Honourable Femi Kehinde, a native of Ile Ogbo community, is a legal practitioner and former member, House of Representatives, representing Ayedire/Iwo/Olaoluwa Federal Constituency. A governorship aspirant on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the forthcoming September 2018 gubernatorial election in Osun State, he speaks with OLUWOLE IGE on the motivation behind his ambition and how he plans to rejuvenate the socio-economic sector in Osun, among other sundry issues. Excerpts:
WHY are you interested in becoming the governor of Osun State?
I want to be the next governor of Osun State by the special grace of God because I know that I have the wherewithal in terms of mental faculty, political experience and knowledge of the politics and people of Osun State. I have been a grass-roots politician in Osun State since 1987 when I was elected as a councillor on the zero party platform into Iwo Local Government. I was a councillor in Iwo Local Government between December 12, 1987 and 1989 when Iwo was carved into Ayedire/Iwo and Olaoluwa. We went on to found Ayedire Local Government and I was a supervisory councillor for works briefly before the entire local government structure was dissolved by the then military government of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida. I have been a professional lawyer since 1984 and I have a deep knowledge of grass-roots politics of Osun State, its culture, tradition, society, history. I am well-qualified to be the next governor of Osun because I am a local breed and had all my education in Osun State.
By my wide interaction with cross-section of people and stakeholders, I have learned a lot about what Osun is and its essence and If I have the opportunity to govern Osun State, I want to give this state a rebirth and reinvent it. We want the living spring to flow again and bring the state back to God. I say this will all sense of responsibility that because of my high level of preparedness in the last one year, visiting over 80 percent of monarchs in Osun, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi to ask for their blessings and prayers. Nobody has trudged me on to become the governor, it is due to my conviction without a godfather that would say take this mass load of money. I want to become the governor of Osun State so that I would be completely unencumbered by the distraction of somebody who brings me to that office, except through the Almighty God. I have met with the Hausa communities in Osun, Christian and Muslim bodies, opinion leaders and molders, intimating them what I would do if elected as governor of this state. My message to them is that we have brought back the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and this was the party that gave me the platform to go to the National Assembly in 1999 and that this political party is the offshoot of the Action Group (AG) politics of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
The cardinal programmes of the UPN, which bother on free education, free health, rural integration and gainful employment are the bedrock of what we would do to resuscitate and re-energise Osun State. I want to bring prosperity back to the state mainly through agriculture and mining. The Action Group left about eight farm settlements in Osun State, most especially in Ila Orangun, Osogbo, Ago Owu, Mokore axis, Esa Oke, Odo-Otin and host of others. All these are moribund. I want to resuscitate these farm settlements and improve on them. Those farm settlements were products of agricultural technology brought about by Chief Awolowo and supported by the likes of Chief Akindeko. We want to take our restive youths back to gainful employment. Prosperity begins immediately because Osun is richly blessed through agriculture; cashew, which abounds in Iwo, Ejigbo axis sells for about $1,880 per tonne now as against $300. Cocoa sells for about $2000 and cassava has about 14 derivatives part of which is ethanol. We want to leverage seriously on this and majorly we want to explore the mining potentials of Osun State.
Are you confident that your party can win the governorship poll in Osun, taking into consideration the seeming dominance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Essentially, power belongs to God. When former Governor Olusegun Mimiko picked the platform of the Labour Party in Ondo State, there was no Labour Party. The tendency nowadays is not about the party, but the person. It is not about the masquerade but the person inside the masquerade. The last election in Anambra State was won by APGA and not by APC or PDP. The election was won by APGA because it delivered good governance. APGA pays salaries to teeming workers in Anambra State latest 28th of every month, so it is not political shenanigans, the size or the strength. Look at the phenomenon of the young French president, a 39-year-old man winning practically as an independent candidate. He was in Hollandes Social government and left the party to found a movement, with a momentum that consumed bigger parties. He is now the president of France and nobody ever gave Donald Trump a chance in US, contesting against the incumbent Democratic Party. So, it is not about the party, but about the person and philosophy behind that party. I have told you that I want to follow the principle of Awolowo in bringing back life more abundant to the people of Osun State. How do we drive it? We would drive it mainly through agriculture and mining. Osun State is the only South-West state that is blessed with abundant mining resources like gold.
With the debt profile of Osun State in the region of about N197 billion, which Governor Rauf Aregbesola insists is sustainable, some people are wondering why some politicians still want to become the governor. So, how do you ensure good governance and preside over an economically viable state against the backdrop of this high debt profile?
I am a lawyer with professional experience spanning over three decades and in the course of my practice, I have handled the debt profile of some states. I have handled the debt profile of Oyo State. In 2007, my local firm and a foreign firm were given the opportunity to handle the debt profile of Oyo State. We were able to realize that Oyo State had a surplus of about N187 billion to recover from the Federal Government through the Paris Club, London Club and multinational agencies and they received the first tranche of about N117 billion in December 2017 after our exercise. We were to go on with this exercise and make sure that they get all these funds, but our professional fee is still a subject of arbitration in a United Kingdom court. I know that these are issues that are not burdensome, but I will not tell you the knotty gritty. But I am telling you that if given that opportunity, there are three or four stages of debt issues. We will do amortization, negotiation and cancellation to reduce this debt burden so that our finances can improve. You will know that we service this huge debt with about 80 percent of what comes from the federal allocation, leaving a paltry 20 percent to run the economy of Osun State. All these are not sustainable and we would work assiduously on it and when we get there, we would establish a modality to run it. By the grace of God, we are going to run a government that would be less dependent on Abuja allocation, because we are going to galvanize the economy through agriculture. In Osogbo town alone, there are about 11 streams that can be used for vegetable farming. There are about 2,878 communities in Osun State and we are very cosmopolitan. If you enter Ikirun up to Otan Ayegbaju, you will see communities, but we are not leveraging on these advantages
How do you leverage on them if you become the governor?
We would leverage on them through synergies with communities and cooperative societies by encouraging them to go into agriculture. This will be with a view to ensuring that they are gainfully employed. We are planning to leverage on that close-knit communal relationship. It is possible to work in Iree and live in Aagba or Otan Ayegbaju and from those axies, you will see that there are diversionary towns and communities of Ada, Iresi, Iragbiji, Ikirun and others and these are big towns. I grew up in Osun State and in Origbo, where I schooled; there are seven principal towns with about 10 or 15 kilometres stretch. If you enter Origbo from Akinlalu, you will get to Ashipa, Ipetumodu, Yakoyo, Moro, Edunabon. There is forest link between these communities and this is a very rare opportunity. We are going to engage our youths mostly and massively. Nobody rides okada for 20 years. What a mass transit bus does is what about 50 okadas do. Oloba farm settlement in Iwo had the largest livestock farm in West Africa, with huge number of employment. The Bola Ige creation of a television station in Iwo was a holistic one, with Amphitheatre, with theatre and other facilities. In terms of games and recreation, where is Ijeda Games village in Oriade Local Government. Osun is blessed and we can reinvent the state by bringing prosperity back. When Andrew Young became the Mayor of Atlanta, what he did was to reinvent and re-energise that community. Now, Atlanta airport is one of the busiest airports in America. California is the 4th largest economy in the world. What did they do? They brought down the cost of governance and doing business. If I am governor, I will make sure that it is easy for you to get the certificate of occupancy for the establishment of your business or investments. As little as it is, it is very important. When we get to the centre stage of governance, we would galvanise and articulate our policies to drive Osun State. We want to showcase Osun from the point of entry into the state. We believe that these are possibilities by the special grace of God.
Talking about the education sector in Osun State, the current government built mega schools and also provided modern learning equipment to aid learning. But despite these interventions, the performance and rating of Osun pupils in public examinations such as WAEC and NECO has not been encouraging. What is your take on this development and what will you do to address this issue?
The hood does not make the monk. In 1954 when the Awolowo government started the free education policy, they started with mud blocks to reduce the cost of running that programme. Do you know that because of that free education programme, the Action Group lost in the federal election of 1954 to the Adegoke Adelabu Penkelemesi’s party because they used it to campaign on the education levy of five shillings? It is not the size, structure and the number of buildings that you have that gives you a better student. I told you that I went to a primary school in far-flung villages in Osun State. What is the essence of a Premier Hotel kind of school building that does not have requisite teachers to teach the students? You can do your findings. I am not interested in criticising the government; they have done their own in terms of education to the best of their capabilities. We want to leverage on what they have done right and also right what they have done wrong. I went to Origbo Community High School in Ipetumodu, they have changed the name of that school to Origbo Middle School. They have pulled down Fakunle Comprehensive High School and Girls Schools are now mixed schools, like Baptist Girls High School. Can you see the effect on the psychology of pupils in those schools? There are quite a number of things that we need to take a holistic look at. What is the essence of a model or middle school in a federation? In Oyo State, what they have is the real curriculum of JSS1 to JSS3 and SS1 to SS3. But, when you now mix primary school to JSS, you will muddle it up and kill their psychology. That is to the best of their knowledge and ability. What is the Opon Imo phenomenon? We are not going to be concerned about what they have done right; we would be concerned about what we would do if we get there.
Recently, the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) conducted an election into the local government councils and LCDAs, using the parliamentary system. The state government stated that using parliamentary system of governance would bring development nearer the people and reduce cost of governance. What is your take on this?
The incumbent governor of Osun State was elected as governor through a presidential system of government. The principle of law is that you cannot give what you don’t have. In the entire federation of Nigeria, we still run a presidential system of government. Personally, I would have rooted or loved the parliamentary system of governance because it is less expensive and ministers are part of parliament. But you cannot be an island on your own and close your eyes to what operates in other societies. You cannot situate funds to sideline the principles of democracy that is a hallmark of the election that brought you into government. Why didn’t you pick the governor from members of the House of Assembly if you want to practice the parliamentary system of government? It is an aberration and abnormality and that was why my party, the Alliance for Democracy did not take part in that hogwash. I know that they would be confronted with more problems than they envisaged when they get to the intricacies of picking the chairman from among the communities and other matters. The problems they are trying to avoid would naturally resurface.
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