Accord’s Oyo South Senatorial Candidate, Mr Kolapo Kola-Daisi was a guest of Olayinka Agboola on Splash 105.5FM, Radio Show, Parrot Xtra/Ayekooto on Radio on Tuesday. During the interaction, he revealed the…. among many salient issues… Excerpts:
How can you describe the personality of your father?
My father is a typical Ibadan man; he is strict but very fair. We have been fortunate enough to have somebody like him as a role model. When I graduated from the University, he called me the day after my graduation and said, “Kolapo, what do you want to do now?” I told him that I had just graduated and was thinking of traveling for relaxation and fun.
He said, “My responsibility over you is finished now that you are done with schooling. I have finished paying for your education. You are now solely responsible for your life. You can now do whatever you feel like doing.’ He is the kind of person who wants you to learn the real lessons of life. We have been very fortunate to have a father like him.
You declared your interest in the Oyo South senatorial district seat at the media briefing. You spoke about your dad’s reluctance to endorse your political ambition. Is he now on the same page with you?
Well, the reluctance you can imagine is not far-fetched. Before he could support my aspiration, my father gave me one condition: He would help me if I did not tarnish his image. He said that any day he senses that I want to stain his name, he will take the name back, and then I will be left with no last name. That is the basis on which he has agreed to support my ambition.
Why did you personally decide to join the turbulent waters of Nigerian politics? What personal attraction do you have for politics?
There is no personal attraction there for me. I think the ultimate attraction is to ensure that the people of our constituency, state, and nation benefit from good governance and good leadership, which I believe has been lacking for many years.
At this juncture in our country, we have tried to make it great in many ways, but we have fallen short several times.
People of my generation like to comment and share opinions on social media, but they do not like to get their legs wet. Some of us who have been trained by people like my father always try to look out for the less privileged.
I must salute your courage to join politics. I am sure you have been baptized with what they usually call ‘political gunshot’… Which one hurt you the most?
I am also surprised at myself for how well I am taking it and enjoying the whole process. It is part of the job, and if you allow yourself to be affected by it, you may start thinking of quitting.
Is there any regret for leaving the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the Accord?
No. That is the short simple answer to that. There is no regret leaving the APC for the Accord. The ultimate goal is to provide good leadership experience that has been lacking for many years and to be able to initiate good works for our people generally. Suppose you examine the process that led some other politicians and me out of the APC. In that case, I think they have even lost candidates, which would have made the party more popular because if you look at the candidates we have in the Accord now, they are qualified candidates with good experience and rich political backgrounds.
Just like I mentioned about my dad earlier, our party is presently family, and there is no discord among us. Everybody is working together to positively affect lives, which is the ultimate aim for the people of our state and constituency.
Some people even alleged that most of the tickets given to candidates across all the major political parties in Oyo State would survive legal scrutiny. Why didn’t you decamp to the PDP when you left the APC?
The ideologies are different. The majority of us in Accord now are progressives, and we are looking for a platform where we can express ourselves in unison and togetherness in a way that will be similar to our message. We cannot go to a place where our message will be different.
Unfortunately, electoral laws say we need a platform to contest elections before we can be voted into office. White people always say that the definition of insanity is doing things repeatedly in the same way and expecting change. We want our people to see that change is different and in their hands. Change will come once they stand up on February 25, 2023, to vote for KKD and Accord.
What is your unique selling point that will make people vote for you?
I recognise that there are political bigwigs in Oyo State politics, but there are things that they see as our disadvantage that have become an advantage to people like us.
They regard us as childish, but if you look at Nigeria’s population, 90% of the people are still under the age of 50. Will it be good if 90% of the populace does not have a representative in government?
Secondly, they say we do not have the experience because we are newcomers to politics—what have those with the expertise done for us? As I said, change is what we need now. We must not get tired of it; one day, we will get it right.
Specifically, what are you planning to do differently, especially for the youths?
The first thing is that politicians have made politics very uninteresting. We are making people not come out to vote because they do not see any benefit from their voting.
Our people have complained of inadequate representation. Everywhere we have gone, they always told us that they do not see their elected representatives until after four years when it is time for another election.
How will someone not close to the community, religious leaders, marketers, and artisans know the people’s needs and perform up to expectations?
The first thing we have to do is to bring back the real meaning of representation, the town hall meeting, the constituency offices, for the people to contact us and tell us their various challenges so that we can represent them effectively.
Secondly, we need to concentrate on the youth; our population consists of folks under 50.
Looking at our demographics, our country has no social security. When we take care of ourselves, we can take care of others. If we focus on the 90%, we have invariably taken care of the entire population.
In addition, we will not get involved in the politics of empowerment, which is our politicians’ plan to keep people poor.
So, why should the people in your Oyo South Senatorial District vote for you?
For our youths, we will organize training that will benefit them. Secondly, we will introduce financial empowerment. Through this, they can find a way to form a cooperative society where they can borrow money and invest in businesses. There will be guarantors to ensure that they do not defraud or run away with the money.
What admonition do you have for your fellow politicians?
In today’s politics, one thing to note is that political parties have disappointed many people. People are no longer interested in political parties and politicians need to know that moving from one party to another does not guarantee victory.
Let individual politicians engage the public and do their campaigns; then, the people will decide with their votes on the candidates they prefer to vote for.
We need to educate ourselves. Because of the country’s poverty level, many people are interested in instant gratification. Once we give it to them, we will punish them for another four years.
Let our people forget about the monetary part and talk about what politicians have to offer regarding good governance.
