Why I’m sure of second term —Aregbesola

Rauf Aregbesola is the fourth civilian governor of Osun State. In a couple of months, another election will take place where he will be seeking re-election. In this interview with some journalists, the governor speaks on previous administration in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), critics of his government, among other issues. OLUWOLE IGE  brings the excerpts.  
THE financial re-engineering of the state under your leadership has been intriguing, despite the limited resources of Osun when compared with oil-producing states. How is the state fairing and coping, especially in its various projects, programmes and projects across the state?
We are being driven by the passion to turn around the economy of the State of Osun. We believe strongly in the divine intervention for guidance and success. This foundation made it possible for us to be guided in the appointment of the right people into the right places. We cannot ascribe the success to ourselves, but to the Almighty who will continue to support and make it possible for us to achieve our plans to execute mega projects that will attract investments from across the developed nations to the state.
And that passion definitely inspired more than the ordinary effort to get our resources to drive our vision. However, God has established his laws; it is left to human beings to take maximum advantage of the laws of God for their benefits. So, with the abundance of God’s provisions, human beings only need to put their minds in what they want and help from sources that are never envisaged and which will just come.

Yes, what we are doing in all spheres of life are definitely beyond the capacity of a state. So, effective, efficient and prudent management of our resources has helped to push the frontier of development. Our success in that regard is beyond the capacity to prudently, effectively and efficiently manage the economy.  That is where the divine angle comes in. You just realised that even the best management skill, which we have on ground is just beyond the human comprehension. It is the gargantuan scope of our development strides that has inebriated the opposition to the point of hallucination. Now, they don’t even know what to say or what to do; others promote lies about a debt burden. They cannot talk about lack of performance because that is beyond them to do even with their somewhat skilled sense of evaluation to whittle down our achievements and appreciation by the people. They still go about this totally uncoordinated type of phantom debt burden which is unsustainable if you are going to be honest with it. So, I used to tell people, in addition to what I just told you, that I served under one of the best public finance experts in the person of a former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju  Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The tutelage paid off so handsomely and the result is what you are witnessing in Osun.

To some people in and outside Osun, you are one of the most criticised governors. What are you doing to limit criticisms?
When a man is criticised the way we are being criticised, it is due to success. Success brings criticisms definitely. In fact, what I will say is that success largely brings controversy.
Probably, that is what you want to use. Success brings controversy, success brings hostility and success brings envy. That is all part of the life. We are indeed successful in our programmes and projects. We were not unconscious of the reactions some of our programmes, projects and activities would attract. Don’t forget, we heartily call our administration even during the campaigns ‘an unusual government’. We branded our government ‘an unusual government’ even during the campaigns. So, it would be difficult to be abnormal not to have the spate of antagonism that we have experienced over this period of time. It would be totally abnormal not to have such reactions.

Another governorship election is just a few months away. How prepared are you for your second term bid?
In the first place, the answer would have been we are doing our best, honestly speaking, because of our own approach to governance. We have been working from the very first day with the firm belief that there’ll be a day of reckoning which elections usually mean to politicians. Elections are the days of reckoning; they are the judgment days for politicians. So, from the day we were sworn-in up till now, we have been working assiduously for that auspicious day that the electorate will have the opportunity to renew our mandate for another period of time. For a thing that we have been working at for the past 37 months, I will want to say we are doing well at it.

The PDP has been engulfed in a leadership crisis for some time now. What is its impact of the crisis on your party?
 There was no crisis in the PDP when we assumed office. To us, whether the party is one or fragmented or even weakened by an internal crisis, it is their own headache. We are engaged by the people and that is important to us. Our engagement with the people has been so firm, so serious, so symbiotic and so wholesome. Whatever is the situation of the PDP in Osun, it is of no importance to us. If they are together, they do not matter because the people are the sovereign. The people are the sole decider of victory or defeat in an election. Parties will only mobilise support from the people. Parties cannot force the people. Parties can stimulate the interest of the people in their activities. Parties cannot compel the people to adopt or accept their programmes. So, since we have realised this from the very beginning, our works, our programmes, our activities are directed at meeting the needs of the people, satisfying the people, mobilising the people to accept our programmes and policies; believe in us as their friends and people who are committed to their progress, welfare, peace and prosperity. Our people-oriented programmes are also designed to adopt us as their own representatives. So once those critical or those fundamentals of engagement with the people are met, the rest is little. With what we have done with the people and with the response we have from the people, it does not matter if there is crisis or no crisis in the PDP. The crisis in the party [PDP] doesn’t matter anymore. Whether they are  together or  divided, weakened or strong, as long as we are one with the people and represent the aspirations of the people to give our people the hope of realising their desires and wants, let other parties do whatever they wish to do. God be with us, success is our own.

By your assessment, how will you rate the economy of Osun today?
The Nigerian economy is very weak and unsustainable. It is too dependent on crude oil, to the chagrin of the economy itself and the people. But, what do we mean by that statement? An economy that is not value-oriented is an unstable economy. It is a very unstable economy. Our economy today depends absolutely on the vagaries of the international oil market. This should not be the case for a nation with the size of Nigeria, people and land mass. We must have a less mono-resource dependent economy. We have the land; we have the people. What we should have used the oil money to do is to diversify our economy. For a state [constituent] within such a bad-managed nation to seek to isolate itself, in economic analysis will be very difficult. This is particularly a hard task, when you bear in mind that this is a state that has been administered along the line of the laissez- faire economic management for over 19 years before our advent. Indeed, this will be very tough and I want you to see it from that angle. Bearing that in mind, we are turning the economy of Osun around. A care in the kitchen of our economic success is the drive to re-jig the economy of the state. Even with the obvious challenge we have as a nation, we have grown the income of the state. For instance, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state has jumped from N300 million to over N1.6 billion per month. We are attracting investments to specific sectors of the state and hope to achieve over N3 billion IGR.
We are supporting farmers at all levels: from peasant to new generation farmers, as well as high commercial farmers. We are empowering our people to produce food and help them with the market for their products. We are supporting market men and women in their businesses. Part of the industrial development that took place since we assumed office is the Omoluabi Garment Factory, where uniforms are being made for our students on a commercial and large-scale basis. This was initiated not only to reduce the cost but increase the quality of wears.
Today, the factory is not only producing uniforms but, it is producing other garments and uniforms for school children nationwide. It is producing other garments from other wears to T-shirts and sports wears. There is another company that is built to manufacture electronics such as plasma television set, computers of all types, desktop, laptops and palmtop. The LG factory will produce another one, just like we have a factory in Osogbo to produce Opon Imo for schools in the state. It was designed in the form of a mini iPad  as a portable touch screen Android- powered e-learning device, the first of its kind in Nigeria provided by the state government to equip students with knowledge and make it easier for them to pass School Leaving Certificate Examination. It is a standalone, educational, multimedia e-learning content platform that comes with pre-loaded applications for WAEC and JAMB-approved textbooks.

What are those factors that actually accounted for investors floating companies in Osun?
Several factors are responsible for the attraction of investment to the state. It is our own initiation. This is because we are deliberately attracting those outfits, as well as putting in place activities that will make such investment difficult to avoid our state and  escape from our territory. There is massive transformation of the state in terms of infrastructural development. If we talk about roads, drive round and check the kilometres of standard roads, standard bridges, beautiful streets with flowers, dual carriageway that are incomparable and the return of peace. Most of these completed projects did not receive a fanfare commissioning as practised in the past. Also, the present administration has created opportunities for existing investors who are looking for high yields by creating instruments and bonds in the state. When we launched a non-interest bond recently, the critics embarked on a negative campaign but today, we have succeeded in securing funds for infrastructural development of Osun at fixed returns. When we did the Sukuk bond, there was no way we could do it at 14.75 per cent returns because banks were lending to one another at 25 or 30 per cent. And so, I am not surprised that not only are we beginning to have interest, we have pioneered that instrument and have contributed to the infrastructural development of the country at large.

In 2006, you narrowly escaped being killed during the Osogbo Oroki day celebration. How is the security situation in the state now?
There is no comparison. You can’t compare light with darkness. You can’t compare progress with failure. If you have the people with you, you will be swimming in an ocean of limitless confidence, composure and peace of mind. However, if the basis of your mandate is fraudulent, if the basis of your mandate is exploitative, if the basis of your mandate is criminal, that is, based on manipulation and compromise of the process, you can never run away from fear, intimidation and neurosis. The outward manifestation of the underlining basis of the emergence of our administration clearly shows the character of our administration. This is totally different from the administration from whom we took power, considering the fraudulent nature of his mandate. Our people are not reactionaries.  
Yoruba are progressive in their customs and culture and in their social relationship. We are a people with an ingrained attitude of live and let live. The Yoruba have fine human relationship, excellent character, and remarkable world-class commitment to human values and ethics that is not comparable globally. It cannot be imagined that a decadent, uninspiring and reactionary political party will lead in Yoruba land. It is almost unthinkable. It is not for nothing that late Papa Obafemi Awolowo emerged from a humble background. He dominated the political scene while alive and his tendency, belief and political traditions are still dominant and effective in Yoruba land. It’s not for nothing; it is because of the natural tendency and capacity of our people to pursue programmes that will guarantee maximum progress, maximum benefits and maximum development for the highest number of the people. So, because of that, the party that was here before our emergence could not have guaranteed peace if anything at all, the best they could do was what they did. That is, intimidating the people persecuting them, treating them with contempt and disdain, repressing them, and sowing fears in their mind as the only way of retaining power. That was the reason the state was not secure. Everybody lived in fear. Life was brutish, sad and rough before our advent. At our advent, it was like bringing a balm to a sore and painful joint.  My team and leaders of our party brought calm and peace.
We brought joy, we brought goodwill, and we brought happiness to the communities and state. The people have regained their happiness; they’ve regained their laughter and they’ve regained their characteristic Yoruba love for life and ceremonies. There is no threat anymore in all parts of our state. People sleep with their two eyes closed; they are no longer living in fear of harassment, persecution and intimidation. They go to where their business is either for religious, political, commercial and economic without fear or hindrance. We are proud of ensuring true peace in Osun. The instances of disturbance are not in any way linked to the government. They are essentially usual misunderstanding that characterise life. You cannot find our government involved in any social disagreement. The natural dynamism of existence could lead to rough edges around. Today, Osun is now the most peaceful states in the country.
And this is even why the economy is growing within the limit of the larger Nigerian society can offer.

Nigeria is 100 years old this year, what is the hope after the centenary celebration?
I pray for the country to grow as a global leader which it is destined to be. That is my remark. I pray that the country assumes her historical role as a leader in the world. The destination of the country is to be an African leader and consequently, a leader in the world. My wish is that it enjoys the grace and assumes that position. That is my expectation. The country requires fervent prayers that, as Nigeria turns 100 years by the grace of God and the will of the people, it will have a leader that will drive it to to ultimate destiny of being the bearer of the emblem of Africa as a leading Black nation. Nigeria requires prayers for a leader that will make the country a major player in the global economy and universal theatre of life. I am proud of the country and will pray for it to lead Africa with a good leader to rule the world economically.

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