Adeolu Akande, a professor of political science, is senatorial aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo North district. A veteran journalist, former university lecturer, former presidential aide, former chief of staff to the governor of Oyo state, and immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), he spoke with journalists and addressed sundry issues cutting across his ambition, the APC, and his vision for Oyo North senatorial district.
TheCable: How would you introduce yourself?
Akande: I am Adeolu Olumide Akande. I am from Otu in Itesiwaju LGA of Oyo state. I am 60 years old. I am a professor of political science and a lawyer. I hold a doctorate degree in political science from the University of Ibadan and had thought political science at the University of Ibadan, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo state and the Nigerian Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILD),the educational institute of the Nigerian National Assembly for research and teaching of democratic and legislative subjects. I have worked as a journalist at the Nigerian Tribune, The Punch and pro-democracy newsmagazine, Omega Weekly. I am also a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. I hold a master’s degree in law and presently I am presently into law practice as a principal partner at the The Law Hub Solicitors and Advocates.
TheCable: You are aspiring to represent Oyo North senatorial district in the Senate. Are you really prepared?
Akande: I have worked as a journalist, as a lecturer, a public servant and a lawyer. One value common to all of this is the well-being of the people. Journalism is about the promotion of the common good. As a teacher of Political Science, I teach the pursuit of the common good in society. I have served as a presidential aide, chief of staff to state governor, chairman of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). In all of these duty posts, I worked for the common good. All these roles prepared me for legislative duty which is principally about the protection of common good. Educationally, as a student of Politics and a lawyer, I have been prepared intellectually for legislative duties. Career-wise as a journalist, teacher of Political Science and a lawyer, I have been exposed to issues of best practices in democratic governance. My exposure in journalism, teaching and legal practice have given me the opportunity of a national network that will facilitate benefits for my constituency. All taken together, I believe my educational background and career have prepared me for the sacred role of the legislature.
TheCable: On Oyo North, there is a senator representing the district. How do you think you can displace him since you are members of the same political party?
Akande: The incumbent is Senator Fatai Buhari. This is his third term and he has opted to contest for the office of governor of Oyo State so there is a vacancy to fill.
TheCable: What will you say is your vision as a senator representing the district?
Akande: If you are familiar with Oyo North senatorial district, you will agree with me that it is the most challenged area of Oyo State in terms of development. We have Ogbomosho that is the most advanced part of the district but most of the other part of the district can adequately be described as disadvantaged area in terms of human capacity, availability of social amenities and infrastructure development. The Oke Ogun part of the district are late starters in education and we are still trying to catch up with other part of the state although there has been some development lately. We have probably the highest level of youth unemployment in the state. And this unfortunately applied to both educated and uneducated youths. A good percentage of Okada riders in Oke Ogun hold university degrees. They are under-employed. They ride Okada to hold body and soul together. The absence of social amenities and deficiency in infrastructure development applies to all part of the district. In spite of what you see in the Central Business District of Ogbomosho, there is yawing gap in the infrastructure need of the city and what is available, Given the population and vastness of the city, Ogbomosho requires much more attention to its infrastructure need than it is getting from the federal, state and local government. As a senator, it will be my duty to bring attention to this. It is my prayer is that the APC reclaims Oyo State in 2027, I will use my status as an influential member of the party by virtue of my position as a senator to call the attention of the state government to this.
The government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has unlocked the financial potential of the local councils and I believe with the coming of an APC government in Oyo state, we shall be able to take advantage of the new found financial independence of the councils to drive rapid infrastructure development at the grassroots. Of course, as a senator, it will be my duty to attract federal attention to our needs through efficient networking with federal ministries and agencies. There are countless intervention projects of the federal government that efficient representation will bring to the senatorial district and my experience at the federal level has exposed me to these opportunities. We shall structure our intervention to drive the economic potential of the district for the creation of wealth for our people, enhance infrastructure for development and social well-being and the special protection of the interest of our youths and women who are presently disadvantaged compared to their colleagues in other parts of the state and the country at large.
TheCable: Could you be more specific?
Akande: Thank you. Take agriculture, Oyo North is regarded as the food basket of Oyo state. This status qualifies the district for special attention of the federal government. Fortunately, agriculture and food security s a priority of the Tinubu Administration. As the food basket of the state, I will work at attract specific federal agriculture projects to the district besides the general intervention programmes which all farmers access. If you travel to the northern part of the country, you will see federal government intervention projects in agriculture at work. I will work to bring more of this to the senatorial district. It is estimated that Lagos State consumes food worth N40 billion every day. How much of this money come to the food basket of Oyo state that is barely two hours from Lagos State? We need to be intentional in marketing the potentials of the district to appropriate federal agencies for us to take full advantage of federal interventions. A special attention of the federal government is the reduction of foreign exchange in the importation of products like fruit drinks for instance and the Ogbomosho area is renowned for having one of the best mango fruits in the country. We need to work with relevant government agencies to explore this potential to satisfy government objectives of local production of food, create jobs for our people especially youths and create wealth for the local communities that stand to benefit for the dedication of the federal government to promote the agricultural potential of the Ogbomosho fruits.
The same applies to the development of our human capital. We have recently taken host of a federal university courtesy of the intervention of our leader, Professor Segun Gbadegesin and the incumbent senator, Senator Fatai Buhari and others. We need to build on this be attracting more federal educational institutions to the district. There are also countless federal intervention programmes like federal scholarships, foreign skill acquisition programmes and periodic self- development initiatives that we must regularly exploit for the benefit of our people. This calls for the existence of efficient constituency offices and liaison which I envision to provide. If you take medical facilities in the district, there is paucity of federal presence in this area in spite of the enormous population of the area. There are efforts in the last two legislative terms to bring a federal medical centre to the district. I will work for the achievement of this quest of our people.
TheCable: Oyo North has been centre of insecurity in recent times. What do you think is the problem and what do you plan to do to arrest this?
Akande: This is a problem inherited by the Tinubu Administration and a lot has been done by the government to arrest this at the national level and specifically in Oyo North Senatorial District. We have seen an enhanced presence of federal security agencies and this has reduced the incidence of insecurity in the district. The presence of solid minerals in many of the local government areas of the district is a major cause of insecurity. There are thousands of illegal miners in the district. We need to regulate the exploitation of mineral resources in the district in accordance with the Solid Minerals Laws enacted by the present administration. Regulating the sector and making the operators accountable with control the influx of bad elements into the district and check the excesses of miners that are drivers of conflicts between these operators among themselves and between the operators and aggrieved host communities.
TheCable: There has been agitation for the governor of Oyo State to come from outside Ibadan. Do you support this agitation?
Akande: I support the agitation 100 percent. By 2027, Ibadan would have produced the governor of Oyo State for 23 years out of 28 years of the present democratic dispensation. The five years of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala can also be attributed to providence. This is unhealthy for any polity. You can not speak of peace and stability when a significant population of the polity is unhappy and aggrieved. You will recall that part of the agitation that led to the electoral fiasco of 1983 in the old Oyo state was the agitation for an Ibadan man to be governor of the state. The emotional quest to recognition as an able member of the polity is the opportunity to occupy the highest office in the polity. Where this quest remains unattended to or treated with contempt, it creates tension that denies the state the full benefits of the contribution of its indigenes or citizens to its well-being. I believe the political elite of Oyo State particularly of Ibadan needs to subscribe to a power sharing charter that will give a fair opportunity to other parts of the state to produce the governor of the state. If we go by the logic of majoritarian rule, the our people in Ibadan will rule until the second coming of Jesus.
I have witnessed the argument over time that ones a party picks its candidate from Ibadan, which ever party picks its candidate from outside Ibadan will lose. I reckon that every party wants to win election and will therefore pick its candidate from the area that guarantees it a higher return of votes. Over 50 percent of votes in Oyo state locked in Ibadan and that is where political parties will rather pick their candidates from Ibadan. But can this go on for ever and guarantee the happiness of every indigene of Oyo state? More so when you realise that by logic of proportional progression, Ibadan will widen the population advantage over the other part of the state over time. I mean with 50 percent of the population, if all parts of the state grow their population by three(3) percent annually, the margin between Ibadan and others will keep widening so what is need is a conscientious political elite that will design a power sharing charter that will guarantee the right of the minority to be governor of the state; the kind of understanding that informed northern Nigeria leaders to concede power to the South in 1999 which forms the fulcrum of the contemporary political understanding that produced the presidency of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023.
TheCable: Your last appointment is chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC). What will you say are your key achievements in office?
Akande: I had the honour to serve as chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the NCC for two years and four months. Our team was able to record some major achievement within this period. This included the successful deployment of the 5G Internet service in Nigeria in 2022. As a precursor to this, we successfully auctioned the 3.5 GHz Spectrum Licence to generate $547.2 Million and another $273 million for three Spectrum Licences for the deployment of 5G Service. This was $152 million above the reserve price for each slot. This is USD 152Million additional revenue for government on each lot totalling $456 million revenue for government as auction proceeds. We also expanded broadband coverage in the country to over 55 percent. We also introduced many initiatives for Ease-of-Doing Business in the telecommutations sector in line with the government local content policy. We also started an extensive training programme for the training of thousands of Nigerian youths to service the emerging Nigerian digital economy.
TheCable: You have spoken extensively about the challenges of youth unemployment. Beyond government interventions, what do you think is the role of the private sector or individuals in addressing this problem?
Akande: There is no doubt that government cannot do it alone. The private sector and charity organisations also have roles to play in addressing this problem because it is decade old. As an individual, I have used my God-given opportunities to help many of our youths to acquire skill for gainful employment. With all modesty. i have helped a number of our youths gain employment in at least 21 federal and state institutions. I also fund and raise funds from friends and associates to help many youths in skill acquisition, scholarships and in the provision of start-up funds for businesses under the canopy of the Adeolu Akande Foundation.
Source: The Cable
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