In an uncommon interview with two personalities; Hon Gboyega Oloniyo,
Special Adviser on Housing and Mortgage to Governor Abiodun Oyebanji of
Ekiti State and Chairman Omnium Holding, Lagos, Asiwaju (Dr) Babatunde
Olugola; our correspondent in this question and answer session takes them
through several questions verging on the development of Ekiti State, better lives for
the indigenes of Ekiti State by Governor Oyebanji and his determination on how
Ekiti indigenes can be part of governance.
Q: Hon. Gboyega Oloniyo, please tell us about your job as an SA to the Governor
and how it has benefited the people of Ekiti State so far.
A: Thank you so much for having me. I think that’s a straightforward question.
As the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing and Mortgage
Development, I’m strictly in charge of ensuring that the good people of Ekiti State,
do have decent, livable, affordable accommodation in the form of housing units.
I’m bound to advise the Governor along that line to ensure that all that needs to
be done for the good people of Ekiti State are actualized. It is interesting to note
that Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration has these six pillars of focus for
his government. And I think housing comes under infrastructure, which is of
primary concern to me as the Special Adviser. It suffices to say that we’ve been
doing fairly well. We’ve been doing wonderfully well in that sector.
Q: We’ve noticed your association with Babatunde Olugola and there is no doubt
that he is a business-minded man who has the heart of helping his people, the
people of Ekiti going by many things he has done for them. So, what kind of
business are you planning for?
AN: First and foremost, Babatunde Odugola, you are referring to, is an Asiwaju.
Yes, I call him AsIwaju. And that’s who he is. That’s what we know him for. He is a
friend of the house. I know he has the abundant zeal to do great things for the Ekiti
people as well. And coincidentally too, he’s a man that has established his feet
within the real estate sector of Nigeria’s economy. I am also into real estate and I
must confess that Odugola is a go-getter when it comes to real estate towards the
actualization of the dreams of Ekiti State. I will say at this junction that he’s a man
of the moment. He’s a man who has a passion for his work and the lives of Ekiti
people. Incidentally, we think alike too on how to help the downtrodden and
minister grace to people within the capacity that God has given us. He’s a man
who has the burning desire to see Ekiti prosper. He’s keen on putting his heart in
the ring as well as ensuring that Ekiti deserves whatever is best for the state, So,
we should be able to work together at the point concerning the real estate sector.
Q: Asiwaju Olugola, tell us more about this joint venture with Ekiti State on a
real estate scheme. We just heard about it and now we want to hear from you
directly on how it is going to benefit Ekiti people both at home and abroad.
AN: Definitely, it will benefit them because this is the first of this kind of project
which we are embarking on. And we felt very deeply in our hearts that we all
need to earn our food and develop our state. We all need to put in our best and
contribute our professional process to the development of the state. And that’s
far better than what we are doing in other states.
Now, they will realize that we have a lot of people, Indigenous, at home and
abroad, who are willing and desirous of making a giant stride in the economy of
the state. But they need a better torchlight for them to do that and luckily, we
have a good governor who is very active and who is ready to give it all to make
sure the state moves forward and gets developed the way it was.
So, it’s a reason for us to embark on this project and make sure that the project
makes a turning point in the area of the electricity sector and development. More like
a housing area for the people to come in. And at the same time, to make it
affordable for them, make an affordable housing project for the state.
Q: Asiwaju, thanks for your response, but you have not told us what this project
is all about.
AN: Well, this project is subject to our proposal to the state government to bring
affordable housing development units to the people of Ekiti State. As you can
see, we still have a lot of underdeveloped projects in the state. And the reason is
that everybody is focusing on the state capital. But the moment we have this
project being embarked on, we realize that everybody from the local government
will want to have a project, have their own house and all that in their local
government. By doing so, it will drive down the economic advantage to each of
the local governments. It will also launch that local government into the limelight
whereby, if you come from any local government, anywhere you are, you want to
be part of that project.
Q: I know we have 16 local government areas in Ekiti State. So, are you telling
us that this project is going to be situated in every local government in the
State?
AN: Yes, the project will be in each local government in Ekiti State. Because what
we are trying to do is just to bring down development to each of the local
governments to develop Ekiti state simultaneously. Mind you, once there is an
infrastructural development in any local government, it will drive the economy.
And once it drives the economy, there will be manpower development. And once
that also comes into place, they will have a full-fledged development in that local
government. With that, they will have a better or more enhanced idea for the
state to thrive.
Q: Hon Oloniyo, We know that mortgaging is raising funds for people to buy
real estate. What measures are you putting in place so that this mortgage in
Ekiti State will not be like some of the bad experiences in Nigeria generally.
AN: Thank you for that wonderful question. I like to say that there is no hard and
fast rule that mortgages are not working anywhere in Nigeria today. And with the
wisdom of His Excellency Governor- Biodun Oyebanji when he carved out my
bureau, he called it housing and mortgage development. The thinking of His
Excellency is that there is no need for us to provide houses that people will not
have the economic well-being to acquire. So, he thought that the housing
provision must be available, affordable, and accessible to the people of Ekiti
State. That’s why, in his wisdom, he now asks that housing be married to
mortgage development. And to your question on mortgage development, it has
been going very well in Ekiti State as far as I know.
I must tell you also that, when His Excellency assumed office, even in the early
days of his administration, there had been a backlog of remittances for many
years that had not been paid. He graciously reduced the backlog to two months of
many years. So, he paid a lot of remittances back to the Federal Mortgage Bank,
which is the remittance upon which individuals can premise to have access to
funding in the areas of loans, in case there are provisions for houses. We’ve been
leveraging on that. I strongly believe that the remaining two months will be
cleared very soon and the people of Ekiti State can have access to all these
necessary loans. In mortgage development, a lot of things are unfolding for Ekiti
people at home and abroad.
There are many bouquets or packages that the Federal Mortgage Bank is doing. I
remember my visit to the Managing Director of Federal Mortgage Bank in Abuja
two months ago. We were able to fast-track certain things and put Ekiti
at the front burner on which these housing deliverables can be made and money
provided for developers to bring this thing home to the people. And again, apart
from that, there are many packages like rent to own. There are packages that if
you want to develop an estate, collectively you can come, cooperatively you can
benefit from them. More so, if you have a house you want to equip, there are
loans for such under the Federal Mortgage Bank. All these things we are trying to
bring down to our people’s awareness through sensitization.
Q: In June this year, the Governor met with real estate operators to reduce the
rent in Ekiti State. It’s been over three months, how has that been? What’s the
effect of that meeting?
AN: Thank you very much. You are very close to our activities in Ekiti State. I was
the one who met with them on behalf of the Governor. We discovered that to
encourage our developers, we can’t squeeze them out of existence. Believe it or
not, this is a capitalist economy we have here. And if the cost of building
materials is ever going up, we can’t say that rent should be muzzled. From where
would they make their money, even if they are doing this, even at a cost? But
what we did then was that we realized that there were some obnoxious charges
some of these caretakers were charging the good people of the state. At normal
balance in Ekiti State, you should have accommodation that a civil servant can
easily pay and move in and have a good living.
But there are these obnoxious charges that they are bringing on board that are
not making those things affordable for people. And you know, it’s a demand and
supply scenario. I think what the government should focus on more is what we
are doing already now in housing deliverables for the good people.
When you have the houses available, the price is likely to come down. So, there
is not going to be people cheating on another person. So, we have gone far with
that and we’ve been seeing results. We spoke to those people, but you know we
have some quacks in that industry as real estate agents and all these things.
Some of them are not even certificated. In other professions like Law, for you to
become a lawyer, you must have studied Law in the university, passed through
Nigerian Bar Association. Same in the medical profession, to be a doctor, it’s
expected that you should train as a medical doctor and become part of the Nigerian
Medical Association. Regrettably, with these quacks in real estate, they are not
regulated.
So, what we tried to do then was to bring sanity to that area, to ensure that good
people of Ekiti State, have a fair deal in what is available for now, so that they
won’t overprice these houses. The challenge we had again was this fly-by-night
success boys. You know, the so-called Yahoo-Yahoo boys. You need help tracing
their source of livelihood. They could come at any point in time and out-price
other potential buyers. Ironically, this is making it look like a predatory kind of
pricing that is taking this thing out of the reach of the people. So, by and large, I
think we are doing good in that area of rent. We’ve been seeing results. That’s
good.
Q: Asiwaju Olugola, Ekiti State has a lot of empty land. How well will your
agricultural plan fit in?
AN: The plan came into focus to turn the state into a more livable
place. In achieving this, we have to separate the two indices – Real estate and
agriculture. So, we must make sure we develop real estate far, far, far better.
At the same time, we also need to improve the standard of the agricultural sector.
The government is doing well in that respect. But we still need to come forward
and support the government’s efforts to boost the agricultural sector.
Q: Ekiti State is among those states that have off-cycle elections in Nigeria. So,
what are your plans for re-electing your governor for a second term? The
question is for both of you, Hon. Gboyga and Asiwaju Babatunde.
AN: Yes, I like that question. I think elections come with contests and you need
opposition, for instance. However, His Excellency has been doing extremely well.
It’s not because I’m part of the administration. But I strongly believe that we’ve
never had it this good before. The Governor is a man of the people and he’s not
ready to have enemies, so why would he want to be one? He’s not prepared. He
doesn’t have time to grow enemies. Some people have a tough election because
of their attitude, their disposition and power, and their lack of dexterity in what
they are doing. Or maybe they are unable to even deliver the goods, so far so
good, I know His Excellency has been able to deliver on the mandates to the
people of Ekiti State. He’s doing well in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure,
and road connection. He’s in charge of business development for the people. In
all the mandates, education is fantastic, and he’s doing so well in the areas of art
and culture and many other areas.
I think his style of governance is not making opposition available to him. The
The governor is good to go for a second term. However, there will be people who
want to make names politically speaking and so would want to contest against
him. They have the right to do so, but the Governor is far ahead of
them. Ekiti is fast becoming a one-party state, because all the people who
contested with him, both at the primary and at the general elections, visit him
almost every other day.
Q: Hon Oloniyo, if Ekiti is becoming a one-party state, is it good for democracy?
If you ask me, I think it’s a challenge, because we need people to put the ruling
party on their toes, so that they will be able to deliver more, people need more.
We are not supposed to sit and just cool off, assuming that all is good. Where the
opposition is working, it’s a plus for the ruling party. Even in Nigeria, you could
see fracas and all of that. People are not assuming their position. I believe
opposition is necessary for democracy, but if it is not there, must we create one?
We don’t need to create one unless we want to split it into two. So, I think the
party is getting stronger.
Q: Asiwaju Olugola, what is your view on re-electing the governor?
AN: Just like Hon. Gboyega rightly said, the governor has done so well. And if I
may say, this is the first time we will have a governor in the state, who is so
concerned about the wellbeing of Ekiti people. It’s not just me saying it. It’s what
the public can see of him, so he has done well. The fact that even all other party
members do visit him and are also ready to support his Administration is a
testimony. He’s a very humble man with a good listening ear. He’s so proactive.
At the same time, he’s lovable. So, he’s a man that I’m sure if you are there with
him, you know that this is where we should be. So, I think that is where we are.
Q: Please, what do you have for the Ekiti people at home and abroad before we
run off?
AN: Thank you. Before I go into that, I must commend your knowledge of Ekiti
State. Back to your question, I think the last shot is to expect more from the Governor
Biodun Oyebanji, because Ekiti people are widely travelled. According to what
Asiwaju said, that building houses in each local government might be phase one.
Naturally, our people are clannish and those living outside tend to
send money home to build, but only to see that such money is converted into
marrying more wives by their relations. I saw one incident like that in my local
town. The boy nearly ran mad. The mother was rushed to the hospital. The good
news is that with this administration, they can invite and partner with the state
government for the safety of the money they are sending home. For those in the
Japa mood, let them know that Ekiti state is about to develop. Now, under the
watch of our able governor, nothing is possible and you need to be part of this
movement, don’t be left out.
Q: Asiwaju Olugola, with the resources available in the State, Ekiti is one of the
states in Nigeria with a lot of professors. What do we make of those professors
this time around with a working Governor to better the lives of Ekiti people in
these digital ages?
AN: The professors we have in this state? Yes, the state with its high number of
professors is a clear indication for one to know that we are well-read. We are
well-nurtured people, good researchers, and we are people who are far more
manageable and intelligent. As you can see, we still keep doing it. And with the
modern-age technologies we have, I assure you that we will have more professors
than the numbers we have now, because we will still capitalize on it, and we will
do better.
