By  Dayo Johnson, Akure

HON. Niran Sule-Akinsuyi, a  former Special Duties Commissioner in Ondo State, has indicated his intention to vie for the November governorship election in the state under the All Progressives Congress (APC). His political catch-word is “Iyanu a sele”  (miracle will happen). In this interview, Sule-Akinsuyi speaks on his  plans for Ondo if he emerges the candidate of his party for the election.

What are the  APC’s chances in the November 26 election in Ondo State?

APC is at the centre of the game of politics in Ondo State, in terms of strength and content. We have personalities, people who are concerned, people who believe we can do more than we are doing presently. To a large extent, we represent the collection of the feelings and aspirations of the people of the state today. Election is all about numbers and politics is about people and we have a group collection in that regard.

A cursory look at the number of aspirants jostling for the party’s ticket appears on wieldy. What do you say?

It depends on your interpretation of it. Yoruba will say you don’t compete for something that is bad. If something is good and is of benefit to the   society, you find it difficult  to limit the number of ideas that you will get or numbers of people showing interest but I think the party will use its internal mechanism to look into that. We are not disadvantaged as a result of the large number of people showing interest in the governorship.

What about the present challenges facing the country in terms of security, high cost of food items. Will these not affect the chances of your party at the election?

The lesson of history is very important in our quest to serve our people. The issue of subsidy removal and the fraud associated with it has been on the table for a long time. The decay in the economy and in our financial system; the level of corruption, will also be on the table. What is coming out now is that past governments had treated these  issues with kid gloves. So, this is the first time that we are having a leader with the courage to do the right thing, the courage to take a decision and stand by it. We have had the rot in the oil and gas sector, the rot in the management of the resources of the country. These are stories that have been coming in the past 20 years. Happily, majority of Nigerians are beginning to show understanding.   Initially, the opposition tried to distract the Buhari administration. At a time, they were talking about frequent foreign trips. But everybody has come to realize that the President should not just live in Nigeria, he also needs to go out there because half of our resources are stashed in foreign lands. He needs to take the battle to those countries because today we are faced with many challenges including the non-payment of workers’ salaries and the challenges of foreign exchange to revive the economy. We have also been informed that six Nigerians  who stashed our money abroad can bail out the country from its  economic crisis.  I believe that any system that can cut the tape of corruption should be supported by the people.

What are your chances of clinching the party’s ticket in the primary considering the large number of aspirants?

We are relying on what we are bringing to the system. We are going to establish an enduring political structure under which our people can maximize their potentials.   We are going   to empower talents and solve the problem militating against the economic growth of Ondo which is capital flight. 90 percent of our earnings doesn’t  stay with us. As soon as it is received, it develops wings and disappears. So we are coming with policies that will stop capital flight and ensure that there is fair and equitable distribution of resources in the state. In days to come, we are going to unfold our programmes, our policies and the reasons  we are coming into government. We have identified leadership as part of the reason the economy of our state has not been opened to the outside world.

What do you think is the problem of leadership in Ondo?

The major problem is greed and avarice and that is responsible for the failure of the structure that has now put us at a disadvantaged position, politically and economically.   Let me give you the example of leadership in Lagos State and the benefits of enduring political structure since 1999 as compared to Ondo where none exists. We have been having an epileptic political structure in Ondo. We took off from 1999, with Afenifere structure which the Alliance for Democracy (AD) used to ascend to various offices. Unfortunately, that structure was relinquished by the leadership when they engaged in the Obasanjo’s second term project which gave the PDP the opportunity to start all over again. So the structure that was put in place by the PDP under that arrangement when they took over in 2003 was also troubled and dismantled through a popular movement by the people and Labour Party (LP) which came into power.   We are all living witnesses to what happened to LP’s structure as it was abandoned for a return into the PDP. So the problem is that people who are supposed to be standing on these structures, leaders who are supposed to acquire training through the system and move up on the ladder like their counterparts in other states, especially Lagos, have been relegated because the system is not enduring. I am talking about Lagos because you can feel and touch the benefit of enduring political system in Lagos State. On the economy side, you see the continuation of policies and programmes. You can point today to more than five successful Public Private Partnership (PPP) models in Lagos State.

What are the things you are going to do differently from what Governor Olusegun   Mimiko has done if you win the election?

Not from what this government is doing alone, but from what has been happening in the state. In the area of our oil and gas reserves, I will introduce   a successful Public Private Partnership that will bring the exploration of the reserve into fruition. Lagos State has joined the league of oil producing states and they have already gotten a company and exploration of about 40,000 barrel per day that is almost taking off. For me it is about vision and capacity to deliver and I have the knowledge on how to actualize that vision and build capacity that will bring into live most of the advantages we have gotten especially in the area of mineral and natural resources. We have the privilege   of the location of the $9billion Dangote refinery in Ondo State, but the opportunity filtered away.   I know that there are reasons why the refinery found its way to Lagos State. The difference between Lagos and Ondo State is leadership. The Lekki free trade zone is a challenge to our own Olokola   I know that I must begin to work if possible 25 hours to bring life into that place because I will be dealing with a state that already has enormous advantages over us. They are thinking of developing a port, they are thinking of putting a new airport in Lekki. With the location of Lagos, with the resources in Lagos State,  for us to compete we must have connection with Lagos or we work harder. We have our own oil well here. We have mining license and we got them before oil was discovered in Lagos but Lagos is already ahead of us as far this business is concerned. So, we need more energy in our system to be able to take advantage of what we have. It is a situation where you need to open your eyes in order to see clearly.