Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa is the chairman of the Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with ADEOLU ADEYEMO, he x-rays and criticises the on-going school merger in the state, urban renewal programme embarked upon by Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration and other issues. Excerpts:
What is your assessment of Governor Aregbesola's urban renewal programme going on in Osun State?
I want to thank God that we are alive today to juxtapose the former administration and this present one with a view to knowing where we are heading towards in 2014 gubernatorial election in the state. We have seen it all and in modern politics, if people's lives cannot be improved upon, then it should be left the way it is met. It is sad and indeed very sad that in this age of modernisation, destroying property is our joy. China, South African and others did urban renewal but the hope of the people were never dashed.
Here, people have been rendered homeless. Those the APC claimed voted for them are now being paid back with homelessness, poverty and insecurity. Houses built before many of us were born were brought down into ruins. What is called urban renewal when people are hungry? What is called urban renewal when my son leaves school and is jobless?
What is called urban renewal when my father's house where I grew up was pulled down by politicians who are bent on making billions all in the name of renewal? What are we calling urban renewal? Why not human renewal? I leave these questions for us to answer. For instance, planting flowers is common with this government, but what is the essence of this? It is an indirect way of making money.
Contractors from Lagos must eat. We know the logic. For God's sake, can anyone who is hungry appreciate the beauty of flowers around him? Can anyone displaced and hopeless notice the importance of flowers? You used my father's house to plant flowers and you want to convince me that flowers are beautiful?
It is a thing of concern that as hungry as people are in Osun State, flower planting supercedes hunger. What is the essence of all these where my mother's kiosk is uprooted? We should be humane as administrators. Even the military never did this to us. Why must people die psychologically and physically all because we want to plant flowers? This is too draconian.
There is the genuine fear that the fortune of the PDP will be adversely affected in the coming election by the division in the party. What would you say about this?
In politics, this is not new. Obama had divisions in his party before he won the last election, but these were beautifully resolved. Judas did not wake up one day to decide that he was going to betray Jesus Christ. No. Jesus had been managing him for years. He knew his intent.
Whatever is happening now in our party is not a strange thing. It happens anywhere. This is politics and we are born to have ideological differences. I am sure, very soon, issues will be resolved and the concerned aggrieved persons will sheathe their swords. Governor Oyinlola and all others concerned will soon resolve their differences amicably. This internal imbroglio will never dampen our spirit as a party. We remain focused.
The merging of schools in Osun is a source of controversy in recent time. Do you support the move? Also, what do you think about the "Gbangbadeku" programme of the government?
I laughed when I heard it. Transforming educational system is a lofty idea but the one I see in Osun is funny. Look at the schools being merged. How reasonable? What would happen to their old students? What historical records do they have again? Why do we have to merge Muslim pupils with Christian pupils? Baptist, Anglican etc have theirs. They have traditions and culture. Why cause trouble where there is none?
Can Fashola merge CMS, Lagos, with any school? Can Amosun merge BBHS, Abeokuta, with any school? Can Ajimobi merge the famous Ibadan Grammar School with any school or Loyola College? I am not in support of this at all. Never!
The "Gbangbadekun programme is a good thing if really the intention is to sensitise people sincerely. But it becomes a sad thing when you bring in comedians with a view to siphoning and looting our treasury. It is not funny bringing artistes here without the tax payers knowing how much they are given at the end of the day. When you sensitise, you do that meaningfully. Obama does it always, but not with fanfare. Government is a serious activity. Idleness can cause anything. It seems Ogbeni is somehow politically idle such that the next thing is to engage in comedy.
What is the meaning of "Gbangbadekun" when we have students rioting? This programme is good but the intention of organising it is corrupt. We also heard that any anti-government artiste will not be invited. Why? Does it mean all those artistes that had been invited are pro-APC really? Who then is fooling who? Do we say that what we heard is true that millions are wasted on this programme? We should remember our generations yet unborn. What stories are we going to tell them? Do we say we were sleeping when all these were happening? Osun State is a noble state. We are a serious-minded state.
2014 is around the corner? What are the chances of the PDP in the next election? Do you have any structure capable of winning the elections?
My prayer, first, is that may God Almighty grant us the opportunity to see 2014 by His grace. I am confident we have better chances in the forthcoming elections despite the fact that the present governor is a "judicial governor". We all knew we were judicially robbed by the powers that be.
This time around, we have perfected it all and I am confident that victory is ours. We are coming to a point whereby elections will be determined by voters through parties who have human face value. Osun is going down the drain.
People are crying silently and things are falling apart. The people of Osun State have tasted two husbands. We have political gurus who are working round the clock to see that the people of Osun are not enslaved again. We should not go back to any political wilderness again! No. From all indications, we have strategised. We have re-structured.
Sky remains our limit. We are growing higher. The fact that the people are now tired of demolition and displacement is a testimony to the fact that we are gaining grounds. PDP of Osun State is in better position to correct all the political ills we are experiencing.
Come 2014, we are back to Abere, the seat of power by His grace.
Do you see the possibility of the elections being rigged?
Rigging now is into the oblivion. ICT has negated this. But we cannot undermine the fact that Aregbesola is one of the finest tacticians brought up by Tinubu. He looks innocent but within him, you cannot say what will happen in the next moment.
You can never tell what can happen. But I am so confident that these days, rigging cannot displace performance. But unfortunately, this retroactive government is not just performing. We have heard reports of APC training political thugs who will later invade Osun and steal ballot boxes. We have heard that uniforms have been given to political loafers to distrupt Osun elections. All these I consider as rumours but the law enforcement agents should be on their toes.
Akeju, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State is Tinubu's boy and he should be transferred. He wants to perfect rigging and electoral malpractices for his boss in the next election in the state but we will resist fraud in the state.
PDP is always well positioned when politics is concerned.
They just know how to do it!