Osun State Governor, Mr. Ademola Adeleke, recently marked his second year in office. Amidst a series of events, he took time out to speak with newsmen on his numerous achievements. Our correspondent, AYOBAMI AGBOOLA, was there. Excerpts:
After two years as Governor of Osun State, how can you describe the journey so far?
There is no perfect word to describe the journey, but I must say that it has been an interesting journey so far. Days of decision making, days of series of engaging meetings between my team and I. But you can see, and I am sure the people of Osun (State) can now see the difference between us and the other people who just want to be in power purposely to add to their titles rather than to serve. We have focused our energies on the growth and development of Osun State and I promise that this is what we shall continue to do till 2030.
You speak about 2030 with so much confidence, how are you sure that you will secure a second term?
We carry out surveys on a periodic basis from the people of the state and it is evident that the love and support we are getting is real. People are satisfied with what we are doing, and now, they will continue to support us because we shall also continue to add value to their lives. A member of the opposition party recently went on radio and said that what my administration has done in two years is what the previous administration could not do in four years. In fact, he said my administration is doing everything they advised them to do but which they didn’t do. Now, if that is coming from a member of their party, then it is obvious that even members of their party will vote for me and will vote for the PDP in 2026.
Reflecting on the journey, what has helped you in office so far?
I think it is the ability to do so much with so little. People have been asking me, where we are getting money from when we are not borrowing. The answer is simple; we have blocked the leakages and the deliberate loopholes inserted into our system in the past; we have set our priorities right and we focus on raising internally generated revenue of Osun State. Now, we are not even there yet, but the assurance that I have is that we are making progress, and I am confident that we will get there. I say it often that Osun is now a construction site because what we met on ground across all sectors was absolute rot. Happily, Osun is gradually moving from a construction site to a remodeled state, and by the time we are done with the constructions, we will have more resources to push development to places it is yet to reach.
What are you doing to promote the unity that exists, and in rallying the people of the state to work collectively towards the state’s development?
Well, as governor, I am for everyone in Osun, irrespective of political persuasions. Just like former President Muhammadu Buhari, said at his first inauguration in 2015 that “I am for everybody and for nobody” (laughter). This is why you see me identifying with all classes of the society and politicians of different parties in special events, like birthdays and other functions. You will see me felicitate Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and even my predecessor, Gboyega Oyetola, on their birthdays. As hostile as my predecessor has been to me as a person and to my government, I usually extend best wishes to him and act on it. When he appeared for his ministerial screening last year, I mobilised all senators from Osun who are members of my party to support him. That showed that I am not a hostile person. A few weeks ago, I was at the Ooni of Ife’s palace to celebrate his golden jubilee and just recently, I was with the Aragbiji of Iragbiji, and we exchanged warm embraces. I am a free-minded person, and that is why I operate an open-door policy. Irrespective of our social, political and religious differences, I see us as one. I am always interested in seeing us work together to move Osun State forward. So, that is basically the reason for the unity you talked about, and I will continue to work for it.
It has been noticed also that your administration places emphasis on local content, specifically using local engineers in projects. What informed that decision?
Our focus from the start was to reflate the economy and improve the skills of our people. The best way to do that is to entrust them with the projects we are executing across sectors, and the experience so far has been rewarding. In Osun now, you see people willing to earn honest living and engage positively. So, most of the money invested in infrastructures revolves among our people, and that has helped, to a certain extent, mitigate the impact of the economic hardship ravaging the country. You know, with the legacy projects ongoing across Osun, many of our engineers have an opportunity to broaden their knowledge, build more capacity and will definitely help their careers. In the future, Osun will benefit from the knowledge they must have garnered.
With your background in the private sector and now in public service, how would you rate compliance with professional ethics and standards in both sectors comparatively?
I have to be fair; things are a lot different in the private sector than in public service, in terms of professional ethics and standards. But I see the problem more of how the public sector is viewed by most Nigerians. Many people see public service as dysfunctional, and this weighs on the sector a lot. In the time I have been in office, I have focused on making our public servants see their work as a duty they owe to themselves. More importantly, I have implemented reforms in the public sector that rewards productivity. Before I assumed office, there were lots of distortions in the service that significantly affected the morale of workers. This started with the restoration of the position of permanent secretary, a big source of motivation for workers to reach the peak of their career. Then, I went ahead to implement the financial benefits of the promotion given to workers by my predecessor in 2019 that was not implemented. You can imagine that people were given promotion and for over three years, they earned nothing from it. They will be demoralised and this was why I ensured the implementation so that they can be assured that whatever they earned will be given to them. Also, I initiated a process to defray the huge half salary debt I inherited, and this has gone a long way to tell our workers that their efforts will not be neglected. You know in the private sector, whatever is agreed as your benefit is given to you, and that serves as motivation for them to put in the hard work to deliver on set targets. That is what we are trying to do in Osun and in no time, we will see our workers deliver optimally because they are professionals in their respective fields.
How is your administration enforcing compliance in the implementation of projects?
If you ask any of my aides about me, the first thing they will tell you is that I am strict with implementation. The same thing is applicable to the projects we are executing as I will never accept anything that falls short of specification. Every here and there, I monitor the projects to ensure that those we gave the job are delivering to what we asked them. Most times, I visit sites of our projects without attracting attention to see things for myself and ensure strict compliance to specification. Osun people can rest assured that their governor will make sure they get value for the money expended on the various projects in the state.
Your administration is reputed to be people-oriented. Apart from infrastructural projects, can you outline a few of the other initiatives that you have instituted to enrich the peoples’ livelihood?
My kind of person is about enriching lives and this is a family trait that almost everyone in Osun knows very well. From the time I assumed office and now, we have pursued policies and interventions that will touch lives positively. One of such is the over N3bn credit support cooperative societies in the state. The thinking is that the funds will provide the needed credit to small-scale businesses and save them from the challenging experience many of them endured from lenders. Cooperative societies were chosen as means of providing the support because it is one of the most credible financial platforms and spread across communities, making it possible to reach the people who actually need the support.
This has helped a lot as many businesses have been revived and this bears positively on the economy of the state. We have constructed over 200km of roads across the state, we have two flyover constructions ongoing in Osogbo, another one in Ile-Ife, and we have road dualisation ongoing in Ilesa as well as Ede which will be commissioned soon. We have reconstructed over 300 primary healthcare centres and even schools across the state. We really mean business.
You are widely known as someone who loves to dance. We would like to know what dancing does for you?
(Laughs) What many don’t know, especially those who criticise me, is that dancing has been a way to reflect the joy of God in my life and appreciate life better. By dancing, I understand what it means to be happy and always want to replicate the same to other people. When you are with me and you look worried, I easily notice it and want to do anything within my reach to make the troubling moment go away. Earlier, I shared with you how our administration has been able to pay some of the money owed our workers and pensioners by the previous administration and this is basically because I don’t like seeing another man suffer. Those before us may feel differently but, for me, it is not acceptable. But you know in politics, they always try to find a way to discredit you. I am a happy man and I cannot hide the feeling. And, no one will say that dancing has affected my performance because by all measures, we have done better for Osun people than those who are averse to dance. Governance is about delivery and to the glory of God, I have not faltered in this regard. When you look across Osun, you will definitely acknowledge the impact we are making. Is it in the welfare of our people, infrastructure or security? The records showed we did excellently well. And for that, we will dance and appreciate God Almighty for His Grace.
