Posted by SaintOkocha on September 27, 2010 at 11:30pm
Ayo Abimbola, a United States based Naval health worker is seeking to represent Remo Federal constituency of Ogun State in the House of Representatives on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). A veteran of the United States Armed Forces, he currently manages War CasualtiesTracking (WCT) programs for the United States Marine Corps’ Wounded, Ill and Injured Tracking Systems as a Recovery Care Coordinator by way of Armed Forces Services Corporation (AFSC) in San Antonio, Texas. In this online interview with VICTOR ORIOLA, he regrets that money politics has eroded Nigeria’s value system.You are based in overseas where things are better planned, what informs your choice of coming home to contest election in the midst of uncertainty that has pervaded the polity?Let me begin by thanking you for such a pertinent and most relevant question indeed! In fact, it touches on the very essence of the rationale behind my contemplated career choice with regards to my current engagement in active politics in Nigeria. So, I must not hesitate to say I appreciate the opportunity afforded me to address it publicly at this forum. While it’s true that I have been based overseas for the past 21 years, I have nonetheless remained in touch with the home front on a routine basis, and more so, I’ve been very much involved in virtually every social and political issue of national significance in our polity; albeit behind the scenes, specifically, from the United States of America.All things being equal, many of us who have hitherto been domiciled somewhere other than Nigeria, will sooner or later at some point get to that moment of decision to return back home and begin to contribute positively to the upward mobility of our beloved nation, some of the knowledge, skills and abilities we have acquired or have been blessed with during our time in the Diaspora. It is part of coming back to our roots in order to be able to give back to our people. Having said that, the truth of the matter is the fact that for far too long many decent, skilled and honest people amongst us have stayed away from public service in Nigeria.The fear has always been the possibility of getting stained by the dirty waters of politics, so to speak. And the result has largely led to unqualified people and those without any social or political vision whatsoever being undeservingly allowed to lead our nation, causing arrested development. My dogged position is that the many clarion calls for transformational change in Nigeria today, if harkened unto, will be the beginning of wisdom for our people.Election in Nigeria has been monetised, how prepared are you?There is no denying the fact that politics and electioneering campaigns have become intimately interwoven with corrupt money influence, and that’s a dynamic that even advanced democracies such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, etc, continually work to check-mate dirty money influence in their polity. But the situation in Nigeria is particularly troubling because every aspect of our value system is under dirty money influence. So, it’s not just our electoral system that is monetised, but our entire value system is under the assault of money bags personalities who will stop at nothing to dupe, cheat, kill for personal or political gains, and even try very hard to steal or harvest from where they have not sowed any seed. So, I think it is part of the overall failure of the society that we have become. Therefore, the honest and godly ones amongst us must stand for righteousness and continue to pray for that divine intervention needed to reprogram the psychic of our people.But beyond prayers and faith, I think Nigeria as a nation must not only make concerted social efforts to rebuke and reject money bags personalities in our electoral system, we must enact legislation on nationally acceptable standards for political candidates. We must have laws that effectively deny and prohibit corrupt influence of dirty money in our elections, and this must become a national security obligation from our federal legislature to the country. While I don’t necessarily subscribe to the notion that election in Nigeria is all about money, I’m very concerned about the destructive influence which dirty money has on our politics and election system because of the high rate of chronic poverty and ignorance in our society.So, we must clearly delineate the standards for our electoral system and effectively return the political power back to the people. The issue of monetisation of election in Nigeria is what the National Assembly must begin to take the lead on. Election monetisation is a grave threat to our national security! And election monetisation in Nigeria must indeed be denied and prohibited by legislative promulgation. If elected to the Federal House of Representatives, I will lead an intrepid fight against this grave threat to our future, our democracy, our very existence as a nation, and our national security. The political right and the power to determine or choose who our elected leaders are must return back to our hitherto disenfranchised Nigerian people.With the assessment of the polity, what do you consider as the topmost priority of your people?In Nigeria today, the economic and social dynamics on the ground are pretty much similar all across the board. The story is the same; it is a downward spiral situation that does not discriminate among the victims of the national hard times that is currently ravaging the country. I certainly consider job creation opportunities in both rural and urban parts of the entire Remo Federal Constituency as the topmost priority for my people. We are generally very industrious people, but I think for far too long, way too many of my folks still can’t access basic capital or the needed credit to fund intended local businesses or market ideas.For this chronic social problem, I have a double-barrel type economic proposal designed to address this vicious cycle of local unemployment and underdevelopment in the grass root in the Remo Federal Constituency (Remo North, Ikenne, and Sagamu LGAs respectively). Social consideration for the elders and the youth of Remo especially weigh heavily on my mind. I will fight for the creation and establishment of a Social Security Stipend Fund (SSSF) for the elderly and physically handicapped citizens. And I will also endeavor to bring about the establishment of the multi-purpose “Remo Technology Workforce” for skills training, job search and placements in technology opportunities for the IT-savvy Remo youth and middle age people.The national assembly has been widely criticised for not doing enough inspite of their jumbo pay, what is your view on this?I think the issue of the jumbo pay is apparently becoming a hot-button problem that has created an imaginary line of social divide between our citizens and our elected officials. It has essentially become another one of the “us” against “them” type of matter which has largely been either due to very little or no government public disclosure about it, or much citizen speculation on the subject-matter of the salaries and benefit packages of elected members of the national assembly. I’m personally not even privy to the facts of what these guys earn other than what I have read over the Internet and other media outlets. So, I hate to speculate on fiscal matters of this nature without first affording myself the opportunity to see actual government publication of these pay packages.But in light of the alleged criticisms, I think it is fair game, and perhaps imperative to consider this issue from the perspective of the political party as well as the leadership cadre of those who have been in charge of our national Legislature for 12 years of continuous supposed democratic governance at peace time. If they have been responsible for what the general public deems an outrage, then I think they should simply come out and explain their rationale for the current government remuneration to the federal legislators. But if those outrageous amounts of the salaries of federal legislators as being reported are factually correct, that would truly amount to spiritual wickedness on the part of the government against the people; considering that there’s such a high level of poverty index and physical suffering among our people.There can be no justifiable rationale for a Nigerian federal legislator to earn more than a U.S. federal legislator considering the economic disparities and gross domestic product (GDP) ratings between the two countries.
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