Mustapha Ayoola Ishola, an aspirant for the Ogun West Senatorial District under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2027 general elections, is a seasoned entrepreneur committed to national growth and development through strategic knowledge and experience. A native of the Yewa region in Ogun State, Ishola shares his vision, political ambition, and why he believes the ADC stands a better chance, despite the dominance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), in this interview with OLADIPUPO AWOJOBI. Excerpts:
Why do you want to be a senator?
I am running for the senatorial seat of Ogun West Senatorial District under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2027 to continue the good work Senator Adeola Solomon Olamilekan (aka Yayi) started in the district. I believe that there are quite some places that we need representation on. While there has been drive for infrastructural development in Ogun West, empowerment has not been coming from within, it’s been coming from outside.
The production level of Ogun West is around agricultural incentives, but professional and technical levels in the area are still very close to zero. Those are the aspects that drive growth in the region. There are so many aspects that have not been considered for the growth of the region and there should be more emphasis on those areas. Getting money for financial empowerment is important and we should teach people how to fish rather than giving them fish. We will drive the people on how to produce when we emerge from Ogun West as a senator.
You mentioned Senator Yayi, who was a lawmaker in the Lagos State House of Assembly from 2003 to 2011. In 2011, he went to the House of Representatives and has been at the Senate since 2015, could you tell us the political experience that prepared you for this office?
The reality of life is that it is not everyone that will start their journey in politics or in one particular area. I started my journey in the industry. I was the Managing Director of Musish Ventures, we are experts in personnel assessment for employment and several processes. It’s not everyone that will join politics early, some join late because they seek professional development first and that is the category I belong. I left the American University in Nigeria as an outstanding student in my department, Department of Economics, and I bagged an award.
I then said let me have some experiences before I start my own company. Professionally, I have more experience than Senator Yayi. I have had affiliations with several professional bodies. Senator Yayi started early because he was pushed through. I am a self made politician, I have not been pushed by anyone. It’s my drive to see improvement that got me here. Also, I have many friends in so many positions, some of them senators, so I believe I can actually fit into the area.
Who are your political mentors, I mean the people you look up to politically?
There are so many people I look up to in politics, one of them is Senator Yayi. He is somebody that came into our area with a serious development agenda, it’s not just by words of mouth, he is actualising what he said. When he makes promises, he delivers on the promises, which shows integrity. He is one of my mentors. We have a lot of them in ADC. I have many local and international mentors.
You are in ADC, but in most parts of the South West, the popular parties are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), what do you think are your chances even if you are chosen as the candidate of your party for the district?
In Nigeria as a whole, ADC has had more successes than many other parties, especially in Ogun State. Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI) was produced by ADC, and so many people won from ADC before joining the APC for some reasons. So, ADC is an excellent party that has produced winners in the past and it will still produce more winners. We suspect that some people might not even have good chances of becoming governors where they are now. I suspect that if Senator Yayi fails to win the ticket of the APC as governorship candidate, he might come to the ADC. We discussed recently in the party that since we believe in the ‘Yewa Lokan Agenda,’ (it is the turn of people from Yewa area), we will take him in. ADC is a very strong party in Ogun West.
On APC and PDP, a lot of people have attributed the problems of Nigeria to the PDP with its failed leadership problem. Talking about APC, you know so many things are going wrong in the party, a musician just sang about that. The love of the people for APC has diminished, but there are exceptions like Senator Yayi, which was why he recently got an award for his performance at the Senate. The majority of the others in the APC are not likeable, they are not people you can look up to.
When it comes to getting a chance, PDP is an extreme failure and the APC has made life difficult for the people. That is why they are being told to go round and empower people and give them food. We believe that ADC is a strong a party in Ogun West and we believe that the people will give us a chance and support me based on my programmes.
Most times, when politicians get into offices, they are disconnected from the people, what assurance are you giving that you will not be like other politicians if you get into office?
Somebody told me recently that they are looking for someone who could fit into the shoes of Senator Yayi, and continue the work he started. What we have seen is a good example from Yayi. Also, I am not being sponsored by a godfather, I offered myself to serve my people.
Those who are sponsored by godfathers do have problems. If the godfather spends N300 million on them, for instance, and their salaries are not more than N20 million, they would cut corners. But we are not going to do that, we are not going to be taking people’s money and we are not going to be sponsored by people, whose objective is to siphon the national treasury.
What do you think is the problem with Nigeria as some people are saying may be we should go back to parliamentary system of government or organise a new constitutional conference?
The Nigerian problems are multifaceted, going back to the old system is not the way forward. The best thing is to improve on capacity and try to make things work. For example, we have spent billions of naira on our refineries and they are not working. Our maintenance culture needs to be improved up, we need people who are ready to make things work. The innate desire to get something done must be there. It’s not the system, but the management by the people, the people themselves should have the desire to make things work.
It took someone like Yayi to make people know that things can work. Somebody desperate enough to make things work. I have been abroad and you see a lot of people saying that things are not working in Nigeria, what’s wrong with the country. That idea of something is wrong with Nigeria must be cleared from the heads of the people so that the brain drain won’t be there. If people like me could come home and they see that we are making things work, people would want to come back home. If not, the country would be for old people and it would be for the highest bidders.
What do you think President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should do urgently for the remaining two years of his first tenure as he would be two years in office in May?
I believe he has good plans, but he doesn’t have the right people to execute them. Also, he should support multi-party politics so that leaders can spring up from everywhere. There is something he tried to do with local government autonomy that has not been done because grassroots mobilisation, grassroots Involvement in governance is very important.
All politics are local so there should be politics at the local levels. What we noticed is that there is monopolisation by one political party and if you decide not to favour a party and let the people choose their leaders then democracy will grow in Nigeria. On the remaining two years in his first term, he has ministers, he should listen to them, he should ensure that there are good policies. If he does not communicate with the people, that will be too bad. His son, Seyi Tinubu, tried to get to the people in the grassroots during the Ramadan.
President Tinubu should consider sustainability, let the policies of the government trickle down and they should give hope to the people. As far as their programmes are beneficial to the people, a lot of them would want to till the land for the benefits. He shouldn’t also support just his own party so that he will build confidence in the people.
Are you satisfied with the role the National Assembly is playing and where do you think they should improve on?
I think the National Assembly is trying, I will exclude the issue of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan because it’s a personal matter. But I believe that the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, is doing a good job; some others are doing good jobs, but there is still need for improvement. One area I think they should improve upon is on the number of bills people can bring in. Also, the truth level in the country is very low. The rate at which the people believe them is very low.
There should be transparency and openness. There is a little bit of transparency and openness there, but it should be improved upon. Also, when they make a rule, it takes time before it is practised. For example, the local government autonomy has not been implemented and the reason for this is not clear. They should have integrity, they should be truthful about the laws they make as well as the process of making the laws.
