is that if they are not allowed to come back, God forbid bad thing, what becomes of all the ongoing laudable projects? They will all go ‘’fiam’’, PDP as far as I am concerned has no business in Osun State, Ekiti State or even in the entire Yoruba land. Lets give those performing governors the ticket to come back, if you like call it open campaign, I’m campaigning openly for them, I’m a traditional ruler in politics, nobody can do me anything. I’m using this medium to give them pass mark, they have all excelled. You want to move from here and go to Oyo, Alaafin, baba is stubborn, if Ajimobi has not been doing well, you know Alaafin would have made noise, people are happy across the state. Ajimobi will need more than one term to complete the projects at hand, there is no way Ajimobi can complete the ongoing projects in this term, he will need an extension of about nine months. I was at Ijebu-Ode, nobody can complete the work going on within the next one year. The work going on in Osun cannot be completed within the next one year, so if we send them out, we send progress out. If only for the good work they are doing, lets put politics aside, they deserve to continue. On this O’meal, O’uniform and all sorts, Aregbesola is a socialist; forget about the goatee bear he carries about, he is a hard-core supporter of Fidel Castro. What he is doing in Osun are what operate in Cuba, the school children wear the same uniform, you can’t differentiate between the rich and the poor. He is practicing socialism-communism.