Less than two years to the 2015 General Elections in
Nigeria, many people are apprehensive about the political scheming and who goes
for what position in the states and in the country.
However, one question that has kept re-occurring for the
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. (Hon.) Adeyemi Ikuforiji is
what would be his plan for 2015, but his ready answer has always been that all
is in the hands of God.
We all know that a lot of things are happening in the
country, what is your message to the people as we celebrate Ileya Festival?
It is time for all of us to come together and imbibe the
teachings of the two religions that we profess in the country. There is none of
the religions that do not preach peace, they both preach orderliness, we are
supposed to be our brothers’ keeper, which is the teaching of Christianity and
Islam, no God ever sent anyone to go and kill on his behalf. We cannot say we
want to serve God without serving his children. We all need to get our acts
right. The Almighty God has brought all of us together for a purpose, if it has
pleased God, He would have led the Hausas to the Sudan and not to where they
are in Nigeria, if it has pleased Him, he would have left the Ibos to Gabon,
not to where they are in Nigeria. If it pleases Him, he would create the
Ibibios of Nigeria and locate them in Cote D’Ivoire or Guinea. But, in His
wisdom, He has brought us here together and we should all work to have the
advantage of unity in diversity. Other nations that are multi-national in
nature, when you look at them, they develop faster and they get things done
better, they take advantage of the variety that is within their territory, we
can do the same here. God has given us lots of resources; He has blessed us
beyond the level that He blessed other nations, why can’t we take advantage of
it. I think it is time for all of us to really come together, think together
and find a lasting solution to our problems and the problem we have are not
really created by God, they are created by a few selfish individuals amongst
us. I don’t understand why the few, very few could just have their ways over
and above the rest.
What is your opinion about the proposed National Conference?
It is a good idea to have a national conference, but the
fear is that why is the President coming with a national conference barely 14
months to another general election. To have a conference to decide on the
future of a local government not to talk of a state takes months to organize to
get meaningful results. How do you bring the different groups we have in the
country together under 14 months to a general election, when will the campaign
for a general election start? How many months are we going to spend on
this, when are we starting the national conference, when are we getting to the
end of the conference and when will the President implement the solutions. If
the President is serious about it, I think this should have come into the forefront
right in 2011, when President Goodluck Jonathan came into office from May 29th
to 31 December 2011. He had enough time to think about a national conference
and give us a direction and we would have felt that he is sincere. But, with
the way it is now, with the disarray in the camp of the so-called biggest party
in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is fast becoming the
smallest party in Africa, I don’t think anybody in the nation will take the
presidency serious.
But, Chief Ayo Adebanjo said that it doesn’t matter even if
it causes a delay in the election…
I don’t think that is democratic, there should be no delay
in the General Election, you want to elongate the tenure of the present
government across the nation, you can’t do that, by May 29th 2015,
we must have a new government in Abuja and in most of the states, which also
had elections on May 29th, 2011, you cannot elongate the tenure of
any government in any way.
People are saying the disarray in the PDP would make people
not to believe in the national conference…
It is not only the disarray in the PDP that would make
people not to believe in the national conference, but we are all human beings,
even your own association in the House with only 30 members, if the leadership
had failed you overtime and then few months to the end of their tenure, they
now decided to bring some of the faces you have canvassed for and they said
they don’t believe in initially, it is natural that you won’t have any trust in
them. How many Nigerians trust our government the way, how many Nigerians
believe any of their pronouncements even if they say they want to build a road
here or there. Look at Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, they promised to take care of
it years back, but it has not been possible, many serious leaders across the
world have built thousands of kilometers of roads within the same period, but
just a little above 100 kilometres of road have not been tarred by the Federal
Government of Nigeria.
Still on trust sir, with the lessons of Eid-El Kabir, what
can we learn as a nation?
Our religions define roles for leaders of communities and
nation. If we go by the dictates of our religions, I think most of the problems
we have today would not be there. If every leader knows and believes that one
day, you are going to account for your deeds on the surface of the earth, not
just during general election, but at a time you cannot deny all that you have
done wrong and right, you are going before the supreme being, the creator and
you will be asked why you did all that you did and a book would be opened for
you and you cannot deny it, if we all remember that, we won’t find ourselves
where we are today, don’t we have enough resources to take care of all of us,
and put smiles on the faces of our people, but the leadership is simply
ungodly. Of course, the followership is something else generally.
Sir, looking at the state of our security, it is obvious
that all is not well despite all the money being pumped into it, what would be
your reaction?
My reaction is the same, you are talking of security, is
there any sector of our national life that is in proper shape. The amount of
money pumped on security is what you are talking about, what of the amount of
money pumped into energy generation, what has come out of it. What of the
volume of money that has gone into oil production, what has come out of it.
When people have headache now, they would rather go to South Africa or fly to
Europe, and you look at the budget, national and state and look at the amount
of money that goes into the health sector, do we have enough to show for it, we
have failed ourselves and we all just need to come together and think of what
exactly we want of this nation. It is not just the question of leadership
alone; every one of us has his own portion of the blame. Even the drains in
front of people’s houses, they are waiting for the government to come and clear
the gutter, to come and clear the backyard for them, you will see people tell
you that this road has this problem or that problem and you find
multi-millionaires living on the road, a small road that people used to come
together as a community and say we want to do. My secondary school at the other
side of my gate was built by a few people, and the school would be 60 years old
in February 2014, you ask yourself that those of us, who passed through the
school, what has been our contributions to its development. Most of those, who
built the school in their early 30s and 40s, did not even go through secondary
school, and those of us who benefited from it don’t find it necessary to go
there and do something, we are all waiting for the government. Some members of
this community, the so-called enlightened ones then, about four or five of
them, gave us the school, which is the first in the entire Epe Division of
Lagos State. What is happening to those of us, who benefited from it, it is a
national problem, the orientation is upside down, we need to retrace our steps,
we need to go back to our roots, and do something about the way we think,
sleep, talk, walk, every area needs to be taken care of, when we do that,
things would be done better.
There is controversy over the state of our economy, while
the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido is
saying it is bad, the Finance Minister, Okonjo Iweala is saying it is strong,
what is your take on this?
That is not even a question for me, it is a question for you
and every other Nigerian on the streets should answer this. Do you see the
economy better than what it was three or four years ago, if you say it is
better, then it is better, if you feel things are not going right, then you
already have the answer to the question.
2015 is around the corner, is it too early to ask you what
is the next step for you?
When I left the United States of America to come and contest
election in 2003, the number one thing on my agenda was to be the Speaker of
the Lagos State House of Assembly, and after winning the election on May 3,
2003 and from May 4, 2003 and through the month of May, I ran a campaign that
had never been so for the position of the Speaker, but interestingly, I was the
one who raised the hand of the person that eventually became the Speaker of the
House then during a meeting before the first sitting of the House. I said he
should be the next Speaker of the House because I saw clearly that God had not
really designed me to be Speaker on June 2, 2003, but when it was His time for
me to be Speaker, I became Speaker on the second half of our tenure. You would
agree with me, it is not question of boasting or singing one’s praise, I feel
grateful to God that I was not Speaker on June 2, 2003, I became Speaker, when
it pleased Him for me to be Speaker and I have been Speaker since 2005 till
today, which is a feat that has never been achieved by anyone in this state.
You will also agree with me that what God has done for Lagos State as far as
the legislative arm is concerned through me has no parallel in the nation. So,
as a believer, I know that when the time comes, the Almighty God will show
the light and He will make it clear that this is your next
direction, this is your next move, no matter the noise, the plotting, the coup
and counter coup, what God has planned to do for me, no man can stop Him.
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment