Ademola Adeleke poser

The Osun West senatorial by-election pitched the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s Otunba Ademola Adeleke against the All Progressives Congress, APC’s Senator Mudashir Husain. Adeleke has this to say:

What informed your sudden inclination to politics?

My late father, Late Ayoola Adeleke was a politician, I was born into that family, a very politically conscious family. He was a Senator in the second republic. My brother, the late Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke took after my father, although I may be young, but I watched him painstakingly, and I was also with my brother. I have satisfactorily learnt from the masters of the game.

Your opponent has described you as a misfit unworthy of the office and that you have never held a public office?

Let me put this to you, is it everybody that will hold public office before aspiring for an office? I was with SDP together with my brother while Abiola was contesting. My brother played a significant and big role in that election. I was a member of PDP with my brother before we eventually moved to APC so, what experience are they still talking about?

Your brother died as a member of APC, it was reported that he left the PDP at the point when he was humiliated and even assaulted, and that is [your] party…

Let me put the record straight, was it not better for my brother to be assaulted in PDP and lived through it than to have gone to APC and died in their midst? For me, I would have prefered my brother to be assaulted in PDP and remain alive.

Are you insinuating that your brother’s death was politically motivated?

No, but his death remains a mystery. I spoke with him on Saturday, he was hale and hearty, he even visited some of his political associates at different social functions, just for him to die on Sunday morning. Check it out, something is wrong somewhere, and God will judge.

What are your chances in this contest?

My chances are very bright. I have the goodwill of my brother and that of my family, my brother loved the downtrodden, and he was loved by many. He provided empowerment to people and scholarship to indigent students throughout. My family has been doing the same, we have provided job opportunity for more than 10,000 people through Adeleke University.

It appears you are leveraging on the goodwill of your family, and that of your brother, what about you, what are you bringing to the table?

Despite the fact that I was part of the of social security programme of my family, I also have my scholarship scheme which is still ongoing, the scheme has produced Ph.D holders among others.

You sound so confident, but your opponent, Senator Mudashir Husain recently described you as being too small for him?

Senator Mudashir Husain is my brother, and a friend, we went to the same school, Ede Muslim Grammar School. I was his leader while in school, he was far from me in status as a student then. I have been doing politics right from school. I contested for the presidency of the Old Students Association of the school, and won. Anyway, I am not surprised, we used to call him fantasy because of his poor command of English Language, and that is why he speaks fantastic English whenever he grants interview to the press.

Originally titled “I have learnt from the masters of the game,” this interview was published by www.vanguardngr.com on 6 July