Nothing Bad If Nigeria Becomes One-Party State –Odubote

-Says Non-indigenes Shouldn’t Jostle For Control Of Lagos Govt

A member of the seventh National Assembly, Hon. Lanre Odubote, represented Epe Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, Odubote spoke on a number of issues relating to the state of the nation. While acknowledging that the reforms of the Bola Tinubu led government has brought some hardship on Nigerians, he expressed optimism that the country would be better off in the long run.

Excerpts:

You are a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress and the current regime is almost two years into its four-year tenure, how would you rate its performance so far in view of the many challenges it has been encountering since it came into office?

We need to understand the concept of democracy which is essentially about the welfare and wellbeing of the people. A lot of decisions are currently being taken by this government which I admit are having untold hardship on the people but what I know is that there can never be any kind of gain without pain. We also need to appreciate the fact that when this government came on board, many Nigerians were happy that there was a change of baton.

This is because the economy was so bad and was in comatose. The economy had been bad because we had been subsiding everything but the people were not feeling the benefit and impact of such subsidies. Nigeria had been subsiding fuel for several years but the major beneficiaries of this had been neighbouring countries. Again, Nigeria had neglected agriculture which was the mainstay of its economy. Some of the cash crops that made our country buoyant in those days such cocoa, cotton and groundnut had been abandoned by successive governments since Independence and there is this over-reliance on oil as the mono-product driving our economy. Unfortunately for us as a country, prices of oil are determined by the buyers. Nigeria has become virtually a rent collection country, collecting rent from oil multinationals. We should have stuck to agriculture to create jobs and stimulate the economy. Our over reliance on oil has disjointed our developmental projections. All these mistakes are currently being corrected by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is replicating the developmental agenda of Lagos State at the centre. Being a man with vision and mission, he knew what he was doing when he said on the day of his inauguration that the subsidy was gone. It must be noted however, that all other presidential candidates promised to remove subsidies too. Definitely, there will be pains but now Nigeria is being respected across the world for this bold action.

Are you saying that the timing of the move was perfect?

As we speak today, the economy of the country is now being put on proper footing. Look at what Governor Bago, who was a colleague of mine, is doing with agriculture in Niger State. Lagos State too is not lagging behind because it has also constructed so much infrastructure supporting agriculture and agro-allied activities in the state. You can attest to that with interventions in areas such as rice processing in Imota as well as fish storage infrastructure in Epe. I can tell you that the reforms of the president are now bringing people back to the basics. People are now looking at areas where they have never looked before which is good for our collective wellbeing. As far as I am concerned, there will be some pains that would be inflicted on the people but the benefits to be derived in the long run would far outweigh the pains.

Your views tally with recent assertions of President Tinubu who stated that the benefits of the reforms are now becoming very manifest…
Let me tell you something, for the first time in the last 20 years, we celebrated Christmas without a queue at filling stations. People are moving around and that shows you that indeed the economy of the country is moving and not static as we are wont to believe. Go to the markets and see the level of economic activities there. The IMF has just rated the country as the second largest economy in Africa, after Egypt. That indicates that we are moving positively towards a good direction. Another positive thing under the Tinubu presidency is the way security is gradually returning to the country. Nigeria is becoming relatively safe because of the renewed onslaught of the military against bandits and other criminal elements. From all I can see, the president has a vision for the country and he is taking us somewhere good.

You speak glowingly of the government, haven’t you noticed any area where you think they should step up, in terms of improvement?

The area where I think the government should work seriously on is how it can alleviate the suffering of the people caused by these reforms which are necessary by the way. I am looking at critical areas such as provision of affordable housing, effective transportation most especially the rail system. When the government develops the rail infrastructure a lot of heavy duty vehicles will no longer ply our roads. These products will now be transported through the railways. Government needs to connect all parts of the country through the rail network. Clean and affordable energy is another critical area of cushioning the effects of the reforms. In about a year’s time, not only would the prices of fuel come down drastically, people would be happy that the reforms took place.

In essence, would it be correct to say that you believe what the president said that things are getting better in spite of the hunger and frustration in the land?
I assure you, it will be well with us all in this country, since the government is heading towards the direction of making things better, definitely, everything will normalise in the country. In the end, I believe that all Nigerians will have access to good life and as far as I am concerned that is the direction that the government is moving towards.

There were two off season governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states where your party won; many opposition lawmakers and key personalities are now defecting to the APC, don’t you think the country might be moving towards a one-party state?

Sincerely, for any growth or development to take place in any society or environment, there must be unity of purpose on the part of the people making up such society.

Don’t you think that could lead to a one-party state environment?

(Cuts in) You see, this is even good for a heterogeneous society like Nigeria. In a diverse society like ours, you must have a strong pulling mechanism that brings everyone together for purposeful development.

So, you don’t see anything wrong with the likely emergence of a one-party rule in the country?

I can’t even see any political party on the horizon that can challenge the APC in 2027. Have you seen anyone?

But there are reports that some politicians are planning a mega party to dislodge the APC…

(Cuts in) Who are they? Let me know them so that I can make specific comments on their activities?

Reports say politicians from the North who are not happy with the situation in the country are the mastermind…
Who are these politicians in the North? The educated, the Almajiri in the North are now becoming enlightened and can’t be led by the nose anymore. If the president can go all the way to create a ministry for livestock development for the people in the North, which is the traditional source of livelihood of the people of the region, has the president not demonstrated enough sincerity to the people of the area? The president has even gone further to ensure that he brings the Almajiri back to the social system, that too is a demonstration of good faith.

And you believe these are enough reasons why the people of the North won’t listen to their leaders?

Who are the people that you think they will listen to? I have so many friends in the North and I know what they tell me about this government. Many of them who have been criticising this government have begun to have a rethink. So, I don’t see any serious opposition to the APC in 2027.

Let’s come back to Lagos State which is the economic hub of the country; your ruling tendency has been in charge of the state for over two decades and half, don’t you think that there is the need for a change in terms of another party ruling the state?

I am a democrat and I have no problem with a change of guards at all if they can properly organise themselves to take over but in sincere terms, do you see any political party so better organised than the APC in Lagos State? One thing people don’t really consider is the fact that a lot of things have been accomplished since the time we took over in 1999. It would interest you to know that Lagos remains one of the most peaceful states in the country. This is because it is the only one that has continued to accommodate diverse cultures and religions of all Nigerians.

From the way you’ve spoken, you sound so confident that no party can defeat the APC in Lagos?

Yes!

But your party lost the presidential election to the Labour Party in 2023…
We know why that happened. It was a spin over of the unresolved issue of #ENDSARS protest. We saw how many people organised themselves in various religious centres. I am talking about youths who were aggrieved by what happened during that protest. Many of the organisers left their states to collect voter cards in Lagos State with a view to taking over the state. We saw the migration of these elements into Lagos during the last election but in the end, we showed them that we were the majority. What I know is that such a thing cannot happen again.

What lesson has your party learnt to prevent the reoccurrence of what happened the other time?

Those that did what they did are our friends. They are our people and we are making efforts to bring everybody together. We lived together. Grew up together and we know ourselves. What we are working towards in Lagos APC now is to ensure inclusiveness of all shades of opinions in the running of the state. There is no doubt that non-indigenes have the right to contest for any position in the state but they must also realise that we are the majority and indigenes of Lagos who have nowhere else to go. They are welcome to join us but not to jostle the control of our land with us.

Source: New Telegraph