In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Kwara State, Dr. Mike Omotosho, speaks about his desire to govern Kwara State

You recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to join the Labour Party. How do you hope to deal with the Saraki dominance in Kwara politics?

Well, my kind of politics is not focused on individuals, it is focused on the people. By this I mean the masses that have been crying out that they want to be liberated, and that was what necessitated my coming on board. The truth is that no matter how long you hold the people in bondage, there would be a time when they would want to be set free and that time has come. This is the mandate from the people and that is the assurance we have that we are going all out to deliver the people. It is not a question of me sitting in one place and saying my people have been in bondage for too long and that this is my blueprint for getting them out. No matter how beautiful my plan is I will still need to convince them. Imagine the image they have created for too long, imagine this analogy of prison inmates in a prison for instance, I use this analogy because even though it is physical, it is also mental, a sort of mental slavery I mean. If somebody comes with a blueprint, a beautiful design on how to escape from a jail, you got to convince the inmates or else they would not go along with you. I am just one among equals. People are saying okay, you’ll be the face of the struggle because everybody cannot be the governor of Kwara State. I have talked to Kwarans, I have felt the pulse of the people and they want to be liberated.

The extra I’m adding is that after the freedom, we are going to use our resources, we are going to use our networks, and we are going to use our exposure to carry our people along by empowering them. That is the extra that I am adding which somebody else is not able to add. This is why I am the face of the struggle.

But some will argue that you were not prepared for the governorship race because you first contested for the House of Representatives ticket of the PDP but you lost the primary.

When I was being introduced, I was introduced as a politician and I said no, I’m not a politician, I’m into politics. There is a difference between being a politician and being into politics. Whether we like it or not we are all into politics. Inasmuch as you have an interest you are protecting, you are into politics but that does not make you a politician. So, before now, I had taken interest in seeing my state being governed according to the rule of law. In view of this, I went back home and for over three years, I’ve concentrated my philanthropic gestures in my home state even though I’ve been engaged in philanthropic activities nationwide on a broader scale. When my people said charity begins at home, I had to look homewards and my gestures began to endear me to their hearts. Soon, they began to clamour that I run for an elective office. But I felt otherwise, I felt I could touch the lives of my people without running for an elective office. On a second thought, I felt it would be much easier for me to reach out to more people through public office because policies would be determined by the government. It is also good that the people can call you to question and make demands. When you are on a government platform, you don’t just do the things you feel like doing for the people but you work according to their needs and demands.