The Deputy Governor of State of Osun, Benedict Alabi, in this interview with TIMOTHY AGBOR in Osogbo, spoke on how Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s experience as a technocrat and himself as an experienced administrator have helped them reposition the state for good. He spoke on the crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress; the rancour between Oyetola and former Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as well as how the present administration has been executing projects without borrowing, among others. Excerpts:
Osun is 30 years old. Would you say the dreams and aspirations of its founding fathers have been met by successive governments?
I want to first thank our forefathers, the people that worked hard to ensure that the state was created. It would have not been good in 1991 if we had not heard our state mentioned as part of the newly created states. So, for them, like you rightly asked, if the aspirations have been met; I will say, yes. It’s always work in progress. When you create a new state, it’s like having a child at school; it has its developmental challenges and achievements. State of Osun so far, I think, we are doing well. The state as created has its own identity as a State of ‘Omoluabi’. The way we do our own things are totally different from most states, because we are peculiar people and our peculiarity is to ensure that there is peace and tranquility in the society and our development is strategic. Also, as something organic which grows in stages and that can be sustained, so far, we are doing well in State of Osun. Our economy is opening up, our schools are built as models, most of the things we are doing here are being copied outside the state, which means we are setting the pace for people to follow and we are living to the ethos of ‘Omoluabis.’
When Osun was created, where were you? Did you ever dreamt of becoming a Deputy Governor?
I will say as a young man, I never knew I was going to go into politics. Politics was not what I really want but life changes as we go. When the call came for me to serve my people, I saw it as a privilege to be part of the people that will stir the next pace for the state of Osun’s growth and development and people’s aspirations. But I always knew that I have a lot to offer to my people in terms of contributing to their economic growth and development. When I was getting married in 1997, I told my wife, when I am 60, I am going back to Osun, in Ikire, specifically. I was in Lagos then. Coming home earlier than 60 is just an aspiration. I am grateful to God that he gave me that privilege to be Deputy Governor, State of Osun.
When you came into government, did you see a blueprint? Was there anything like a master plan that was put in place that you met?
Well, the last government has developmental agenda that was documented. I contested for governorship and during that time, I had my own dreams and blueprint. But I am happy to tell you that I am so blessed that I am working with a governor who has a vision that is in tandem with mine, which is people-focused, government of inclusiveness where everybody’s interest is considered and everybody’s opinion is taken before decisions are taken. So, Mr Governor’s agenda and blueprint to run the State of Osun is the blueprint that we are running and is a blueprint that I keyed into because it’s very good and developmental.
He (Oyetola) was also part of the former government and he knows more about the history and where the state should be. He also worked more with the Need Assessment that was conducted for us to know what our people’s aspirations are. We want to make sure that what we want to do for them is their aspirations because we want to serve them. The blueprint we are running is a mixture of people’s aspirations and our own experience of what we think should be and take the state to the next level. So, I can’t really say this is my blueprint except the one the governor presented.
You are a technocrat and same with Governor Gboyega Oyetola, what do you think this has translated to in your government?
You are asking an obvious question. I am sure if you are in Osun in the last three years, you would have seen the number of changes even in the environment both in government performance, workers’ satisfaction, the health sector, how issues are being treated; State of Osun today is being copied all over the country by our Alternative Project Funding arrangements – the contractor is not asking for an advance payment, unlike the norm in our society. The contractor is supposed to use his money to do the project, then we (government) pay instalmentally. This will ensure two major factors – one, the quality of delivery is good because the contractor is using his money, two, time of delivery is assured because if it becomes abandoned, his money is also abandoned. So, there is nothing like abandoned projects. It is helping for speed and also gives us what we call ease of cash flow management.
“I contested for governorship and during that time, I had my own dreams and blueprint. But I am happy to tell you that I am so blessed that I am working with a governor who has a vision that is in tandem with mine, which is people-focused, government of inclusiveness
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These can only come from technocrats, people who have managed projects, who have created wealth, people who have managed resources. People who know what is called priority. What is called funding and what is called monitoring and sustainable achievements. These were brought into State of Osun with the meagre resources we have. As you can see, we are meeting our obligations to contractors, to staff, to pension and we are also having our infrastructural developments. This is needed for growth, so, these are things that technocrats bring to table; experience of life, managerial experience, financial experience, project management experience. You can see our state is calm. We are adjudged the safest state in Nigeria; which is required from any economic development of growth because where there is no security, nobody will stay there to invest. And we can also see how the governor is opening up new frontiers for economic development and growth. We are talking about mining and agriculture, things are coming from these sectors. Banks are running to fund our tourism template because of the way it’s packaged to ensure that all parties’ interest is protected in terms of ‘you bring your money and you will get your money back’ approach. So, I think, so far, when you look at our governor and his performance, you can see that his experience comes to bear in the management of the state.
Your party, the All Progressives Congress, has been in the saddle for about 13 years now. Are you not concerned about the division among members of your party?
No! Is it because of what you are seeing on social media? Even families fight because anywhere you find about three people, you cannot have convergence of opinion always and where you don’t have that, some people are tolerant while some will say it’s our way or no other way. So, there will always be rancour. Look at what is happening in PDP, how they are fighting each other. We in APC know that this is part of relationship that we are together. Yoruba people will say that if two brothers enter into a room and they come out smiling always, there can never be progress. But sometimes when they disagree, it’s for things to get better. So, we don’t see anything in that, it’s still a family matter. Anything that you might have been thinking that is happening will be resolved. Mr Governor (Oyetola) and the former Governor (Rauf Aregbesola) are in very good terms; their followers are the ones that might be having their hullabaloo.
So, you think this crisis will not affect the chances of your party in the forthcoming election?
No, no, no! It’s an internal issue.
