Dr. Festus Adedayo, a former journalist, was  Special Adviser to Governor Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State and following that a hiatus of four years before he got his present appointment as Special Adviser to the governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. In this interview, he reviews developments in Oyo State and speaks on how the present administration is breaking taboos in politics, infrastructure development among others. Excerpts:

By OLA AJAYI

How would you assess the administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi since he assumed office in 2011?

The best way to assess the government is to cast one’s mind back to what was before May 2011. Oyo state was one big violent theatre where chaos and disorder reigned.

Gangsters literally took over the whole state. You will recall the murder of one Eleweomo where the former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, was fingered before he was released.

The pedigree of the governor as a hater of violence and one who would deal with any fomenter of brigandage has also helped to stem the tide of violence. This has helped a lot as several investors, whose investments were not guaranteed under the violent governments, are in the state now.

Night life is returning to the state as witnessed by the multiplicity in the number of night clubs in the state capital. Talking generally about infrastructure, we are all living witnesses to the transformation ongoing in the state. We had never seen this before. It is such that we get unsolicited commendations from across the world.
The general consensus is that, it’s either the past governments had been grossly inept or that this government has a midas-touch that is uncommon. So overall, I will say that the state is witnessing a government that is unique.

A PDP stalwart, said no governor has served the state twice meaning Governor Ajimobi will not be given a second chance.

Some of these so-called elders are actually selfish and self-centred. When this same man had his daughter in Ajimobi’s cabinet, did he ever say this? Now that the governor said he could no longer continue the burden, he (Adeojo) suddenly resorted to that wonky logic of Ibadan doesn’t serve a governor twice.

Ask yourself, are we saying Ibadan people are so in love with retrogression that if they see a governor that is developing their land and serving their interest, they will elect not to continue this spiral of development?
No, Ibadan people love development and whoever gives it to them would be their darling. The truth of the matter is that the elite are like fundamentalists who impose their enemies on God; that their enemies must be the enemies of God. The ordinary people of the state love development but the elite always like to renew their insatiable patronage and patrimony.

What caused the cold war between the governor and two APC senators- Olufemi Lanlehin and Ayo Adeseun which led to the defection of Lanlehin?

With due respect to politicians, with the exception of a very few, they share symbiotic relationship with prostitutes. For money and power, they will sacrifice even a son. The allegory they use to explain their placement in political parties is that of food and the table.

Many people don’t even know that many of those highly placed politicians we revere don’t have any regard or respect for the moral principles that underscore human relationships.

As a journalist of many years and a political scientist, you will be amazed at the raw data of treachery and human capacity for mischief that I gather in government on a daily basis. On a personal basis, I am saddened.
When I was in Enugu and saw similar treacherous inclinations from our brothers in the East, I used to run into my ethnic shield to say that Yoruba people harbor traitors, political or social; that it won’t happen here. The quantum of treachery I see in the system here is alarming and worse.

Observers say the governor is too far away from the people.

Let us jointly define that ‘far away.’ Is the governor expected to be going to their doorsteps on a day-to-day basis?

From my own understanding of the concept, the moment you ply a well-paved road constructed by Ajimobi, switch on your tap and water runs, government protects you from the violence of the Ladoja/Akala years, you are having interface with Ajimobi.

You don’t have to see him. Have many of us have ever seen Goodluck Jonathan before? No, but Nigerians can write a thousand pages of papers on who he is and they won’t be wrong.

What endeared you to Governor Ajimobi that made you accept the offer to work with him, money or fame?
No. Let’s begin from what endeared me to him. I am a beneficiary of his firmness. At the beginning of this government when he nominated me, a top leader of the party said that Ajimobi would pick me only over his dead body because I used to attack him with my pen while I was at the Tribune.

But the governor told him that he had surveyed the landscape and he found me to be suitable for the office.
So he over-ruled the leader and chose me. But to the glory of God, and at the risk of sounding immodest, I have acquitted myself very well since then. Without being immodest, I was more famous as a reporter/journalist and columnist than I am at the moment.

So, fame couldn’t have been the excitement. I am, however, interested in navigating from the theory of journalism to practice. It is my kind that can practice journalism better now as I have seen the nooks and crannies of power.

I know the weight of the pen better now. Some of those things we sit in the confines of our newsrooms to write can set a whole state ablaze and make many to lose their jobs.