Comrade Issa Aremu, a notable labour leader, is the
governorship candidate of Labour Party, LP, for Kwara
State. In this interview, Issa explains his vision and
prospects.
Your five-point agenda, which seeks to better the
lives of Kwarans, seems to resonate what the
average Nigerian needs. How realistic is it
considering that similar promises had been made
without being fulfilled?
I agree that many lives have been ruined by promises
not fulfilled by political office holders. According to Ben
Okri, my favourite novelist, our days are poisoned with
too many words, not meant to be. Health-for-all by year
2000 is one of such promises. Kwara has witnessed
much official words said not meant. In 2003, for
instance, Governor Bukola Saraki, who later served
two terms, at his inauguration, launched a charter of
education reform tagged, ‘Every Child Counts’. 16
years after, having passed the baton to his successor,
Fatai Ahmed, many children are still not counted in
schools. There is actually a new level of illiteracy in
Kwara. Adult literacy is less than 50 percent.
There was a Kwara State that was the ‘education
capital’ of the old Northern Region.
We had a pool of human capital, entrepreneurs,
educationists, lawyers, doctors, accountants and clerics
among others. But, today, many children are out of
school due to the collapse of infrastructure, poor
income of parents who could not afford private schools
and non-payment of teachers. Our agenda is different
from the past failed promises because my party and I
live with the reality of deprivations in the state
perpetuated by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Our agenda is driven by the people for the people with
implementable strategies that are inclusive of all.
Comrade Issa Aremu
Your pledge of making conditional transfer to the
old, the unemployed and those with disabilities is
something that also appeals to many. Even if you
succeed in starting the programme, how do you
fund it?
The (Kwara) 2019 budget is N157. 8 billion. For a
population of three million, there is enough for the
needs of all including the aged and the physically
challenged. Budget per capital is more than national
average. Sadly, resource distribution disproportionately
gives privileges to those in power. The 1999
Constitution says the primary purpose of governance is
security and welfare of all, not the elected and
appointed government officials. It must start with me
as a governor. Aristocratic style of governance must
stop. Conditional transfer to the needy is a smart and
kinder means of reactivating Kwara economy which is
already in depression. The disabled, the unemployed,
widows and aged will buy food, pay rents and pay for
services that would in turn boost productivity and create
jobs. Transfers are no costs and no less than they are
incentives. A few of us are already helping the needy,
but what of others not so connected? It should be
made a right for all, not undignified precarious charity.
You pledged to run a government that is not elitist.
How would you achieve that in a state like Kwara?
We have the five-point agenda, known as the 5ps. It
means people, prosperity, popular participation,
partnership and peace. We are for inclusive
governance within the context of Sustainable
Development Goals 2030. Ekiti State was created in
1991 compared to Kwara which came into existence in
1967. Governor Fayemi has commendably signed the
SDG laws. 2019 election would put an end to state
capture in Kwara and terminate dictatorship. There is a
bi-partisan alliance to liberate our state.
How do you leverage on the agricultural potentials
of the state?
Kwara has a total land mass of 32,705 sq km. It is the
eleventh largest state in Nigeria with a cultivatable area
of 75 percent, which is 2,447,250 hectares of land.
But there is no food security in the state due to poor
governance. Only 24.7 percent is cultivated despite
the fact that the state has population and land
advantage for commercial agriculture.
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Our charity would start with poor small farmers
through long term loans, grants, inputs and
commodities exchanges that stabilise products’ prices.
Of course, there is room for large scale farmers, but
incentives cannot be for only privileged big time
farmers, certainly not for only nomadic white Zimbabwe
farmers but all our farmers who, in any case, are the
ones who have been feeding us for ages. Of course,
there should be roads to farm gates back to the
markets. However, the farmers lack access to loans,
agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and tractors and
other infrastructure like good roads to transport
perishable food items to the market. We will definitely
provide the farmers with necessary farming inputs to
enable them engage in commercial farming that will
boost agricultural produce in the state.
You are so confident about your prospects despite
not being a core politician. What makes you think
you will emerge victorious in a state where
governorship election outcomes are often defined
by the influence of known political actors?
20 years after uninterrupted democracy, there is the
need for quality control of our democracy. We need
credible, tested and popular leaders. I have always
been an activist, from secondary up to undergraduate
days. Thanks to good public education that inspired
civic knowledge, patriotism, pan-Africanism, anti-
imperialism as well as anti-apartheid consciousness. I
am proudly a democratic socialist, in terms of
ideological leaning. I have spent almost three decades
in trade unionism, organising workers into unions and
defending their rights against exploitation and
oppression. We fight precarious situations against
work, and advance the frontiers of decent workplace.
All these equal politics in great measure. But not in the
sense of the recent commonplace crass corruption,
greed of the few elected amidst mass poverty of the
electorate and sheer violence. I believe in popular
politics which is authoritative allocation of resources for
the good of many. I have always been engaged in the
politics of redistribution through collective bargaining in
the world of work. And politics of production in reviving
collapsed factories, ensuring beneficiation, value
addition and sustainable jobs for our youths.
Annually and even daily, we ensure that owners of
capital and means of production share profits with
working men and women who actually produce wealth
through negotiation and dialogue. Workplace
democracy is politics. I currently hold a number of
positions in the labour movement. I emerged through
elections. As the Vice President of global Union
IndustrialAll , I was elected by some 40 million workers
from Asia, Europe, America, Latin America, Maghreb
and, of course, my dear continent, Africa. I am also a
member of the National Institute, Kuru, Jos, the highest
policy and strategic studies institute in the continent.
Our motto is, ‘Towards a better society’. Many
philosophers have analyzed the worsening
underdevelopment of Nigeria, including myself. It is
time we changed things for the better as the great
German philosopher, Karl Marx, rightly once said. I
have paid my dues like many of my comrades in the
struggle against military dictatorship. And for
democracy. From my students days in Ahmadu Bello
University,ABU, Zaria and later University of Port
Harcourt, we demanded an end to military rule, and for
democratization, with the attendant repressions. It is a
scandal, today, that those who never appreciated nor
dared to fight for democracy are the reckless drivers of
this process with all the mess that trails it.
In this election, you are not only contesting against
the incumbent but a ruling party that could possibly
not spare anything to win. Are you not bothered?
I agree with legendary Nelson Mandela that said,
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph
over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel
afraid, but he who conquers that fear.†If a few
individuals were audacious to capture a state of three
million, why would millions fear to reclaim the state
back?
You recently raised the alarm that your life was
being threatened. Does not imply that the playing
field in Kwara is not level?
I often pray at Al Nur Mosque, Wuse 2 along Ibrahim
Babangida Way. At the Mosque for Fajr (the dawn
prayer) prayers on Monday, January 21, 2019 in Abuja
at 5:30 am, I noticed, a few meters away from the gate,
two cars with hazard lights. I left the mosque at 6:15
am. I curiously noticed again the two cars were still
there with same hazard lights on. Being security
conscious, I paused. At that point, the two cars with
Kwara and NASS number plates respectively sped
past the mosque gates, parked some meters away
from the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).
Two persons came down from the cars apparently
waiting for me to come in their direction. I also noticed
they were carrying what looked like arms. They were
also positioned for God knew what. At that point, I had
to drive off in the opposite direction with the legitimate
suspicion that I was being trailed by some criminal
elements. I thank Almighty Allah that I arrived home
safely. I have since notified the new Inspector General
of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu. I commend
security agencies in Kwara for creating a level-playing
field.
What are your areas of concern regarding the
buildup to the general elections?
All contestants in 2019 elections must promote
peaceful issue-based campaigns. The eyes should be
on the political ball, not on the legs. It seems
impossible until it is done as Nelson Mandela said.
Source:
www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/those-who-
didnt-fight-for-nigerias-democracy-are-the-reckless-
drivers-of-current-process/
