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•Talks About His 2015 House Of Reps Dream
Over the last few weeks, 9ice has been in the news over his new wife Olasunkanmi Ajala delivering a baby for him. Last week, 9ice spoke to JOHNSON GBENGA DAN ASABE’S blog ASABEAFRIKA.BLOGSPOT.COM about it and his 2015 dream of running for political office. He wants to go the House of Reps to represent Ogbomosho Federal Constituency. Below are excerpts of the interview. Successful hit maker and Afro-Fusion Hip-Pop icon, Abolore Agbolade Akande aka 9ice has opened up for the first time on his rumored relationship with City Event management expert, Olasunkanmi Ajala and why the mother of his new born baby girl, Michelle means a lot to his life at this moment. The widely travelled Music star who is also rounding up a law degree program at a private university spoke to Africa’s number 1 Celebrity encounter blog asabeafrika during an exclusive encounter at White House Hotel GRA Ikeja on Tuesday September 30th. The very talented MOBO Award winner who arrived the venue in company of his image maker Mr. Tony Anifite aka Don T of DicotyleDon Entertainment Ltd was in company of some of his political aides.
9ice who just returned from a familiarization tour to his Ogbomoso Federal constituency used the opportunity to reveal to this blog some of the issues that drove him into politics and why his presence in politics of 2015 means a lot to his people in Ogbomoso which is the largest constituency in the whole of Oyo State. The famous artiste who is seeking office as a federal representative of the people of Ogbomoso Federal Constituency under All People’s Congress (APC) party come 2015 unveiled his plans to this blog. On why 9ice has been scarce in the last couple of month, the MOBO Star who is working on a new album set to be released in the first month January 2015 said “Well, I will say it is due to hard work and so many other things. When you are cooking the meal nobody sees the pain of the cooking but everyone will see and enjoy the physical meal when it is ready but nobody dares to ask what went through the process of cooking. So, we are cooking so many things behind the scene and people can always wait to see the result of what we are cooking. I am sure that is the reason why I have been very scarce. We are working on a new album that we will be released into the market in January 2015 and we are equally working on all my songs that have not gotten a video, we are shooting the videos and that another project that is taking much of our time right now.”
9ICE THE POLITICIAN
Speaking on why he took to politics, the award winning artiste and father of four put it this way, “I think an average Nigerian is a politician; the only difference lays in the fact that some are ‘practicing politicians while the majority are observers or observing politician’ so it depends on the class you belong. The reason is that so many things are wrong and if things are wrong, you want to specifically know why things are wrong; so every Nigerian is a politician because we are all passionate about things that are going on in our society. We have seen societies that are not as blessed as our own being successful and we are always asking ‘Ah, ah, so what is wrong with our own?” So, that consistency of concern has turned every Nigerian to a politician. We all know everything that is going wrong with us, it is just that it is only a few of us that can summon the courage to come out and say “Ok, I want to challenge this thing, let me see what I can do to make it right in my own way”, so, politics have always been part of the life of every average Nigerian”.
On what he found out during his recent familiarization tour to Ogbomosho, the artiste turned politician exclaimed “I was shocked!” and continued “Because our trip was mainly for awareness. And not even awareness per se, let’s go and visit some people that are on ground and know what their mindset is like towards us; maybe they even have a better candidate on ground already so that I can just gather my entire strength and support the person. That was what I and my team went for but on getting there the entire trip turned into a campaign spree. It was like something they have been waiting for. We had to make do with so many things that we didn’t plan for, they did banner, they did posters and this were voluntary action by our ready made supporters and I was like ‘Ah, ah, sebi a kan ni kawa wo bi nkan seri ni?’ (We had only come with the intention to view events and see what next) but to my surprise they (Ogbomosho people) embraced us wholeheartedly because it was a change they were waiting for, it was the change they were waiting for because in my own town, nothing is in place. Nothing is in place; nothing is there in terms of development. Over there it is the graduates that are driving Okada motor cycles; until when you try to abuse them that they will react and say ‘don’t talk to me like that o, I am a graduate’ and you wonder ‘ehen, a graduate on Okada?’ Because that is what they will give them, when our politicians says “Youth empowerment”, their own Youth empowerment is to give you Okada, no single running company in the whole of Ogbomoso.
This is fact, you can go check for yourself; no single company that we can say ‘Ok, when we have our brand new graduates o, at least this company you are on our own soil, kindly ensure you employ 40% of our people, nothing. So, our coming was like the change people were already waiting for because they were already tired. If I am talking, they will interrupt and say ‘9ice, eight years ago, people have been telling us this same thing’. They know much about all these agenda, manifestoes and everything, they even tell you while you are talking, they can gage your intention, and they know who means well and who is lying. That is how far the poverty has treated them, they have been manipulated, they have been tricked, they have been caged they have been maligned politically so they know all the tricks of a politician. Before you even say it, they will say ‘We know this, we know it we know it’. Apart from Ekiti and Ondo I have not seen any Yoruba race that is as educated and sophisticated as the Ogbomoso people but as they finish from school, there is no job for them to do. The whole town is just in shamble, it is in total disarray because graduates are driving Okada and if they are not driving Okada, they are touts or Ogogoro drinkers. They are being used as instrument of destruction”
WHAT MY 2015 DREAM MEANS TO THEM
On what his entry into the race means to the people, 9ice rates his acceptance as 80% confidence. He told asabeafrika the truth “I will say 80% because when I was telling people how I am going to bring about the desired change, they were asking if I was running for governorship and I said to them that I don’t need to be a governor to do all these things because your representatives are being given (Financial) allocations to cater for all these things so that what the governor will do will be minimal. I said to them, there is what we call “Constituency allocation” and that constituency allocation is for you people, so if a governor is even going to do anything it will be complimentary and mostly in capital projects. But there are basic things that are expected from your representatives in Abuja and that are why they are your representatives at the center; things like providing transportation for schools, like giving of exercise books to your students, like giving out text books and other ameliorative supports. Those are minor things your governor is not expected to do, you can’t expect your governor to leave the capital in Ibadan and start jumping into communities in Iseyin, Shaki, Isale-Ora, Igbo-Ora, Ogbomoso and going from one community to the other to distribute text books. That is why we have senators, that is why we have representatives, that is why we have counselors, that is why we have chairmen and chairpersons to take care of all those small, small things. Bringing government and governance nearer to the people let the people feel the presence of government through you so that when the governor comes, it will be a complimentary effort in all. But I ask, where are those constituency allowances going into?
So, when I was enlightening them about all these things they were like “Sir, are you running for governor” and I said “No, I am not running for governor”. There are provisions for all these things and even if there are no provisions I am there to make laws on your behalf that will bring about those provisions in this constituency; that is why I am there. Even if there are no laws already, I am there to make laws that my people here will benefit from directly. Nothing is wrong in me putting a bill forward to say ‘gentle men, in my constituency, there is no single industry. We want just one industry situated there because we have so many bills begging for endorsement from other constituencies and all I need to do is say ‘ok for me to support your bill and make it become law, make sure one of these industries is situated in my own town’. Is that too much for me to ask? But when I said it to their hearing, it was like they have never heard those things before and they don’t even believe that it is the brief of a house of representative member”
ON HIS NEW WIFE
When we put the question to him, he never wanted to talk about it as the interview was to a a strictly political one but we had advise the artiste on the need to make some good impression with his fans all around the world so that certain perceptions will be laid to rest. He took his time before breaking the news to us first “Let me just tell you this and I pray it will be reported the way I said it to you. It is true that I have a child; it is true that I am with someone named Olasunkanmi Ajala and she is the mother of the child. That is the truth of the story; and if you check my instagram page, you will see my daughter Michelle there. She is there, her name is Michelle Abolanle Akande and she is there. So, it is not something you can hide for long. How can you hide a good news like having a child, it is one of the information you can never hide under the sun; it is a joyful thing.
WHAT I FOUND IN SUNKANMI
“I have my peace of mind. Ti n ba mu gari ni si yi, gaari yen moju mi dan, ti nba so fun yin pe garri ni mo mu, mo wa okay, afi tin ba bi abi tin ba po ni everybody ma mo pe garri ni bobo yii mu. (If I drink Garri now, I am at peace with myself and the Garri will make me look healty. If I don’t tell you that I drank Garri, you wouldn’t know except I vomit and you see my vomit) But kin je salad constantly, tin baa ru ke’egun , ee ti mope aah, bobo yi o gbadun life e, e woo bo se ru. Beeni, te ba ti ri, ee ti mope aah, bobo yii o wa ok; pelu gbogbo owo to ni. Se, kole jeun to da ni? (But if I eat salad constantly and I am not happy in my heart, you will notice and you will blame me by saying, oh, this guy is rich yet he is looking sick, does it mean he cannot enjoy his money again?) So, emi gigun, Alafia ati ifokan bale ni eyan le fi lo ile aiye, kii se oye owo ta’a kojo. (It is peace and joy that can give you a quality living not the amount of money you have in your account) Eeri bawon politician was en ko owo joo to, won o ni Alafia, won oni fokanbale. Owo ta’a ma ni, tao ni ni ifokanbale, Olorun maje ka’a ni. (Look at the way our politicians are amassing wealth yet they are not at peace even with their health. The money we will have that we will not be at peace with ourselves, may God never give us).
About Unknown
Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.
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