Osun senatorial by-election: I’ll use people’s army to defeat Aregbesola’s forces —Ademola Adeleke

Alhaji Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Osun West Senatorial District by-election, which will take place on July 8. He speaks with DAPO FALADE and OLUWOLE IGE on sundry issues bordering on the election, his relationship with his late elder brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, his growing up years and a trending video where he was seen dancing with a lady.

There is a video clip now trending on the social media in which you are seen dancing with a young lady. Are you really the person in the video clip?

Yes! I was dancing with my daughter, but what has that got to do with politics? What is the big deal in dancing with my own daughter in public? Are you saying Aregbesola is not dancing in public? Is he not dancing with his wife in public? It is sheer craziness to attach political meanings to my dancing with my daughter in public. Go and watch the clips of our campaigns and you will see him (Aregbesola) dancing beside me in the public. Why are they now crying, because I was dancing with my own daughter?

That is to tell them that I am a very liberal person and my children are very free with me. That my daughter they saw in that video clip is Adenike Adeleke. She lives in Atlanta, United States of America. My daughter is a top show personality and she told me, ‘daddy, I thought you said you are a good dancer, so let us dance’ and I told her, ‘sure, my daughter’ and we started dancing there. I am not a sadist. Why would I not dance? Even when my brother died and we were still mourning him, even when we were not yet done with the eight-day mourning, didn’t you see Aregbesola dancing? Why can’t they now say, because he was seen dancing, he should resign as the governor?

I know that Tribune is a good newspaper. Please go and cross-check the profile of the lady I was dancing with in that video. You will discover that she is my own beautiful daughter. Maybe because my daughter is more beautiful that their own, that is why they are jealous of her.

Your late father was a known Yoruba Muslim and your late mother, an Igbo Christian. How were you able to blend with the two cultures?

Let me tell you something: my late father was a very liberal man. I was born into a Muslim family, but being that my father was very liberal, he was able to marry a Christian woman. My father believed that we are serving one God. In Muslim way, we say Allah. Even in the Quran, Jesus’ name is mentioned several times. He is Anobi Isa. So, what are we talking about here? My father believed that here in Yorubaland, we should not have religious crisis because the race is so dynamic. In my family, we have Christians and we have Muslims. My father was one of the people that founded Ede Muslim Grammar School, which I attended. My late brother’s name is Isiaka, while the other brother, Dr Deji Adeleke, was named Tajudeen, even though he is a Christian (but he still bears the name Taju). My own Muslim name is Nurudeen. Do you know the meaning of Nurudeen? It means imole (light). I have now come to bring imole to Osun State and when imole comes, darkness vanishes. The present administration in the state is darkness.

 

People are seeing the forthcoming senatorial by-election as a contest not really between you and the APC candidate, Honourable Mudasiru Hussain, but between you and Governor Rauf Aregbesola. How prepared are you to challenge the power of incumbency?

You can say that again. I am more than aware of that; the race is between me and Rauf Aregbesola, the sitting governor of Osun State. The battle is not really mine, but that of the people that will vote and it is the power of the people that will determine who becomes the next senator representing Osun West Senatorial District in the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. All eyes are on Osun State and, on July 8, I believe, by the special grace of Allah, victory shall be mine and I will overcome.

The question was borne out of the issue raised by some people that Ademola Adeleke has no political relevance beyond the influence of his late elder brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke. How far can you go to prove such people wrong?

Well, let me tell you something: I have learnt from the master; I have learnt from the veteran. Who are we talking about here? We are talking about my late lovely brother, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, the first executive governor of Osun State. I started politics before Aregbesola; I started politics in 1991 when, in 1992, my brother became the governor of the state. Aregbesola was young then; where was he? He was fixing air conditioners and fridges at the Lagos Airport Hotel.

I have leant from the master, my late elder brother. I have understudied him and I have been doing politics since. The only thing is that, because my brother was the front runner, I followed him and I knew the intrigues of politicking. So, I have known about politics since 1991. I laugh when some people say I don’t know anything about politics. I have participated deeply. The only thing is that I didn’t vie for any political office or position. I have been participating, even till this day. I was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), along with my late brother. But because we had some misunderstanding, we had to cross to the All Progressives Congress (APC). We never knew that we were crossing to a devilish party.

That is only God that will judge Aregbesola. My brother left PDP with all his people to APC and won the election for him. You can see me when I was dancing during the campaigns. Aregbesola was dancing along with me and we became the face of APC in the campaign. So, what is he talking about? That time, I was a member of APC and I won as the candidate for the forthcoming senatorial by-election unopposed. He had to go to Abuja and started crying before his boss, Senator Bola Tinubu. If the primary had been conducted freely and fairly, I would still have kicked Aregbesola’s arse because I was not contesting against Hussain.

Had it been that you were able to get APC’s ticket, would you still have been operating from a camp opposed to the governor?

If I had secured the ticket, I would still be operating from an opposing camp. It is only Allah that did this for me to cross over to PDP, for me to go back home, where I came from. It is God that is working; He is the one that said if I had stayed among these people, they would have done to me the same thing they did to my brother.

You have been talking about the influence of your late brother in being able to win the election for the governor in 2014 and that Honourable Hussain cannot be a match for you in the forthcoming election, but it is on record that he once defeated the late Senator Adeleke in an election…

Which kind election? They rigged that election; they are riggers. It is because my late brother doesn’t like trouble; he was a peaceful man and that is why they were able to rig that election in question. The people that rigged the election for Hussain came to confess to us and begged for forgiveness. My brother told them that he was not vying for the position because he wanted to make money, but that he was doing it so that he could help the underprivileged, and the masses. That was why he did not fight then. A lot of people told him to go to court but he refused. He was the first person to congratulate Hussain and Hussain came over and prostrated for my brother who told him to go ahead. He even said then that he wanted to rest. But we all know that they rigged that election.

You also said you are not desperate to become a senator, but how do you explain the intrigues and circumstances that led to your eventual emergence as a candidate for the election?

I am not desperate; by the grace of God, I am comfortable. But you know why? I am not in the race for myself; I am only doing it for the masses and I want to continue with the legacy that my late brother left. What do I mean by that legacy? The legacy of empowerment, the legacy of giving scholarship to the underprivileged; that is what we call social welfare and I want to continue in that area. Look, when my family initially talked to me about this, I refused as I said I was still mourning my brother. But they had to convince me to accept the responsibility. Even when I go out, I see a lot of people crying and saying, ‘where are we going to go?’ Even associates of my brother will come. The cry of the people whom my brother was helping made me to cry and I said I will accept to go into it.

Initially, I thought the people in APC would have the fear of God and compassion and say, ‘let us console this family that has done so much for Osun State; that has done so much for Aregbesola by supporting him financially, morally and physically to win his second term of office’. Aregbesola was already a goner before the 2014 election and he knew it. He was somebody who could not pay salaries; the pensioners were dying and the educational system in the state had been bastardised and he is saying Omoluabi. What Omoluabi?

Former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola is known to be very close to the Adeleke family. How much of support are you getting from him towards the realisation of your ambition?

Governor Oyinlola has a very cordial relationship with the Adeleke family. Governor Oyinlola is a good man. Aregbesola is the type of man who doesn’t even recognise Oyinlola as a former governor. He did not even recognise my brother (Senator Adeleke) as the first executive governor of the state. He was forced to give my late brother the senatorial ticket because of pressure from his boss, Senator Tinubu and some people that knew the kind of contributions that my late brother made to the state and his (Aregbesola) second term electoral victory. When I asked him ‘what happened? I was thinking that you didn’t want to give the ticket to my brother’, he said, “If I did not give it to him or the elders did not tell me to give him that Senate seat, I will attract international condemnation”.

Given the level of hostility between you and the governor, what would you tell him if you come across him tomorrow?

I would  say ‘you are a wicked man!’ I am disappointed in you. I thought you were a godly man. Let me tell you one thing, he thinks he can oppress the Adeleke family, but he cannot. God has so much blessed us and that is why we are using our resources to help the underprivileged and I will continue to do that.

Already, I have announced a N250 million scholarship award to all indigenes of Osun State, especially to the people of my senatorial district. We have already started distributing food items to all the 332 wards in Osun State. The next thing to do is what we call free medical care for the people. When they realised that we wanted to do free medical care, Aregbesola now said he wanted to be doing same because of this election. But I can assure you that after the election, he will stop because they are users; they will use and dump, the way they treated my brother and even me.

How was your growing up years?

Oh, I had so much fun when I was growing up, but my family is a religious family; they taught us to work and pray. My growing up years were beautiful ones because my late parents, may their souls rest in peace, taught us to be together. They taught us life; they taught us to see how we can be together. We do things together, up till now. So, my growing up was superb and beautiful. If I should come back to this world again, I want to be in the Adeleke family because it is such a beautiful and wonderful family.

What was your experience while in school; which subject did you hate most?

I hate Mathematics when I was in school. I like subjects such as English Language and Literature, but for Mathematics, I had to force myself to pass it because it is a requirement. I don’t like calculating; thank God for the calculator.

What is your outlook about life?

Let me quote from Williams Shakespeare, a very powerful man of letters. He looked at life and said, “Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. In other words, this life is vanity upon vanity. I went to my late brother’s compound. I saw all his cars; I saw his wives; I saw a lot of things and I said, ‘so, this is the end’. He cannot even sleep on his bed again. He cannot drive any of his numerous cars. His beautiful houses in Abuja and Lagos, he cannot go there again. So, what are we talking about? That is why our family believes that if God has blessed you, you have to bless the less privileged. This is because, one day, we are all going to die. Those who killed my brother, they will die very soon.

But our consolation is that you need to see how the whole of the country shook and the world stood still for my late brother. I have never seen that kind of a thing before. Naturally, somebody will die and they will use shovel to put sand on his/her body in the grave. But people were using hand to put sand on my brother’s body. That is a testimony of a good man. Can the people do the same thing for some of these people who are parading themselves in office now when they eventually die? Ki gbogbo won lo ronupiwada (they should all go and repent).

What are you missing in your late brother?

My brother was a jolly good fellow. Kii ni eeyan lara and he didn’t want wahala. He died simply because he was on his way to victory. Assuming they had come together to tell him the truth and say something like, ‘see, senator, we want to give the ticket to somebody else’, he would withdraw. He went to Senator Bola Tinubu, out of respect. When it comes to politics, my brother was a senior to Tinubu, but he was a humble person. When my brother was a governor, Tinubu was just a senator. So, what are we talking about? But my brother, being a humble person; when I sat him down and asked him some questions, you know what he told me? He said, ‘hahaha, don’t you know that we are Yorubas? Even though I am his senior in politics; I was a governor in 1992, but Tinubu is older than me and that is why I am giving him that respect’. I heard and I am holding on to that.

Even though I am going to become a senator, by the special grace of God, come July 8, the way my brother did, I will respect my elders. He has taught me so; my father taught me so.

He must have made some lasting impact on you and has become your hero…

He is my hero. He is the hero of the entire family. He was a jolly good fellow. My brother and I would fight in the night, but he was the one to beg me in the morning because, one way or the other, he would be the one to come and greet me, saying, ‘how are you, my little brother’. But I would tell him, ‘we are still fighting o’. But he would reply, ‘okay, what are we going to do to stop this fight?’ I would tell him, ‘okay, go in there and write me a cheque’. And he would say, ‘okay, I would do it’ and he would write the cheque and put it in my pocket. He would now ask, ‘are we still fighting’ and I would reply, ‘no, I am okay now my brother’. He was such a jolly good fellow. I miss him so much; Osun people are already missing him so much; Nigeria is already missing him; the whole world is already missing him.

You have even adopted his ‘serubawon’ cap. Is it a way of idolising him or part of politics?

It is part of my dressing too. Go and check all my photos. I have been wearing the cap since 1992. We call it serubawon cap; when they see that cap, they fear. It is jawonlaya. It is not because I want to play politics. I have been wearing that style of cap since 1992; go and check my record. When we were campaigning for Aregbesola, I was wearing the cap; I wore it to the Government House. I never thought I would be running for the Senate; I didn’t want my brother to die, because I believed that when he took one step, I would follow him; I was learning from the master. When he took another step, I would follow him, because I was learning from the master who was the first executive governor of Osun State, the late Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke. He was my master and I learnt a lot from him.

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