A Journey of Leadership and Legacy
Chief Gbenga Daniel, founder of Kresta Laurel engineering company, two-time Governor of Ogun State, and current Senator representing Ogun Central in the National Assembly, recently sat down with Editorial Page Editor, Abiodun Awolaja, at his Asoludero Court residence in Sagamu, Ogun State. The conversation covered a wide range of topics, including his relationship with his father, his upbringing, his early encounters with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, his connection with President Bola Tinubu, the Afenifere years, and his eventual entry into politics.
Early Life and Education
For some of us, we knew you as Otunba, then at a point you became His Excellency, then you became Distinguished Senator. You can even start from Engineer. But it goes even before that. If you remember my trajectory, I think that I started what you can call partial public exposure when I came into the University of Lagos. The reason I came to read Mechanical Engineering was because of Professor Ayodele Awojobi, that prodigy. Then I remember that in my Part 2—that was in 1976—there was a quiz programme called the Mastermind on NTA network, and Professor Awojobi was the quiz master. And so I participated in that competition and I won it five times consecutively, back to back. And at that time, the rule was that if you won it five times, consecutively, you were declared the Mastermind of the Year. So I was declared the mastermind of the Year in 1976. For a long time I still remember the wristwatch they gave me at that time. I used that watch for a long time. So, I have started this wahala for some time now (laughs). I guess you just ran into it at some point.
Back at the University of Lagos, I was active. In fact, one of the tributes that I just got a few days ago from Pastor Tunde Bakare revealed a few things. Maybe I can find it (looks for it).
Was he your classmate?
No. Back in secondary school, we were co-debaters. He wrote it in this tribute. I attended Baptist Boys High School (BBHS), he attended Lisabi Grammar School. I represented the school: you know the literary and debating society thing that we used to do. In the hierarchy of those institutions BBHS was rated ahead of Lisabi, but then I can tell you that the fear of Tunde Bakare on the floor of debate was the beginning of wisdom. So we squared up against one another. We were also quite interested in what was going on around us. And of course, we then met at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) again. Tunde and I set up the Unity Party of Nigeria Student Wing. We had started contributing to Nigeria even as students. I think it was in 1978 when OBJ (Olusegun Obasanjo) lifted the ban on politics. I found myself at Park Lane, Apapa (where Chief Awolowo lived) and became the youngest member of that committee of friends. You don’t know that bit?
No.
Ah, Oluwa o! (O Lord!) (laughs). I became the youngest member of Chief Awolowo’s committee of friends. I remember that when that ban was lifted, it was Chief Gbolabo Ogunsanwo who was doing the media work. It was his responsibility to quickly put together a Press Conference. Baba (Chief Obafemi Awolowo) was ready to announce the birth of UPN. All the governors were ready, the anthem was ready, Life More Abundant, everything. It was in the morning that OBJ announced that he was lifting the ban on political activities—and you know the way Baba behaved. That same day, he had said: “Call a press conference…”
We were the first to form Dyna Club. I was the president; Tunde Bakare was my secretary. But it was a veiled thing because at that time, the ban on politics was not yet lifted and we were in Part 2 in UNILAG. And we later had the privilege of inviting Baba to come and speak. That became his first outing then. We brought him to the Faculty of Education theatre in Akoka, and that was his first outing after the ban on politics was lifted.
Student Days and Political Awakening
I am taking you back to student days. We were so critical about the country even as young people. We were so passionate. I remember that at UNILAG—of course, Segun Okeowo was the Student Union President, and I was then the president of the University of Lagos Engineering Society, the most powerful union after the Student Union. Ife Oyedele was my secretary. Later he became an executive director at the Power Holding Company. So, a ti n se wahala yen ti pe. Ibe la ti bere (We’ve been involved in the struggle for a long time. It was there we started). In 1978, I was an active part of the Ali Must Go riots, where we launched Operation Land, Sea and Air.
Back to the story of the launch of UPN. Chief Gbolabo Ogunsawo had to change the press conference to the next day. They felt that if they held the conference on that day, it would not receive the expected coverage. So, they now changed that to 10 o clock at Park Lane.
You were there?
I was there. I still remember that Chief Ayo Adebanjo was there. Chief Rafiu Jafojo; one person called Chi Asuma; MCK Ajuluchukwu; Pa Olaniwun Ajayi; Chief Bola Ige, Chief Ganiyu Dawodu. I was seated on the third row at the back. So on NTA news at 7 0’ clock, they now showed it in Ibadan. My father then saw the NTA news at 7 and saw me there. I was at UNILAG the following morning when they said I had a visitor, and it was my dad. He had driven to Lagos. And he said: “Look, what do you think you are doing? I sent you to school to go and read engineering, not politics. Go back to engineering. You don’t understand Nigerian politics. Just go back to your engineering.” So as a dutiful son, that’s why I gave it (politics) up. Otherwise, I would have been one of the youngest persons in the cabinet of the UPN.
Meeting Chief Obafemi Awolowo
How did you feel meeting Baba (Awolowo) at the time?
My meeting with Chief Awolowo was very funny. I tell you this for a fact. I was born on NTC road, Oke Ado, Ibadan. I started primary school at St James, Oke Ado, then proceeded to ICC Primary School in Oke Bola. So if I was going to school from our house, we passed through NTC Road, through the High Court, and then you went to school. And if you wanted to now go through the normal way, you had to come through Baba’s house: Parliament on the other side; Ibadan Boys High School, then Baba’s house, and Oyesile’s, and then you come down. That’s the longer route. So, we had always seen these things as young people. But I never met with Chief Awolowo until I got to the University of Lagos. I “met” him in the library. The way the University of Lagos library was set up—I don’t know what obtains now– every floor had different fields. There were floors for humanities, law, social sciences, etc. I was en engineering student. But during the almighty June that we had long vacation, I liked to read politics. So I would go to the floor where you had humanities and social sciences and be reading biographies and autobiographies. So I “met” Chief Awolowo when I was reading his biography. After that, I then went to look for ZIK’s (Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe) biography. I just made up my mind (about Awolowo) from reading his books. I felt that “This is the man that we need in this country.” So one fine day, I then decided I was going to go and look for him. I was in Part 3 and I just took public transport and went to Park Lane, Apapa and said: “I am from the University of Lagos, I want to see Chief Obafemi Awolowo.”
I was a young student looking very skinny. So, somebody now went to him and then they said: “Baba said you should come.” It was like a dining table like this. He was seated. I was standing and I was shaking. He said: “Young man, what can I do for you?”
I then said: “Good afternoon sir. I just want to say that I admire you a lot. I just wanted to come and meet you.” He said: “Okay. What are you studying in school?” I said engineering. I then said: “There’s a question I want to ask you sir.”
He said: “What’s that?”
I said: “Why is everybody opposed to you, especially at the University of Lagos?”
At that time, there was a group called the Speakers’ Society in the university, made up entirely of radicals. You had Ebenezer Babatope there. He was the Student Affairs officer at that time. He was not an Awoist then. He and others were Marxist-Leninists. They would come with their own theory that Chief Awolowo was a capitalist, a member of the propertied class, a bourgeoisie. They said he owned properties. They said: “We can’t understand this man. How can he say he is for the masses? He owns properties, rides a Mercedes.” You know how things were at the universities in those days. So he (Awolowo) then said: “Young man, what do you want me to do?”
I said: “Baba, I want you to invite them and explain a few things to them. I don’t know how to explain it.”
He said: “Okay. Sebi they are your teachers? Go and invite them.”
He did this on the first day that you saw him?
Yes. That was the end of our conversation. When I wanted to leave, he gave me, I think, one shilling; a coin. I can’t recall whether it was one shilling or ten kobo, but it was a coin, which was more than enough for me to transport myself back to the university, so I left. So when I got back to UNILAG, I then went to Ebino Topsy (Ebenezer Babatope). He was our student affairs officer. There was no way you could enter UNILAG without going through Ebenezer Babatope, because if you wanted accommodation, he was the first port of call. So I then went to Babatope and said: “Sir, I had a meeting with Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Anyway, I don’t know what to say, but Baba has asked me to invite you.”
I went to Professor Awojobi. Awojobi was my godfather. He was quite a radical. He rode a white Toyota Corolla and he drove from campus to campus, delivering lectures. Once I got into the university, I became Awojobi’s protege. Whenever he wanted to go anywhere, there was no driver. He drove. So if for instance he wanted to go from Lagos to Ife to go and deliver lectures, he would drive and I would sit next to him, I would hold his files and I would be reading his lectures. I was very close to him. So I then told him (about Awolowo’s invitation). So, both of them went and met Chief Awolowo and became supporters of Chief Awolowo.
That brings us to your background, because it is quite unusual for a young man to have the audacity or courage, to go to Obafemi Awolowo’s residence without being invited there. And he sent you a huge task and you had to go and talk to those who were your lecturers. Then, students saw lecturers as tin gods and would not want to have one-on-one encounters with them…
To be honest with you, I didn’t know that I was doing anything extraordinary. I found out later. But for us, we just thought we were doing the right thing.
Family and Personal Influence
Did you get your courage from your dad or your mum?
Well, with the benefit of hindsight, my dad was quite a strong character. I wouldn’t say stubborn, but once he was persuaded about something, nothing could sway him. Now that you are asking, maybe that is part of where I got it. I must say that I was very, very close to my dad, and still close to him. Still close to him in the sense that I was only able to erase his number from my phone ten years after his departure. He died in 2011 and for a long time when I looked at the number on my phone, I was just hoping that something would happen and I would be able to talk to him. Then I realized: “Baba yi ti lo.” (This papa is gone). So, maybe, I don’t know.
What are the fond memories you have of him, even at 70?
Like most parents in those days, they (my parents) were to a large extent disciplinarians. And in his own case, you know that being a church man, he did a lot of things that were unique. The way he pioneered churches with a lot of determination was unique. The way they did it in those days is funny. For instance, my father said one time that he had a vision, and he wanted to go and establish a church in Port Harcourt. He rode an Opel Caravan, which is an Opel station wagon. And he would just pack his bags and all of that. There was no driver, so he was driving. And to Port Harcourt he went. And from scratch he would start preaching the gospel on the streets and then he would hire a one-room apartment where they were holding their services, and today, the church in Port Harcourt is a cathedral. Ditto for the churches in Sapele and Warri. In fact, some people carried a rumour saying that’s where I came from, because he pioneered the church in Sapele in 1948, even before I was born, and he travelled wide: to Sierra Leone, Liberia, everywhere.
He was a missionary
Yes. And that’s why I built Abraham’s Tabernacle. You have not been to that church? We will go there today after this interview. It’s very close by. He actually told me that I am a covenant child. He didn’t mind whatever I wanted to do. He said: “Go and do your engineering. After you finish engineering and you are a chartered engineer, then if you want to go and do politics, you can go and do it. This is because if politics fails, engineering will not fail you.” That’s why when he came from Ibadan (to UNILAG), I then faced engineering squarely. Even when I was working and I had not become a chartered engineer, he told me: “You are not an engineer until you are a chartered engineer. When you become a chartered engineer and you put that stamp on (documents) as a chartered engineer, that’s it. And that is enough for you to eke out a living if and when something goes wrong.” I worked in Shroeder, then set up an engineering firm, and ended up in politics, which is where you met me (laughs).
You dad called you a covenant child…
That’s what he said o.
Did he tell you why? And at that point, did you believe him?
Of course I did. I had learnt not to take whatever he said with levity. He belonged to the Church of Aladura sect. At that time, he and Primate Ositelu were of the Church of The Lord, Aladura. I can now tell you that story. When I was at the Baptist Boys High School in Abeokuta, I was what you would call an SU (Scripture Union member). My father had many wives despite being a preacher and you know those of us, these SU kind of people, I don’t know how we got our boldness. I would go to him during the long break and say: “Papa, what you are doing is not ordained by God o. The Bible says a pastor must be the husband of one wife.” My mum was the first wife, so maybe I had sympathy for her. He would now say: “Sit down. Go to Genesis which says “Be fruitful and multiply.” Me and the old man would have these arguments, I would go and bring my own (quotes) and he would bring his own. We had that kind of relationship. I so loved him and he so loved me when I was young (a child). If he wanted to go out I would say: “Look, Papa, just lock me up in this room and go and come back,” and he would lock me in and go and come back, and meet me there. Later on, he now kept telling me: “You have to go and do something for God, build a church.” I said: “Okay sir.” Different churches would come for assistance and I would do my best for them. But he said I had to build a church. That’s why I built Abraham’s Tabernacle. His name is Abraham Adebola Daniel.
He was acting as if you should go and head a church?
That’s what he was saying to me indirectly. But the first time he worshipped in Abraham’s Tabernacle was when he said: “My job is done.” He died thereafter. He kept saying that “You are a covenant child.” The story he told us was that our mother was not the first wife. The first wife died at childbirth. He was a businessman: he ran Irewolede Press in Ibadan in the 40s. The biggest press in Nigeria was Abiodun Printing Press in Ibadan. I was told that apart from that, his own Irewolede Press was one of the biggest. It was located somewhere in Oke Ado, around Ososami. He said the vision that came was that seven women would die; he would lose seven wives, and that to prevent that, he had to close down his business and follow The Lord. That’s how he became a clergyman. And at the end of the day, he married seven wives and all of them died. So, you never can be too sure of some of these things that happen.
Political Beginnings and Legacy
Let’s go back to UNILAG. You managed to win over Chief Ebenezer Babatope and Professor Awojobi to become staunch disciples of Awolowo. Looking back, do you think that was the beginning of a solid adventure in politics ? To win over supporters is one of the biggest jobs that a politician has to do, but you won over two big forces. Prof Awojobi was a legend in many aspects, one of the best brains that this country used and wasted, but you won him over for Baba. How did you feel afterwards ?
I didn’t think it was anything extraordinary at the time, to be very honest with you. I tried some that didn’t work. There was one Dr… who was also a lecturer in the University of Lagos. I tried but he didn’t agree. Of course he died later on. There were quite a few like that. I didn’t have much to say other than invite them (on the instruction of Chief Awolowo). Don’t forget that in those days, there was no mobile phone. So, a lot of things had to be done manually. I didn’t think it was anything extraordinary, to be very, very honest. Unfortunately, we lost Awojobi too at an early age. He died at the age of 47, in 1984. That was one of the saddest days in my life. But for us, we didn’t think there was extraordinary about inviting somebody. I didn’t even think look at it like a winning over. I was felt that okay, I was like a messenger. I didn’t think it was extraordinary. Maybe now, but then I didn’t think it was extraordinary.
Was Tunde Bakare at the unveiling of the UPN?
On that day, he wasn’t there. But he had always been quite active. In the same way, when we left the University of Lagos, Tunde also set up a beautiful law practice, one of the most successful, in Opebi. But one fine day, he just called me and said he was closing down the law practice. I said: “What’s the problem?” He was a really successful lawyer. He said he was going into the ministry. He joined Redeemed. He had an issue with E.A Adeboye, then he later set up Latter Rain. Then he wrote in his memo that I was the one who was coming to Latter Rain to play the organ for the church when it started.
Reflections on Leadership and Challenges
If you look at my book–that book is Daniel in the Lions’ Den. And maybe you need to read the first paragraph of that book. It is not for fun that my definition of my eight years in Ogun State is “Daniel in the Lions’ Den.” Because you go into a place you want a change for the betterment of the people and regrettably, the people you are working for are so naïve; and they are easily swayed by people who come to tell them lies. The system is so terrible that people would just come (with lies) and everybody will believe. We are running into it again in Ogun State: we have a rich man who is coming in, and nobody is asking questions about the source of his wealth. So, we have got to a stage now where it is not a question of what you have to offer; it is just about the depth of your pocket. And people won’t ask questions, including you my brother journalists: all of you have been conquered because of the necessities of life. You are prepared to overlook a number of things that ordinarily you would not overlook. I was saying recently that there is nothing going on again; we have all become a conquered species. And if you stand up for what you believe in, definitely, you will face trouble. Awolowo that we all believed in faced it.
I don’t know whether the story is true: that when he brought pipe-borne water to Ikenne (his home town), the Ikenne people refused to drink it. They said there was chlorine in the water and that he wanted to poison people, so that their children would not be able to accompany them to the farm. And people believed it and he lost election. And when he brought free education, some people told the community: “Ah, he doesn’t want your children to be going to the farm with you.” He lost election. And then years and decades later, these same individuals started saying he was the best president we never had!
So, in Ogun State, I knew I had a goal. I had a plan. I had a master plan. And we went for it. And between you and me, I don’t know anything I am going to change if I have the opportunity again. And there is virtually nothing that we set out to achieve that, in my opinion, we didn’t achieve. And if we didn’t achieve it, we laid the foundation. Of course it was war. Forces rose. Friendly forces turned enemies, and so on and so forth. But I have studied enough history to appreciate that this is how the world is. In Libya, after Ghadaffi was killed, the Libyans who were enjoying everything free now woke up to find out that it was their hero that was killed. And when you look at the history of Africa and you think of Patrice Lumumba, all he tried to do (was rubbished). So, there are bigger forces that we have to contend with and if somebody is able to go in there and come out unscathed, that is Daniel in the Lions’ Den. I know what I am talking about.
Personal Life and Family
You also wrote My March through The Courts. Was that a testament of regret?
No. It is saying it the way it is. Daniel in the Lions’ Den was completed at the end of my tenure. I didn’t launch it but at my Valedictory Service, I released some copies. And that was in 2011, May 26. This is 2026, exactly 15 years later. I have not seen one rejoinder. I have not seen one person who has said that what we wrote there is not correct.
In April 2011, Professor Akin Osuntokun delivered a lecture in Ibadan where he talked about political tendencies in the South-West, including conservative and progressive tendencies. Then when you took the microphone, you said that the sing song then was free and fair elections, but that this was not enough; we should also talk about the quality of people contesting, and who would be produced by the free and fair elections. When you look back, do you have any regrets about the quality of leadership we have had either in Ogun State, or at the national level since you left office?
Well, I have tried very hard—and the reason is not too far-fetched. I am going to be 70 next month (in April). Whether I like to believe it or not, we are becoming elder statesmen, and I do not think it is right for me to pass judgment on the people who have come or who have gone after me. It is the people who should judge. But when I made that statement, I made it because when I looked at our political process, and I have said this so many times—your vote is the same thing as the vote of the agbero. So, a professor’s vote, with all is knowledge and information, is the same vote of the garage boy (motor park lout) in the name of democracy. Maybe this thing works well in a well educated, sophisticated environment in the Western world, because there, they control population. People are relatively educated. But we are in an environment where the illiterates outshine and outnumber by ten-fold, the people who have something to offer. And we say in the name of democracy it is one man, one vote. So, I don’t need to come and be blowing grammar with you and exchanging views on what I want to do when I know that what I need to do is to go to the garage (motor park) and give people money to vote. That, in the context of the African society, the Nigerian environment, cannot produce the best.
Once upon a time, it used to be slightly different. The problems were there but at that time, people listened to leadership. Those of us who wanted to support politicians were just waiting. We didn’t say we had ideas. What people asked was: “What has been said in Ikenne? Who has been selected? Oh, this is the person? That is fine.” There was leadership. We queued. We supported. But this time around, things are completely different. Leadership is nearly non-existent. And anybody who tries to say he is a leader is cut down, sometimes even by the elite that he is supposed to protect. So we have something that is completely upside down. And that is the essence of what I was saying on that occasion. That yes, fine; one man, one vote. It is my considered opinion that until we get to a stage in terms of sophistication and education, our democracy needs to be controlled. You may put it whichever way you like.
Conclusion
You may need to define control
Control to the extent that okay—I don’t know whether it is something we can call weighted averages. Sometimes it happens in the board room. They say “okay, you are eleven on this board; five of you will vote either way, then the chairman has two votes. All of you have one vote, but the chairman has two votes.” It may be difficult because the democracy we practice, which we have copied hook, line and sinker from the West, does not support that. It would be seen as if you want to try and do a dictatorship.
But I believe that we must begin to sit down and find solutions that are indigenous to our challenges. We can’t copy anything hook, line and sinker and hope it will succeed. And that is why several years after our so-called independence, we are still where we are. The only saving grace for our country is that there are still resources. There’s petro dollar, there’s solid minerals. If we were not that lucky, we would have been where some of the other countries are today. But the amount of mismanagement that has occurred is being covered up by the fact that the petro dollars and other dollars are still flowing. I hope and pray that we don’t get to a situation where these things are no longer flowing. That is when you will now see that we are not where we are supposed to be. I don’t know whether I have answered your question.
What you have just said aligns with the thinking of a minority in the country; a minority elite that believes that our Electoral Act should lay the foundation for what you are preaching now. We have just had an Electoral Act riddled with controversy. How do you feel when you sit in the Senate and you know this is the way to go but the majority of people who are supposed to be representing all Nigerians are going in a different direction?
Well, first things first, you need to appreciate and understand that we are saying exactly the same thing. Input, output. There is no manufacturing that the computer does: what you put in is what you get. It is as simple as that. What is the process that has produced members of all the assemblies? It is this same fundamentally flawed process that we just agreed to. We have a largely illiterate, poverty-stricken environment and according to democratic norms, we all must be subject to one man, one vote. Which means that it is easy to manipulate and get to wherever you want to get.
Now, very few people—and I can tell you this for free—who do what some of us do to get votes. Because what we have always done is to take the campaign to all the nooks and crannies. I am probably one of the few who started that in a massive way, after Chief Awolowo. And I started when I got into PDP. In PDP, despite the fact that they were happy we were coming in, we found out that they had no plans for us. We had leaders in the party who had what you could call a stranglehold. They are conservatives; I’m a progressive. We saw that if you went to this leader, he was already in this or that caucus, and all the caucuses were pointing in the direction of somebody that I know was not ideologically correct, and who had a different approach. We came with the credo of Life More Abundant for the people.
While I was governor, I usually say to myself: “This document I am about to sign, is it in the overall interest of the people, the masses of the people or it is for some elites ?” Once I had answered the question within me that, yes, this is going to be in the overall interest of the masses, I was ready to sign. The second question I asked myself was: “Can I stand on national network and say that I signed this document at any time ?” If the answer was no, I would say: “Review. Re-present.” But if the answer was yes, I would go ahead. Those were just the rules for me. I wasn’t a politician before in the real sense of the word. You see, my point is that whatever you do, once it is in the interest of the masses, you can rest. The problem we have, not at the National Assembly alone but everywhere, is that the process of emergence (is flawed). It is not just about rigging. Even when there is no rigging, with this business of one man, one vote, where the vote of the professor and the vote of the garage boy is the same—and there are tens of thousands of garage boys who have the same vote as the professor who has knowledge—we are going to get people who have no knowledge. That is actually the dilemma. It is so fundamental and so difficult.
What is your option? That’s how we vote
The option that I see—first thing, people have talked about strong institutions. There must be consequences for certain actions. Tunde Bakare sang a song: “Omo yin o sagbafo, o n ka ‘so wale, e r’oju ole e o mu.” (Your child is no dry cleaner but brings clothes home; you see a thief but fail to apprehend him). Nobody is asking questions.
I faced EFCC for 11 years. There were options. People said: “You don’t need to go through all of this.” But my own attitude was this: “I cannot repay money that I did not steal.” But if I was ready to pay money that I did not steal, probably within a year or two, my ordeal would have been over. But we went to EFCC for 11 years. But what’s going on now? You catch a thief and say he should repay a bit of what he stole. Let him do plea bargain and go. So why shouldn’t people steal? The more you steal, the better for you. That is the system that we are running.
Are you frustrated or angry enough at 70 that you will leave the political terrain?
No. I am not quitting. But it is not about anger; it is about—I don’t want to use the word frustration. I don’t want to take our media to task, because it is not all the media that are guilty. There is no longer investigative journalism. And why I am so unhappy about that is that in this day and age, the capacity to investigate is enabled by our phones. Ask AI and you get information without even leaving your house. Whatever I say to you (as a politician) must be subjected to some kind of investigation. Part of the problem that we have as far as I am concerned is that we have institutions that are not being activated to actually tackle corruption. When some of us were invited by EFCC when it started, there was palpable fear. This time, when they invite you, you go there and you smile, and say: “Can I do plea bargain?”
We that didn’t steal money, people look at us and ask: “What did you bring home from Government?” In this country, it is people that stole money that we are celebrating.
You fought EFCC battle for 11 years. Has there been any time that you regretted following this path? Two, what attracted you not only to Chief Obafemi Awolowo but his wife? You had such close bonding with her and throughout your tenure, you were one of the first images that were very visible in Ikenne. It was not a governor- citizen relationship. What was it about you and her?
First things first, you talked about regret. Well, it is only a superman who will say he doesn’t have some regrets. Especially at the point when you find out that the people who are close to you are also suffering indignation just because they happen to be close to you, either as your associate, your family, and so on and so forth. And of course, you begin to wonder whether this is what life is all about. But when you also go into history you must get consoled because you will find out that there is no difference in other climes as well. So it’s part of what you usually have to just say it’s a way of life. But if one would a situation whereby innocent children suffer because of what did not happen–you know, whether you like it or not, these are things that are not very, very pleasant. But time heals.
I tell you that I took a deliberate decision. I said no more war. And that is what I told the Ijebu Traditional Council a few days ago. I said no more war because all the people who stood against me, I had no issues with them. I had no financial scandal with anybody. I had no marital or premarital issues with anybody. Mi o gba;yawo won, mi o ji won lowo, mi o ba won se deal. (I didn’t snatch their wife, steal their money, or do any deals with them).
So if there is anything that I will disagree upon, it is for the interest of the masses and for that, I have no regrets. Even though the masses may not even appreciate it, you do something and you do it for God. I was reading something about Thomas Sankara. The one who killed him (Blaise Campaore) was his friend. He then made a confession 37 years after. He is unhappy and he cannot sleep. And the person he killed who ruled for a few months is more popular than him. He (Sankara) has a better name. Nobody wants that.
Having said that, one must begin to appreciate that maybe that is how the world is all about. So that is about regret or no regret. My worry is not a regret. It is that if we don’t change the paradigm, we will continuously be bogged down with people who don’t mean well because the people who mean well are not celebrated. They are not appreciated. So the challenge we have is that when single somebody out that does well, we must also go out of our way. I was with City People yesterday. What I told Seye Kehinde is that look, whichever way anybody wants to look at it, you consistently report, but your report is on the good side: you don’t go to the negative side. It’s not that all the people you are reporting are bad, but you just look at their social side, the good side, and you concentrate on that.
When I became the governor, my friend, Bayo Onanuga, who is now presidential spokesman, was doing The News. So when I came in, I started running fast and started doing nice things. I said: “Bayo ti e gbo na. Se gbogbo ise ti mo se ni Ogun State, se ko ye kin ti e ti appear ni front page The News ni? (Listen Bayo, with all the work I’ve been doing in Ogun State, shouldn’t I have appeared on the front page of The News?)
He told me something I will never forget. He said: “Don’t pray to ever appear on any newspaper’s front page. They don’t put
