Why Ogun West has not produced governor – Ex-senator, Bajomo

Senator Kola Bajomo who represented Ogun West at the Nigerian senate between 2007 and 2011 speaks with OLUFEMI ADEDIRAN on the tax reform bills, and how Ogun West could produce a governor in 2027

As a former National Assembly member and an experienced tax expert, do you think the tax reform bills are the right approach to addressing Nigeria’s revenue challenges?

Tax matters should be subjected to reforms from time to time. However, they must be progressive and not punitive to the disadvantaged people. The tax reforms will create the need for various sectors of the economy to be more productive; for them to earn a tax return commensurate with the economic positions of various organisations or settings in that particular region. I know some sections of the country oppose the tax reform, but I know it will be sorted out in the arena of politics. If a situation where in the past, you sit down and earn from where you don’t deserve, is going to be looked into and more rationalised, so be it. If Nigeria is run on a federal system, it will create opportunities for competition among the federating units, and that is the way it should be.

Nigeria is currently facing significant economic challenges. In the face of this hardship, many Nigerians have continued to call for the cutback of legislators’ allowances. What do you think about this?

In an economic setting like ours, whatever sacrifices can be made in terms of rationalisation of expenditure is appropriate. If an organisation is facing some challenges, you look at your sales, revenue, and expenses. If you are struggling to improve your revenue but fail to contain your expenses, you are not doing justice to the well-being of the organisation. The two must go hand-in-hand. However, this should not be focused only on the legislators, all hands must be on deck as far as that aspect is concerned. But while that is desirable in terms of rationalising expenses as it affects everybody, including legislators, the real problem of this country is corruption. Corruption is the monster eating into us very negatively. If we can successfully handle that, then issues of earnings will be a secondary matter. Corruption cuts across all aspects of our economy. Are the executive, legislature, and private sector, immune to this? Are they not part of it? Many organisations have become moribund because of corruption.

Corruption is an issue that affects every one of us, and there must be reorientation as far as our values calling are concerned. Our values must be addressed from the primary school level point of view – from the way and manner we train our children in our various homes, to our religious inclination, training and upbringing; these are the factors that can shape our attention to curb the cankerworm of corruption.

You were in the banking and finance sector, what motivated your transition from the private sector to politics?

My career has not changed at all; I’m still practising as a chartered accountant. I’m still involved in accounting. I advise investors in the capital market. Politics was a digression, and it’s about time that people of our kind of calling continued to take an interest in politics. It is good for the country, particularly if you will bring the moral aspect of your upbringing to bear in political ventures because that is not quite present these days, and that should bring about a change. The only way it can change is for other people who are running away from politics because they consider it a dirty game to stop distancing themselves from politics. You have to be inside the politics to be able to effect some kind of change which will not come overnight. It is going to be a gradual process; it is a work in progress. No nation was built overnight.

Look at the kind of politicians we have in other countries; in United Kingdom, you talk of Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Macmillan, Gladstone, Margaret Thatcher, etc, they are all products of Cambridge, Oxford and some other well-meaning universities. But that does not mean first degree in Oxford and Cambridge will make you a better politician. However, the fact that your calling was solid, not only educationally, but also morally, will influence your political ventures and activities. These people that I have mentioned all have their shortcomings, but at the end of the day, they are people of good reference.

In a country like Nigeria, we cannot continue to fold our arms and allow Nigeria to regress rather than progress.

Do you support the call for part-time legislature?

Is part-time legislature taking place anywhere in the world? You can’t be paying lip service to a calling, to a service. To serve a country is not a part-time issue; it is something that should be addressed squarely. But that does not mean public service should be a place where you should unduly enrich yourself. The earnings have to be in consideration of the entire nation’s desirability, in terms of the assessment of your output. It has been argued that Nigerian legislators’ earnings, compared to other parts of the world, are a little bit more on the high side. I believe that there are reasons for that, but people didn’t look at the reasons. I must have received more than 15 requests for support or assistance from my constituents this morning. They considered that to be their right. There are other issues for consideration, like contributing to the well-being of your constituents, in terms of educational and infrastructure supports, providing boreholes and other things for them in their various small hamlets and villages. Though you might say the cost is not too high, by the time you multiply them, it will come to quite a lot, and that is the aspect of the constituency allowances. It is the constituency allowances that make up the so-called earnings.

Constituency allowances, if is properly effected, monitored, and audited, will be something desirable, because the executive cannot reach everybody. Legislators are more open and in touch with the people. How many people will accuse the minister of not addressing his constituency? All they do is to go to the member of the House of Reps, or House of Assembly, or the senators. You will see all of them (legislators) being involved in the empowerment programmes for their people. How many members of the National Assembly are being recalled? The people are the beneficiaries of some of these constituency project allowances.

However, my argument is against the consideration of rationalisations of what we consider to be earnings and all those obnoxious allowances if they truly exist. But as far as the constituency projects are concerned, they can be better handled, and the people should continue to benefit from them

Ogun West Senatorial District has yet to produce a governor since the creation of the state. Why do you think the district has not produced a governor?

One, the region has not witnessed meaningful development. Infrastructurally, their people are not as wealthy as the people from other senatorial districts; their network of opportunities are not as wide as that of others. Yes, Ogun West has some influential individuals but not quite as robust as the others. The district in terms of ethnicity is more diverse than Ogun Central and Ogun East. In terms of ethnicity, you will find the Aworis, Eguns, Anagos, Isokan, Yewa, the Ketus, as different from Ogun East and Central. Their kind of diversity is not negatively pronounced and the common ground is there. But the common ground in Ogun West is not quite as fertile and founded as in other districts. These are the factors that may have been responsible for Ogun West not producing a governor in the state since its creation. However, that does not mean it is something that cannot be resolved. I think it is beginning to get a solution. As far as I know, the Yewas are very united now.

Do you think the region can break this jinx come 2027?

I am certain, by the grace of Almighty God, that the jinx will be broken. It is not even good for a state like Ogun, perhaps, without gainsaying, one of the most supposedly progressive states in the country. A state of Obafemi Awolowo, MKO Abiola, Olusegun Obasanjo, Simeon Adebo. The party which Awolowo represented had been at the forefront of fighting for the rights of minorities over the years. How can they now be finding themselves in the state where a particular senatorial district is being unduly disadvantaged? I must be careful not to blame anyone for the disadvantages, but it can be corrected. There can be a way out, and there is a way out. Efforts have been made in the past, but somehow, the way and manner the political combinations were made, did not make it easy for their goal to be achieved in the political arena of campaigns and contests. But all those manoeuvrings that have not been helpful can be rearranged and reconsidered, and one can look forward to a successful campaign by Ogun West to field the candidate for the governorship position and eventually win the election. It is not going to be easy. There is no constitutional provision for rotation as to who becomes governor, but there has been some kind of understanding. Ogun West has been more of a struggler as far as that understanding is concerned, but it can be corrected and improved upon, and I think Ogun West is on the verge of achieving that.

What must the region do to produce a governor in 2027?

What they must do to get the seat is what they are doing now – robustly contesting, making their intention known, and playing politics. You cannot sit down and expect things to just come to you on a platter of gold. Ogun West must put their house in order. Their house was not properly in order before. If and when you have two or three of you contesting for a particular position, and just one person is contesting from another senatorial district, you are wasting your time. There must be understanding, we must not create divisions among ourselves.