He is young, vibrant and determined; at 30 years, he has attained the height he planned for. He is a Ph.D holder, a lecturer at University of Calabar and a native of Ayetoro, Yewa North in Ogun State. Dr. Oluseyi Dada told Top Celebrities Magazine’s Assistant Editor, Sunday Adeyemi that the major reason he is aspiring for House of Representatives is to go there and liberate his people from poverty and one of the channels is to use his education. He said this and more in this interview. Read on…
Tell us other things we need to know about you
Well, I am a lecturer at University of Calabar, I have worked at University of Ibadan, Federal College of Education, Oyo State and I have more than 20 publications both local and foreign. I have represented Nigeria as a delegate to some conferences that have to do with education.
Why do you want to go to House of Representatives to represent North Constituency?
Well, that is a very interesting question. I will just give you few of the reasons. In Ogun State, Yewa North or Yewa land, I don’t want to call it the name people call it but Yewa people are regarded as minority people. I want to promote Yewa land and as we all know, you can’t do anything meaningful if you are not focused you don’t have the interest of your people at heart. I think one of the instruments or tools that I can use to really promote Yewaland is to join politics and defend the cause of our people in the National Assembly.
Have you ever embarked on any project in your area to give you such confidence to contest for the House of Representatives slot?
How do we define a project? I have a basic definition for it. People think that giving money for a social ceremony like a party is a project. This is not a project, that cannot really eradicate poverty. Sometimes, politicians come home every weekend, buy beer for people and give them peanuts, is that a project?. I want to make an appreciable impact on the people. As a lecturer, I assist students in getting admission into the universities or higher schools of learning. This is what we need because most of our children in Yewa land venture into ‘okada’ business after primary school. I have been encouraging parents in Yewa to send their wards to schools, get education and develop themselves, that is the first instrument to fight poverty. We cannot fight poverty without education, that is number one. Two, within my area, particularly, my own unit, the major problem we have is water and you know virtually every government always has water project as its priority because some people say without water, there is no life. In my own little way, I have been able to dig some boreholes to provide water for the people and getting them out from the problem of water. In my area and other neighbouring villages, I have been able to talk to the council of elders to establish schools and as I am talking to you now, we have five schools that have been established although they have not reached the required standard. We have started; there is one at Imeko community, the government has provided teachers now, I assisted them with the provision of furniture so that the children can get education because the global pursuit now is that children should have access to education and quality education is a priority. Also, we have been able to provide infrastructural materials for those schools, so as to motivate teachers and students. There are other schools we have started (in their third term), so in such community, they have suffered for so many years, their children travel to neighbouring towns to attend schools, the neighbouring towns I am talking about have schools and I have met some community leaders in order to extend such gesture to our wards. So, I promise to do more if the opportunity is given to me.
You talked about poverty, are you very close to the grassroots to know their plight?
I spent my early life there, I schooled in Ayetoro community, I had my primary and secondary education there. So, I understand what poverty means to my people, we don’t even have any higher institution. I know what it takes, I was able to make it because I had the opportunity of scholarship then with the state government, I know many of my friends that we started together then but didn’t have the opportunity. Today, by the grace of God, I am a PhD holder, it is simply because of the opportunity I had and this was very rare in our time. Now, I am advocating for that opportunity to be made available to our children because without education; there is no way you can eradicate poverty. People find it difficult to eat three square meals per day and the standard of living is very poor.
What should your people expect from you if you are given the ticket?
Of course, they know the kind of person I am and I know I have been with them, they know my background, they know what I can do or not. I am sure the expectation will be high. One of my major priorities is on education, next to that is employment; few ones among my people that have been able to come out of higher institutions will be catered for. I hope to have a vocational centre in the two local governments that form the constituency where skills will be rendered to our youths. Our major occupation in Yewa land which is farming, will be given full support to help them develop their farming techniques. We would provide agricultural needs like fertilizers and others and also encourage mechanized farming. We want to thank Governor Amosun on his efforts to transform Yewa land and Ogun State in general. I am going to bring in entrepreneurs to come in and establish few firms in order to create jobs for our people.
How will you describe the leadership of Senator Ibikunle amosun in Ogun State?
Senator Ibikunle Amosun is doing well even though there are challenges, what every good leader needs is good followership, Governor Amosun has done a couple of good projects but I know with the cooperation of the followers; he will do more for the state.