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Dr. Fredrick Fasehun
In this interview with THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER,
the National Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria, Dr. Fredrick
Fasehun, speaks on the upcoming Osun election and other issues
The Unity Party
of Nigeria, which you lead, bears the same name as the party led by the
late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Do you think the All Progressives
Congress-led administration in Lagos has continued with the legacy left
by the Lateef Jakande-led administration in Lagos?
The truth is that the APC regime runs
Lagos State with impunity and it has turned Lagos State into an animal
farm, where some people are more equal than others. The APC recently
paid the price of impunity in Ekiti. And come 2015, Lagosians must
ensure that they vote out this anti-people party. Lagos citizens must
remember that this party used and dumped commercial motorcycle operators
popularly known as okada rider after harnessing their support and
services in the elections of 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011. During campaigns
for those polls, APC politicians even donated to okada riders branded
helmets, motorcycles and reflective jackets. But no sooner did the
Action Congress of Nigeria (now a part of the APC) come into power than
they turned around to bite the finger that fed them, by banning okada
all over Lagos State. Fashola should dedicate his last days in office to
streamlining and reducing the financial yoke under which bus operators
currently operate. Today, the average Lagos commercial driver bears the
burden of multiple levies. Haba! How can any business survive under such
a draconian regime? With all its pretentions to attaining mega-city
status, Lagos has the worst transport extortion regime in Nigeria,
Africa and perhaps the world. The world over, the drift is towards
encouraging mass transportation, but the different levies and
impositions being heaped on commercial buses in Lagos State have become a
disincentive to commercial bus operators. And the drivers ultimately
pass on the heavy bill to the commuters, the common man, who will be
forced to pay more for transportation. In the area of education, when
the students held peaceful demonstrations, the government unleashed the
police and arresting tens of students. Finally, in response to students’
demand for a reduction of fees jacked up by up to 1,600 per cent, the
Fashola government announced a reduction of 34 to 60 per cent. The
government’s gesture amount to tokenism; and it is unacceptable as well
as condemnable. And Lagos State University students have rightly
rejected the fees and demand a 67 per cent reduction across board. We
support the students’ stand.
In a state where workers earn N18,000 as
minimum wage, and where the daily living income per family hovers around
$2 (about N325), fees as high as N150,000 represent a death sentence
for the educational aspirations of the youth population. This must not
be allowed. The Lagos State Government must bow to the wishes of the
students. LASU was conceptualised by the UPN government of Alhaji Lateef
Jakande in 1982 to provide tertiary education for youths free of
charge. We must return to those ideals and ensure that LASU students
have access to affordable quality education.
What is your view on the creation of more states endorsed at the National Conference?
Instead of finding a way of
redistributing wealth, the various governments are distributing poverty.
How many of the existing states can sustain themselves? I personally
don’t agree that states should be created. If there has been evidence of
social injustice in certain areas of this country, then right those
wrongs. Don’t try to appease people who don’t need to be appeased by
creating states.
Your party is going to contest in
the Osun State election. You have boasted that the UPN will win. How
realistic is this given the fact that money is a key factor in Nigerian
elections?
The other political parties are in a
shambles and we are united. If you remember, Osun remains one of the
bedrocks of the UPN government of the past and we have only gone to Osun
to remind them of the magic wand of the UPN in the past and that we are
also prepared to re-enact the magic wand.
A governorship aspirant in your
party, Mr. Segun Akinwusi, recently defected to the Social Democratic
Party, alleging that the UPN was not democratic.
He did not stay in the party to realise
how democratic the UPN is. We were not registered when he pulled out so
he could not assess the democratic culture. He must have left for his
own personal reasons, I cannot say why he left but his leaving will not
affect our base
The APC says your party is just a shadow of Awolowo’s UPN …
Many people have been attempting to fake
Awolowo and that, of course, shows that Awolowo might have died
physically but he has not died culturally or politically. If he had died
politically or culturally, why are people wearing the type of his cap
and spectacles? They have been proclaiming in every nook and cranny in
this state that their political parties are Awoistic. We are not
mimicking anybody but re-enacting the realities of the UPN of the past.
Awolowo was an opposition leader in the First and Second Republics. Is the UPN now an opposition to the centre?
We are not aligned to anybody and we are
not seeing ourselves as an opposition. We are seeing ourselves as
government in waiting and that is what the UPN will be by the grace of
God. We are not hostile to anybody. We are not just criticising anybody,
we will run a campaign without bitterness or hostility. We have a focus
and by the grace of God, we will work towards that and achieve it.
The Osun election would be the first election the UPN is participating in since 1983, what is your expectation from INEC?
INEC should make sure that the election are free and fair and that the results as indicated by the people should prevail.
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