Bolaji Abdullahi talks about his experiences as a former commissioner and minister, his plans for constituents of the Kwara Central Senatorial District and other matters.
is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for Kwara Central senatorial district in next month’s elections. A former Commissioner for Education in Kwara State and former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Abdullahi says he is the best and most experienced candidate for the senatorial seat serially held by members of the famous Saraki family. The patriarch of the family, Olusola, was the first to hold the seat , followed by Gbemisola and then former Governor Bukola .
I have told myself that if I was the chief executive who actually determines what goes into the budget, imagine what I can do. For me, education is everything. Mention any problem and I will tell you how it connects to education and how it can help to solve some of these problems. PT: We have over 20 million out-of-school children and then there is the consistent ASUU strike that you mentioned. as a lawmaker, your influence will be limited to the passage of bills and motions. How do you plan to influence implementation?: The work of the legislator is representation, legislation and oversight. There is so much that we can do with the laws that we are not doing. But what I have discovered is that Nigeria has legislation for almost everything.
PT: You were also a minister of sports. Is there any unfinished business you would want to pursue in that sector if elected senator?: First, youth development. If you ask me, that should be the most important ministry in Nigeria but I think the government still has not understood what to do with that ministry. My experience as a minister was that people only remembered the ministry of youth development when they needed to mobilise youth for political activities.
I think that is one unfinished business. I will be happy to work with whoever will be the minister to cause this change. We are not just saying it. In 2019, the slogan was ‘Oto ge’, now it is ‘Osu wa’, which means we are tired and fed up. We are confident that the people have had the benefit of comparing. We have learnt our lessons. And I can say part of where we get our confidence is that we have benefited more from our failures in 2019 than the people who won from their victory. Because shortly after they took over, they began to expose themselves.
PT: You were in the APC. If you win this election in PDP, would you share some of the glory with APC? Will you say APC had an influence in terms of network, antecedents and the like?: It’s possible. We are all human beings, we are friends. People have moved forward and backwards several times. But the point here is that there is a distinct difference between APC and PDP and I have seen both sides.
Also, I want to be ready. When I win, I want to be ready to serve the people. Because people no longer trust that when you get into office, you will do those things you promised. So they front-load their requests now. And that’s why you find people like us fixing boreholes, classrooms and the like. I think it is wrong, it is not the way it is meant to be.
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