Hon. Prince Diran Iyantan is a political juggernaut from the southern senatorial district of Ondo State. He was born into politics as his father was, and is still a politician of repute, who participated actively in both the first and second republics. “Politics is like a religion in my family, I grew up inside politics, we took it from our father who is still very much alive” he told our Editor-in-Chief Starryman Samuel Arimiyo who conducted this interview. Getting him to grant this dialogue wasn’t as easy as you think, but we finally succeeded in blocking him in his Akure home; notwithstanding his very tight schedules. Hon. Prince Iyantan is not a stranger in the corridors of power as he was once the Commissioner for local government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Ondo State and a Federal Commissioner at the National Population Commission. It was a no hold barred interview which dwells on why he came into politics, Ondo gubernatorial election and the Tinubu government. Here are the excerpts…
Newstrend: Sir what brought you into politics, what was the motivation?
Iyantan: First and foremost, I am from a big political family, my father is the oldest Afenifere member today, he was a very active politician and by the grace of God he is still alive. He held several high political positions in the first and second republics. I grew up among politicians, my first consciousness was growing up to find so many crowd in our house, we were running errands for politicians, serving them, so by the time I grew up, I had already developed interest in politics. When I looked at politics in its entirety, I discovered that politics is essentially meant to serve mankind. Politics is supposed to be an avenue through which you can build an egalitarian society where people will have access to good things of life, their interests are protected and their rights protected too. It is just like a religious obligation to mankind that says we should love our neighbors as ourselves.
Newstrend: Was that why you wanted to contest as governor?
Iyantan: Yes, you are right.
Newstrend: But you lost out at the primary, how did you feel not being able to push your ambition beyond the primary?
Iyantan: well I made up my mind to contest for governor because I felt I was one of the most qualified, I am one of the oldest progressive members in the state, I have paid my dues, I have undergone thorough political tutelage under progressive leaders since 1999, especially when my brother became the deputy governor of the state. I was with him throughout. I was very active in the politics of the state so I felt that with my interaction with the people of the state at the grassroots, if given the opportunity to be the governor, I will be able to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people and perform optimally. After the primary went the way it did, I felt we should bring the family together and let bygone be bygone for the sake of our supporters, our party and the State so we don’t overheat the polity. That is why we supported the incumbent governor in his campaign to prepare for the elections which we are very positive he is going to win.
Newstrend: If after all said and done, Ayedatiwa wins this election, constitutionally, he’s required to spend only four years because he would have been sworn in twice as governor and the law frowns at swearing an individual three times as governor, don’t you think the south would have been shortchanged?
Iyantan: From a lay man’s point of view, and from what we heard from lawyers, after swearing in Ayedatiwa by God’s grace next February, he won’t be able to contest again as governor, however, that does not jeopardize the remaining four years for the southern senatorial district, so shortchanging the southern senatorial district is completely out of it, another southerner will take over from him. That’s how it should be because out of the three senatorial districts, it’s only south that has been shortchanged. Agagu spent only one tenure, he wasn’t allowed to complete his second term and power changed to the central, when it got to the central, they retained it for eight years before it went to the North and Aketi was almost completing his second term before the cold arms of death snatched him from us, so it will be unacceptable to us in the south to concede our legitimate four years to others. It will affect us a lot, so after Ayedatiwa completes his constitutional tenure in office, another southerner who is responsible, who will respect arrangement and agreement, who will not bring the sit tight mentality to bear but agree to spend only one term shall take over.
Newstrend: How prepared is the APC for this coming election in Ondo State?
Iyantan: We are fully prepared, even though we are not as prepared as we used to do in the past for a reason that is obvious to everybody. If you consider the mass exodus of all notable political gladiators in Ondo state to APC, it makes it look like a one sided show, there is no any stiff opposition that would force us to go the extra mile. That is why we comfortably operate at the level we have done. It puts us in a vantage position to give us a landslide victory. I suspect it’s going to be eighteen to zero; we are going to win all the eighteen local governments. We have nothing to fear!
Newstrend: So much for Ondo politics… as a former Commissioner at the National Population Commission, can you give us an idea of Nigeria’s population?
Iyantan: This issue has given us serious concern, among the comity of nations around the world, we are seen as a people that cannot actually track its national population very well, and this is essential for developmental purposes, so that we will be able to plan with figures that are accurate and reliable. But notwithstanding, we’ve expanded our scope in the area of gathering of data, and using some methods to track our population, which is reasonably reliable. We have a more effective birth and death registrations and a lot of other measures with which we determine the statistics of the population of the country and when we look at all the facts available to us from the scientific application that we have, the population of Nigeria will be around 220 -230 million people, and this tallies with the United Nations estimation. But this would be better confirmed by a house and population census which is in the offing. We have worked very hard and have done about seventy five percent of the job like mass training and other preparations but the change of government delayed its completion which I believe the incumbent administration will look into very soon.
Newstrend: With the present economic hardship in Nigeria, is there any hope for the common man?
Iyantan: I am convinced that there is hope because the present economic hardship is just a phase in our national life, yes we all feel it, but the fact remains that this hardship is not the creation or handwork of the incumbent president and government, we have been managing and paying lip service to the issue of our economy and its stability for a very long time, and if we don’t have a president that is bold enough to take certain decisive actions that would be able to consolidate the economy in a way that our children will be able to have a future, we would be embarrassed one day by the explosion that might lead to the collapse of our nation. If you are patching the economy because you don’t want to offend some people, you don’t want the people to go through some temporary pains and discomfort, and you continue that way till the economy collapses, then, you have done more harm to the people than good. The present hardship is like the travail of a woman in labour, after her delivery, there is joy everywhere, the woman will begin to smile, she will put the pain behind her, that’s what is going to happen in Nigeria. By the time we begin to see the results of these reforms, everybody will give kudos to Mr. president that this man knew what he was doing and that God sent him to come and rescue us from perdition. No matter how long we live, all of us will leave here, so we have to endure to be able to bequeath a great nation to our Children where everybody will be free and have means of livelihood. If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu refuses to take these bold steps, we won’t have a nation to bequeath to our coming generation; after all he has not stolen our money nor mismanage our economy, he stopped all the conduit pipes like subsidy, Some people cannot be making stupendous wealth at the expense of millions of down trodden Nigerians so I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that there is light at the end of the tunnel for Nigeria.
Newstrend: Lastly, considering the situation in the country right now, if you are to be an ombudsman between Nigerians and President Bola Tinubu, what will you tell him if you meet him?
Iyantan: Number one, I will congratulate him for the bold steps he has taken, and the reforms that he has done so far, and I will encourage him not to look back but to be very sincere with all the reforms and look for good hands that can help him to achieve results, whoever does not perform should be excused out of the system so they don’t frustrate these reforms. Again, because man is created to live only once, he should put up mechanisms and interventions that will ameliorate the sufferings that came as a result of these necessary reforms. Nevertheless, I support the reforms because it is the way out of the woods.
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