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Dr Isaac Owolabi was former commissioner of health in Oyo State and was governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state for the 2019 elections. He speaks with WALE AKINSELURE on expectations of the Senator Bola Tinubu presidency and the second term of governor Seyi Makinde.
From the backstage, what were your observations regarding how the 2023 elections went? Considering that opinions are divided regarding how the elections were conducted, how would you rate our pace of progressing with our electoral process?
Frankly, I do think that the cup is half full, not half empty. If you sum up the events of the past 50 years, across board, I think we have made progress. The quantum of progress that we have made may not appear equitable to the potential that we have as a nation. A nation, one would assume, is a country, no matter how diverse, that has some level of synchronicity in the management of their diversity and, to that extent, a nation will be able to surmount the notion of citizenship, citizens’ rights, citizens’ obligations. We are still at that track of defining who a citizen is.
Several have identified leadership as crucial to identifying those potential. Senator Bola Tinubu is the president-elect. What is your level of confidence regarding a Tinubu presidency identifying and optimising those potential for the betterment of every Nigerian?
This is not about ethnicity; I bet Tinubu has all it takes to make this nation get back on track. Sum up all the centrifugal forces of ethnic micro nationalism – it is nothing bad in itself – but it is a challenge to our leaders in terms of accommodation, tolerance, justice within the polity. What that means is that those who want Arewa State, Biafra, Oduduwa seem to have some legitimacy because they feel unwelcome. The leadership tended, at some point, outside being prebendal, was ethnicised. So, the other groupings which continuously agitate such that agitations are making the nation building process to start to burst, therefore, becomes a big challenge to who assumes leadership of this country at this critical juncture to build bridge, to allow for equity among the micro nationalities that encompass Nigeria and to see that the resources of state are made available for its people. Once that is done, we will be back on track. When we are back on track, then we can start rebuilding again, block by block and it is doable. Don’t forget that Tinubu had built enough human capacity over periods of decades. Tinubu has been able to identify those with the requisite capabilities to man different hubs of our economy and politics. What that will translate to is increased efficiency, the evolution of pro-poor policy opinions that will ameliorate the pains and denials of the people be it Hausa, Fulani, Ibibio, Igbo or Yoruba and that is what this nation needs at this moment.
In terms of bringing us back on track, building blocks of development, what should Tinubu immediately prioritise upon assumption of office?
First among those that should come at the front burner should be the judiciary. We need to rework the judiciary such that justice is not delayed, it is not denied and is effective. If you are looking for direct or indirect foreign investment, you want to solve disputations, there has to be a judicial system that is efficient, effective and transparent. That underpins the whole philosophy of nation building. When there is an adequate, efficient judicial system, investors will come then I will know that if I go into disputations with locals or a consortium, I am going to get justice within a stipulated period of time. Also, is our criminal justice system. After the justice system, you look at security. I think we will see Tinubu conduct continuous diplomatic shuttles with contiguous nationalities like Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Benin. Then decentralise, significantly, the security architecture. By this, I mean state police; let’s have state police work hand in hand with the federal police because it is all about federalism. If you take these two, you will securitise the people and open up and there will be an increased trust, and the social contract becomes stronger. Then, we need to renegotiate our debt burden. By these, all critical local and international lenders will need to come to the table so that we can restructure. A situation where you have over 95 percent of revenue going into servicing debt cannot facilitate infrastructure development. Having done these, you’ll see that the nation will start to breathe again; the human capacity will start to evolve; the ecosystem will start to change. Next on the agenda will be how do you potentiate the economic activity of our people by providing electricity. We need to revisit the Distribution companies (DISCOs) that were sold and allow for international, capable hands to come in. But, they won’t come in if you do not have guarantees that the judicial system is already prone to be transparent, to being accountable, to be effective. No international lender will want to come into a situation of uncertainties because under capitalist order, money moves in the direction of profit. When you take these four things together, the middle term, long term, social engineering then begins.
You talk about Tinubu’s ability to choose capable hands. Would you subscribe to him picking his cabinet again from those persons he worked with in Lagos, some of whom have been holding public office till date, or bringing on board some fresh, capable hands?
We have to start with people of proven track records but that in itself does not mean that mentorship, training of younger generation in the art of leadership, governance will not go alongside. To bring people who are completely green, untested, will be fairly dangerous at this time but to strive to achieve a hybrid of new, trained and tested hands will be a better option. Under his command, I will see the potential for an injection of young, able-bodied, intellectually mobile Nigerians start feel engaged and encouraged in participating in the heart of governance. It does not matter how much theories you are imbued with, you need to have experience. It is the mentorship, experience, youthful energy that will be optimised under Tinubu presidency that excited even the youths.
Despite posting a good performance in the presidential and national assembly elections in Oyo State, your party performed poorly in the governorship and state assembly elections. Why did your family fail in the March 18 elections?
That question is being answered by different party stalwarts and individuals. But, you being an intellectual will ask that in one election, we won all and in the space of three weeks, we lost virtually all. That itself calls for more serious interrogation or post mortem. But, it will be very unhelpful at this critical juncture to start to entertain different theories of the failure in the sense that the flames may be up but the embers are simmering. People who are genuinely concerned about development in our state should be those voiceless people, those having it very difficult to keep their heads above water, those across the corners of the state suffering not having Schools, good access to healthcare, what can we do, as a political class? I will, therefore, encourage that we say to my brother, the executive governor of Oyo State that he has another chance, for the sake of posterity, to be more accommodating and tolerant of criticisms and implement policies that will give the overall people of Oyo State an enduring legacy. That is very important over and above individual drives. Look into the eyes of children trooping to school early in the morning asking what they are going to eat when they get back. Is the classroom adequate? Can the water run in our pipes again? Can the roads becomes more motorable? Can the farmer get access? Can the trader be guaranteed of security when plying the streets? Can each individual component of this society be comforted through our leadership? That ultimately is more important to me so I wish him well.
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