Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko recently in an interactive session with journalists in Lagos talked about the challenges of being the only Labour Party (LP) governor, the ideological dispositions of the political parties. KODILINYE OBIAGWU was there. Excerpts:
AS the only Labour Party (LP) governor, how do you perceive the Government of National Unity (GNU) proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
I don’t know what the Government of National Unity means, but before the April election, the Labour Party (LP) endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan. We didn’t have a presidential candidate and we considered Jonathan as the best option and asked our members to vote for him. If based on that support he invites us to join his government, we will do so. From the start, we didn’t equivocate about choosing him and we will continue to identify with him based on our perception of him. Before we adopted him, we had what we called our minimum agenda, which we presented to him in Abuja. It will be okay if he can adopt it, but if he diverts from the course, we will pull out. We in LP voted for Jonathan because we found him a man that can rise beyond party politics. It doesn’t matter what anybody says, we have a president who has a pan-Nigerian mandate.
What kind of lessons do you think the April polls offered?
Once an election is right, everything else will follow. I have the belief that until we have a credible election in Nigeria, we will not get anywhere. There is nothing like a credible election that comes from the people; it sets the stage for development. Every politician must worship something. If a politician got power through a godfather, the chances are that he will worship godfatherism, but if he got his mandate through the people, the chances are that the concern of the people will be uppermost in his mind.
I always believed that if we didn’t get it right in April 2011, we should probably forget about the Nigerian project. But after the National Assembly election, I became more convinced that there is a great future ahead. In the international domain, we have never had anything positive about this country as far the elections are concerned. After the 2007 election, the international community said we failed woefully. Now, four years after, they are applauding us. I am sure Nigerians abroad will want to come home, once we can sustain it. This is our decade if all hands are engaged. And every Nigerian is hopeful that we can do it. We are 150 million people, and no matter what anybody says, I know that we are about the most resourceful and resilient people on earth. If we can galvanise and channel this energy and goodwill in the direction of development, Nigeria will be the best place to be. I think all hands should be on deck.
Do you think there is a strict ideological difference between the political parties especially the perception that all other parties outside the PDP are progressives?
The LP actually was a creation of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and on the ideological spectrum the LP is always on the left. And people have said there is no more ideology in the Nigeria political space, but in Ondo, we have proved that as closely as ideological as it can be, there is still a line to be drawn. We believe that the issue of ideology is about the choices you make.
In Ondo, we have made it clear that we will continue to run a government that will create an enabling environment for the private sector. And in terms of basic social services, we will give everybody the same opportunity. We believe that as a LP government, we owe the people a duty. Let me give an example with our healthcare programme. We want to build the best hospital in Nigeria in terms of services and it will be free of charge. It is like a paradox: How can you build the best hospital that will be free of charge? I don’t want to sound immodest, one and a half years down the line, Mother and Child Hospital is probably the best-run public institution in Nigeria, if not in Africa. We have been acclaimed by the World Bank and Ford Foundation has been there to see the service we provide free of charge. Today, we are one of the busiest maternity centres in Nigeria, taking 25 births on the average daily. That is an ideological choice; and that is the point I am making.
In trying to bring government and development to the people in the most pragmatic manner, we went to the communities and asked for their needs. The government has completed over 200 rural community projects in the last one and a half years, deploying almost N2 billion in community development in the process. This is more than what has been done since the creation of Ondo and these are on life-changing projects. That is an ideological stance. As the only LP governor, it is a special challenge to demonstrate that ideology is still alive in the context of our polity.
The people have hailed our approach to urban renewal. The usual thing is if government needs to get the people out of streets, bulldozers are deployed and nice looking shops are built. But on the ideological perspective, we recognised the historical imperative of guerrilla trading on our streets. We have to develop within the historical culture of the people. We know that people go to work and there is the market for people in the evening where the traders on the streets compete with vehicles while selling their wares. From that historical ideological perspective, we say we will not get these people off the streets without providing an alternative. That is an ideological decision. We took an inventory of our street traders and provided modern market facilities, which is the envy of those who hitherto considered themselves as privileged. Some people said thereafter that Ondo has turned street traders into entrepreneurs. This is based on an ideological position.
As a LP governor, I don’t subscribe to 100 per cent market driven economy, because in such situation, your economy could be growing seven per cent annually without the commensurate benefit to the people, more people will be having private jets and you are deepening poverty in the country. When Chief Obafemi Awolowo democratised education in the South West with the deliberate policy of free education, more than 50 years after, in terms of regional disparity, we are still leading the rest. And today in Ondo, we are deliberately re-creating society along those same ideological principles.
What kind of challenges do you face as the only LP governor?
Being the only LP governor is a challenge. Am like an orphan in the first place. I don’t have the privilege of caucuses like other parties. So after any meeting, I am alone pursuing the causes of the state. There are no LP caucuses at any level to sensitise the relevant authorities. In a way, it makes us more resourceful.
What do you think about the uniformity of development in a zone like the South West where the ACN is control?
The ACN and LP are progressive parties, but there are other challenges in the South West in terms of development and people driven programmes. For example, in the zone, I want to watch the choices ACN governors outside Lagos make. The common perception is that Lagos State is the benchmark to measure the performance of governors in the zone. But to me, it is not the ideal place to actually gauge the ideological trajectory of ACN. The internally generated revenue for Lagos is N18 billion a month. It is more than what we in Ondo make in a year. Therefore, we cannot afford the choices they make in Lagos. And am sure the ACN states cannot. In terms of population, land mass, history, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and Ogun states are almost the same, and the choices the governors make would give us the true character of the ideological spectrum of the party. And they have started well, I must tell you that.
What is your reaction to the talks of you joining the ACN?
The whole ideal of governance is that you must tackle unemployment and take care of the needs of the larger society; that is an ideological stance. The LP and ACN are progressives and there shouldn’t be competition. It is not a question of one must come to ACN. I must not come to ACN to develop Ondo; there are many other areas of collaboration. I was once asked about the regional integration project they are mooting. It is an exciting prospect if in the South West we can integrate regionally. But it must be integration not based on political parties, but on shared values and economic imperatives. For example, as we belong to the same region and share the same history, wouldn’t it be exciting if we can get a rail line go through Oyo to Ondo and Edo states? Wouldn’t it be exciting if we can generate enough power from one single source and distribute it? Wouldn’t it be exciting if we can join hands to build a 21st century university, instead of everybody having glorified secondary schools that they call university. Coming together must be based on shared values and once there is a credible election, if somebody comes in from any party, he will continue, provided he gets his mandate from the people. This integration is something that will outlive us, but the parties come and go as we have seen with the elections.
Comment on the issue of security votes which many former governors have claimed is an avenue for corruption today.
I don’t care what people say but the truth is that the level of insecurity today is higher than in the past. The level of social dislocation today is deep. The scenarios differ across the states. Some governors in the past might have had lesser budgets as security votes or made refunds at the end of the year. But it is obvious that they didn’t face what many governors are facing today. The level of unemployment today is a security risk; the number of university graduates is too high and comparing the challenges of the past with the present is not right unless things are put in their proper context.
Source: The Guardian
AS the only Labour Party (LP) governor, how do you perceive the Government of National Unity (GNU) proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
I don’t know what the Government of National Unity means, but before the April election, the Labour Party (LP) endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan. We didn’t have a presidential candidate and we considered Jonathan as the best option and asked our members to vote for him. If based on that support he invites us to join his government, we will do so. From the start, we didn’t equivocate about choosing him and we will continue to identify with him based on our perception of him. Before we adopted him, we had what we called our minimum agenda, which we presented to him in Abuja. It will be okay if he can adopt it, but if he diverts from the course, we will pull out. We in LP voted for Jonathan because we found him a man that can rise beyond party politics. It doesn’t matter what anybody says, we have a president who has a pan-Nigerian mandate.
What kind of lessons do you think the April polls offered?
Once an election is right, everything else will follow. I have the belief that until we have a credible election in Nigeria, we will not get anywhere. There is nothing like a credible election that comes from the people; it sets the stage for development. Every politician must worship something. If a politician got power through a godfather, the chances are that he will worship godfatherism, but if he got his mandate through the people, the chances are that the concern of the people will be uppermost in his mind.
I always believed that if we didn’t get it right in April 2011, we should probably forget about the Nigerian project. But after the National Assembly election, I became more convinced that there is a great future ahead. In the international domain, we have never had anything positive about this country as far the elections are concerned. After the 2007 election, the international community said we failed woefully. Now, four years after, they are applauding us. I am sure Nigerians abroad will want to come home, once we can sustain it. This is our decade if all hands are engaged. And every Nigerian is hopeful that we can do it. We are 150 million people, and no matter what anybody says, I know that we are about the most resourceful and resilient people on earth. If we can galvanise and channel this energy and goodwill in the direction of development, Nigeria will be the best place to be. I think all hands should be on deck.
Do you think there is a strict ideological difference between the political parties especially the perception that all other parties outside the PDP are progressives?
The LP actually was a creation of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and on the ideological spectrum the LP is always on the left. And people have said there is no more ideology in the Nigeria political space, but in Ondo, we have proved that as closely as ideological as it can be, there is still a line to be drawn. We believe that the issue of ideology is about the choices you make.
In Ondo, we have made it clear that we will continue to run a government that will create an enabling environment for the private sector. And in terms of basic social services, we will give everybody the same opportunity. We believe that as a LP government, we owe the people a duty. Let me give an example with our healthcare programme. We want to build the best hospital in Nigeria in terms of services and it will be free of charge. It is like a paradox: How can you build the best hospital that will be free of charge? I don’t want to sound immodest, one and a half years down the line, Mother and Child Hospital is probably the best-run public institution in Nigeria, if not in Africa. We have been acclaimed by the World Bank and Ford Foundation has been there to see the service we provide free of charge. Today, we are one of the busiest maternity centres in Nigeria, taking 25 births on the average daily. That is an ideological choice; and that is the point I am making.
In trying to bring government and development to the people in the most pragmatic manner, we went to the communities and asked for their needs. The government has completed over 200 rural community projects in the last one and a half years, deploying almost N2 billion in community development in the process. This is more than what has been done since the creation of Ondo and these are on life-changing projects. That is an ideological stance. As the only LP governor, it is a special challenge to demonstrate that ideology is still alive in the context of our polity.
The people have hailed our approach to urban renewal. The usual thing is if government needs to get the people out of streets, bulldozers are deployed and nice looking shops are built. But on the ideological perspective, we recognised the historical imperative of guerrilla trading on our streets. We have to develop within the historical culture of the people. We know that people go to work and there is the market for people in the evening where the traders on the streets compete with vehicles while selling their wares. From that historical ideological perspective, we say we will not get these people off the streets without providing an alternative. That is an ideological decision. We took an inventory of our street traders and provided modern market facilities, which is the envy of those who hitherto considered themselves as privileged. Some people said thereafter that Ondo has turned street traders into entrepreneurs. This is based on an ideological position.
As a LP governor, I don’t subscribe to 100 per cent market driven economy, because in such situation, your economy could be growing seven per cent annually without the commensurate benefit to the people, more people will be having private jets and you are deepening poverty in the country. When Chief Obafemi Awolowo democratised education in the South West with the deliberate policy of free education, more than 50 years after, in terms of regional disparity, we are still leading the rest. And today in Ondo, we are deliberately re-creating society along those same ideological principles.
What kind of challenges do you face as the only LP governor?
Being the only LP governor is a challenge. Am like an orphan in the first place. I don’t have the privilege of caucuses like other parties. So after any meeting, I am alone pursuing the causes of the state. There are no LP caucuses at any level to sensitise the relevant authorities. In a way, it makes us more resourceful.
What do you think about the uniformity of development in a zone like the South West where the ACN is control?
The ACN and LP are progressive parties, but there are other challenges in the South West in terms of development and people driven programmes. For example, in the zone, I want to watch the choices ACN governors outside Lagos make. The common perception is that Lagos State is the benchmark to measure the performance of governors in the zone. But to me, it is not the ideal place to actually gauge the ideological trajectory of ACN. The internally generated revenue for Lagos is N18 billion a month. It is more than what we in Ondo make in a year. Therefore, we cannot afford the choices they make in Lagos. And am sure the ACN states cannot. In terms of population, land mass, history, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and Ogun states are almost the same, and the choices the governors make would give us the true character of the ideological spectrum of the party. And they have started well, I must tell you that.
What is your reaction to the talks of you joining the ACN?
The whole ideal of governance is that you must tackle unemployment and take care of the needs of the larger society; that is an ideological stance. The LP and ACN are progressives and there shouldn’t be competition. It is not a question of one must come to ACN. I must not come to ACN to develop Ondo; there are many other areas of collaboration. I was once asked about the regional integration project they are mooting. It is an exciting prospect if in the South West we can integrate regionally. But it must be integration not based on political parties, but on shared values and economic imperatives. For example, as we belong to the same region and share the same history, wouldn’t it be exciting if we can get a rail line go through Oyo to Ondo and Edo states? Wouldn’t it be exciting if we can generate enough power from one single source and distribute it? Wouldn’t it be exciting if we can join hands to build a 21st century university, instead of everybody having glorified secondary schools that they call university. Coming together must be based on shared values and once there is a credible election, if somebody comes in from any party, he will continue, provided he gets his mandate from the people. This integration is something that will outlive us, but the parties come and go as we have seen with the elections.
Comment on the issue of security votes which many former governors have claimed is an avenue for corruption today.
I don’t care what people say but the truth is that the level of insecurity today is higher than in the past. The level of social dislocation today is deep. The scenarios differ across the states. Some governors in the past might have had lesser budgets as security votes or made refunds at the end of the year. But it is obvious that they didn’t face what many governors are facing today. The level of unemployment today is a security risk; the number of university graduates is too high and comparing the challenges of the past with the present is not right unless things are put in their proper context.
No comments:
Post a Comment