Kwara APC Crisis Is A Test of Leadership and Followership- Dr Ajiboye

Dr Abioye Rafiu Ajiboye (AJI) a Gynecologist and International Health Expert & Advisor. He is the Chairman of Isokan Ifelodun Group. Currently based in Australia. He traveled to Nigeria to participate actively in O TO GE movement in build up to 2019 polls. He reflects on OTOGE and trending issues in Kwara Political space during an interview with FactualTimes on special series- #OTOGEaYearAfter

On May 29, It would be a year since the beneficiaries of the Oto ge movement – the governor and the lawmakers, were sworn into office. What can you say has changed in Kwara in the last 12 months?

There has been a lot of changes in Kwara state. 29 of May 2019 should be regarded as the day of democracy in the history of Kwara state. Any Kwaran that has been alive in the last 40 years, will realise that it even got to a stage, some individuals thought any Kwaran can not become anything except you pass through them, that if you want to become the oba of your village, the emir of your village, to become a teacher, to become a doctor, to become anything, you have to tremble before some individuals. You can not become a councilor in your ward, you can not become a chairman in your local government area, you can not become anything even if you want to become a teacher, you have to be begging some people. The ousted leaders were promoting themselves at the detriment of a better, prosperous kwara state in their self centered leadership style.
Regrettably, Kwara state still remain a civil service based economy. So, Otoge of 2019 marked the real transition of power to the masses. It is a historical event. The only thing in Nigeria that is similar to Otoge of Kwara revolution was the late (MKO] Abiola election of 1994 that caught across religion and tribal sentiment. That was why the losers of the last election can not even challenge successfully, the outcome of the elections in the court of law. I participated actively, people were given money but they collected the money and they voted for the Otoge movement.

So, what has changed is that the people have decided to use the instrument of power they have , their voting right, to elect leaders of their choice , which is the basic tenet of democracy. When I came back to Nigeria, I went around many communities in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara state and join the Otoge train in kwara state to mobilize for change and to enthroned a genuine democracy. People in the opposition party came to embrace us. They were not asking for money and they voted for that change. We know people that held Kwarans to ransom prior to May 29, 2019.

Otoge arrived with new hope, a new expectation, a better tomorrow for all Kwarans and that is why to whom much is given, much is expected. If you recall, in the history of Kwara state, people were fed up with the status quo prior to that time. It was at that moment, people collected money from them, on the day of the election, they voted for the Otoge movement. It was a revolution that we went through.

I wish in the next and subsequent elections, there would be an Otoge movement nationwide that will sweep all the bad leaders out irrespective of political or religious affiliation, to channel a new beginning for our country.

It is clear that I am an Otoge crusader, I am free to tell the governor the truth. Otoge brought a new beginning to the history of Kwara state with so much expectation and high hopes. It is my wish and hope as a Kwaran that the people who were elected, they will see the burden and responsibility on their shoulders and will not decimate that struggle. History, God and mankind will never forgive any individual or group that decimate the popular revolution in our state of harmony. We are at the transition phase of history; all elected members and direct beneficiaries of our otoge mantra; from the governor to the deputy governor, the three senators, the six members of house of Rep, and the 24 members of kwara state house of assembly, they either make or mar the hope and aspiration of the masses. No one should take trust and responsibility bestowed by people for granted and that is the challenge before the new government in Kwara state.

I can tell you that things will never be the same again in Kwara state. I wish that the people that are in power today will not take us for granted as Kwarans. I want a prosperous Kwara where nobody will lack the basic necessities of life; where nobody will beg anybody for food, for basic health services, for basic education. It is not everybody that will own a car; it is not everybody that will own a house but you must have a roof on your head. These are basic necessities. Everyone should have access to water to drink, access to basic education, basic health services, anything less than that, it is going to be Otogetitoge. Be rest assured that we are wiser now in kwara state.

I , as an individual, my commitment is to commit whatever God has given me to make sure that our people continue to champion what is good and what is right. To the glory of God, we are all together. See now, look at what you are doing at this time of the day. This is part of the movement we are talking about. You wake up at 4am, having a dialogue with me toward a better Kwara. That is our dream Nigerian state that we must strive to build. It does not matter where you come from. If you are living your life in Kwara state, as you are doing now, you should contribute your own quota. So, more grease to your elbow.

Despite you are based in Australia, you participated actively in the struggle and you even travelled down for the elections and even for the inauguration. What motivated you to join the struggle?

As I have told you, I am a Kwaran and Nigerian that’s committed to a better, functional and prosperous society . A task that will be sustained until the last breath of my life.
I grew up and I went to public schools in Kwara state first – Primary to Tertiary, from my village to Omu-Aran to Ilorin. I am a Kwaran to the core. I was at the University of Ilorin Teaching hospital , UITH, where I trained as an Obstetrician and Gynecologist.
Let me share this with you today. In 2003, former Governor Bukola Saraki became the governor of Kwara state, It was the end of my residency training in the department of Gynecology at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital and I became a consultant gynecologist, so, I with 25 other doctors joined the service of Kwara state to serve the people . I delivered the first baby of the year in 2004.
Precisely, on the night of 31st of December 2003. That was the first year of governor Bukola Saraki on the throne as the governor. On that night, an unbooked pregnant woman ( not known and not registered ) presented at Civil Service Clinic with complications of childbirth. I used lantern at midnight to deliver the child by emergency Caesarean section at Civil Service Clinic, Ilorin while electricity was in the opposite compound that the then sitting governor was using temporarily as office and accommodation. On that night, governor Bukola Saraki was still running the Kwara state from his father’s house opposite the civil service clinic. Sadly, in the morning of 1/1/2004, in a typical Nigeria way, the elected leaders came in pomp and pageantry with hampers and camera in row to welcome the baby of the year 2004. A baby that came in to the world in darkness in a geographical location known as kwara state. Mother and baby were near missed deaths. The child , now 17 years and the mother are still alive today.

After that, I led a struggle. We met with the then-governor. We were imbibed with vigor and proposals for a better health care service in kwara state. Within six months, we knew that there were no directions and will to improve the service beyond lip service, rhetoric and propaganda. All of us today (26 doctors), apart from two other doctors, we all left Kwara state service. Today, all the doctors are elsewhere some are making waves overseas like I am. When I went to the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, LUTH, as a consultant and lecturer. It is the same story of the insincerity of leadership to the people they lead.

In many communities in Kwara state, I have not seen any positive changes in the last 30 years that will improve the well-being and quality of life of fellow Kwarans . For instance in the health sector, elected leaders embarked on elephant projects that will not impact on people but on their pocket. So, as a Nigerian, I don’t like to complain or criticize. What I did was that I left the Nigeria system. I have to be a self-made man and I pursued my goals. I did not only pursue my goals, I promised myself that I will be part of the struggle to bring our people out of this oppression.

In 2004, I left Nigeria reluctantly In 2006, I decided that it was not enough to be condemning the system. You have to be part of the people that will change the system. And I came back home. I wanted to contest for leadership, and the thing was that if you don’t bring out money, there was nothing for you. The good thing was that there were a lot of youths around me. It is very easy to criticise the system but what will be your own contribution to change what is bad? My appeal to everybody is, it is not enough to say this thing doesn’t go right, what do you want to change there to make it better? No society is perfect. Not where I am.

I wanted to go to the house of representatives. Alhaji Kola Yusuf , who was a Commissioner in kwara state when I was in secondary school in Omu Aran was my opponent in PDP. I worked but I didn’t have the resources to challenge the status quo. I went back to my job. A few of the many things I disliked about politics in Nigeria is the influence of money and the jobless full time politicians.
In 2011, I was in Nigeria. I was the candidate for the house of reps for Ifelodun/ Offa/ Oyun Federal constituency under ACPN by Baba Olusola Saraki .

When I came in 2011, the then governor was the main man. He was going against his father. I know how to mobilise people. When they knew that, they wanted me to sway to their side. And they gave me the ticket on a platter of gold but I now ask myself, if a father and a son are fighting and I am the only one there, and I am asked to make a choice, I will rather hold the son’s hands so that the father can give one or two blows before the fight settles. I will not hold the father for the son to give the two blows. That was my own reason why I decided to say okay, in this struggle between father and son, should I follow the son or father. I knew what was put on the table before me but I decided to follow the father. And of course, I lost the election because I was cheated. So, since that time, I have been active. I played an active role in 2014 when Dr Bukola Saraki moved to APC. It was only Senator S.S Ajibola , the Senator representing Kwara South , was the only elected politician that stayed behind in PDP . I I contested for the house of representatives primaries then and I came second in the primaries. Alhaji Tajudeen Abioye from Oyun was the candidate of PDP and I came second. I didn’t lose the election because four of us from Ifelodun local government came out to contest for the House of Reps and you know in Nigeria, the only thing people talk about mostly is your tribe, whether you are Igbomina or Ibolo or your religion. For the fact that I am Igbomina from Ifelodun, four of us came out from Ifelodun to contest against ourselves except Abioye. And then Senator Ajadi from Ifelodun wanted to be Governor. So he strikes a deal with people from Oyun that they should not support any candidate from Ifelodun for House of Representatives but I still made my impact. The rest is history today.
I campaigned for Senator Ajibola in 2015 because it doesn’t matter whether Ajibola is a Christian or whether he is from Ekiti, once you believe in a cause, you can not say a Christian should not be a leader, you can not say somebody from the minority should not be a leader. So, because of the commitment to fight for this state, I was part of Ajibola campaign and we lost the election in 2015.

So by 2018, I would have been one of the contestants but I decided not to contest because I found out that it was not right or wise. The event that happened in 2014 that made me lose the primary election to Alhaji Tajudeen Abioye from Oyun still happened in 2018. Eight aspirants came out again from Ifelodun local government area and wanted to go for the primary election of APC .That was why Hon. Tijani Ismail, the only aspirant from Oyun again was the beneficiary of a divided house from Ifelodun. I didn’t come out in 2019 to contest. But I believe in the struggle so I came home when they were doing the primary election. I did appeal and I held meetings with aspirants from Ifelodun to make sure that only one aspirant from Ifelodun came out. Today, as I am talking to you, I am the coordinator of Isokan Ifelodun Group.

As a group, under the Otoge mantra, we urged the people to aspire to be their best no matter their background. Then, there was a mass revolution against the status quo. And by the glory of God, it has come to be. We can never go back to Egypt again. It is forward ever in the history of Kwara state.

How will you rate the performance of the governor and other elected officials?

O TO GE recorded what I call 35-0 victory in 2019 general elections. It was a 100 percent success at the last election. But the reality is, to whom much is given, much is expected. We have so much backwardness. We have so much dilapidation of infrastructure on ground. Salaries were unpaid, no basic infrastructure, no water and people took it as normal. So, the greatest achievement of the current administration under the leadership of his excellency, governor of Kwara state, Mallam AbdulRahman Abdurazaq, is the demystification of the office of the governor of Kwara state. People are used to nauseating, long convoy of a sitting governor in kwara state that would be going with 10 cars, 20 cars, blowing unnecessary sirens on the road, what does that bring to you? But he has changed that. We now have a governor that will even be close to or even before you unannounced, without knowing that the governor is coming. That is one of the achievements of Otoge.

Before now, our elected representatives were flamboyant and wastage in the discharge of their promises and service.
Having said this, there are bad eggs in the Otoge elected officials, as time goes on, their attitude will expose them. There are still those people who having been elected, they have cut themselves off from their constituents.

But the governor, as at today, has demonstrated humility and simplified act. That is a big plus. I’m not referring to all of them, but some of them today would not even pick your calls. I’m not looking for any money from anybody. I’m not rich and I’m not poor. So, when I do something, it is to make life better for our people. My position as an individual in Kwara is not what would benefit me but what will benefit the majority of Kwarans. The governor has demystified the office. They have done it in Lagos and that was what made Raji Fashola popular in Lagos. The other one is there are silent infrastructural renovation that are going on. You cannot just go and embark on another project like flyovers, instead of building schools and classrooms for the children, the leaders of tomorrow. There are no basic teaching equipment in our schools. People are under sunlight or rain. So he has been tackling that one very well. That is another achievement. There are many schools with only one teacher managing the whole school. There are basic health centers that are under lock and key for months. In this area, there is a positive role. Before now, we have heard of percentage salaries and other nomenclature. I have relatives and friends that I know who are working here, as a Kwaran in diaspora.

The COVID-19 is actually affecting the global economy including Nigeria. So what will be your advice to the current governor and Kwarans as to managing their expectations for this year?

COVID-19 is a global disaster and we are in a war situation. If the impact of the pandemic was to be as we witnessed in the developed world, I wouldn’t know what would have happened to our people, but some inbuilt immune system is helping to prevent the spread. The good news is that many of those infected by the virus are surviving without anything. All precautions are necessary to curtail the spread. The world economy has collapsed in the last three months. In Nigeria for instance, our main source of income is Oil and the federal allocation has dropped already. We don’t need a soothsayer to know that people will lose their job. We don’t need a soothsayer to tell us that the government expenditure will reduce drastically. Therefore, it is a call for any visionary leader and my message for the leader in Kwara is to be prepared for tomorrow. There is seamless economic meltdown. We cannot continue to spend extravagantly. One of the first advice to government is to cut the cost of governance. As a Kwaran, I am ready to liase with other fellow kwarans to move the state forward. The only option we have as Kwarans is to build a participatory economy. So if they cut the cost of governance, the government will have more funds for infrastructural development. We have to restructure the civil service either you like it or not. We must engage in mechanised farming; that is what will encourage the young ones.

The most important thing that is missing in Kwara State is the market. One of the things the government can do is to establish agro allied industry in all the 6 senatorial districts in Kwara State. It should not be like Shonga farm, which is a failure and this is because it is in the hands of foreigners. Government must make sure they mobilise Kwarans to invest in agro allied business in a form of public-private partnership which will generate money for government. Hence, government must create a conducive environment. Therefore, Kwara state can become the food basket of the nation, Nigeria. If you can provide food for 200 million Nigerians, imagine how much we would be making. Diversification of our economy is the way to grow our economy and anything aside that is a waste of time.

You are a stakeholder in Kwara APC, looking at the crisis in the party, what will be your advice for the warring elements in the party?

It is no longer hidden that one of the most disappointing event after the tsunami of Otoge mantra was the intra party crisis in Kwara APC. It is very unfortunate, It is unjustifiable, It is unnecessary distraction.
It’s a test of leadership and followership.
We must learn from history.
We must put the crisis behind us for the sake of a greater Kwara .We must give peace a chance. We must eschew disharmony in our state of harmony.