by: Sunday Adebayo

Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia is a former governor of old Bendel State, a retired General and astute politician. Now an elder statesman, held in high esteem in his home state and the nation at large, he bore his mind on a wide range of issues in Edo State, the nation and beyond.

A reader’s delight.

Going back memory lane, people seemed contented and at peace when you were governor Bendel State which comprised what is now Delta and Edo States. What do you think of the crisis rocking PDP in Edo state right now?

The only word I’ve always used is mismanagement of victory, when a political party of substance goes to election, whether it wins or loses, it must set up a committee to access their performance. Whether PDP did it or not, I don’t know; but not to my knowledge if they did. Notwithstanding its management of victory was poor and I think too that the people themselves were tired of hearing the same voice every day, the issue of change came into focus.

Your assessment of the present Edo state government

I have been there before and I know the problems and understand some of the approaches taken. The man, Adams Oshiomole has performed extremely well and that is why I decided to defend him, and give him all my support. That is why whatever he does, I look at it against the background of the difficulties which myself passed through. So from the point of view of development, he has done the best he could, but that doesn’t mean he could not do better maybe because there was not enough money.

You could have intimated him with some information about the Benin people when he came in to perhaps perform better.

There is no one that he has not done well to; there is nothing I asked him to do that he didn’t do, after looking at the totality of the problems of what I experienced myself, Oshiomole has done wonderfully well.

APC’s primaries brouhaha and the emergence of Obaseki. Is the party is united enough to win the election?

Well I cannot speak on that because I was not at the primary, secondly I only read about it in the newspaper and perhaps the rumor here and there by people who attended and those who didn’t attend and there was great variation between the story being tabled by those who attended and those who heard it, so we don’t know which one to believe, but my belief is that if people appreciate goodness in anybody, they should appreciate what Oshiomole has done in this state because if other previous governors had done as much, he would have gone higher than he did now. As far as I am concerned I think that if people look at what Oshiomole has done against the background of what people did in the past, they will vote for APC.

Is Obaseki is up to the task of providing 200,000 jobs as promised, a thing he couldn’t do as Head of Oshiomole’s economic Team?

Firstly, Obaseki is not in my view a politician, he is not a professional politician, he is a technocrat and in his position as a technocrat, he has information on all the affairs of government, as to whether he could have done that as technocrat, advising the governor, the ultimate responsibility for the job to be done is that of the governor. He may have recommended and the governor did not see it as a priority, so you cannot blame him. I have had discussions with him and I am convinced that he knows where the pendulum is swinging, he knows where he is going because his objectives are very clear to him and he’s also not mindful of the fact that while he is looking straight at the objectives, there are many intervening obstacles, diversional obstacles on the way, and he is prepared to negotiate them. So it is that ability that gives him credit over his opponent.

Could Osagie Ize Iyamu possibly surpass Oshiomole’s achievements if he clinches the number one seat in the state?

Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu is my son; his father was my own father. when the man was leaving, he said look after your son for me. Pastor Osagie has tremendous energy and unquestionable credentials, but he is on a shaken platform, probably if he was in APC, there would be no problem, he would by now be celebrating. But first, he had to kill two birds with one stone, he had to reactivate the reputation of the PDP and then take advantage of it to ask them to vote for him but he cannot do the two together because correcting the hills of the past and calling them to order, by the time they finish, the vote is over. But as a person you can’t beat him, he is a first class fellow and I will go with him anywhere.

Has he a better chance to become governor if he can rectify these problems of PDP in Edo state?

Two areas stand out of concern here. The elites who at their drinking base criticize his party. Then the population; the majority card bearers who can vote. The elites whose voices he hears so loud every day are minority. He must target the majority; so it is not something you can do in one month or two months.

If he still remains in PDP to correct the ills of the past, he will be on top but whether he can do everything together before next election is what I don’t know.

It was recently reported that the governor barred the PDP from gathering at Ogbemudia Stadium. Are you aware of this?

No I never heard but the truth is; as at today the government is the caretaker and trustee of the stadium. The stadium belong to the people, so it is for them to say yes, this man coming to the stadium, will it be in our own benefit or against us? That is what it is. But I believe that when government refuse to allow them to organize at the stadium, the generality of the people who would normally have gone to the stadium didn’t feel too good about it, so they might decide to punish government for it, so you don’t know where the pendulum is swinging but it’s important to note that they should not have denied them usage of the stadium because that will not add any much value to whatever they are doing.

What is the difference in the state’s politics now and in your era as governor?

Yes remember I was the governor at a time when I was a military officer, I was only on posting by the supreme headquarter to Benin. I didn’t win any election. But when I came back and decided to seek election I won because I told them to allow me finish the unfinished job and they agreed and I won so comparing the two, you will find that there is quite a monumental difference.

How far have gone with Samuel Ogbemudia foundation?

Good, over the years I have been a victim of diabetic and from tablets, I progressed to insulin in 1970 and I started injection 1980. I didn’t want other people to suffer the same thing because of lack of information, more importantly the diet that can easily cure the problem. So I got together experts who are prepared to help, some of them in America, some in Canada and some in Great Britain. So we set up Ogbemudia foundation to purely accomplish three things, the first is good governance, the second is youth empowerment and detect its non-communicable diseases, from the diabetic information we are putting together and talking to people on what they need to know. Sometimes I address people and at the end of it, I can tell if they have diabetics. The foundation is going on gradually. But those who are going to help me are yet to come.

How much assistance, donations or help have you received thus far?

The present Delta state government has been helpful. When the governor came, he brought a cheque of five million to the foundation. Oshiomole promised to help and am hoping that once the problem on hand is sorted out, he will do something. There are many people we’ve talk to, but we have not asked for help, and when I have got all those information and those visitors have come and put down what they can do, then I will know what I need and ask people to assist us..

How have you managed to stay strong at your age?

Well, credit goes to my wife Mrs. Yetunde Ogbemudia. However, I n 1953, I was admitted into hospital and the doctor diagnosed me of Amoebic dysentery and I spent twenty one days, but when I had my accident in August 5, 2010, I break my leg and I have to move from one operation to another. Apart from that leg, well so far am alright, I can see, I can move about with my walking stick but better than it was a year ago. Gradually the thing comes up, and the doctor told me that I am suffering from incurable disease. When I asked him what disease, he said old age and asked whether I’ve seen anybody who cured old age. (laughter). I said no.

Your advice the younger generation who are aiming for the skies

My advice is simple; when I was a boy, an elder cousin of mine passed his junior Cambridge and we had a wake keeping to thank God that he was able to get to that standard. I witnessed the graduation of an open university in London and one of the graduates was 94 years old, and when the press asked him at the age of 94, why was he bothering, he said he had always wanted to be educated. Sometime in 1969, I was the sole administrator of the Nigerian Airway and I advertised for an accountant and twenty five thousand people applied. We set up a criteria to screen the application and finally came to a hundred and we had to be looking for criteria to reduce it. But finally out of that hundred, there were six with master’s degree, there were two with a PHD, so what do you do? Do you leave the PHD and take the first degree. Nigeria should no longer rely on first degree; they should go further and specialize , when I was the governor, I told the ministry of education to inform all the students that anybody who came out of the college with good result in WAEC would get an automatic scholarship. if you got a first class from a university degree, you get automatic scholarship to study for higher degree because the Nigeria of tomorrow was going to be very competitive and so it was. So the youth must learn to concentrate on their studies, stop fighting and strive to reach the ultimate.

Your advice for Edo people as election draws near

My advice is this, if they want development, they don’t want their money to be spent paying lawyers and going to court every day. They must pick the person whose chances are better because every person has a way of accessing.

Would you say you are fulfilled in life?

I am fully fulfilled in many ways. First I never thought that I will ever get here One gentle man brought his insurance paper to me in 1960, he said it will mature in 1975; it was 15 years away and I said I won’t take because fifteen years is too far , but eventually I was pressed to pay into bank in order to insure myself. On a date in 1975 I received a letter, it said my insurance was due and asked where i wanted the money paid into. I regretted not putting more but I never thought I will witness it mature. Secondly, I never dreamt that one day I would be governor of a state, Bendel state for that matter. Thirdly, I never thought when I joined the army I would be a general. I merely got there to do my own work and God was kind to me and they moved me forward and fast. I have had children and God has been kind, not one of them has ever been admitted in the hospital, no one is sick. Where I live, this house, I inherited it from my mother and I live here. I did my governor job from this very table so what else do I want? All I have gotten have never meant anything to my children because they all live at their own houses and are all ok. These days governors and others are told to handover the government house within 24 hours to the new governor, but it didn’t happen to me because I just stayed in my house where I operated from.