#OTOGEaYearAfter: Mohammed Lawal’s OTOGE Message Came a Bit Early For People’s Comprehension

Issa Mutolib Ayobami is an Alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the Accra Business School, Ghana. He is a community development practitioner, communication strategist and farmer. Mutolib Ayobami is one of the youth mobilizers during the O TO GE struggle in Kwara State. He narrates how late Mohammed Alabi Lawal started the liberation movement in 2002 during an exclusive interview with FactualTimes- #OTOGEaYearAfter

 #OTOGEaYearAfter, what is your view about the whole struggle?

I believe the ‘O to ge’ revolution brought about paradigm shift in Kwara state. It’s a great change in the political order, leaving Egypt and going to the promise land. It birthed a new order in kwara. Yes! The journey has started, but we are yet to get there. I believe we would get there sooner than we expect.

 

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You participated actively in the struggle, what did you think geared up Kwarans to say enough is enough?

Kwarans have been saying enough is enough for a while now. Enough is Enough which is OTOGE started in build to 2003 elections by Late Admiral  Mohammed Alabi Lawal. He was the first person that openly challenged the dynasty. Although, many didn’t understand the message as at then, the message came a bit early for people’s comprehension and if you see those who participated in ‘O to g’e of today, if you look at all those that marshalled O TO GE of today, they are still followers of Lawal. There has always been one mission, one agenda, one aim – which is the total fall of the dynasty. If you look at it after the death of Admiral Mohammed Alabi Lawal, when Gbenga Olawepo contested, all the supporters of Lawal moved to DPP to support him. In 2011,

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Mohammed Alabi Lawal’s supporters moved to support Dele Belgore, fast forward 2019 when is time of Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq, followers of Alabi Lawal still followed him to make sure OTOGE of 2003 materialises. So, it has been a consistent fight, but you know minority will have their say but majority will have their way in democratic setting. There is always time for everything, so it is 2019 that OTOGE was actualized. OTOGE is to resist political order imposed on Kwara, which doesn’t benefit kwarans, an order that takes people for granted, from 2003 up till date, some kwarans have been fighting for this and many are happy for the victory!

 

How would you rate  performance of AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq Administration?

There is something that I don’t actually agree with when people say the previous administrations from 2003 to 2019 have done nothing; I do tell them that they have done something, it’s now left for people to figure out what has been done. Does it satisfy our expectations? Even after 365days of Mr Governor, some people will say he hasn’t done anything but I will let them know he has done something. Something you can see in terms of health, infrastructures like roads, schools etc, but there is always room for improvement. The government has another 1,095 days because Kwarans are seriously expecting much . I will urge His Excellency to do more.

You said former Governor Lawal is an institution in Kwara state and recently his son, Hakeem Oladimeji Lawal established a foundation to support the masses and honor memory of his father. Let’s know more about the foundation.

The name of the foundation is Awliya and it has been in existence in principle for the past 10years, but it only got registered only this year. The foundation is just to further enhance the good work of former Governor Lawal, because the man is known to always empower the people, those people he has empowered in the past are still living very good and comfortable till today. He is someone that actually believes in empowering the people because that is one of the good things you can give to the people. He is not concerned about using people anyhow, he is concerned about elevating people in life. Since his death, his first son, Hakeem Oladimeji Lawal has since toe that part as well. He has embarked on a lot of projects in the memory of the late Governor, countless things have been done here in kwara, community intervention, water intervention, educational support and he has mentored some people in life. He took it to another level, that is the reason why he named it Awliya foundation, the foundation that has done a lot of programs since inception. We have programmes for Covid-19. The foundation is divided into different strata; we have community, health, education, mentorship and business empowerment, so watch out for more on the foundation.

What is your advice for the state government as we battle COVID-19 pandemic?

Covid-19 is affecting the economy of the state. Not only the health challenge, it is also an economic challenge. I think recession is imminent in this country, but the buck now lies on the table of the government to know what it can do for its people. The President said people should go back to the farm; farmers should start working now, because we don’t even have money to import food. First thing every state and local government should look into is how we would be able to feed ourselves. How we are going to produce so that we can send to other states to boost our IGR. They should look into agriculture and diversify our economy as well as look into our health facilities and technology. It is very important as well, because this COVID-19, we have to learn how to live with it, so we have to move closer to our technology, because executive council meeting and other things are being done via Skype, zoom and other means of technology. We have to look for ways so that we can make things easy for ourselves. The government needs to look at those things, develop a work plan so that we can move ahead post COVID-19 era.