A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State, Mr. Sunday Babalola, bares his mind in this interview with SUCCESS NWOGU on issues affecting the state

What is your reaction to the attack on judges and the assassination of a former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in Ekiti State, Mr. Omolafe Aderiye?

What is happening is quite disturbing. The judiciary, being the third arm of government, should be where all and sundry go to in order to get justice. It should be where all aggrieved persons go to for relief. It should be the place where the helpless get help. It should, therefore, be sacrosanct. But, alas, there is much attack on the institution, which is unfortunate. If a case does not go our way, we blame the judges. Meanwhile, there are many avenues provided for people to get redress within the judicial system. The attack on the institution is very unfortunate. Similarly, the assassination of an NURTW chieftain in Ekiti State is unfortunate. Nothing justifies or gives anyone the right to take another man's life. It is sad.

People say that President Goodluck Jonathan's government is not serious with the fight against graft, what is your view?

The government is very serious with the fight against corruption. It is just very difficult to please people. The President is following the rule of law and people are complaining. If he hounds everyone into jail without proper investigation and does not allow the cases to go through court procedures, people will accuse him of violating human rights. I believe that the battle against corruption will be won. Let us be patient.

Is the sole PDP candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan not undemocratic?

It is very democratic. One person moved the motion and many others supported it. Democracy is the opinion or decision of the majority prevailing against that of the minority. In this case, I did not hear of any dissenting position. What happened was that they voted for adoption. The majority had their way. I am sure if the majority had said 'no', he would not have been a sole candidate.

What is your assessment of the current government in Kwara State?

The Kwara of today is not the state of my dream. The state being one of the first generation states created in 1967 should have recorded robust development in terms of human capital and infrastructure. Alas, see where the state is today. The past 11 years are nothing to write home about. Children of the poor cannot afford tuition fees. Also teachers in the primary and secondary schools as well as higher institutions are not well motivated. The state government claims to have reconstructed or constructed 600 classrooms in secondary schools, but I have only seen a few classrooms along the major roads were repaired. Go to the rural areas and you will be shocked at the classes that the students are using. In the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, what was the performance of the state vis-a-vis other states in the federation? On infrastructure, deplorable roads abound in all parts of the state. What we have seen is dilapidation of infrastructure and projects that make no meaning to the ordinary Kwara State indigenes.

I think that as long as good people refuse to act, evil will continue to prevail. Nigerians, especially Kwara State indigenes, complain about what is happening and nobody wants to do something about it. We cannot keep looking and praying. Somebody must act.

How do you think the kind of change you desire can be achieved?

Education is critical to development. I think we need to focus on providing a conducive learning environment; and pursue efficient, affordable and accessible health care delivery even in the rural communities. We also need to pay attention to job creation and grant self-regulating and self-collateralised loans to cooperatives, SMEs, professionals and artisans for business growth. Every tax paying adult, children and the aged will be on health insurance to ensure everyone has access to good health care. Massive road construction is another thing that we must invest in.