By Ola Ajayi, Ibadan

Senator Rashidi Ladoja served as governor of Oyo State between May 2003 and January 2006 when he was removed from office under controversial circumstances by the State House of Assembly. Since that divisive incident, Senator Ladoja has made repeated attempts to win an election for a second term but to no avail.

What is your reaction to the failure of the state government to hold local government elections in the last five years?

You know my position. We conducted local government election when we were there. So, I don’t see any reason  local government elections are not conducted. Why are you giving them sole administrators? I don’t think it is fair not to conduct local government election. It is just as if you are just sabotaging the democracy because if not what is the essence of creating local governments and saying there must be Councillors representing the wards and chairmen representing the councils.

Ladoja

It is just like the federal has got the bicameral legislature, the presidency the same thing in the state, the state has got the state House of Assembly, the local government chairman and also legislators also should be allowed to work. I think it is wrong for any government not to allow the constitution to take its place because local government elections are supposed to be held so that we have representations in there.

But, you know what politics is. They just say some things that they give as reasons why local government elections are not held. Those things are not valid. They are just created to bamboozle the people.

How do you find the state workers have found themselves in the state today? If you were in the saddle what would you have done differently?

May be we would have shifted our priorities; may be our priorities would have been the workers’ welfare first and at times I think God wanted me to remain sane and that’s why I didn’t win the election after all because it seems as if the government dug the pit too deep believing that they were not going to win the election, because I cannot see myself looking at a worker in the face and say you came late to work when I know that I have not paid your salaries.

In fact, how does he go to work, it is only here in Nigeria that people tend to stress themselves so much to go to work. I am sure in other places like England, the moment they say I am placed on pay per week, as soon as they pay me my salary I buy the bus pass, buy food in the house that would be enough for me till when next I buy another bus pass so I don’t trek to work. But, Nigerians are resilient people, and we seem to be abusing it. How can you owe somebody six months’ salary and if the man commits an offence will you have the conscience of punishing him?

Let’s say that may be he cuts corners, and you say why did you cut corners and he replied by saying, my family, is hungry because you have not paid me salary; what are you going to say? In good conscience, will you be able to ask him why he did not come to work? These are the problems that we face; we know that there is a problem and even both religions say that we should not allow the labourers’ sweat to dry before you pay him his dues.

We only hope that government will find a way of meeting the workers’ salary demands because you cannot expect the best from them if you do not pay them. You can imagine a teacher that is expecting a bank alert, and you expect him to teach. His mind will be on the alert because he knows that when he gets home, he’s going to face his wife and children. What is he going to tell them?

A few weeks ago the Federal government said some National Assets would be sold.

They said it. It was a proposal, just a thought; they didn’t pursue it.

What is your reaction to the proposed withdrawal of subvention from state tertiary institutions like LAUTECH, Polytechnic, and others?

LAUTECH’s case is special; my position on LAUTECH is that there is a law that set up LAUTECH, one state cannot unilaterally cancel the law. It is something that should be studied. Are we not the same people- Oyo and Osun and luckily it’s the same party and this thing started from the time of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Otunba Adebayo Akala. So, I don’t understand because this is something you look after the interest of your people collectively.

Even, if it is going to be sold or privatised, they could sit down to make sure that the level of education is better, they could say we want some investors who want to invest in a university; then you set a percentage so that the standard of education will be good. Then, it can stop being a state university, and now a private university and people will either go there if they are ready to pay for it.

But, I don’t think it is a wise thing for the government to withdraw its subventions to schools either primary, secondary or tertiary. Education is a right of the citizens; if you don’t train your children well, what do you expect?

When should we expect Accord, your political party to produce the governor of the state?

We have been trying. In 2011, we came third, 2015 we came second and may be next time, we will come first. We are making progress. In 2011, we had seven legislators, this time we have 8, so we are making progress. The last time in 2011, all our legislators were from Ibadan, but this time around we have one from Oyo, it is a gradual progress.

Suppose you are asked to come back to PDP today, will you agree?

Is there PDP today? Which one? Makarfi or Sheriff? Politics is not in name; it is not the party’s name that is important but rather who are the people there. APC was brought up because they wanted to win the election and you can see the problem they are having. A National Leader was asking the chairman to go! So, if the intention of the party was to give service to the people of Nigeria, of course, I will be there, and if they are going to be fair to everybody, I will be there. So, I am not talking of PDP alone; I am talking about any party that will satisfy these criteria.

I was invited to APC also, but I know they don’t have the notion to satisfy the desire of Nigerians and what is happening there now is not news to some of us.

Senator Ajimobi became the first governor to win a second term, but there is the insinuation that the second term may be a stain given the challenges before the government?

The government is not sleeping; the government has always been telling us that we do not have resources and it’s either they don’t know how to trace the resources or…

You journalists should also help the masses. It took one year before commissioners were appointed for the second term government; not a first term government, local government elections have not been held, these are all breaches of the constitution, and everybody is silent. We have to understand that we politicians if we talk people will not take us seriously, they will say oh they are playing politics. So, that is why I said we would continue to give the government support and give constructive criticisms where it is required; we are not going to go beyond that.

Do you still hope to govern the state for the second time?

The next election is in 2019, has God given me the mandate that I am going to live until that time? I am doing my best. The other time, you said the president said change starts from you too, I said no because I’ve been in that change before the president said so; because what he’s asking is that we should patronise Nigeria, I use black soap, and I use shea butter for my body, I plant my vegetables and do my farming and raise guinea fowl maybe in 2 years time when you go to eateries what you buy there might be my guinea fowl.

That’s part of my own contribution to Nigeria. I’ve said it a long time ago before the president said it, so it’s not a change for me it’s my way of life. Big clothes are not my style, my style is eat well, sleep well, clothe yourself neatly and God will take care of others.