By Dapo Akinrefon & Bashir Adefaka
Chief Olabode George, former military governor of
Ondo State and former Deputy National Chairman,
People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in this interview,
responds to topical issues in the polity and his party.
Excerpts:
President Goodluck Jonathan, the leader of your party
is in the eye of the storm over 2015. How do you
feel?
Nigeria has come this far because the concept of the
PDP constitution has sustained democracy up till
now. Never in the history of our nation have we been
able to sustain democracy from 1999 and we are now
in 2013: that is talking about 14 years. Never!
So, there is no need to pull anybody down because
the man you pull down will also pull you down and
so, where have you gone? And it is there in Romans
Chapter 14 that whosoever that God has given an
authority, he did not get there by his own effort. Let
us support him. He is our leader and it is our nation.
Some of these people who have been given
opportunities to govern smaller states are now
coming to say that they know more than we know
they know. When they were in government, they
saw governance as a source of unimaginable
income. The amount of acquisitions; the maddening
amount of acquisition of the prime property, the
assets of the state they were given, is mind boggling.
Conversion of land for personal use
Every day people wake up, what you see is
unbelievable. Ikoyi has now become another high rise
prime area. Who owns these properties? All the land
in Ajah, lands dedicated for hospitals have been
converted to their personal use. Hotels have been
springing up, Local Government secretariats that had
been in existence before they were born have been
acquired.
*Bode George
Hostel of the only Nursing School in Lagos State,
located on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, has already been
acquired. And these are the same people who are
asking Nigerians that, “Yes, we can perform! We
would govern Nigeria well.”
Is there a semblance of democratic practice in that
party of theirs? So, I chuckle when I see these first
class jokers, who have been tested and have been
found to be complete failure, saying that they want
to go and rule Nigeria.
They want to join up with General Buhari. But the
General Buhari that I know; his standing, his
personality, his commitment, his belief is exact
opposite to these characters here. So, sometimes I
get confused that General Buhari is sincerely talking
to these men. It is like a movie to me. It is like a
theatre house. How can water and oil mix? What he
has stood for in his life and what they stand for; they
cannot meet. They are like day and night.
And they have the temerity to say that they are the
leader of Yoruba, they are carrying Yoruba people. I
wish tehy would go back and read the history of the
Yoruba people. Because, they are fake. No
semblance of the real, true genuine Yoruba.
They do not have anything that look like the depth,
the norm, the belief of the Yoruba people. What a
huge joke therefore! I wish one day that somebody
would bring him on the television for public debate. I
am challenging him to come on the television for a
public debate; let us talk to Nigerians. Let us debate
before the people what they have done for this
country.
You sound angry. Why?
You know people would say yes, Bode George is
angry. No! Very soon I will be 70 years old. What
else am I looking for? Am I going to start all over
again? Can I live another 70 years before I pack up
and go back to my God? No. Mine may be the only
voice in the wilderness but I will continue to shout at
the top of the mountain that this is a path of perfidy
they are going through.
Chief Olabode George
Righteous way
It is not a righteous way. Now they are shouting that
Jonathan has not performed and that they would
push him out of government. Tinubu that was
governor of Lagos State for eight years, what did he
do?
Even the young man that is still running Lagos now,
Babatunde Raji Fashola has done much better than
him. Does he allow him to work? They say he is de
facto leader, that is what he calls his name. All the
things about these jokers in ACN are laughable.
The other one in Osun, who no longer calls himself an
engineer but ‘Ogbeni’, what is his performance
there? Lai Mohammed is always talking on top of his
voice, talking garbage! I knew him when he came to
Lagos as a Level 6 or Level 8 officer at FAAN. Today
he can talk, tell stories and lies.
He said the Federal Government has done something
injurious to the judiciary and to the psyche of Nigeria
by proscribing Boko Haram. Are these guys genuine?
How can anybody wake up and say the government
has done something injurious by proscribing Boko
Haram? Are they alright? Oh!
Why are you creating unnecessary revolts to chase
him out of government?
And I keep repeating the letter of Paul to the Roman
Chapter 14 and it is very clear that he that God has
appointed on His authority, he is there on the
authority of God. No human being should attempt to
pull him down because the curse will be on whoever
does that.
The polity is increasingly charged under President
Jonathan. Don’t you fear a people’s revolution?
I am appealing to Nigerians to be patient. The
challenge is the same all over the globe but we can
surmount it with patience and steadiness. When I see
this woman from World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, who
comes here and be ranting about and doing all that,
at the end of it I get very aggrieved because she now
ends up and says, “I am not a politician.” Very
insulting! I do not know what her background is but
let her come and face some of us here who are
politicians. I am not afraid to say I am a politician.
Let her leave her high office and go down to the
people and appreciate that the very micro unit of her
contribution is nothing. These are the jokers being
promoted in the media. Elections are coming, let her
come and follow us to go and canvass and face the
people. Then, she will stop talking the way she is
talking.
Do you know what I hate to hear? “I am not a
politician!” As if politicians are evil minded people. It
is our country; let them also come and join and make
it well. Let her come and try and go through election
to become senate president, vice president or
whatever and convince Nigerians that she is better.
Not gassing on the television or grandstanding,
looking for cheap popularity.
We have gone on since 1999. This is 2013; 14 years
of uninterrupted democracy. It has never happened
in the history of this country. Whatever anybody can
say, it is a record. Thanks to our party, the PDP.
Thanks to the founding fathers of PDP who
conceptualized this zonal set up, Turn-by-Turn
Nigeria Limited because Nigeria is a country and not
yet a nation. We are grapping, we are grouping, we
are struggling to make it a nation.
What problem does your party have with some
opposition parties coming together in APC?
APC is already an obsolete drug. Before they start
they are finished. They say, “Hand over power to
us.” But you are not yet tested. The little one we
tested you on, you are an abysmal failure; an
absolute failure. We saw what you were but you are
now richer than the bank. More properties than the
state. That is all they can show.
George
Let them come to television and debate it. How
many children of the poor have they benefited?
Jakande established his education for the poor people
with scholar scheme for children of poor people to go
to university. He founded the Lagos State University,
LASU, also so that children of the poor could access
university education at ease. You now pay a
minimum of N250,000 per annum to access
education in that same Lagos State University. That
is a quarter of a million! The palm oil seller, roasted
plantain seller, akara seller, can they afford that? So,
you are saying that their children should never have
the opportunity?
What these jokers are doing now is for the privileged
so that only the privileged can get there. Fashola also
knew how he started. Was his father a rich man?
Today, he is governor. If they had made it impossible
for him to go to school, would he have ended up
being a governor? Let them just think because, if we
do not, one day and I repeat one day, the electorate
will decide. We do not want what happened in Egypt
or in Tunisia here. We do not want any Arab spring
here. No. Let there be peace.
More money seems to be going to all tiers of
government, but sir, is there no way that the
presidency can monitor the outflow?
What is the president’s business with the activities of
the governor? It is the members of the state House
of Assembly who can challenge the governor about
his revenue, expenditure and what he is doing with
the money. But we know that when the man sits
down in one room and selects his surrogates who go
to the House of Assembly, he does not allow people
who are being sponsored, supported by their
constituencies to go there. What do you expect?
Like what is happening in Lagos State where Bola
Tinubu just hand picks people who go to the Lagos
State House of Assembly and who therefore cannot
challenge him when necessary? They do not even
have congresses like we do in PDP. Tell me any day
you have seen them doing a national convention.
The emperor decides and that is the man who says
he is a democrat.
The company which collects revenues on behalf of
Lagos State Government, who owns it?
People who are in charge of highway managers, who
are they? Even the agency that has the places where
dead people are buried, who owns them? Now they
are sand-filling the Bar Beach. Generations before
them had Bar Beach. Go to what the Alpha Beach
has become and see the environmental impact on
those villages there. What madness! What greed!
Narrowing of channel
Look at Isale Eko here! That is the only channel that
takes water from the whole of Lagos Island into the
Lagoon blushed with that nonsense they are doing
there. Go to Parkview, they are sand-filling so that
they would narrow the channel until it would meet
Lekki. That Lagoon is the natural gift that God gave
Lagosians. They have narrowed it now out of
senseless greed. Someday I pray that when the flood
or earthquake will come, he must be held
responsible.
Let Tinubu deny it. It is this man that now has the
temerity to speak out of his mouth and say Jonathan
is not doing well and so he wants to rule Nigeria. He?
I would cease to be a Nigerian. I am not joking. I
would go to Ghana or Togo and beg for citizenship
because they would destroy this country. The good
thing is that this nation is so massive for him to
comprehend.
The dynamics of this nation; he says he is carrying
Yoruba people to go and join Buhari and form a
national government. They are joking because where
we were in 1999 is where they just want to start from
now. What a joke! What a joke!!
To what extent will the crisis in the NGF affect your
party?
I have been away for sometime but my opinion is
that, we need to lock ourselves behind a door and tell
ourselves some serious bitter truth. I am now
begging them to admit that all sides are wrong: the
party and the governors. And it is not a blame game
now. It is a game for the future of our nation. So, it
is time to calm all nerves. Let us all come back so
that we can have a family meeting. Of course you can
see the oppositions are happy. They think they can
use the situation to destroy our party. Which of
them; any of those under ACN of Bola can talk to
him?

HaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA................................................................. HA

joker.

Can this THIEF just shut up for once

Only thing that interests me is the confirmation of zonal presidency (which I detest) which insincere Nigerian has been denying since Genesis.

Seems this exconvict has forgotten the scandal that sent him to prison is still fresh in our memory!

What about u sir? Atleast he is a thief in opposition party which give the ruling party excuses to deal with him, but so far so good PDP have not been able to indicte him rather it is u and the likes of james et al that has been sent to prison. If not that u are shamelless and Nigerians use to forget things easilly, u that bought juice 4 board meeting with billions of naira.

Some of us will want to support you..but you are still an ex-convict, our hands are tied.

Scoundrels, brigands, thieves,.....see who is throwing the first stone. A confirmed thief, an ex-con who was convicted of stealing public funds. On second thought, let them keep attacking themselves like this. At least we may finally get to find out all their atrocities.

Noted!

The man kept mentioning debates as if the president didn't run away from debates in the past.
Bode George, be warned.....your party can only win a debate in which D'banj is the moderator.

The man truly made valid points, its just that it sounded hypocritical coming from him.
Anyways, irrespective of the messenger, the message is noted.

Hmmm

Menh!! That was quite explicit!!

One thing I've learned from APC supporters in NL is that "Don't attack the messenger" But that is what they are doing here!!
The only difference between him and tinibu is that he went to jail, while tinibu didn't go to jail!! But we all know tinibu as a BIG THIEF!!
So if we can agree to what tinibu says,then we should also listen to what bode says!!

Oh my Lawd!!!!!! Bode George oooooo

See thief

seunfly: What about u sir? Atleast he is a thief in opposition party which give the ruling party excuses to deal with him, but so far so good PDP have not been able to indicte him rather it is u and the likes of james et al that has been sent to prison. If not that u are shamelless and Nigerians use to forget things easilly, u that bought juice 4 board meeting with billions of naira.

As much as dez people av kept ranting about Tinubu did dis n did dat?

D only question that always comes to my mind is why couldn't dey approach a court n sue him n get his back down for good if dey av any shred of evidence or information as to d commission of any infraction

PDP is only adept at media trial of people and using base sentiments to whip up hatred against som perceived enemies

Dey are good at spoiling people's name using blatant media propaganda

There is no law under d heaven n d earth that says any nigerian be u Tinubu,Dangote,Oba Otudeko or My humble self can not buy or acquire any property anywhere in as much as we don't infringe on any law

Were d lands,pptys, given free of charge or d state short-changed from getting d full value of d said acquisitions Without due diligence n valuation?

B4 any land or ppty belonging to a state is sold,both internal n external realtors or valuers are always engaged to determine d fair n best price such ppties shd b sold

Its only dos who don't kno d workings of how such things are done that wil get fooled by Bode George's rantings

Thank God he even alluded to Gen Buhari's incorruptible standing

There are dos who choose to live austere lifestyles n sees no big deal in material acquisitions yet there is nothing absolutely wrong in dos who are acquiring possessions in as much as dey do it under d ambit n eagle eye of d Law

Its all a matter of our background,education,exposure n d type of opportunities,contacts n network available to us at any material time

They want to join up with General Buhari. But the
General Buhari that I know; his standing, his
personality, his commitment, his belief is exact
opposite to these characters here. So, sometimes I
get confused that General Buhari is sincerely talking
to these men. It is like a movie to me. It is like a
theatre house. How can water and oil mix? What he
has stood for in his life and what they stand for; they
cannot meet. They are like day and night.

Does it mean buhari is the right man for this country when it comes to leadership? According to Bode.

Tinubu that was
governor of Lagos State for eight years, what did he
do?
Even the young man that is still running Lagos now,
Babatunde Raji Fashola has done much better than
him. Does he allow him to work? They say he is de
facto leader

Definitely this man acknowledged governor fashola as a performer.

The other one in Osun, who no longer calls himself an
engineer but ‘Ogbeni’, what is his performance

LWTMB

this man nah clown, dan iska and he has know shame. Believe it or not TINUBU was the one who sent this man to jail under PDP rule. Tinubu did not only take control of lagos but SW under is nose.

I wish one day that somebody
would bring him on the television for public debate.

HE WISHES, he already sounds like a failure. Those are the retard supporters what a shame.

Me I know that Buhari and Pastor Tunde Bakare are like water and oil that can never mix how much more a diesel like Tinubu!

Why attack the messenger? What has he said that is not true?

A SHARIA drug-pussssher who killed billions with his cocaine industry aka BLOOD MONEY, can NEVER mix with any one o!
We do not need a prophet to tell us that one!
BUHARI. . .AT YOUR OWN RISK!

We also know Mr money too.

Who says darkness does not have huge respect for light? Here is a proof!
TINUBU TO BUHARI: I Salute Your Honesty Sir.What's Your Opinion?

Oga Bode, Tinubu is d leader of d yoruba comunity in NL and evrytin he does is ok provided GEJ is pushd out of aso rock.

gbadexy: The man truly made valid points, its just that it sounded hypocritical coming from him.
Anyways, irrespective of the messenger, the message is noted.

I agree with you. Moreover, they are all thieves including OBJ that sent him to jail. He was just unfortunate to have stepped on his toes. Any politician who's nabbed and sentenced has offended some ogas at the top. As long as you are loyal, you will always go scot-free in Nigeria.

3ace:
I agree with you. Moreover, they are all thieves including OBJ that sent him to jail. He was just unfortunate to have stepped on his toes. Any politician who's nabbed and sentenced has offended some ogas at the top. As long as you are loyal, you will always go scot-free in Nigeria.

Oga When did obasanjo send him to jail?

Here are the key points:
1. Bode acknowledge that Buhari is an upright man.
2. He also said Fashola is a performer.
3. He bode (the ex-convict) MIXES very well with Jonathan.
4. Tinubu commands much respect in the SW that he can wish for.

Therefore, for the good of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its citizens:
Vote Buhari/Fashola (2015-2019) QED

Well said Bode "Such is the job & nature of tinubu"

This asewon jatijati is still talking? Only in Nigeria would an exconvict open his ediotic gutters of a mouth and be talking about national issues. Oh well, no thanks to el retardeen!

Is Bode no longer an ex CONVICT?
Hmnn?
I get it,He a PDP elder