Why are you contesting?
I am contesting because the younger generation in Nigeria has formed the habit of complaining, talking and twitting and only stops there, which is not enough to change anything. If we are serious about the need to fix Nigeria and improve the situation, then some of us have to get involved in the system and must join politics. We can only fix the system if we are involved and that’s what I am trying to achieve. Our problems are from top down but the way to solve it is from bottom up. We cannot continue to bother about who is running for the presidency or governor without giving necessary attention to those aspiring to represent us at the national and state assemblies. The legislative arm is where we can turn the fortune of this nation around. If we are able to elect 40 good and committed legislators into the national and each of the state assemblies, Nigeria will begin to see positive changes in each community.

Part of the reasons I am running is because we want people to pay attention to who their representatives are, so that they can be held accountable for the offices they are occupying. If we don’t know who our representatives are, how then do we hold them accountable in the first instance? Recently, I had the opportunity to address the congregation in my church where I asked the estimated 3000-strong gathering whether they know who their lawmakers are, but to my surprise, I could only see five hands. In that instance, how do we say Nigeria is going to be better or how can we hold our leaders to accountability and transparency when we do not even know who they are? That is why I want to run and help fix the country. I also feel the need to inspire the younger generation of Nigerians to get involved, know who is getting into elected offices and to hold our public officers accountable to those offices.

Do you think you can win in order to achieve these aspirations?
I do not have the financial resources like the major political parties because I do not have any godfather or moneybags but I have a mission and vision. I am looking at how to give our generation a voice and I believe there is no amount of money that is stronger than the voice of the youths when they decide to be so. When Nigerians realise that power belongs to them, things will definitely change. The painful thing is that the political class is taking advantage of us because of our apathy, ignorance and fixed mindset. People do not realise that by not voting they are actually voting for things to remain the same. When we fail to vote, we are giving up our voice for the political class to do whatever they want and rig in the simplest form. For instance, if an allotment is given for people to vote and they don’t show up, politicians can play with those numbers.

The first way to combat rigging is for everybody to show up and when everybody does it becomes very difficult for anybody to blatantly put up any kind of behaviours. The problem is that this generation doesn’t place much premium about the future; all they think is the present and what they could benefit now. As a generation we must be involved, show up and stand to defend our voters. We may not have money and godfather but we believe in our vision, which is in MDP.

The issue is more than me or Eti Osa Federal Constituency; it is about the country and how we can do things right. If we get enough people to make the push, then this becomes the start to what can change Nigeria and push it forward. We can only fix the country by fixing one community at a time. If we can get it right in this constituency, we should be able to get it right in other places.

What are the challenges in Eti Osa that you will table before the National Assembly?
We want to change the standard by which our member in the House live. What I mean by that is very simple and it is transparency and accountability. What I mean is that we have a representative that is receiving seating allowance and constituency allocation. He is supposed to use the money to develop and solve problems in the constituency, but what we found over the years is that they don’t use the money but because we don’t know who these representatives are. They easily enrich themselves because nobody can hold them accountable for it. If I get into office, I will carry the entire media I have with me to the House, which I intend to, as torchlight to show the world what the representatives actually are. We will be specific about the salary, the allocation and the constituency allowance for Eti Osa and what we hope to do with it. If we do this it would force other lawmakers to pay attention to accountability in their various constituencies. We have representatives that do not have constituencies’ offices or hold town hall meetings.

I will also focus on education by pulling in the business communities. Eti Osa is the biggest business community in Nigeria; every major companies in Nigeria has some sort of representation here. So, can we take advantage of that by bringing this to the table to address the issue of education in the area?

We also need to develop our vocational education for those that are good in that area. Unemployment is a big problem in the country and it will not be solved by big business. So we are going to look into how to develop the medium scale entrepreneurs. We can achieve this in partnership with the government. We can also address healthcare. Everything on my agenda is something that I have been passionate about over the years.

How solid is your relationship with the grassroots people in Eti Osa?
I have been a representative in Nigeria as a whole and not just Eti Osa. I have adopted schools in the North, South, Southeast and other parts of the country. I have had solid relationship with the grassroots across Nigeria in the last 10 years. Although, I am not they type that loves publicity of my humanitarian deeds, I only just realised the importance of that recently and since I started the campaign, nobody has done more of grassroots works in this area. But we will find out on February 16 when the election holds.

Are you sure your fame will not carry you away if you are elected?
If I look at what the Lord has blessed me with, I could easily have gone to one of the major parties to seek for ticket, but I deliberately chose to stay with MDP because we are answering to the community that gives us the opportunity. Another thing is that Nigeria needs one term democracy. When you go into office, if you do not perform you should not return.
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