Ganiyu Dada is a High Chief and the Oluwo of Itoki-Otta. A renowned political economist, he is one of the most successful businessmen Ogun state can boast of. He is the chief executive officer of Aldrem ventures Ltd, a multi-million naira firm, makers of Koza Water, Koza Invitations and Koza Occasional cards etc. With a penchant for business and education, his ambition to serve his people and contribute to the development of Ogun West, lured him into politics, where he emerged as the People’s Democratic Party, Ogun West Senatorial candidate. In this interview with Ayodeji Ake, Dada shares some strategies he would adopt to resolve the perennial issues of bad roads in Ogun state, especially in the border communities in Otta, highlighting some business opportunities and wealth creation, his focus on elementary education in developing communities and security strategies.
What informed your decision to run for the senatorial post?
Someone had already been given the Ogun ticket, but along the line, there was realignment when the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) group came into the PDP. Because Akinlade is also Yewa as the holder of the PDP ticket, there had to be a balancing act, which won me the ticket.
What are you bringing to the table?
I’m bringing in my experience from the private sector. I have been running my business for almost 40 years now and I have gathered experience. I have also runfor an office before now.
So I’m bringing both experiences to the table. Over theyears, I have always been somebody who is always interested in politics and how I am governed. I have always believed that if you don’t have an interest in politics, people who are not as competent as you will take decisions that you will have to abide by. This is an opportunity for me to serve my people and I believe it’s also an opportunity for me to contribute to the development of the West Senatorial district.
There have been loud murmurs about bad roads in Otta, how do you intend to solve this issue in that axis?
I’m going to be representing Ogun West. To be candid, bad roads are everywhere, but it is much more pronounced in Ogun West. There are bad roads everywhere. For Otta, the proximity to Lagos makes the case in Otta much more difficult to handle. There is an influx of people to Otta every day and we have the largest number of industries in Otta. As a result, all these industries have containers and big trucks coming in and out every day. More trailers are coming in from Agbara, and Igbesa and they are putting a lot of pressure on the roads. These roads were constructed then for five tons of vehicles in those daysand they didn’t plan for the heavy duty trailers that carry 30 tons and some containers are overweight and there are no
weighbridges to check them unlike in the 70s when you had weighbridges checking the trailers using the roads that were built to last maybe 20 years because we now use heavy vehicles on them, don’t last more than five years. One thing we have to get right is that our major roads have to be reconstructed to carry heavy-duty vehicles. If we don’t take that decision, we will continue wasting money on palliatives. For the influx of people coming into Ogun State, there are some access roads (alternative routes) that need to be done.
A lot of them are in Otta adjourning Lagos State. For example from Ayobo, Lagos State, our state can complete the job from where the boundary of Lagos ends. This will relieve the pressure on Agege motor road so they can exit into Lagos without coming to Otta again. If we get that right, the pressure on that road will reduce.
Aside from the road structure, what other things are you planning as your manifesto to bring to the table?
What I have discovered is that for the five local governments, there are common
denominations: bad roads, security, and lack of educational facilities are common
but to different degrees. Some local governments don’t need roads that will carry big trailers. All they need are motorable roads. What I found difficult in Nigeria is that some governors will do dual carriageway in an area where for the next 20 years, there would be no traffic on the dual carriage roads. We don’t need such roads everywhere. Just a well-done single lane is enough to evacuate all the traffic easily. Getting our priority right is what is important. Because someone is doing dual carriage roads doesn’t mean it should be copied. We should do what is functional
and what we need. Taking Oju-Ore Otta as a case study, the traffic people go through
is very hectic. If they had done the flyover needed there, it would have relieved the traffic there.
As a successful businessman with over 40 years of experience, how do you create a more business-friendly environment and also restructure the educational scheme with a view to elevating OgunWest?
I will take the industry first. I have looked out for a model in Ghana and it’s called ‘One Industry by District’. What we can look at is to achieve one business per local government. It will be an industry peculiar to that local government. It could be as simple as ‘garri’ processing or ‘fufu’ processing in the Yewa axis. When you visit Yewa, you will see that ‘fufu’ is the major food they eat every day, and processing can be improved. We can have an industry that helps them in order to have a faster turnover. The way it is done has created small jobs and it can be done on a bigger scale to the extent that ‘fufu’ made can be shipped every day to Lagos, Abeokuta, and other places. Imagine fi we are sending a truckload of ‘fufu’ well packaged every day. I see and think it’s doable.
I heard that one of the former senators established a garri factory in Ado-Odo Otta Local Government, he didn’t finish it before his term ended, but I understand that he has done the main building and it is just the equipment that can be completed. For the Ipokia axis, the last time I was there, I was shown new houses built by people who made money from palm kernel processing. What I’m looking at is clearingfarmland for them, and planting the palm kernel trees, it will take four years for it to mature, but we can also embark on such long-term projects we can get it done, then in another four years, people will start reaping it. We can do it on a bigger scale.
Also, if we build a flyover in Ipokia, giving them access to Badagry rather than coming to Atan before going to Badagry will ease stress. Now they go by boat, them. In Ogun State, Ogun West happens to be the poorest area and we need to do a lot of things to develop our people in terms of thinking out of the box on how to create wealth. There are so many things that can be done.
For education, what I have discovered is that the educational establishment especially the primary and the secondary, unlike when we were young, once a new
town is coming up, the government would put up a primary school, but it’s not the same today. The government is not building new schools anymore. It’s the communities or the private school you would find there. A community lamentedto me that they want a primary school. Their kids travel three kilometres from Igboloye to lju for primary education. When the community was developing, they thought they didn’t need it, but as the community was growing, they saw the need for it and they said they have lands for primary schools and health centres to be built for them. My goal is for any community springing up, to get a primary school no matter how small so that in the next four to five years the kids would have been mature enough to go to secondary school in the neighbouring communities. I want to concentrate on elementary education, which is extremely important to me.
For security, the vigilante is also extremely important. The security problem is not uniform and needs to be addressedaccordingly. For the Idi-Iroko axis, the problem is smuggling and problems with customs officers. They believe the officers are harassing them, while the officers are duty bound to check smuggling are feeling they are always smuggling. They are in the
border community, many of these people don’t have a job. They have been doing this back and forth trade with the neighbouring country. Some people are not seeing the neighbouring country as another territory, they are seeing it as a community and that’s what they do for a living. But
in Otta, the problem is not the same, which is why I said the security problem is not uniform
and must be addressed accordingly. In Otta, we have problems of robbery and vandalisation and because of urbanisation, we have a serious problem of drug abuse.
The Olota is not taking it lightly and has been meeting with the parents to warn
their children. The major thing that is common is the vigilante because we don’t have enough policemen. On several occasions, it is the navy that assists us in Otta because of the Navy School there. If we can improve the Amoketun, So Safe, and Vigilante then we feel we can improve security in Ogun State.
There have been complaints that some areas of Ogun State don’t feel government presence at all. The previous administration in its endeavor tried to create LCDAs to bring the government closer to the people, but was scrapped. How do you think the government could be brought closer to the people?
If we allow the 20 LGAs to function effectively, the people will feel the impact.
For PDP, one of the cardinal principles that we are pursuing is local government autonomy. Our Gubernatorial candidate in Ogun State, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu has promised he would release local government to them in full. When we weregrowing up, the local government made roads and cleared the gutters in the communities. Today I’m not sure some local governments can have the capacity to clear the gutters in front of their offices. There was a time I, as a High Chief, joined in sweeping the community, but we were left with no choice. If we have full local
government autonomy, we will get things done much faster.
APM merging with PDP and Akinlade teaming up with Adebutu, do you see PDPtaking the state in the next gubernatorial election?
There is no doubt that we are winning this election. APC is a damaged product. Why
would anybody vote for them for what they have done for this country? Today, a bag of rice is almost N40,000, if not more than that. If I’m sending someone on an errand from Otta to Ikeja, I would have to give him N2,000 for transport fare. Imagine someone living in Otta and working in Lagos spending N2,000 on transportation every day, then what will be left of his salary to cater for his family? I could remember that during Obasanjo’s administration, people including myself walked into the showroom and bought brand new cars, but not anymore. Before Obasanjo left, the middle class was already coming up in Nigeria, but today, the reverse is the case. APC had already campaigned for the PDP because things are so bad. I know a lot of people who couldn’t afford to use their diesel generators anymore. What APC has been doing throughout its campaigns is to create controversies, they don’t want to talk about issues. We need to interrogate their intentions and debate them.
How do you see yourself defeating the major opposition?
For me, the contest in Ogun West is between the son of the soil and a foreigner. I’m an indigene of Ogun West. In every form that I have filled in my life, I have always filled either Ifo-Otta Local Government or Ado-Odo Otta Local Government, where I hailed from. The person competing with me can’t claim the same. He can’t claim he has always filled Yewa South as his local government origin. He is not from our senatorial zone. He has been in Lagos as a senator for seven years and a legislator for 20years and must have claimed Lagos all these years. When he first came, the first town he claimed he hailed from was Abeokuta North, which is Ogun Central. He was reminded and reclaimed that he is from Joga Orile. He has celebrated several festivals in Joga Orile and now claims Ilaro. For me, the difference is very clear in terms of who I am and who he is. I’m a bonafide son of the soil. I’m a High Chief in Otta, the Oluwo Itoki of Otta, I have the pedigree from the background that you can’t fault. Another plus is that my grandfather’s mud house is in Otta. I’m not sure the person competing with me can point out where he buried his father in Ogun West
