Northern Elders should be grateful to President Jonathan- Hon Segun Odebunmi

Hon Segun Dokun Odebunmi popularly called BUNVIC is a member of the National Assembly representing Surulere/ Ogo Oluwa Federal Constituency, in this interview he spoke on the coming election and why Nigerians should re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan. Excerpts:

Rivers state deputy governor recently shocked the Nigerians with his return to the PDP without considering the implication on his relationship with his boss Gov Rotimi Amechi who is a key actors in the APC caucus
His returning to PDP alongside other people is a good development, I was elated when I read it in the news, that is how to identify people who want this nation to grow, people with genuine mind and love for their people , I am sure it will take the Deputy governor long hours of thinking before he settles for PDP , it is a very serious and good decision though not favorable to his boss his decision is a serious wound to the opposition party but a blessing to the PDP and I am sure a lot of people are out there in the darkness of the APC , I am imploring them take a bold step like he did and come to PDP, do not forget PDP is the only party that operate democracy in this nation, unlike in the APC who impose candidate we are transparent in our selection of candidate ,we operate as stipulated by the constitution of the nation. Those who left for other party from the PDP are not comfortable where they are now, they rise politically through the PDP and I want to appeal to other people in this category to retrace their steps and return to the best party in Africa which is PDP.
Sir with few days to the presidential and National Assembly election how prepared are you as a member of the PDP contesting for National Assembly seat
We are fully prepared for the election and by the Grace of God my constituency will be delivered to the PDP, we have secure the endorsement of our people so we are on course here my people will vote Goodlcuk Jonathan and PDP and I am sure of victory in the coming election because people are solidly behind us
How will you convince the people to vote for President Jonathan?
Thank God for the democratic system of government in our nation today, in the last few years the president has given a level playing ground for all political party in the country as I am talking to you , up till today there has not been a political prisoner in Nigerian that gives you an impression that the president is a democrat to the core, he has a divine call to serve this nation with the liberal way of leading this nation with, the way he allowed opinion of the people to work and the rule of law when you compared with his predecessors you will agree with that this dispensation has given a lot of opportunity for people , people are free because they have a liberal government who recognize citizens right and allow people to enjoy it, we have had military administration in the past, we have had democratic government too but this one is different, it gives people sense of belonging , look at the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill, it is a good development for our Democracy. That bill is going to cage the powerful people to act arbitrarily, he has given the chance to everybody to express minds and opinion on any issue and at the same time ask questions without any refusal so with that I think our people in the southwest have realized the leadership qualities that is embedded in this man and I want to tell you that the south west even the whole nation will vote for president Jonathan for another four years
But It is in the same southwest that we have people the predominant of the APC who are also working hard to ensure Jonathan re-election is not possible
Yes I agree with you but you know that people of the southwest knows what they want and who is good for them and our leader president Jonathan is not a propagandists, but looking at what he has done for the people of the southwest the best way to appreciate him is reward him with votes, you know the major opponent in this context are propagandists their critics is not based objective and issue based they have engage in more damaging tactics than normal it is expected of them to come out with issues that can help our nation to grow and not mere noise making to create confusion, their major song is corruption Jonathan is corrupt but if you examine all of them one by one they are worst somebody that they consider corrupt or bad PDP will be a saint once he or she joins the APC and ready to play the game according to their wish, our people in the southwest are wise enough to separate the right from the wrong , most of the people in the APC have led us before we know their mindset and we know how they rule while in power so the people of southwest will not be hoodwink by the lies and antics of the desperate ones in the APC but rather vote for continuity and stability which president Jonathan represent
One of the leader of the Yoruba race and a former president who championed the enthronement of president Jonathan is no longer on the same page with him. This can be a set back on his re-election bid, what do you have to say to that.
Yes Baba Obasanjo is our leader and a great man. I expect Baba to watch and see where this will end rather than condemning president Goodluck Jonathan, Baba did not need to boost the ego of the opposition who are willing to destroy the house he has labour hard to build , he has given enough warning and written letters which everybody appreciate but I am not comfortable with Baba’s position on jonathan and so many people too, Baba is a respected elder and I am sure with time everything will fall in line and his position won’t affect Jonathan’s re-election .
Do you have confidence in Profesor Jega’s ability to conduct free and fair election?
With the antecedent and past record of Professor Attahiru Jega I think he is going to conduct free and fair election people should also be conscious of the fact that the election is not about Jega alone its all about our country, we are all expected to play a crucial role in ensuring transparency and that the election is free and fair .
But you party is against the use of card reader why
The fact that we kicked against the use of card reader does not mean that we are against Jega the card reader is just a process in the election we are talking about the material that has never been used during election in Nigeria before, they are introducing it for the first time and we are talking about something that has never been used before and election date is a day that can never come back again,so any mistake of the day is a national disaster so why can’t we avoid something that can cause national disaster so that we can go straight to the election proper, if Jega want to introduce card reader, he should have bring that idea during the election of Ekiti and Osun so that people will see how perfect the equipment will work and I pray it works out fine , so that is the position of the PDP we don’t want to have any election with complain.
President Goodluck recently approved the report of the National conference and his advocate have been moving round to use it to campaign to people particularly the benefit of the report if implemented in the southwest and the nation at large what is your view sir.
Honestly the report of the National conference represent the true view and opinion of Nigeria about governance, and how the country should be governed , numbers of leaders of pressure and socio group , a lot of people come together for the national conference to bring out a document that will guide the nation , the document is not about president Jonathan , its about the image and the growth of the nation, look at it now the president is compelled to implement it since it is what he has promise and even before conveying the meeting. And I am sure that he will implement the report to the letter immediately he assume office after the election.
And do you think if the report is implemented to the letter, it will bring any development to the country
Yes of course , it will bring a lot of development for this nation, even all the tiers of this government local state and federal, if you go through the proposal there is a proposal which discussed the allocation of the federal government and other tiers of the government including the local government and that one will fasten development of the country, the document also talked about decentralization of power from the central to the federal the state also about the state police so that we can manage our own security at the state so that the rate of crime will reduced those who are committing crimes are Nigeria and members of our community and if we have a platform that will monitor and comb our Society the crime rate will reduced
Some Nigerians seems to have lost confidence in president Goodluck Jonathan’s leadership qualities because they are of the opinion that he demonstrated inconsistencies by his failure to fulfill promises on electricity, and the increasing rate of corruption and here you are asking us to vote for him how are we sure if we elect him again such will not resurface again
To the best of my knowledge and with the level of my involve in the national assignment in this country I believe corruption has to do with our morals , in our personal life how do we manage our environment without being corrupt, when you are talking about corruption if everybody is morally sound I am sure that the corruption level in this country will be reduced , president Goodluck Jonathan is trying to create a platform that will help this nation to fight corruption , he is using a good moral in approaching everything in this nation it’s not about jailing people for hundred years before we can successfully tackle corruption, imaging the number of armed robbers that have been killed in this nation if that will bring solution to robbery incident in this nation we are not supposed to have any case of robbery what we need is reorientation, restructuring and creating a platform that everybody will be able to realize what is good and what is not so that everybody will b concern about the development and the growth of the nation and that is the platform president Jonathan is trying to bring
I want your view on the position of the Northern elders on President Jonathan
Honestly I am surprised by the kind of statement that is coming from the northern elders they should realize that present Goodlcuk Jonathan is a god sent to the Northern part of this nation the problem they are facing today in the north did not start during Jonathan era, it’s a problem created by the negligence of the past leaders , a lot of things have been left undone education women affairs remain uncared for so what so what we are experiencing is a resultant effect of the long years of abandonment , the northerners are the pioneer leaders of this country, they design the constitution o this country and they enjoy this country more than any region , so why are we facing the problem definitely it’s a result of the negligence of leaders from their region, the numbers of the leaders that have ruled this nation both in military and civilian have the larger percentage from the North so why this problem now, why is the number of Almajiri is increasing on daily basis, today the story is changing with president Jonathans intervention he has built over 200 schools for the almajiri and another six for girl child education he identifies with this people who are the leaders of tomorrow , he is preparing their children to have a better future through education and other programs initiated by him so rather than castigating him they should support him so that the good projects he has embarked upon will be completed . I think the Northern leaders should called on their people and implore them to support president Jonathan so that a younger one will take over from him in after he had completed his tenure, I want to tell you that larger percentage of the Northerners will still vote for Jonathan we have elite among them who realize the important of Jonathan’s contribution to their region in the last six years and they want the project to complete so I am using this medium to appeal to Northern elders and leaders to reposition themselves so that they can take over from Jonathan and I am very sure PDP as a party will welcome that idea.

Now we are experience a downward trend in the economy of this nation due to the fall in the price of crude oil and others do you think if we vote President Goodluck Jonathan as president we won’t have economic problem.
President Jonathan is up to the task what we are experiencing in this nation is a global phenomenon it’s because of the fall in the prince of crude oil, if you examine a lot of things , especially in the agricultural sector you will see that in the last few years the level of importation of agricultural products has reduced drastically the only portion that is left as a nation is to have a functioning refinery and the total deregulation is required and the fear is that if there is a total deregulation of the downstream it will have effect on the masses and what we are planning to do is to put a structure in place so that it won’t have negative effect on the nation economy but because presently Nigeria is importing oil and we are once we settle that we will all enjoy, already there is a proposal from the private sector to set up a private refinery and that will also make it more convenient for us as a nation, I can tell you that if president Jonathan is re-elected everything will be settled
Sir Nigerian can also thrive on agriculture your constituency is predominantly a rural community what have you done for farmers in your constituents and what do you intend to do so that the people of surulere ogo oluwa won’t be relying on oil money from Abuja
To the best of my ability I have tried , and for me to be able to achieve all my plan for my constituency there is need for a synergy between a local government chairmen and state government but in a situation where we have at the state and local government its given me a lot of problem , before I left for the house of rep, I was a council chairman and before I left I was able to establish a juice factory but it was abandoned by the government who took over the mantle of leadership because they are in the opposition , by and large I have been able to supply the farmers in my constituency materials and equipment with financial support so that they can manage their farms and live well and that my focus is to ensure all of them are empowered and that is why we are clamoring that president Goodluck Jonathan should be elected so that if we have a central power and state government we at the can form a synergy to work together for the benefit of our community. But so far so good the government of president goodlcuk Jonathan has done a lot for our people in term of distribution of fertilizers unlike in the past when fertilizers were been hijacked by some political farmers who collect and sell to people we have a plan to get tractors and other equipment for farmers
You are rooting for Sen Teslim folarin as governors do you think he will be a good governor
I am sure Sen Folarin will be a good governor, with my own experience at the national assembly , before you can assume the position of a leader at the National Assembly you must have the ability to carry people along and what we need today in our state is a leader that will involve people in his dealings ability to be able to identify what is the problem of the people so that you can give to people what they need and not what you feel and I am very sure Senator Folarin is eighty percent ok in this aspect and in term of experience this is a man that has traveled a lot, he has worked abroad and have a lot of captains of industry as friends and I believe with him in power and his connection he would be able to industrialize Oyo state and we need somebody that will industrialize this state so that our youths won’t be looking for jobs again, we have a lot of materials and potentials we just need industries to accommodate and utilize them and I believe Sen Folarin can do that
Why do you think Ajimobi should be change?
Ajimobi is gone already, I have been saying this for long and if you look at my claims on his projects and human relation you will realizes that the man deserve to be given zero percent , you see a lot of uncompleted projects allover when you were given a political structure and you failed to carry along people of your state , he failed to recognized what people needed before embarking on his white elephant projects that can never be accomplish, what is the purpose of embarking on such projects can you imagine the kind of suffering he put the people of Oyo state into, our traditional rulers are yet to collect their entitlement ,the primary school teachers were just paid some month since December and workers in the state are being owned salaries and arrears including the pensioners that is wickedness such a leader must leave
But he said it’s the problem of the Federal
How can he say it is the problem of the federal, when he is receiving the allocation as and when due, go and check newspaper for information about allocation, they have been paid, what stops him from paying February salary when he has collected allocation from Federal government , if he is a good leader he should have device means of paying workers instead of waiting for Federal allocation, I was with one of the traditional ruler in my constituency and he was lamenting that their salaries have not been paid since January imagine , which kind of government is that , is he not from this state, how can he be putting hardship on the people, this kind of government is the worst government ever in Oyo state , all his predecessors don’t joke with salaries of workers particularly at festive and election period irrespective of what is on ground and here is somebody who is seeking re-election again making people to suffer how did he want people to cater for their aged people at home and family did he want them to be a beggar? No our people will reject him he should be preparing his handing over note because Sen Folarin is taking over from him by the grace of God.
Do you think Sen Folarin will right the wrong?

Yes Sen Folarin is a leader that will listen to the plight of the people and give them what they want he won’t be imposing projects that have no economic value on them but rather give them the best treatment as a leader and ensure the people of the state enjoy the government without passing through the kind of hardship of Ajimobi’s administration .