Malam Bolaji Abdullahi needs no introduction in Nigeria political space, a onetime Minister of Youth and Sports Development who doubles as Chairman National Sports Commission under the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, where he won Under 17 World Cup for Nigeria for the 4th time, he also won the African Athletics Championship and reformed Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) by establishing the League Management Company (LMC) and signed Broadcast Right Agreement with Super Sports worth of 4million USD.
Bolaji, a former Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology in Kwara state during the administration of Dr. Bukola Saraki. It was on the record that Kwara State exited Educationally Disadvantage status during his tenure as Commissioner. He also served as Special Adviser, Policy and Strategy as well as Special Assistant, Communications and Strategy under same administration. Meanwhile, before his political trajectory, Bolaji was the Deputy Editor Sunday with ThisDay Newspapers in Lagos.
In an exclusive interview with ABDULRAHMAN ALIAGAN, The Managing Editor, Time Nigeria Magazine, Bolaji holds no bar as he speaks extensively on Kwara and Nigeria politics, he also painted a beautiful picture of Kwara Central he wants to see when he becomes the Senator representing the state at the National Assembly.
Bolaji added that, his track record of achievements is an indicative of what he can do, if given the opportunity. According to him, “My vision, mission and goals are always about human development, in education, youth development and entrepreneurship. I believe that our youth needs to be empowered beyond what we are doing at the moment. There’s a whole world of digital literacy, digital technology and digital economy going on. You don’t even need a university degree to connect to that economy.
“I have served at the state level; I have served at the national level. I have built extensive relationships with people across this country and the National Assembly is a melting pot of people from all over the country. So I believe that perfectly, I am fit to serve at the National Assembly and National Assembly is not a place to throw an unknown person in, especially the Senate. I believe senate is a place that I can serve competently.” Excerpts:
What informs your decision in vying for senatorial seat representing Kwara Central come 2023?
For me, I see myself an ideologue in politics; I strongly believe politics can be used to serve good ends. Over the years, because of what has happened in the country, politics has required that you are always ashamed because of the negative connotations; you are always ashamed to call yourself a politician. People see the worst of human being in you, they see you as a liar, as corrupt person, as a deceptive person, there is justification for that of course, like I said earlier, is the conducts and behaviors of people who have served in politics.
So, I believe that in some people through their conducts, they have given politics a bad name and I also believe that there are some people by their conducts too they have equally given politics a good name, that was my decision for wanted to be in politics. Of course, don’t forget that initially, my plan was to contest for Governorship right from 2019. So, when we got to 2023 my party decided that the governorship ticket should go to Kwara North, of course, the next available position that we can also serve and do a lot especially, when my leader is not returning to the Senate to serve in the senatorial position, so my party deemed it fit for me to serve in that capacity. I see what other people have done with that position in the past, they have done so much and I believe that I have the capacity and the experience to build on it. I have served at the state level; I have served at the national level. I have built extensive relationships with people across this country and the National Assembly is a melting pot of people from all over the country. So I believe that perfectly I am fit to serve at the National Assembly and National Assembly is not a place to throw an unknown person in, especially the Senate. Right away you’re sitting in the Senate you are likely to know almost everybody and everybody is likely to know you because of where you’re coming from. So I believe that the senate is a place that I can serve competently. There are some positions that if you offer me I will not accept, because, I know those are not my strong points. If you ask me, for example, to come and be Minister of Finance, I will tell you no, thank you, because that’s not my strong point. There are things that I know I can do very well and I look at all the things that are being done in the Senate and I believe am suitable to play that role. So for me, it’s another way of serving people. I genuinely believe I can serve my people. I am from Ilorin, I grew up there. I went to primary and secondary school. So I know the community very well, I know the challenges. So that’s why I decided that to serve in that capacity.
“So I believe that perfectly I am fit to serve at the National Assembly and National Assembly is not a place to throw an unknown person in, especially the Senate
If you are asked to give priority to what you are likely to do when you become senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial district, what are we looking at?
Well everyone that close to me always know what my priorities are. For me, it’s always about human development, in education, youth development and entrepreneurship. I believe that our youth needs to be empowered beyond what we are doing at the moment. Look, there’s a whole world of digital literacy, digital technology and digital economy going on. You don’t even need a university degree to connect to that economy.
I believe that we are still lagging behind, I believe as a senator I can unlock that space where you’ll become more productive and you don’t need more than school certificate to participate in that economy and it is so verse that people can connect at different levels, that is one.
“There’s a whole world of digital literacy, digital technology and digital economy going on. You don’t even need a university degree to connect to that economy.
There other occupational spaces that our youth can connect. Nollywood is a multibillion dollar industry. That is the arts and creative industry. You don’t have to be an actor or an actress. There are all kinds of auxiliary occupations surrounding it. I believe our young people can connect with marketing promotion, editing, costume, there’s so much that can be done in that space. Not to talk of agriculture, fashion, and all the artisanal occupations. So, I believe in the National Assembly, we can create a space that can unlock the potentials not just for Kwarans but for the whole country as well. Of course, my priority is Kwarans.
Now, let me ask a question, why is it so easy to deport Nigerian youth who migrates abroad legally or illegally? Why is it so easy to say we don’t want them? Why is it that it is Nigeria that is so easy to deport? The Western world today need people but people with skills, when you see a Filipino or Bangladeshi or any of these countries, when they enter any country, the entire country want to know what they can contribute and they know that they can contribute something. They don’t just throw them away. So, I believe that there is so much we can do for them so that when they leave the space of this country, because, that’s what we have most in abundant population; so why don’t we make them productive, so that we can expand.
I can’t remember the amount, Nigeria earn more from Diaspora Repatriation than we earn from oil what Nigerians abroad sent home through both formal and informal channels, it is more than we earn from oil. So, that is telling us that the more investments we make in empowering youth to make them more productive, the better it is for Nigeria and where do we start? We need to develop the national qualification framework. We’ve been talking about this forever, if we develop a National Qualification Framework and I’m glad to see the progress that NBTE is making in this regard. Because if we developed a National Certification Framework, it means that, we can measure the competencies of our artisans, our mechanics, our plumbers, our builders competencies within that framework of National qualification, so that when they go anywhere, they can show that certifications, because it’s a National certificate that can be international.
“If we want to dominate the vocational space within the West Africa sub-region, it means that anywhere, our artisans go within the West African sub region, they would be recognised because their skills have been evaluated by a National Standards that is portable, and that is transferable.
If we want to dominate the vocational space within the West Africa sub-region, it means that anywhere, our artisans go within the West African sub region, they would be recognised because their skills have been evaluated by a National Standards that is portable, and that is transferable. If we say Africa is our space, we don’t want to dominate Africa, it is the same thing. If we say we want to connect with the global economy, we have to develop a measurement framework that is compatible with international space, that’s one thing we have not been able to do. And as long as we don’t do that, we will not be able to unlock the huge potential in our artisans and vocations.
I was having this conversation with the World Bank specialist sometimes ago and this is all we are talking about talking about, but for how long we would still be talking about unemployment for young people, definitely, we are not doing enough. Because, no matter what Nigeria does. We cannot provide a white collar job for a fraction of young people that we’re turning out from Universities on a year to year basis, I think NYC has three batches now, if you sack everybody in the Federal Civil Service today, you cannot even employee a fraction of NYSC. So we need to be creative, we need to do something different.
“We keep talking about 13million children out of school. But the point is that, there over 25 million children who are in school and not having opportunity to learn, because they are not attending private school where parents can pay money.
The second one of course, I mentioned education, that is the most important investment anybody can make, and we have done this thing before, it can be done again and be replicated. I know that, there is so much within our laws that can be done to stimulate this sector and make it operate more efficiently. We keep talking about 13million children out of school. But the point is that, there over 25 million children who are in school and not having opportunity to learn, because they are not attending private school where parents can pay money. Majority of our parents are poor like the majority Nigerians, so it means that if you don’t have money, you cannot send your child to a private school, and if we send them to public schools, the chances are that they will not get education, even if they attend for six or seven years. It means that we have to bring quality back to the classrooms, in public education. There are so many agencies and parastatals within the Federal Ministry of Education, within the state ministries of education.
Yes, education is on concurrent list, but there’s so much that can be done to improve quality in that sector. Because, if you don’t improve quality in that sector, what it means is that we are just going through the motion of sending children to school and they will not get education. Look at what happened recently when they released the WAEC result, in the ranking of performance Kwara was number 34 on the list. It is abysmally painful, and I know that everybody wherever I go in this country, and meet people with the development sector, in the funding of education particularly the international development sector. If Kwara had sustained what Kwara achieved under Senator Bukola Saraki, it will not be where it is today in the education sector. I’m very proud of that because I was part of it.
I believe that, for me, it is important to summarise, youth development, how do we empower our youth in various areas to give jobs so that they don’t keep coming back to people like me to beg for money. They are not proud to beg for money, I’m not proud to be giving them handouts, I want to create an opportunities where our youth, our women can be empowered. Our women in Kwara central today don’t need a lot of money to start a business. When I was growing up in Ilorin, everybody that I know has a business; everybody that I know is an entrepreneur of one thing or the other. Is either they sell solid Pap (eko), Maize cake (masa) they always have something to do. This women don’t need a lot of money to start a business and because we don’t have a system that give affordable credit to these women they are just there lying around. So, are we surprised therefore that poverty is so endemic in Kwara Central today? So, what can we do to unlock the potential of our women by giving them access to good credit that they can afford? Many of them are borrowing money from this Shylock loaning platforms, before they are able to pay back, the business ruined.
For me, these are the things that I want to do; of course, there are other things like legislations that I can do in the National Assembly. My priority is what can we do? How can we contribute ideas? How can we take the right kind of actions that will really mobilise our people for productiveness?
If you look at our political system critically, you will agree with me that money plays a major role, so much that, if you have something tangible and credible to offer people, the moment you don’t have money to throw around. They make it extremely difficult for you to get to such position, where you can actual add value to their lives. In this, your Major contender has money to spend and I know you don’t have. How are you going to navigate that curve?
Let me also say that money is important, and you mentioned a major opponent of me or challenger, Saliu Mustapha, is a fine man. I know he’s a good man and I think he means well also. The money he is given is also good and our people need money and that is his own understanding of how to help people and is able to do it, that is fine. But, I think we need to do a lot more. You are right, when people are going through a situation that they are going through now, money becomes the most important thing for them. Money is most important thing to people who don’t have it. People who have access to minimum comfort, they can pay their children school fees by themselves; they can pay their hospital bills when they need to and they have jobs they are doing. For these people money will not be so important in them taking a political decision that will determine the future of their children. But, when people are poor, when people don’t have resources of their own, then it makes them vulnerable. And that’s where money is important and that’s the difference between other countries where we have seen progress,
“If we go around Ilorin today and give everybody a million naira, isn’t going to change their lives. But, if we create an opportunity for them to earn that money themselves that is what we need. Let them earn N50,000 in a month by themselves. One, it is more dignifying because they feel that they are no longer beggars.
Even if we are to spend money, let me tell you, there is no political space politics in the world where you don’t spend money. The question is what you spend on? So for me, I think what we need to do is to continue to debate and explain to our people, to continue to convince them on the right things to do. Because, over the years, people have become so cynical, they see politicians who get into the office and they don’t do anything. They just take care of themselves. So people also begin to feel that, well, if we are going to the office to take care of yourself, why don’t I collect what I can collect now? They won’t think that okay, you collect today, and you cannot collect tomorrow. If we go around Ilorin today and give everybody a million naira, isn’t going to change their lives. But, if we create an opportunity for them to earn that money themselves that is what we need. Let them earn N50,000 in a month by themselves. One, it is more dignifying because they feel that they are no longer beggars. Two, they are more independent minded, they can think rationally. You can’t use their poverty to make them do what they don’t want to do. So, I think for me, the most important thing is to continue to explain to our people and to show our good intentions.
We have done some things in the past, can they look at those credentials that is what we’re bringing. Look at what I’ve done when I was Commissioner for education in Kwara state, look at what I did in my capacity as Minister of Youth and Sports Development for this country, that’s indicative of what I can do. If you are able to pay attention to that, well! I don’t want you to vote for me because I want to continue to pay your children’s school fees, I want to create an opportunity for you to pay your own children’s school fees, because you are productive and for me that’s most more important than when people are hungry, when people are poor, nothing dis-empowers a man than when he has a responsibilities and he cannot live up to that responsibilities, nothing dis-empowers a man more than that, your wife lying in the hospital you cannot pay hospital bill, you have a child lying in hospital you cannot pay, children are being sent home from school you cannot pay. So any Jack who comes around and say take money, you will take. Even, if Satan comes and say take money you will take and it would be unfair for us to say don’t take. Because, this man has a problem to solve now, so, how can you tell him not to take money?
“What I’m saying is that, you can take the money because, like I said, my friend Turaki is spending a lot of money and that is good, we are also spending money, we don’t have the kind of money that he has good for him, in addition to money, we have so many other things that we can offer that he probably cannot because he does not have the experience, he doesn’t have what he has done before. Everything that he’s doing or he has done has to do with giving money. Unless, you can tell me, one thing that he has done that does not involve just giving money to people in one way or the other.
What I’m saying is that, you can take the money because like I said my friend Turaki is spending a lot of money and that is good, we are also spending money, we don’t have the kind of money that he has good for him, in addition to money, we have so many other things that we can offer that he probably cannot because he does not have the experience, he doesn’t have what he has done before. Everything that he’s doing or he has done has to do with giving money. Unless, you can tell me, one thing that he has done that does not involve just giving money to people in one way or the other. But we have done so many other things that weren’t involved just giving money. We are also giving money to people. I will continue to keep giving money but beyond giving money, there are so many other things you can do to empower the people that can make them better and take ownership of their lives. As a community, as a people than just what somebody can do for individuals.
In your own assessment, how do you rate the performance of the present APC-led administration in the state, when it comes to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of good governance?
It may sound political what I am going to say but is not, I’m talking now as Kwaran, I was a front frontline player in the administration of Dr. Bukola Saraki for 8 years. So I’m in a position to know what the benchmarks are, I have been part of people who have done it before. I know what can be done within that space with executive power, I know what people can do, to digress a bit, all the years that I’ve been trying to become the Governor, it is because I know what people can do with that executive power. How they can empower the people with that executive power, you can change the story of a people with that power.
“I have not seen indication that the government in Kwara state today know exactly what it can do with that power.I have not seen it in education, I have not seen it in healthcare, and I’ve not seen it in infrastructure. I’ve not seen it in entrepreneurship promotion; I have not seen it in physical development.
I am not afraid to say that in the last three and a half years or so, I have not seen indication that the government in Kwara state today know exactly what it can do with that power.I have not seen it in education, I have not seen it in healthcare, and I’ve not seen it in infrastructure. I’ve not seen it in entrepreneurship promotion; I have not seen it in physical development. I’ll dwell a little bit on the issue of physical development, we had sometimes ago that the government is trying to develop “A New Ilorin Masterplan”. We don’t know what that means or what they have done with it? But, let’s take Kwara Central, which is my priority now. Kwara central holds 52% of the population of the whole Kwara state. But Kwara Central in totality, only occupy 6% of the landmass in Kwara state. The chances are that, anybody that is going to relocate to Kwara state today, is going to stay in Ilorin and Boko Haram is chasing so many people out of the core north, people are coming back to Ilorin. The population of Ilorin is growing so fast, probably one of the fastest growing communities in Nigeria, if not in the world.
That has its own implication for Urban Planning; the population density of Ilorin West alone is 1000 Per Square Kilometre, which is incredible. You know, so many people are jam-packing themselves into smaller and smaller spaces, but infrastructure is not matching up to that and that’s why you see one rain, Ilorin is flooded. Why? Because, we are not planning for development, solid Waste is a menace in Ilorin today, is a major problem, we saw this how, many years ago when we launched Clean and Green Programme and we knew that this was going to happen apart from creating jobs through Clean and Green, we kept the place clean. It was a pride to every Ilorin man because, Ilorin was so clean. But can we say the same thing today?
If we don’t deal with this issue of developing the physical infrastructure, especially around the metropolis, that’s going to be a problem. God forbid, we have one communicable disease, especially in Ilorin west, you need to be in Ilorin when it’s just rained. You will see the way flood is moving waste around and you know the implications of this, we don’t even have clean source of water that is accessible to everyone. So these are the things that you expect the government to be able to do. How come our children can no longer pass examinations? There were things we did when I was the Commissioner for Education and Dr Saraki was the Governor, you will not even sit for WAEC or NECO unless you pass your promotional exam in SS2, though, once you pass the promotion exam in SS2 we pay for your WAEC, you don’t have to pay. But we don’t just push children along, we have remedial systems we have develop when a child fails.
“Sometimes ago, I was shocked to hear the Governor saying that he took a bond, that there is N17billion lying in a bank. Kwara State have N17billion, lying somewhere? Then what is the business of Government.
“If you asked them what they have done in the education sector they will tell you they have collected UBEC counterpart funding and that is an achievement? They said they renovated some schools and that is an achievement? How does that translate to children passing exam? How does that translate into children leaving primary school able to read? Majority of our children completing primary schools in our primary schools cannot even read. That is a disaster!
We give them a second chance to try again. We don’t just move them along. These are the things we did and we expect this government to do same. Pls, mention one project this government has started and completed in the last three and a half years in power? Some days ago, I was shocked to hear the Governor saying that he took a bond, that there is N17billion lying in a bank. Kwara State have N17billion, lying somewhere? Then what is the business of Government, it is to spend money. You are not a banker. You are in government; the business of government is to spend money. Are we saying that the government in Kwara state doesn’t have capacity to spend money? Remember, this government and the party APC promised that they will do what’s best for the people, they promised that they will do Kishi-Kaima road, they will do Chikanda-Kosubosu road, they’ve not done anyone and you have N17billion lying around. If you asked them what they have done in the education sector they will tell you they have collected UBEC counterpart funding and that is an achievement? They said they renovated some schools and that is an achievement? How does that translate to children passing exam? How does that translate into children leaving primary school able to read? Majority of our children completing primary schools in our primary schools cannot even read. That is a disaster!
So what are we saying? Look at Kwara State University, an excellent product of somebody’s vision. Look at what’s going on there now. We can go on and on. The summary of it is that this government of APC can do a lot more, even so much more than they have done. What I’m saying is that if you look at the way the government is setup, then you will not be surprised with the outcomes. Because what you don’t have you cannot give.
“Local Government administration has virtually disappeared in Kwara state. How come?
Local Government administration has virtually disappeared in Kwara state. How come? That tier of government exists for a reason. So when you remove it, then there’s a big gap and that’s why people are not feeling the presence of government. There are people within communities, within the localities who don’t need to assess the state government. They need to assess only the local government but when local government administration is not in existence in Kwara state. So I’m not just saying this because I am contesting election or am from another party. But as Kwaran it pays me that we have thrown away almost four years, the trajectory with which the government has started. How we started when I started with Kwara state government we no longer see them. Civil service is more or less like a moribund, talk to any civil servant in Kwara state, they are not doing anything. When you have a government that the civil service bureaucracy is not working, that is the end of that government, you can only have the outcomes we’re having now.
Let us look at APC-led administration at the National level. What is your assessment?
It’s almost like a replication of what is going on at the state level. Yes, before you say you were the spokesperson of APC before, let me say it myself, I was Deputy Director Media and Strategy for the Buhari Campaign in 2015. So I was part of all that. But at the time that we’re putting all that together, we strongly believe that we’re going to have opportunity to contribute meaningfully for things to change. When we say change, we believed it. It wasn’t just a campaign ‘mantra’. It was something we believed in, I wish you were there when we’re working on this thing, developing the Policy Paper, developing appropriate for the new administration that we hoped will change the country for the good, because it was a progressive party. That’s what we believed in. That was what we’re working for.
But, alas! The moment the administration took-off, it was a completely different animal entirely and many of us that worked for to bring about that administration were no longer recognised. So what do we want to say? I’m not saying they’re no good people in the government. But I’m telling you, that if you meet them one-on-one they are as frustrated as some of us. I met with so many actors in this government, ministers, head of agencies, who are as frustrated as some of us who are outside, because this was not what we expected. The progressives’ ideology that we voted for, we didn’t see it. The immediate prompt actions that we expect them on some of the critical issues disturbing Nigeria, we did not see it, people, individuals are struggling to do one thing or the other in their respective spaces. But as an administration, Nigeria is not where it supposed to be today, the debt has multiplied infinitely, we have not seen a commensurate result on ground.
The APC administration campaigned on three things, I was part of it. It promised to tackle insecurity that was what we promised, that we will tackle corruption and fix the economy. That’s all promised. Has any of this been done? Have they tackled insecurity? The security issue has infinitely worse than we could have imagined in 2015? Have we tackled corruption? Corruption has come to enjoy so much prosperity under the APC than we have ever seen. Have they fixed the economy? Nigeria happens to be the country of the highest number of poor people in the world. We are living in less than $2 per day. I think that’s the minimum benchmark for poverty. Almost 90% of Nigerians and like I said, there are only two categories of people in Nigeria today.
“I think the last seven years or so, in all indices of human development and in all indices of development generally. I think APC government has done badly.
Most of people who are extremely rich are less than 1% and the case of those who are poor and it is a case of poor, poorer and poorest. It is not a case of rich, middle class, upper middle class. All those distinctions have disappeared. If anyone is pretending to you is at their own risk. But the point is that there are only two categories of people in this country. Those who are extremely wealthy and those who are extremely poor, you can begin to put grades to the poverty; those are the only two categories of people. I think the last seven years or so, in all indices of human development and in all indices of development generally. I think APC government has done badly, and that’s what I said some weeks ago, we have our own challenges. But what I’m saying is that, given what we have seen, what was promised and what we are seeing, nobody should be talking about APC today. If anybody is coming on the platform of APC to say vote for me, that person he or she will have to tell us that, oh, I’m not part of what has happened in the last seven years. I’m not part of that. It is Buhari and it is not me. If you are able to say that, then we can begin to give you a second look, but if you are not able to say that, we will take it that it is the same APC that promised so much and delivered very little.
So for me, these are the challenges and I believe that it’s an opportunity for us to press the reset button in 2023. Nigeria will continue to go down to where we are. If you find yourself in the hole, the least common sense is to stop digging. So we’re not saying that 2023 is going to be a miracle year that everything will come back to normal. But we are saying that let us stop this bleeding. Every doctor will tell you that if you have a patient in intensive care unit the first thing is to stop the bleeding.
“So we’re not saying that 2023 is going to be a miracle year that everything will come back to normal. But we are saying that let us stop this bleeding. Every doctor will tell you that if you have a patient in intensive care unit the first thing is to stop the bleeding.
What is your advice for Kwarans and Nigerians in general, what should they be looking for when they are to make choice of people that is going to represent them come 2023?
It will sound like I’m campaigning for myself, but the most important thing is that Nigerians have to realise that we are in a bad place today, this country, as you see, is already like more than half way under the water but we don’t appear to know the enormity of the challenges that we face. We know, may be because we’re hungry. We know, may be because we cannot pay our children school fees. We know because we cannot pay our medical bills. We know may be because we can no longer buy petrol or diesel. We know all that. But we don’t seem to realise that all these are consequences of failures at particular levels of government. And these failures are not created by God. They are created by human beings and they are human beings who can solve this problem. Nigeria is blessed with competent people, knowledgeable people. But our political recruitment process is so warped, that these people don’t get to have a space at the table. We cannot vote for an incompetent person and complaint that we don’t have this and that, that is the way our life.
“Nigeria is blessed with competent people, knowledgeable people. But our political recruitment process is so warped, that these people don’t get to have a space at the table. We cannot vote for an incompetent person and complaint that we don’t have this and that, that is the way our life.
Like the Kenyan anti-corruption Crusader, Professor Patrick Lumumba, he said how comes that Africans have the option of buying a Mercedes Benz and we keep buying Keke Napep, when we are to recruit our leaders. Mercedes is a means of transportation and Keke Napep is also a means of transportation. But who would be given an opportunity to buy a Mercedes Benz they give you a blank cheque. Because, that your PVC is like a blank cheque to buy a Mercedes Benz or to buy a Keke Napep but why do we keep buying Keke Napep and still complaining that our life is still remain as it was.
“Your PVC is like a blank cheque to buy a Mercedes Benz or to buy a Keke Napep but why do we keep buying Keke Napep and still complaining that our life is still remain as it was.
Because you can look at leaders in different categories, you have a competent leader, you have a competent politician, you have a competent person that can work hard to improve your life. How come in Africa, we keep voting for the most incompetent among us. I’ll give you another example. When British people decided they had enough of the prime minister who just left the ship, Rt. Hon Boris Johnson, when they say they have had enough, they brought this 47 year old lady, Liz Truss, When I Google Liz Truss to know where she was coming from. I found that Liz left university at 22. She went to Oxford University, she studied politics, philosophy and economics and graduated from Oxford. Now, she started working with Oil Company and she worked with that oil company for 10 years, that make her to be 32 and the day she became MP and she’s being in the parliament for 10 years. Now she’s Prime Minister at 47. So what I’m saying is that, how come other people keep recruiting the best among them and we keep recruit the worst among us.
“Other people recruit the leaders from the best among them. The most educated, the most experienced among them, the most cultured among them. That’s how they recruit. How come we keep recruiting sub-quality people and expect the best result?
Our people will keep on saying education does not matter, experience does not matter. This person is spending money. This person has money. What is wrong with us? Other people recruit the leaders from the best among them. The most educated the most experienced among them, the most cultured among them. That’s how they recruit. How come we keep recruiting sub-quality people and expect the best result? How can it happen? How does it happen? So I’m saying that the opportunity we have in 2023 to recruit our leader is an opportunity to choose between a Mercedes Benz and a Keke Napep.