By Banji Ayoola
A governorship aspirant on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State, Hon Duerimini Isaac Kekemeke, has described the palliatives being distributed among the people to cushion the effects of the rampaging Coronavirus, as partially treating only symptoms, a mere waste, an opportunity to enrich few contractors and further impoverish the people. Speaking of “Ondo State of my dream,” he also reeled out his programmes which he believed would transform the state, if elected governor in the forthcoming election. Kekemeke, a lawyer, who has served as a member of the State House of Assembly, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Works, Secretary to the State Government and Chairman, National Examination Council, NECO, spoke on Monday in Akure, in the following interview with Banji Ayoola.
How are you coping with this Coronavirus challenge with your activities?
We are complying with all government advisories, both federal, state, professionals, medics advice that we should social distance as much as possible and practicable; and also to ensure that we do not run large crowds of more than between 15 and 20 people. We think that health is wealth. We think that it’s only the living that can play politics; that it’s only the living that would want to serve. So everything that needs be done to fight this war against Coronavirus through attitude and what we do, we abide by and we encourage.
What advice do you have for government on the way it is handling the problem?
I think that I am at one with Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on the advocacy. I think he is doing well; but we can do more. He is doing so well; but the tenor of the language and enforcement can be more civil, more conciliatory, more advisorial, more appealing. I agree with all that he is doing. But when it comes to advocacy, it should be about appealing to the sense of reasoning of the people. You must never be tired of telling the people that this is being done in their own interest, for the good of all.
So, a situation where people call themselves task force, go to the markets and throw away market women can’t be right. Gather them, explain to them, talk to them. Of course I know that sometimes government is forced to sanction, but you must balance the health needs of the people with the immediate stomach needs of the people. So you need to explain to them that they have to be alive to take care of their stomachs. Curfew, very good, but you need to find a way of not providing money that is not available with the people for the police; of not providing opportunity for the police to extort the people. He needs to strike that balance.
But I am with him in all his efforts to ensure that we reduce incidences of Coronavirus, that we reduce community transmission. It is a highly infectious disease. I think he is doing well, but the tenor of the language of advocacy needs to change from aggression to reconciliation, conciliation and appealing to the sense of safety of the people. I think that is what the President is doing.
What about the way he is handling the palliatives? There have been accusations that it is only his party members and those who are close to his government who are benefitting.
I have been put under severe pressures by my supporters in Lekeleke, my friends and associates to either criticise the palliatives exercise or do some kind of palliatives. What I said is that I engage in charity, not palliatives. Charity is helping all those that I have capacity to help around me in these very hard times. But as the Bible enjoins us, I also do not believe that when you give, you must put camera and television. The Bible says that when you are giving with your right hand, don’t let your left hand know. I am a believer in charity. So I do that.
But I also don’t believe in palliatives. The dictionary meaning of palliative is treating symptoms and not curing the disease. So the idea of palliative is nauseating to me. First, it doesn’t solve the problem; it doesn’t cure the disease. Second, you have no capacity to reach all. Third, we don’t have a system that can enable it to reach those who need it. So it eventually ends up as a waste.
Let me give an example. I told my people that Ondo State has a population of about 4.5 million people. To give a kongo of rice to these 4.5 million people, you need 150, 000 bags of rice times N18, 000. It’s N2.7 billion, for just a kongo of rice. And how does that solve the problem? All these ideas of palliatives for a repentant politician like me, for a player of new politics like me, is a waste. It’s a way of providing money for some contractors; of providing opportunities for some politicians; of cheating people the more. So I am not a fan of palliatives.
The governor himself did say that he was going to provide for 70,000 households. We are not talking about what was provided. We are talking about what he intends to do. Ondo state has 774,000 households. Even if he does what he has said, which is impossible because we don’t have a system for doing that, he would have reached one percent of the people. That doesn’t solve the problem. What we should be doing is emplacing structures, social structures that would enable socio political and economic structures that would enable individuals to thrive, and that would enable us to meet the weak, the vulnerable and those in serious need; not these masqueraders.
You said you are now a repentant politician, could you describe that?
I am a repentant politician. A repentant politician is one who is resolved come rain, come shine to play new politics and to be resolute in enthroning a new government where government actions and inactions would be guided by the singular interest of the people. In other words, it is now the people first; refocusing and redirecting government to doing its only job of protecting and promoting the welfare and wellbeing of the people; when ego is dead; self aggrandizement is dead; opportunism, dead; amassment of personal wealth, dead; nepotism, dead, tribalism, dead; favouritism, dead; and where fairness, justice, equity are enthroned. That is the new politics; the new governance that a repentant politician produces.
So that’s the foundation of Lekeleke?
That’s the foundation of Lekeleke, with its core values – competence, commitment, character.
Specifically, how would the people of Ondo State benefit if you are voted in as their governor?
Our vision clearly is the creation of a prosperous and peaceful Ondo State where citizens would be productively engaged to enable them live meaningful, comfortable and decent lives. The mission is to, with the aid of information, science and technology, maximally impact government resources on the human capital and abundant natural resources of the state to create wealth. We intend to make government seeable, touchable and feelable. And our objective in government is to fight five wars, using the entire governmental power to fight war against hunger, poverty, unemployment, insecurity and to rescue our decaying basic infrastructure. We have goals that we call the Lekeleke Development goals, economic and social goals; all of these geared towards creating a conducive environment for individuals to thrive and live well.
With your experience in government, how would these programmes impact on the lives of the people?
What I am saying is a result of a prophetic confrontation, which orchestrated the genuine repentance I am talking about, but was assisted by my experience of 30 years in and out of government, and permanent residence in Ondo State. I know where the shoe pinches. I know the pains of the people. I know where I have made mistakes. I know where the governments I have worked with have made mistakes. I know where I have made personal mistakes. All of these have worked together to produce our vision, mission and our goals. These have also helped us to produce the core values of the government to ensure that Ondo State becomes a different state.
Under our social goals, we would provide free and compulsory primary and secondary education. We would refocus our technical schools; and we will introduce highly subsidized tertiary education in government owned institutions. We would introduce scholarships in the federal and state schools based on merit. We would introduce a loan scheme for the bright, willing but indigent. In the health sector, our goal is to work to ensure what I call an accessible and quality healthcare system. This we would do through upgrading the headship or management of the basic health centres. This we would do through establishing a pharmaceutical company that would supply basic drugs so that when our people take panadol, it is panadol, not chalkdol; when our people take paracetamol, it is paracetamol not cassavacetamol.
We will also develop what we call indigenous medicine as opposed to what they call it. They call it alternative. It’s not alternative; it’s Indigenous Medicine. So we would establish an ibile hospital; and we would have a research and development unit that would continue to develop, research into and regulate the development of Indigenous Medicine. Of course we would work with the National Health Insurance Scheme to make sure that we bring health insurance to our people.
Beyond that, then we go to the economic sector where we would cardinalise Agriculture, Industry, Entrepreneurship Promotion and Skills Development and then Tourism to create wealth. We are going to create what we call the concept of the civil farmer, which is a digitalization of Baba Awolowo’s farm settlement. All on and on like that.
Could you share your experience of the past 30 years about the mistakes of governments that you have worked in, which coalesced into your repentance?
What I said was that the repentance was orchestrated by a prophetic confrontation. It is not as if I woke up one day and decided that I am repenting. I had a touch; I had a visit. It worked the repentance and then I looked back at the experience and I found out that there are certain things that we can do better, that we ought to do better.
For instance I am a believer in the Ajasin’s government of 1979 to 1983, as having done so much for our state. I know that the free education, free health services, industries were fantastic. But if I were to build industries today, the module and model would be different. The Agagu government that I worked with was fantastic, constructing over 1,000 kilometres of road; building our schools; taking water from about four percent to almost 60 percent; having about 29 intervention programmes on Education; introducing efficiency and functionality in government; all of that. I would tell you that we were part of it and I thank the Lord for the opportunity Dr Agagu gave to me.
But I would tell you today that looking back at that government, I would say we would need to do more of human capital development. Just because the scales just fell off my eyes. These are the things we would need to do. It’s a recognition that indeed, there is nothing like the Government and the People. What we should have is Government of the People. It’s a recognition of the fact that it’s a misnomer and complete ignorance to talk about government money. Government does not have money; it doesn’t work; it doesn’t have money; it is the people’s fund. It is the public fund; and the only job of government is to advance the happiness of the majority of the people.
You need a platform, your party. What about the crisis within the party?
Speaking in a utopian manner, there is no crisis free human organization. There is no human organization that is dispute free. Even the family is not dispute free. So disputes and conflicts are an essential part of human organizations. The APC can’t be different. What’s important is the ability to manage these differences. And that’s where I stand, that yes, I may not agree with Governor Akeredolu on anything or many things, but I don’t have to take a cutlass and pursue him. I don’t also have to be verbally abusive of him. What I should do is to run a civil, modest campaign of my own, selling my own programmes, rather than pull him down.
My appeal to all other aspirants or all other people who hold different opinions in this party, as we are bound to, is that the party is bigger than all of us; and that when it comes to our party, we all have a duty to preserve it. And that’s where I stand.
What are the efforts being made to reconcile aggrieved groups or individuals within the party?
It depends on what the reconciliation is.
It is settling the differences before the coming governorship election.
It depends on what settling is. I am free to run. If you want to, you too can run. Every other person is free to run. Reconciliation does not mean asking people not to run; because that takes away their constitutional, natural and fundamental human rights. Reconciliation does not mean there can be no dissent; because that’s also a God given right. For me, reconciliation means that we must recognise that the party is bigger than all of us, and that we must play by the laid down rules for this kind of contest. That’s all; and that at all times, there must be something that pulls all of us together, irrespective of our differences. That is the good of our party.
Are there any further comments?
There is nothing else, other than to thank you so much for this.
Thank you.
