Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in this extensive interview with Editors of National Mirror speaks on a number of issues ranging from his policies and programmes in the last two years, to the politics of the South-West, his relationship with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the role of his party in the last elections in Ondo State. He also responded to the controversies that have characterised his government lately with the public holiday granted the Muslim faithful to mark Hijra. Though acknowledged as a radical on certain issues, Aregebsola explains why his views may appear as non-conformist and why he is unapologetic about his convictions

You appear to have successfully silenced the three key political players in the state – Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Isiaka Adeleke and Iyiola Omisore. Did you set out to do that mainly by defeating them at the polls or did you deliberately set out to “deal with them”? And again in the past two years, how have you protected your territory from the onslaught of the opposition?

We see ourselves as a part of the aspiration of the Nigerian people for self actualisation in the truest sense of it, improved condition of living, for freedom and for liberty. So, my stay here in the last 24 months has afforded me an opportunity to not just be an agitator for those things I believed in, but to be leading the process that promises the actualisation of the dreams. I didn’t set out to humble or humiliate anybody. We have a duty to continue the progressive current the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo initiated. People must understand that we must revive the progressive tradition of our people which Awo represented. Awolowo re-invented government that long held tradition of our people. So what I and my other colleagues are working on is revival of that process.

So, we intend to mobilise seriously for that revival and that we did in our ethical revolution, rebranding and what have you. We are a part of humanity that has a culture, a tradition, a custom of people that are not just keen on their individual benefit, but seeking their benefit and situating that individual interest in a communal mood. That has been our approach to it. So you cannot therefore be mobilizing the people and expect anything less than what we had.

The perception of political office by the trio that you are talking about is different from ours. They never ever believed in the people as the end of political service, or office occupation. To them, the people are just pawns to be used and dumped, not the end of politics. You don’t see the people opportunistically; you see the people as the total objective of political office, not as just dispensable elements. To me there is no way, if there is a free and fair election that they can matter. There is just no way. Our views are different, our understanding of the process and the position is different, our appreciation of even the office and our role in the office are different. So, where would we therefore be competing and contesting? There is no basis for it. It is only when the electoral process is compromised that there will be an issue between us. If a transparent process is in place, they know and we know that there won’t be any competition. I went about governance with a clear mind of being one with the people, to solve whatever challenges that confront them and in the course of it, stimulate them to believe in themselves and understand our role in their course. To the glory of God, I cannot have a better support from the majority of our people. They have at all times demonstrated an unbelievable commitment to our programmes which are their programmes and our course which is their course. Under that condition, the opposition as you want us to look at them have no chance and they know that they have no chance.

To know that these people are irrelevant here is so simple. A governor, Oyinlola, left office on November 26, 2010, after being in office for 90 months. Just out of office for 103 days, he could not win any local government in a senatorial election he participated in. It’s beyond me, it just can’t be Rauf. For a man who was the governor for 2,700 days and was simply out for 103 days, not to have won his own local government, it’s the height of political irrelevance. What that tells you is that this man could not even be returned as local government chairman in his native local government. That is the simple meaning. It means this man does not worth being a local government council chairman not anywhere in his native local government. Where did he win? He won only in the two wards in his home town. So what that man could be is a councillor and he can sponsor another councillor. Go and check the margin. The margin is so close. The same thing happened to Omisore. He (Omisore) won his polling unit with some paltry three votes and after that nothing. The only one among them that one could even give some recognition to in terms of capacity is Adeleke who controlled his two native local governments out of 10. He won the two local governments in his base out of 10.
Read the complete interview at : http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/weve-a-duty-to-continue-the-progressive-current-awolowo-initiated-aregbesola/

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