e payment of the West African Senior School
Certificate Examination fee and introduce a levy
in secondary schools?


When we came in, the state government studied all
the aspects of education and we asked ourselves
questions on what could be responsible for the
abysmal performance of our candidates in the
WASSCE each year. We found out that among other
things, many of the parents did not bother to look
after their children. We discussed with the parents
and realised that because they (the parents) were not
in any way involved in secondary education of their
children; they did not care about what happened to
their children’s education. They did not care if the
children did their assignments or knew what they
were taught in schools. They have abandoned their
responsibility towards their children. We set up a
committee to discuss with the Parents-Teachers
Association, community leaders, individual parents
and other stakeholders to know their views.
Interestingly, many of the parents felt that if they
were also contributing by paying something (some
amount of money), they would be more attentive to
the education of their children.
The second reason is the fact that with the paucity of
fund in the state, we have to face the reality that we
cannot continue to sponsor children without involving
their parents in a way. This is why we introduced the
development levy. However, that levy of N3000 per
session is not all that is required to train a child in
one year. It’s just for a period of time, as soon as
things improve for the state financially, we will stop
it. It is an emergency situation that we must address
immediately. The decision to introduce the levy was
a unanimous one. And it was based on the
suggestions of stakeholders, including the PTAs.
Did you envisage a political backlash as a result of
the decision?


We envisaged a political backlash on the decision; but
we cannot do what we cannot afford. We can handle
the opposition. When you are not in government, you
don’t see what is happening inside. Oyo State gets
around N3bn from the Federal Allocation while we
have a wagebill of more than N5bn. Our Internally
Generated Revenue is N1bn; therefore, we will
continue to owe every month if we don’t adjust our
spending. If the opposition criticises us over this, we
will handle it by showing the facts and figures. Like I
said, this is an emergency situation that is temporary.
How do you plan to increase the state’s Internally
Generated Revenue?


We are restructuring our Board of Internal Revenue
Service. We have just been given the approval by the
state House of Assembly to restructure the board.
We want to decouple the IRS from the regular civil
service. It will be a separate unit that will be
responsible. It will have its board and the staff salary
structure will be a little bit higher than that of the
average civil servants, although it will be
performance-based. There are many leakages which
we want to block. From September 2015, we are
changing the IRS structure so as to increase the IGR.
Our greatest asset in the state is land. We want to
take control and have a database for our resources.
We don’t even know how many houses we have in
Oyo State or the number of plots of land we have.
We need a database for this to be made possible.
Also, people are not performing their social
responsibilities in the state. But rather than taxing
the poor, we will look for opportunities to extend our
taxes. There are so many companies that are not
paying taxes. We have the opportunity to increase
our IGR and I believe that with the restructuring, our
IGR will double in six months. My ambition is that in
the next five years, Oyo State should earn at least
N5bn in IGR. I am confident of this.
What is the position of payment of workers’
salaries in the state and is the bailout from the
Federal Government enough to pay the backlog?
Currently, we owe three months; May, June and July.
Workers from levels 1 to 12 have received April
salary and we are currently paying the rest. There is
no bailout yet. The Federal Government gave us
around N2bn from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas
fund. The Central Bank of Nigeria is now trying to
take over states’ debts to banks and bonds at 14 per
cent instead of 24 per cent that we are paying.
This cocktail of support will lessen the burden. But
unless we add income from IGR, we will continue to
be in debt. The allocation we get now is lower than
the basic requirement needed to pay workers. The
alternative is to either reduce the workforce or
increase the state’s income.


Are you planning to reduce the size of the
workforce with the ongoing workers’ verification
exercise?


No, we are not. We believe that the exercise will
expose ghost workers. It will also give us the
opportunity to train our workers and to re-assign
them. Now that we are talking of agricultural
development, we can send people to work in areas
where agriculture can be practised. The intention of
the screening is not to reduce workers because
government must play its role as a provider of
employment. But we must ensure that we have the
right people working for us. Some people are
working without certificates; we have asked them to
provide their certificates. In some cases, some
workers need to update their knowledge. We want to
help them; we want to bridge the skill gap and not to
retrench workers.


Workers of Ladoke Akintola University of
Technology said the owner states, Oyo and Osun,
have abandoned them in terms of funding. Is this
true?


Oyo State has never abandoned LAUTECH, but, every
institution should begin to be self-sufficient. We are
giving them subvention. The two states are trying to
look at how the institution must be properly funded.
However, the school must also look for how to be
self-sufficient. I have held meetings with many of the
institutions in Oyo State. The fact that we owe
salaries does not mean that we have abandoned the
school.


How will you rate the early days of President
Muhammadu Buhari in office?


Buhari has done well since he came in as the
President. Slow and steady wins the race. Everybody
will like to rush things but Buhari met enormous
problems on the ground. Nigeria was almost
bankrupt. A lot of money has been stolen. I
commend Buhari for what he has done so far. That is
the kind of a leader we need now. Behind the success
of every nation economically, you will discover that
there is always a leader that changes the economy.
This was the case in Malaysia. Malaysia gained
independence in 1965. It even came to Nigeria to
take palm seeds but now, it is the highest producer
of oil palm. Dubai was not what it is now when I first
visited in 1991. Today, it boasts of the highest
concentration of skyscrapers. We need a strong,
committed and courageous leadership and Buhari has
these qualities.
Are you following in Buhari’s foot step by not
naming your cabinet yet?
The civil servants are the ones doing the work. The
cabinet members are just political heads. Most of
what the ministers direct are done by civil servants.
What is the noise about cabinet?
How soon are you going to appoint aides and
commissioners?

I will name them when I am ready.
What is delaying their appointment?
In the past, when the government said it could not
pay salaries, workers said that politicians had taken
all the money. Now, we don’t have politicians in
office, I want the workers to see that they are the
ones taking the money. Today, we still pay over
N5bn, where are the politicians? The truth is,
politicians don’t take 20 per cent of what the civil
servants earn in salaries and pensions.
Why did you relocate from the Government House
to your private residence before the general
elections?

I feel more comfortable in my house. The
Government House is old and dilapidated. I found
out it would cost a lot of money to repair it. We did
not have money to fix it. Besides, being a governor is
temporary; I can only spend eight years. I don’t want
to get used to the place; I am used to my own house.
But now, we have begun repairing the Government
House and before the end of the year, I will move
into the place.


It is the belief in some circles that governors who
stayed there during elections did not win a
second term and that you actually left to avert
defeat. How true is this?


The magic to win the second term is performance,
courage, sincerity and above all, the grace of God.
Someone had to break its second term jinx and God
decided it would be me. We have introduced merit
into governance. The era of ‘amala politics’ had to go.
Oyo State is a pacesetter state. We told people not to
trade on the streets and they said we had sinned
against the people. My job is to make Oyo State
develop, not to please some groups of people. In the
past, the IGR was shared by politicians but we can
account for what we have spent.

No wonder they are claiming lagos.

www.punchng.com/politics/no-more-amala-politics-in-oyo-ajimobi/

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