- and Ondo North vote me on Saturday
By Banji Ayoola
Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice has excelled as one of the topmost five best performing Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
His strings of achievements, as exemplified in the numerous life impacting functional projects across the 72 wards of Ondo North Senatorial District, speak glowingly for him as life testimonies.
Since 2011 when his people elected him as their representative in Nigeria’s apex law making body, he has taken up the issue of their welfare as his sacred duty.
He has been giving, serving and helping truly. And he is still willing to do more in transforming the life of his people once they renew his mandate to represent them again in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Senate.
Quite unlike many in his class, who were given the rare opportunity to serve and give joyfully and unselfishly to their people who look unto them full of hope, to help them truly with their whole being, Boroffice has distinguished himself as a true servant and helper of human beings who repose trust in him.
All over and around him streams endlessly the milk of kindness, from which the needy far and near, tap to water, energise and enliven themselves. His home in Oka is like a honey comb, an oasis from which the thirsty, hungry and tired traveler or caller finds rest, comfort and recuperation.
Once he is around, his people freely come to him for advice, guidance, for leadership. Even on Sundays when he is meant to withdraw himself for some hours to spend some moment exclusively in reverence and adoration of his Creator, in gratitude for all He has done for him, and for keeping him alive strong and healthy, they still come to him; they stream to his house and wait for him to attend to them, to give them, to serve them, even with his mere words, which are always enriching and calming.
Hear him on religion and politics, which he sees as a means of worship, and a call truly to serve human beings according to the Holy Will.
“People take God out of politics. I believe God is in politics. And as I said, whatever you achieve as a politician is an act of worship and an opportunity to serve. So I see God in everything that I do. I have to worship Him on Sunday. And I am even on tele-service with my church in South Africa. So this is what I do and I do this almost on daily basis because my church worships every day, and I worship with them over the television.”
Strongly, he believes that the Almighty is the God of Nigeria for saving the nation what could have been a national calamity two Saturdays ago, when the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo survived an air crash; saying:
“We thank God for averting that disaster. He is the God of Nigeria. We would continue to make sure that we don’t have that disaster. It could have been terrible, not only for our party, not only for Government, but for the whole nation and for Africa as a whole.
So we thank God for averting that terrible situation; and I know that God is very merciful as far as this country is concerned. And that is why that thing was limited to what we saw. We thank God for it.”
From providing boreholes, to classrooms, feeder roads, culverts, bridges, power transformers, Skills Acquisition Centres, food factories, cashew processing plants, biofuel plant, National Laboratory on Science and Technology, Chemical Technology Centre, Aerospace Development Centre, Ceramic Processing Unit, solar street lights and boreholes among several others, his achievements and projects, so many to list, are scattered across the 72 wards of Ondo North Senatorial District. They speak for him; they campaign for him.
Specifically, his strings of achievements and projects, some of which are still ongoing, across the District, include a completed and functioning mini hospital in Oka attending to his people’s health challenges; ongoing biofuel plant in Ajowa; and a cashew processing plant in Ikakumo.
Boroffice has built and equipped three Skills Acquisition Centres, each in Ikaramu which is now concentrating on laser technology; Oka and Ifon.
He has used his influence and warm relationship with his colleagues in the National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidency and Federal Executive Council to attract federal presence to his Senatorial District.
They include a biotech centre in Oka; a National Laboratory on Science and Technology being built in Akungba; a Chemical Technology Centre being built in Ikare; a completed Aerospace Development Centre in Oka; and a Ceramic Processing Unit in Epinmi.
He has built many classrooms in Ikaro, Oka, Ikare at Agboriki and other places. The projects are too numerous to count. These are apart from solar street lights and boreholes and bringing transformers to improve light distribution in Ondo North Senatorial District.
A dye in the wool supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari, Boroffice is playing a leading role in the NextLevel campaign to return the President to power in the February 16 election; crisscrossing the country, all the states in the South West, and the nooks and crannies of the 72 wards of his District, rallying Nigerians and indeed his people behind the man he described as an outstanding and exemplary President.
In fact, he described Nigeria’s President in exceptional superlative terms saying:
“A lot has been done under President Muhammadu Buhari that is bringing back the past glory of this nation. And of course our image outside is improving because he is the epitome of our integrity, the epitome of our honour; and people can see that he is a honest man, he is a man of integrity, he is a man of honour. And that impacts on us when you go outside this country.”
Boroffice, who is an inner caucus member of the Buhari Support Group Centre, the South West Coordinator of the President Support Group and a member of the Presidential Campaign Council, Ondo State chapter, is working tirelessly to ensure that Nigerians return President Buhari in the February 16 polls.
His words: “What we are doing is to mobilise support for the President at the grassroots, because it is the grassroots people that normally vote. So we are mobilising support for the President. I belong to the Buhari Support Group Centre under Hon Umar Dembo. And so I am the trustee representing the South West.
The goal of this is to mobilise support for Mr. President across the country. I am the South West Coordinator of the President Support Group which is under the Rt. Hon Zamani, Senior Special Assistant to the President, Political. I am the South West Coordinator, how to lead the massive mobilisation of support for Mr. President in the whole of South West, that is Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States.
We are doing that effectively within the limit of our resources. The third one is that as a candidate in this election, I have been going from ward to ward in my Senatorial District, 72 wards, going from ward to ward to preach the gospel of Buharism.
So apart from campaigning for myself, I am also campaigning for Mr. President, because there is no time Mr. President would come to the local government level to campaign. We are his hands, his legs; we are the instruments in his hand to touch the grassroots at the ward level. And we are doing that effectively.”
On why Nigerians should return President Buhari, Prof Boroffice said:
“Because he is the best we have, and we can have at this time. He is a very honest man, and he is committed to Nigeria. He is not looking for any personal glory. He is not amassing wealth. If you look at him, he is no respecter of any person. He is doing what God has given him as an assignment.
He is making sure that the leakages we have in our economy have been blocked, so that we can have enough money for development. He is diversifying our economy. We had been depending on oil for the revenue to sustain our economy. But now he is diversifying our economy in Agriculture, in Solid Minerals.
Look at the measure he came up with this singular account system, where an agency might be having ten, 20 different accounts, both recurrent and capital. And at times it came to the eyes of the auditors that these monies eventually found themselves in private pockets. But then with this single account, Single Treasury Account system, we are having only one account.
That has saved Nigeria billions. People don’t really know that this is the first step and a major step in the anti corruption crusade of Mr. President. With the lot that he has been doing, we can compare his four years in government with the 16 years of the PDP in government, and we can see the difference.
He inherited Boko Haram. He has remarkably reduced the nuisance of Boko Haram. There is nothing that people talk about, even the issue of herdsmen. Herdsmen predate his administration, but you know virtually now that the issue of herdsmen has been resolved and reduced to the minimal level.
He has been bringing back our infrastructure. Railways are being built. Rails are been built. We have opened Abuja to Kaura Namoda. We are working on Lagos – Ibadan that would take us to Abuja. We are working on roads in the Eastern part of the country which had been neglected over the years.
We are renewing our ports. Roads are being rebuilt. Electricity supply has become more stable because we are generating more power now.
A lot has been done under Buhari that is bringing back the past glory of this nation. And of course our image outside is improving because he is the epitome of our integrity, the epitome of our honour; and people can see that he is a honest man, he is a man of integrity, he is a man of honour. And that impacts on us when you go outside this country.”
On what is in store for Nigerians if they reelect President Buhari, Senator Boroffice said:
“If he is reelected, he would continue to do what he has been doing; what he has started, he would complete it. The infrastructure would be fully established. The rail, the road, the air, the economy would be strengthened and made more viable, diversifying the economy.
And also when you have more power generated, you would also be preparing the ground for industrialisation. So more industries would come up and improve our economy. The educational system is improving every day, even though you have a threat by ASUU recently. But I think he is focusing not on the quantity but quality of university education.
In my own field which is Science and Technology, he has established a Science and Technology Innovation Council which is very important. And if you look at other countries that are developed and using Science as a basis for their industrialisation, they have this type of council. So this is what he has done and I personally appreciate it as a scientist. And that is why we would work very hard at the Senate level to make sure that that bill is passed.”
Sharing hisexperience of going round the country canvassing votes for the President, Boroffice said:
“It’s been very inspiring. I was in Sokoto, I was in Bauchi. I saw what has been happening in other parts of the country, and I have been going out on my own from ward to ward. There is a tremendous support for Mr. President. I can assure you that what he is going to get in this election would be almost 20 percent over what he had in the last election.”
He appealed to all those working for the reelection of President Buhari, particularly in his home Ondo State:
“I think the important thing is: let everyone play his role. And I have been doing my own, playing my own role, not only here in Ondo State, but even at the national level, I have been making my own contribution materially at the national level to ensure that Mr. President succeeds. And I am doing the same thing here. I am sponsoring many NGOs and support groups.
The Buhari Support Group Centre in Ondo State has over 50 support groups. I am going to mobilise them to welcome Mr. President on Tuesday. I am doing my best. Apart from my own followers in the Senatorial District, we are going to mobilise heavily.
We want to show Mr. President that we love him. We want to demonstrate to him that he owns this state. So I am playing my role. I hope other people who have been given the opportunity, who are in the position to play their own role would play their own role. And as a synergy, when we all come together, it’s going to be a huge success.
Boroffice advised the people of Ondo State to shun violence in the coming elections saying:
“Ninety nine percent of Ondo people do not want violence. It’s just a few people who believe they cannot win under normal circumstance, that want to create problem.
My advice to our people is to shun violence; and when they vote, they should defend their votes; and they should come out massively to vote for President Buhari and all APC candidates at all levels – Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly.
Giving his picture of the next Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Boroffice believed that it would be more organised.
His words: “I think the next Senate would be more organised. And I think the party would take more interest in who and who occupies a particular position in the next Senate in leadership. And once the leadership is working in a symbiotic manner with the party, then we would not have problem.
I am sure we are going to have majority in the Senate, and the leadership of the Senate would work hand in hand with Mr. President. So it’s going to be a calmer Senate, a more progressive Senate, a more hardworking Senate, a more cooperative Senate. That is what I expect in the next assembly.”
About his experience so far in politics generally, he said:
“It’s been very interesting because you go to the grassroots people, you begin to know better the problems of the people. Because when you campaign and meet people and they tell you what they are going through, then you would understand the problems of this country particularly in the areas of water, roads, electricity, job; people have no job.
Farmers have their own problems of inputs, access to market, preservation of their goods because most of the goods produced, by the time they get to market, 50 percent is gone. And when they want to sell, another 25 percent is gone. On the whole, you see that it is only 25 percent of what they produce that they sell and generate revenue from.
On the other hand, it gives you a better understanding of the problems of this country because it is easy for you to stand somewhere and be condemning this and that, criticising that nothing has been done. But when you are an insider, you now understand more, how government works and the problems confronting government itself.
If you have in your budget to do 20 things, and don’t forget that budget is a document of intent, if we have this, we would do this. In the whole 2018, we are going to generate N3 trillion to run your budget. And you can only generate N1.5 trillion, it means 50 percent of your programmes would not be implemented; but people don’t know that.
They don’t know the problem of generating that revenue, the vagaries of global economy where the price of oil goes up and down. And until recent, Nigeria had been a monolithic economy that depends on oil. All these things affect the performance of government. If you are just outside you don’t know. You would just be criticising government; that government said they would do this, it has not done this.
Now I have many friends outside Ondo State. I have friends in Zamfara, in Kebbi, in different parts of the country. We have been together in the Senate as brothers and patriots, patriotic citizens of this country. And you get to know the problems of other parts of this country, that Ondo State is not the worse; that Ondo State is not the best; that we are all struggling together to make Nigeria great and move to the next level.
Though he sees no areas of minuses in the Buhari administration, he advised: “I can’t see any areas of minuses. I can only see pluses. Government has started well; and they should continue in a conducive National Assembly that government would do more.
If I am to advise government, the executive should move closer with the National Assembly, should work closer with the National Assembly. They should work hand in hand. This is because the National Assembly is the symbol of democracy. When you have military regime, there is no National Assembly. When you have dictatorship, you don’t have National Assembly or legislature.
The legislature is the symbol of democracy. Without the legislature there is no democracy. So it is very important. You always have the judiciary and the executive. It is when you complement them with the legislature that you have democracy. And we are representing the people. So I want to recommend a closer working relationship between the executive and the legislature.”
Born 23 April 1949 in Oka Akoko, Ondo State, South Western Nigeria. Boroffice, an erudite scholar and a professor of was elected Senator for Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State on 9 April 2011on the platform of the then Labour Party..
He became a lecturer at the University of Ibadan in 1975, and Professor of Zoology at the Lagos State University in 1986. He has conducted research at the post-doctoral level in the areas of human congenital malformations, carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. He also held administrative positions at the Lagos State University including Head of Department, Dean of Faculty, and Chairman of the Committee of Deans.
He was appointed Coordinating Director for Science in the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in 1992. His main focus in this job was on biotechnology, Information and Communication Technology and Space Science and Technology.
He played a central role in establishing the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).
In 1999, he became the founding Director General of NASRDA, a post he held for 10 years. Under his leadership, NASRDA launched two satellites; a low orbit earth observations microsatellite (NigeriaSat-1) in 2003 and a communication satellite (NigcomSat-1) in 2007.He also laid the groundwork for the building of NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X, which were launched in August 2011, from Russia.
In 2004, for his outstanding service to the Nigerian people, he was conferred the title of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by President Olusegun Obasanjo.]In March 2011, he was given the 2011 Golden Merit Award in Space Science by the World Federation of Science Journalists.
Boroffice faced little opposition in his bid to become the Labour Party candidate for the Ondo North Senatorial District. He gained the support of traditional rulers in the Akoko area of Ondo State.In an interview before the April elections he criticized politicians who lacked integrity and honor, making promises they could not keep in order to get elected, and then focusing on making money once elected.
In the election, he gained 84,290 votes. Runners up were the then incumbent Senator Bode Olajumoke of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with 51,112 votes and Dr Agunloye Olu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with 36,601 votes.]
On December 28, 2011, he officially decamped to the Action Congress of Nigeria so that he could pursue his ambition of becoming the next governor of Ondo state.Later on, he decamped to the All Progressives Congress the current ruling party.
