Extreme monetisation of political process is problem of Nigeria’s democracy —Aremu, Kwara PDP Reps candidate

Fatai Ayinde Aremu, who was born in Yowere/Sosoki ward in Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State, is a Professor of Political Science in the University of Ilorin and he is a PDP candidate for the Asa/Ilorin West federal constituency in the 2027 general elections. In this interview with Biola Azeez, he speaks on various national and development issues as well as his edge over his contenders. Excerpts:

What are your reasons for leaving academia to join politics?

I took an interest, while growing up in academia, in how policies are made and the consequences of policies on people. As a result, I have attended training in different countries on policy-oriented research, and I became a facilitator on policy-oriented research. I have trained for international organisations such as USAID and the World Bank. All my research has been focused on how to improve the lives of the people.

In particular, I was interested in the asymmetric dimensions of the policies the government makes. By that I mean the government usually makes and implements policies as if everybody is equal: as if women and men are equal, as if people with disabilities are equal to people with abilities, as if girls are equal to boys, as if everybody is the same. But every policy, every decision, every action has different consequences for different categories of people. My research in my academic career focused on this.

In Professor Aremu, you see somebody who deliberately developed himself not just in academic research, but in research with transformative potential. In Africa, I am one of the foremost trainers on how research can move from pure academic work to research that can influence decisions and shape people’s lives. Now, if we roll it forward and I have the authority to make those decisions by joining politics, then you have completed the cycle. The result would be very outstanding and different from those who have been doing it from one side alone. That is one of the reasons that made me join politics.

Why the choice of PDP to achieve your political ambition?

The Peoples Democratic Party, as a matter of fact, has “People” first in its name. As for me, considering my poor background and now being able to see clearly as a result of education and exposure, I am convinced that the PDP, because the people are the core and central to the party, aligns with my life, philosophy, vision, and value of serving the people. It is that alignment that makes me see that the PDP is the most suitable platform for me to run on.

We can look back and see that the PDP has a history of good governance. The margin of victory for the PDP in Kwara State in the coming election will be unprecedented in the history of the state. The PDP will win by a landslide across all levels.

Are you not intimidated by your political opponents and what are your plans to defeat the incumbent holder of the Asa/Ilorin West Federal Constituency?

What we need to know is that to be qualified to represent the people, you must be part of that people. You must know them. You must live there. You must have their lived experiences. You must know who they are and the kind of life they live. For example, if you are not a medical practitioner, can you represent medical doctors? If you are not a footballer, can you represent footballers effectively? You can’t, because you don’t know what it means to be a footballer. The bottom line is that I stepped out to represent the ordinary people. That is why our slogan is “Dadin Kowa”, and the third time we say it, we say “Omo Talika n’ọ jẹ Eniyan Nla”, that is, “children of ordinary people will also become great in life”. They will have great accomplishments, just like my life story, from weaving aso oke and working in a bakery to becoming a professor, a world-class professor. It is possible. An ordinary young person from an ordinary background can see themselves in Professor Aremu and take inspiration: if Professor Aremu can rise from nothing to something great, I can also become great. The story of Professor Aremu is in itself a source of inspiration to the people.

Which areas of development are your focus if elected?

With respect to the areas I will focus on when I get elected, there are three core pillars of our intervention.

First, let me make a small clarification, because some people will say: “You’re a legislator. Your responsibility is to make law and conduct oversight. You don’t have a budget. You’re not an executive.” Yes, that is true. However, given where we come from and the expectations people have of us, a legislator must think outside the box. The ordinary person on the street will not understand the distinction between an elected legislator and an elected executive. In fact, they will compare. The moment they have voted for you, they have given you their mandate, and they have expectations of you. So I will not limit myself to the core responsibilities of a legislator: making law, conducting oversight, and passing appropriation on the floor. We will leverage the opportunities that exist both within and outside the legislative chamber.

In terms of legislative intervention, that is very clear. We already have a clear idea of the laws we will champion, the amendments we will bring, and the ones that require repeal. That is the product of my having been a policy-related researcher for a long time, paying deep attention to these issues. So from day one, we already know what to do there.

Where did we get it wrong in Nigeria’s lawmaking process, and what should be done about it?

This is a very big question, because it is at the centre of the crisis of our democracy in Nigeria. It is not only a philosophical and theoretical question; it goes to the heart of democracy itself.

First, we can ask: what is wrong with democracy? Why does democracy produce unexpected and unpleasant results, despite the promise that it is government of the people, by the people, for the people? One would think that once you have democracy, everything should be okay. But it isn’t.

I think the number one problem is the extreme monetisation of the political process, the monetisation of elections. It costs a lot of money to contest an election and get elected, even into a state or federal legislature. Because it costs so much, the wrong set of people can get in, as long as they have the money to buy votes and pay for everything. It is not about the quality of the candidate, the clarity of their ideas, or their capacity. It is about what the person can offer, in monetary terms. Once the process is faulty, the outcome, the product, will also be faulty.

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So you end up with people, sometimes from questionable backgrounds, who don’t have sufficient qualifications or sufficient experience. To be a lawmaker, to be in parliament, you must have acquired a reasonable level of education and experience, because making laws, conducting oversight, and amending laws require a lot of knowledge and expertise. They also require the capacity to learn, to digest, and to synthesise ideas from different quarters and sources. It requires advanced thinking capacity.

But beyond legislation, oversight, and appropriation, what additional value will you add for the people?

I have clustered this into three major pillars. The first is jobs and enterprise. The second is quality and effective representation. The third is community development.

Pillar one: Jobs and enterprise. Youth employment is very important, but I am talking about dignified and fulfilling jobs, not just any job. The generation of young people we have today has great hopes and aspirations. If I say I’ll find you a job as a teacher in SUBEB, paying 70,000 or 80,000 naira a month, that is not a dignified and fulfilling job. Likewise, an HND, NCE, or B.Sc. holder riding Okada or Keke Napep. I’m not saying riding Okada or Keke Napep is bad, as long as you are able to sustain yourself. But somebody did not go to get an HND, a B.Sc., or a diploma only to ride Okada or Keke Napep. We cannot categorize that as dignified or fulfilling. So there are criteria we need to unpack for the kind of jobs we will offer. This is something we know very well, and we have done it to support what our country is doing, so it is now our job to do it for ourselves.

Our focus will be on dignified and fulfilling employment for young people. We will also focus on small and medium enterprises to help young people get funding to set up their own businesses. Most importantly, because I will be representing farmers, rural farmers, women farmers, and young farmers, who are a significant part of our constituency, we will have a special focus on agriculture. Farmers will have access to credit, equipment, quality seeds, and markets. The entire agricultural value chain is very rich, and billionaires can be created in it. We will leverage international organizations like the African Development Bank and any organization providing new resources for agriculture. I will make sure my people get their fair share of those resources.

Finally, the digital and creative economy. There are many creative people in the rural and urban areas of the two local governments I will be representing. We will support them, spotlight them, promote them, and give them access to funding that puts them on the global stage, so they can make money and eliminate poverty.

So pillar one covers dignified and fulfilling employment for young people, promotion of small and medium enterprises, aggressive pursuit of inclusive agriculture that provides decent livelihoods, and the digital and creative economy.

Pillar two: Quality and effective representation. We will be accessible as a representative. We will hold quarterly town hall meetings and engage the people as much as possible. I will do it personally, and where I can’t, my team will go around to brief people on what has been happening on the floor of parliament and to harvest ideas from them on what they want us to put on the floor. That is a settled issue: we have to be accessible and make people feel that they are truly being represented. We will have an effective and proactive constituency office where people can always drop their complaints, and we will treat them promptly. We will have a legislature that is responsive to the needs of the people. People will have somebody who listens to them, gives them the opportunity to be heard, and takes action on their complaints, petitions, and requests.

Pillar three: Community development. This is connected to the first two. We will optimize the regular budgetary streams and get projects into the budget so that people can feel the impact of government. People, particularly those in rural communities, have not felt that impact, so this is an opportunity for us to speak on their behalf.

Beyond that, we will leverage our experience in the development sector: knowing how to write grant proposals, where the money is, and which organization or donor is funding what, whether in health, education, roads, water, security, or electricity. The way we will do this is to cluster existing, credible community groups and support them in preparing proposals. We are not the ones to write the proposal or receive the grant. We will act as a facilitator, bridging the gap between community groups and sources of funding. We will use our experience and skills to help them prepare the proposal, but they will be the ones to defend it, and the money will go to them directly. What we will provide is technical guidance and monitoring and evaluation, to make sure whatever money the community gets goes for its intended purpose.

We will not rely on the regular budgetary streams alone to bring development to the people. If we did, it would not be sufficient and would take a lot of time. Four years is just forty-eight months, and before you know it, it is over. So we have to think creatively and innovatively to explore funding opportunities outside government. They are abundant, depending on how well we go about it. That is where I, as Professor Aremu, will add value. That is why people should come out massively to vote for PDP.

What should be the relationship between federal lawmakers and their governors, irrespective of party affiliation?

As a professor for almost a decade now, having been in many policy circles and having trained people for more than fifteen years across Africa, as I have mentioned, I have learnt a number of things. One thing I have learnt about Nigeria is fragmentation and unnecessary rivalry. Most of the key policy actors work at cross-purposes because of personal interests. If they put the interest of the people above personal interests, there is no reason for federal lawmakers not to collaborate effectively with governors, irrespective of party affiliation. After all, the overall objective of everybody is to serve the people, not to prepare to entrench yourself in power. If the objective is to make people’s lives better, we have a common goal, so why would you not work together?

The problem is with the personalities of the people who have been elected into these offices over the years. They are not looking beyond election cycles. They are not looking beyond being in office. They just want to stay in office forever. They are not looking at impact, or at what they can do within the time they have in office.

So if I have to collaborate with somebody in any party, as long as I can put smiles on the faces of my people, make their lives better, and improve their livelihoods, I don’t mind. Legislators should not mind, and governors should not mind, working together as a team to serve the people who elected them. Instead we see this unnecessary rancour and rivalry: the senator wants to take my seat as governor, so I don’t want the governor to go to this person. At the end of the day, as they say, when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. It takes attention away from their primary responsibility.

So I don’t think the relationship between federal lawmakers and governors should be anything but cordial. There is no reason for it to be otherwise, irrespective of party affiliation or ideological leaning. The most important thing is to serve the people and make their lives better. Once you are elected, you have to put the people first. Once you put collective interest above personal interest, there is no reason you cannot overcome party differences with your colleagues, whether as governors, senators, or members of the House of Representatives. In my own view, I am willing to work with anybody, as long as we are able to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

I don’t believe this rivalry is necessary. I believe it is adversarial and distracting, and it should be avoided by all means.