EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH OTUNBA BENJI OLOYE
The Political desk of the PATH NEWS MAGAZINE has exclusive interview with the Otunba Benji Oloye, the Bashorun of Owo Kingdom, discussing both state and national issues ahead of the 2027 election. Excerpt:
Insecurity in the country has refused to stop; in your opinion, do you subscribe to state police as another mean of curbing criminality.
Yes, I subscribe to it 100%. The people who are going to be involved in state police—the operatives and the manpower—are going to be from the grassroots. They know everywhere; they know every corner in the state. So, when you have state police and you have indigenes as your manpower, they know where to go. They know what corner, what angle, and what forest to enter, and so on. So, it would be a better thing to do than bringing somebody from let’s say Sokoto to be a policeman in Ondo State, who doesn’t know anywhere along Oba Adesida Road and Akure in particular. The state police would do a better job in terms of intelligence gathering, arresting criminals, and so on.
Are you not worry that, Governors can hijack State Police to their own advantage as against why it was established?
I don’t think so. Any intelligent or brilliant governor would not do that because, by creating state police, you are helping him in the fight against insecurity. if governor hijacks or misuse the state police, it’s going to bounce back on him. When they say the Chief Security Officer of a state, we are talking about the governor. So, if he misuses that opportunity, his name will be written not in gold, but on the opposite side.
While comparing past governments effort in the fight against insecurity, would say President Tinubu has done well in the last three years of his administration?
Without missing words, we all know that President Tinubu has been trying in terms of this insecurity in Nigeria. For example, if you look at what happened when Mr. President was coming into power, even his own party was against him. So, in the same vein, the Nigerian security architecture, especially the military, has been compromised. Among them, there are Boko Haram members. So, therefore, sabotage and a lot of negative things are happening in the military. It is a disservice to the country to enlist “SO CALL REPENTANT BOKO HARAM” into our military. These rehabilitated Boko Haram are just there to spy and take information to their colleagues on the other side.
Most of the failed operations of the Nigeria Army, where they were ambush and killed by terrorists, if thorough finding is done, these enlisted Boko Haram might be the one dishing out information to their colleagues. So, when the Nigerian Army as a body is perforated with all these people, all efforts of the army to defeat the terrorists would be futile.
Some school of thought believe that, massive wedding organized by State Governors in the North are contributing to insecurity in the country, do align with this?
I want to seize this opportunity to say something in bold: any governor that does massive marriage should be stripped of his immunity and be prosecuted. With this massive marriage they are doing, they will give birth to children and these children will end up on the streets as Almajiris. And when they end up as Almajiris, they grow up to be a problem to the society. From there, they become the recruitment ground for terrorists and bandits. If you don’t want terrorism and you don’t want our soldiers to be killed, then go and stop this massive marriage that you are doing. At the end of the day, those who are not recruited into terrorism, end up on the streets of Kano, Katsina, and all those places, begging for alms. That is a simple fact.
So, you are not in support of enlisting the repentant Boko Harams into Nigeria Army?
To me, it’s negative. LIke I said, those Almajiris, that is where these Boko Haram leaders recruit their men. And don’t forget that, these Almajiris, the way they are in Nigeria, they are in Mali, they are in Niger, and they are in all these African countries. So, our Nigerian soldiers are trying their best, but the problem they have majorly is that, they are not fighting a nation nor fighting one person, they are fighting terrorists and bandits from all these countries. The more they are killing them, the more they are coming because Nigeria is fighting like five or six countries at a time. That is why it is difficult for the Nigerian Army to succeed instantly.
In the next few months, Nigerians will go to the poll and vote for a new leader. Do you see them re-electing President Tinubu for second term in office?
Nigerians will vote for President Tinubu massively. Why? Because of what he has done. Because of his hard work. Because of his achievements. In terms of security, electricity, and giant strides in other sectors, Nigerias will be willing to cast their votes for him. For example, the removal of fuel subsidy, the exchange rates, and so on, were bold decisions taken by the President, of which has begun to yield positive results. You want to talk of student loans? You want to talk of road infrastructure? Aside road Infrastructure from Lagos to Calabar, Badagry, Sokoto, there is no state in Nigeria today where you will not see Federal Government projects going on, and they are going on simultaneously nationwide.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar promised to return fuel Subsidy if elected Nigeria President. Would you consider this as a political statement to win elections or it is the right thing to do?
Sorry, Former Vice President Atiku is old. I think his thinking is no more in order. Let me give you an example of this old age syndrome. Somebody who was in the Custom—anything that has to do with Nigerian borders should be his concern, but reading through the newspaper of recent, Atiku said if he comes to power, he is going to open the borders, as if the borders were closed. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know anymore. He is a serial runner and a serial loser. So, come 2027, he is going to lose again, if at all he runs. So, I do not take him seriously anymore.
What is your thought on the plan alliance of the major opposition parties against President Tinubu. How achievable is this unholy merger according to some people?
Whenever they are out to campaign, the question people will ask them is: What are they going to do differently? The alliance is dead on arrival. Who is stepping down for who? Do you think Atiku will step down for Obi or Obi stepping down for Atiku? It can’t work. It is not achievable. Let me give you an example. I have just spoken briefly about Atiku, Obi, he is a serial liar. He will tell you, go and fact-check, go and cross-check, go and verify. When you verify, you find out that he is a liar. You know that he is a serial liar. He is not a serious contender.
Are you saying Obident Movement of last election won’t have effect in 2027 poll?
The Obidient Movement they used in deceiving people in 2023 are no more there. Most of the people are now wiser. They have seen, and they are taking their decisions. So, forget about Obi and others pretenders in the race. How many of them are telling Nigerians what they are going to do differently. Nobody. Atiku and Obi just have appetite for power and no serious plans for the country.
You are saying their campaign is more of attack on the president and not what they have for Nigerians?
Exactly. Rather than telling Nigerians their blueprint, it more of attack on the personality of the president.Tell us what you are going to do differently that is going to be better than what President Bola Tinubu is doing, unfortunately, no solutions. That is what we want to hear. But they are not doing that. Instead of that, they are attacking him, talking about the President certificate, age and unnecessary allegations that has nothing to do with governance. They are also talking about FBI, of which American government replied that, look, we don’t have Tinubu’s name in our criminal record. So, what else do you want? What else do they want? Nigerians are only interested in what you are bringing on board and not toxic campaign.
Of recent, in Nigeria, some fake agencies were linked to the Chief of Staff to Mr. President, though he denies it Do you think Mr. President is fighting corruption from the right angle?
Sorry, you are putting two things together. You have a fake agency and corruption. They are connected, but they are not seriously interwoven. Let me take it one by one. The fake agency you are talking about—it’s the same guy (Gbajabiamila) that blew the whistle. So, I don’t know why people are roping him into this matter. The anti graft agency, EFCC, ICPC, have made a statement that, the Chief of Staff hands are clean and never indicted in the matter. This fake agency has been on even before President Tinubu came to power because there are a lot of them that started long time ago. I believe this is just one out of many fake agencies in the country and the fight against corruption is why Gbajabiamila blew the whistle that led to the arrest of Prince Adeyemi, the Director General of the agency.
Do you think this it’s sensible for a president of a nation to go for three weeks vacation when his house is on fire, according to the opposition?
I don’t understand what you mean by “on fire.” The economy of Nigeria is improving. The IMF, the World Bank, everybody is praising our economic position and the steps Mr. President is taking. So, I don’t know where the fire is coming from. If Mr President wants to go on his annual vacation, that shouldn’t be a problem to the opposition, provided, government is working. And if they saw fire, they should call the Fire Service. So, I do not see any fire on the mountain.
As an ardent supporter of Mr. President, if you are to campaign for him ahead January election, what would be your selling point?
I have spoken about it earlier, but let me expand it. NELFUND introduced by this government has relieved parents the difficulty of paying their children school fees. Your children have loans through the fund, from which they can access money and pay their school fees. That is one. Secondly, there is no question of ASUU strike again, where students will stay at home for months; four-years programme, becoming six years and so on. Or you want to talk about the generation of electricity. You want to talk about how much money is going to the governors so that they can reach out to the grassroots and do infrastructure. President Tinubu selling point is too numerous to mention. Except somebody who is blind and deaf, that would say he cannot see or hear what Mr. President is doing.
