Honourable Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun and former state legislator, in this interview with Oluwole Ige, speaks about the crisis rocking the APC in the state, Nigeria’s insecurity challenges, President Bola Tinubu’s administration, among other sundry issues.
How would you describe your experience working with the former governor of Osun State and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola?
Mr Adegboyega Oyetola is an epitome of creativity and a model of good leadership who nurtures value, skill, knowledge, and always ready to build capacity to prepare the upcoming generation in taking up higher challenges. Due to his years of experience in both private and public sectors, Oyetola always encourages individuals to show competence in the area of their responsibility. So, working with him was a good opportunity for me. Although I came in barley two years to the end of his administration, as a Special Adviser on Civic Engagement, I was able to make notable impact in public engagements and enlightenment of the populace in respect of government’s policies and programmes. In a nutshell, working with him was a pleasant experience.
You were a lawmaker, who represented Obokun Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly. Could you recall the relationship between the legislature and the then executive arm of the government?
As the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy, working with other liberals, productive and experienced legislators in the 6th Osun State House of Assembly, I can say unequivocally that the parliament had harmonious relationship with the executive. Although we used to have strong disagreements based on principle, the situations were managed by mature elected stakeholders who knew their opinions. They did not allow our disagreements to get noticed by the public. Being a high-performing assembly, issues were rather resolved through dialogues and negotiations. We reconciled all differences that existed between the executive and the legislature. Such disagreements were necessary for the development of our dear state. As a representative from my constituency in the 6th assembly, I contributed my own quota in the areas of good representation, lawmaking, and community development. I made myself abundantly available to my people, awoken hope among the youths, ameliorated poverty, created opportunities, built confidence, empowered rural farmers, and inspired change, which up till now I am still sustaining.
Many Nigerians are currently groaning over the hardship occasioned by the removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu and are fast losing hope in his Renewed Hope mantra. What do you think is the way out of the situation?
With utmost sense of modesty, humility, and dignity to Nigerians who are struggling with various challenges that came in the wake of the economic downturn as a result of the introduction of the two major reforms by this present administration — that is the removal of the fuel subsidy and merger of foreign exchange rates — I must appeal to them once again that President Bola Tinubu has good intention with the introduction of these reforms which has indeed led to an increase in economic hardship, galloping inflation, and depreciation of the naira, which have reduced the purchasing power of Nigerians. The president, who is quite aware of the economic hardship, has taken all responsibilities by rolling out different interventions, policies, and programmes to mitigate the current situation, and you would agree with me that things are improving. He is achieving this with his purposeful leadership, repositioning the national economy for long-term sustainability and economic growth through gradual stabilisation of foreign exchange rates, promoting peaceful coexistence, political stability by reducing tensions among ethnic and religious groups through good management of our strength in diversity. Also, in order to ameliorate the impact of the fuel subsidy removal on vulnerable citizens, the government came up with different poverty alleviation programmes, such as cash transfers to low-income households, wage award for workers, allocation of funds to subsidise public transportation fares to make it more accessible and attractive for individuals. The Federal Government is also in the process of purchasing 300 CNG buses. This would also go a long way in solving the problem of transportation for the people. But I want to advise that government should implement effective price regulation mechanisms by monitoring fuel prices and enforcing regulations to prevent exploitative practices in the market. The government should accelerate the use of renewable energy which will in turn contribute to a sustainable future by creating job opportunities and stimulating economic growth to encourage a more sustainable and economically viable future.
Some schools of thought believe that booby traps were allegedly laid by the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari for Tinubu’s government in terms of beleaguered economy and mismanagement of forex. Do you share this view?
Peoples’ opinions and schools of thought must be respected. But, beyond that, we must appreciate the positive gains that the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari brought to our economy. Although President Tinubu inherited notable challenges such as insecurity, economic challenges, corruption, among many others, the president has taken it upon himself to inherit both the assets and liability from the previous administration with the hope that his intellectual prowess and professionalism will be brought into governance for effective management and sustainable growth of the economy.
Insecurity, which has been plaguing Nigeria, has persisted under the administration of Tinubu despite his assurance of tackling the menace. There are fears that the current All Progressives Congress (APC) lacks the wherewithal to tackle insecurity. The upsurge in kidnapping and banditry has further exposed the seeming inability of Tinubu to grapple with challenges of governance. What is your take on this?
The spate of insecurity started way back during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, and it has since been managed by successive administrations. Although security challenges is a global problem, the present administration is doing its best to reduce the threat and protect the citizens. We must realise that it is a gradual process and we shall get there at the end.
Do you subscribe to the calls by some people calling on Mr President to drop some ministers with alleged cases of corruption?
The present administration is very strict on the issue of corruption and will never sweep any corrupt act under the carpet, no matter whose ox is gored.
We are living witnesses to the Betta Edu saga. This administration took decisive action against it and investigation is still ongoing which I believe, at the end of it all, findings will be made for all to see. That is a pointer to the fact that this administration did not in any way tolerate any act of corruption. However, I am of the opinion that the government should always appraise its cabinet for better accountability and efficiency.
Keen watchers of events are of the view that some governors are not doing enough to support the Federal Government in addressing poverty and hardship despite receiving intervention funds from the government at the centre. What is your opinion on this?
Some recent policies of this administration has led to increase in economic hardship, galloping inflation and depreciation of naira, which reduces purchasing power of Nigerians.
The president, who is quite aware of economic hardship, is doing everything possible to ameliorate the effects by rolling out different intervention measures through the state governors.
The question now is what are the state governors doing to alleviate the sufferings of the citizens in their various domains? It calls for concerns that in spite of the massive increase in revenue allocations available to the various levels of government after the removal of fuel subsidy, state governors are not doing enough to ease the suffering of the citizens. The governors need to support various initiatives of the president in fixing the economy by utilising their monthly allocations for poverty alleviation in their various states. What the state governors have been earning from the federal allocation since the removal of the fuel subsidy is enough to put smiles on the faces of the people if judiciously used. If governors can judiciously utilise what they are currently earning, the impact of the inflation will be minimally felt by the people.
What do you think is the solution to the perennial crisis rocking the APC in Osun State?
The APC in Osun State is experiencing calmness now as a result of the pragmatic efforts of the leadership of the party in bringing all the aggrieved members together through conflict resolution and mediation. And, this has been yielding positive results. In addition to that, the party, under the leadership of Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola, the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, recently embarked on state-wide tour to review, appraise and evaluate the strength of the party and its challenges across the local government areas in the state. This was a follow up with the report of the 11-man committee constituted by state chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Lawal, headed by Professor Isaac Adewole, that was given the task of repositioning the party through critical analysis of areas of strength and weakness in order to improve and implement the recommendations of the committee for APC to remain a formidable party in Osun State.
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