No pain No gain, Nigerians should be patient with the new government -Hon. Olusola Fatoba Steve.

No pain No gain, Nigerians should be patient with the new government -Hon. Olusola Fatoba Steve.

Hon. Olusola Fatoba Steve, representing the good people of Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun-Ifelodun Federal Constituency , who contested for the first time in the year 2011, is a leader who has shown great wisdom, compassion, and leadership in guiding our nation towards a brighter future. He is a man of quintessential qualities who has impacted many lives positively with what God has given him even before coming into public office, he has been contributing immensely towards the progress of his society. Being elected to represent his constituency at the green chamber empowers him to do more for his people. He is such that takes the welfare of his constituents and development of his constituency as top priority.
His first tenure as Reps. member was so effective and impactful that his constituents decided to give him another chance to represent them at the National Assembly. The most amazing thing about this politician is his simple life style and act of generosity. He is a man with free act and doesn’t like to create enemies but takes more delight in making friends. As regards his birthday had an exclusive interview with Nassnews correspondents.

Nassnews: Hon., for the sake of those who don’t know you, can you please introduce yourself ?

Hon. Fatoba: I’m Hon. Olusola Fatoba Steve. I represent the good people of Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun-Ifelodun Federal Constituency.

Nassnews: All right, hon. Can we have your background knowledge of you?

Hon. Fatoba: I was born in the Ado Ekiti, had my primary and secondary school in Ado Ekiti. I had my OND from the polytechnic in Owo, my BSc in business administration from the University of Lagos. Then my master in labour and Industrial relation from the University of Lagos. After which I starting working in Lagos in a private firm, Land Nigeria Limited, there I took procurement of farm produce, cocoa, cashew, ginger, sesame seeds, cotton, which took me to so many places like Kano, Lafia, Zamfara which is Gusau, Edo, Igara and so on, before I moved down to the head office in Lagos State where I worked for over 20 years before I ventured into politics. I actually joined politics in the year 2008.

Nassnews: OK, Hon.,so how long have you been into politics?

Hon.Fatoba: Since 2008, my first political contest was 2011, when I ran for state of house of assembly for Ado constituency1. I won the primary then, but they said they needed a woman so the ticket was taken away, I went back to my working place and continued with my work. So 2015, I contested again for House of Assembly general election but lost the election to former governor Ayo Fayose’s candidate. Immediately I lost the election, I went back to my job and business. I equally got myself involved in a-lot of business and started working on my side business in abroad, i have an orange company, I have a procurement which someone is running on my behalf, Currently, I still have my business running in Lagos, an as-sourcing firm. So 2019, I contested again. But this time decided to migrate to National since state assembly was all trial and error, and this time God granted my request. I ran for House of Representatives and won. This is my second tenure in the House of Representative.

Nassnews: Hon. what Inspired you to join politics?

Hon. Fatoba: I had a rough background so I know what it means to go through hard times, to that effect I joined politics to create impact in the lives of people, to give and help people of which my personal income couldn’t go a long way. Reaching out to my people earned me my second tenure which is rare in my constituency 1999.

Nassnews: That’s impressive hon.,how did you become a successful politician?

Hon. Fatoba: You see, one thing about this life is that whatever you believe in, whatever you want, you pursue it, You follow it up and pray to God, you will definitely achieve it and I will say that’s one of the success story I tell today. Even though I lost twice before winning, it didn’t discourage me because it was always on a score base of 50/50, So which ever way it comes I still thank God. I’ve never been a desperate politician, Secondly is my relationship with my people, I’m so accessible. I don’t live a flamboyant life, I don’t go around with police or security, politics didn’t change my way of life, been a public figure makes no change in me. I mingle with my people, I relate with my people, which create bond between us. So contesting an election in my constituency was so easy for me.

Nassnews: Okay hon., Currently there’s a lot of story and video all over the internet about people losing their lives because of some hospitals demanding for medical report before treatment. What do you have to say about that?

Hon. Fatoba: Thank you. Regarding that, I think the police authority has said that emergency situation irrespective of the cause of such situation should be first attended to. And also, I think the Medical Association of Nigeria equally gave social directive. So I don’t know why some hospitals should be going against that. Then to address this issue of one chance, kidnap and the rest. There is a bill I’m working on currently which will grant death penalty to any crime related to murder, be it kidnapping , armed robbery, ritual killings, all these crimes should attract death penalty. Honestly, when two or more victims are handled this way, others will learn. Another issue is that some of our governors are so scared of signing the death warrant which is another angle to look into and as well set up a judicial panel after six months, if the government refuse to sign the death warrant, the judicial panel will constitute a committee that will determine the fate within two months.

Nassnews: Okay Hon., As a lawmaker, What is particularly your responsibility to your constituency?

Hon. Fatoba: My primary responsibility is to see to the development of my constituency, my state and Nigeria at large. As a chairman committee on information on national orientation ethics and values. at his values. One of the critical area I want to tackle is our social value. Currently our value system has been eroded, It is not the way it’s supposed to be. This values and ethics needs to be preached and announced on a daily basis in the church, motor parks, markets and so on. This is one of the things we are going to come up with, information relating to government’s policies, behavioral pattern , drug abuse , indecent dressing will be disseminated. We will involve social media influencers so that they can disseminate the informations to the public.

Nassnews: What’s your plan for your constituency?

Hon. Fatoba: currently I’m working on two bills which is still yet to be established, one is on research Institution on rice production, we are growing Ofada rice in Ekiti, in my constituency. I believe that if we have such institution in my constituency, it will go a long way in helping them to carry out the kind of research the need and bring about increment in the yield of whatever they are planting which will give rise to production, improve the seeds of the rice to longer grains just like the foreign rice we import. The institution will also generate income at the end of the day and help our youth to have interest in agriculture. The second bill is on the establishment of school of Nursing and midwifery. In Ekiti state we don’t have one except the state owned but we require federal presence, we need more professional to train more people. All to the gain of my constituency.

Nassnews: Can we talk about your achievements so far as a member of House of Representative?

Hon. Fatoba: In my first tenure I had about 3 bills and 8 motions, and currently in my second tenure, I have a joint bill sponsored by the deputy speaker and six other members, which has to do with how to amend the armed forces at law of the Federation of Nigeria to provide for the appointment of the chief of defense staffs and for other related matters. Also I move an investigative motion which has to do with 2.3 trillion for tent fund intervention funds that was released into tertiary institutions, Just submitted the report recently. Then for my constituency, in nearly every towns and villages in my constituency during my first tenure, I built class rooms. I constructed roads, I erupted a lot of solar street lights. I constructed 3 ICT centers and equipped it with computers and other devices needed in my constituency, and a lot of agricultural implements distributed to my people, a lot of empowerment programs and a lot of things which earned me my second tenure.

Nassnews: What can you say about the current government?

Hon. Fatoba: So far so good, if I’m to rate the government of Excellency the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he has performed credibly well. He has started on a good note and a solid foundation. This is the first time Nigeria will be blessed with someone that is really ready for the job, that is well prepared for the job, Unlike the previous ones. The former president performed the worst, I’m a member of APC, we have to tell ourselves the truth. I’m not pleased with his performance, he created a lot of problem and mess on ground which will take a while to resolve. So people should be patient enough, give the new government time, I believe the current government have the capacity to perform credibly well at the end and the whole country will applaud him.

Nassnews: What advice do you have for Nigerians at this time, where we are passing through a lot of issues like fuel scarcity, fuel subsidy removal m, hike of electricity tariff and all that?

Hon. Fatoba: The only thing I can say is that they should keep believing in the government and have patience, no pain, no gain. So we have to pass through hardship before we can start benefiting from the proceed, we must definitely reap positively this time around. It’s a pity some Nigerians does not have the interest of the country at heart, A lot of stealings are going on in the ministries, different departments and agencies, the civil servant are not helping matters, and no one is queried for their actions. We need to show more love to the country rather than stealing from it to go build houses in abroad. We have no other country than this country, we must make sure we develop it together.

Nassnews: Okay hon. One last but tricky question for you. If you happen to be a magician and become the president of Nigeria for just one day, what will you change?

Hon. Fatoba: If I’m a magician then firstly, I will speak to the minds and conscience of every Nigerian to cause all of us to change land become better citizens. Because currently our country is bleeding and nobody cares. So we need to show love to our country, we need to change the way we do things. We should be thinking of the country first, not selfish first interest.

Nassnews: Okay hon. This is suppose to be the first question but now the last, How was your birthday celebration?

Hon. Fatoba: It was great. I just sat around friends, we ate, had some drinks and then I prayed to my God. Which is very important to me cause it’s by his grace I saw another year.

Thank you.
By Okoloji kosisochukwu v
Published by Lucky kenedy