Pa Oyekan Arije was a union leader, activist and politician who have contributed in no small measure to the development of Ondo State , Nigeria and the welfare of its workforce. He spoke in this interview on sundry issues of interest  .  Excerpts:

The labour focus administration was in government for about eight years, the administration of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, we want to have your appraisal, how did you see that administration?

Well, by the time Dr. Olusegun Mimiko declared his governorship ambition, he came to meet labour, after he had spoken with them in Abuja and they had given him the go ahead. He didn’t just start from home, he started from the top, we saw it as an opportunity to refocus the labour party because there is this erroneous impression that Mimiko brought labour to Ondo state, Labour Party had existed long before Mimiko, Labour Party was registered in 2002, along with parties like the National Conscience Party, but at that time it was known as party for social democracy. Because there was this fear that Babangida  not register Labour Party if we went for Labour Party that was while it was called Party for Social Democracy (SDP). If you see the constitution of PSD and Labour Party, if you see the PSD logo and Labour Party logo, it is same logo.

Even the PSD from the constitution, the registered Secretariat is in NLC office Abuja, so Labour Party has existed before Mimiko came. Immediately he came in, I was incidentally one of the people who actually led Labour Party publicity team, either as PSD or Labour Party, and since we have agreed to allow him to use that platform, we have no choice than to work with him with the best of our ability. When his mandate was stolen, we stood by him, as a matter of fact Dr. Olaiya Oni, who was the Party’s Chairman, gave evidence at the tribunal,  I was the one leading Labour Party to the tribunal, and by the time the government took off, what we prepared for the first 30, 100 days,  Olaiya Oni, Mimiko and myself, put heads together . The caring heart agenda as you could observe, was a socialist oriented programme, we started with that. If you could recall, as at that time, the teachers in Nigeria were at loggerhead with the government over the teacher’s special allowance, 17.5% salary.

Sorry sir, after eight years of Labour Party administration, is the labour force still excited about government in power or labour force is disappointed?

Under Mimiko, in his first term  I was very impressed about what he did, but the last lap of his  tenure, by the time he was leaving, he was owing the workers seven months salary arrears, it is a pity that such rubbished the good record that he had, even when they were talking of minimum wage of 18,000 naira Ondo state made it N22,017. I was involved in the negotiation, so, we would say he was labour friendly, but at the end of the day when you are owing workers seven months salaries, for the tertiary institutions it was even one year.

 To me, I would not say I will give him the past mark at the end considering his relationship with the public. But to an extent, I would not put the whole blame on him, I would also blame the leadership of the labour movement who probably a quest unnecessarily or compromised the interest of the followership  because it takes two to tangle, if the had not cooperated with him..by the time I was serving as the NLC chairman, it was only two months salaries they were owing during the time of Ajasin when we went on strike, but for seven months, even forgetting bailouts, the Paris club money two times, and yet failed to redeem any part of the arrears, so I will say that towards the end, all did not end well that started well.

Sir, take a look at Labour, while you were the chairman and the labour now, do you believe labour is defending its members effectively?

The philosopher will say, the eyes see not itself except by reflection, it will be imprudent of me to assess myself, I think you can ask that from the public, people who knew when I was there and people who know what is going on, there are still elderly people around who could have that assessment.

We will still go further with that question. But recently in Ekiti state the labour there petitioned the state assembly that Fayose was giving the labour force N6million naira every month to keep quiet, Yoruba says, “sekankomi, sekankora re”. Is this what a labour union is all about?

Well, you are talking specific now, I would know how true the statement is, if it is true, it is a sad development. But one thing I have known in this country is that people tell so many rumours,  but if it is true..when Baba Ajasin was the governor in this state, I can say this, that is the most upright governor we ever had in this state and I don’t think we can have another Ajasin, because at that time every month, the ministry of finance will do the cash projection, six people will sit down to order the annotation, Ajasin was the chairman, Fasoranti was the Finance commissioner, Chief Akosile was the permanent secretary finance, late F.O Akinyemi was the Accountant-General, the NLC Chairman and Secretary would sit down. By the time it got to a stage that I said there is no way we would not go on strike because the workers have become restless, they were  still owing us two months salary arrears at that time and we went on strike on September 1982, even though I knew that the government hadn’t the money but we did it for a purpose.

After the strike action, the agreement that we signed, I took it to Sunmonu who was the  national president of NLC and I explained that this is not peculiar to Ondo state, but for Lagos and Rivers, all the other 17 states were indebted to their workers, there was a need for a review of the revenue allocation formula to give the state more funds, Sunmonu was convinced and put a call across to Shehu Musa who was the Secretary to the Federal government to find out if he was around, he confirmed he was around,  he went to meet him, Sunmonu massaged his point, stressing the need to review the revenue allocation formula, he was convinced and led us to Shehu Shagari , Shagari was also convinced and all in one day he asked the NLC to go and bring a memo for a review of the revenue allocation formula. So, by the time we got back to NLC secretariat they said Ondo state should generate the memo because the idea  came from  us, when I came back. I discussed this issue with Ajasin and we put up a five-man committee Professor Aluko, J.O Owoyemi, A.J. Omiyale, one Ademua and myself. Omiyale gave a draft to that committee which we adopted and passed to Ajasin, we made some additions and turned it over to NLC.  That was what I took to Lagos and it was presented to Shagari.  That was what led to the increase of the state allocation from 24% to 30% during the time of Shagari. I’m giving this story so that you can know that where you have a union leadership that is alive to responsibility and is a progressive-minded person, you can get things done even for the country, not only for your workers. As a result of our effort at that time, states got more money but the thing had reverted again to 24%.

So what are you now suggesting?

When they started the present N30,000 minimum wage which they started with N65,500, and later came down to N30,000, I would even call that slave wage. In 1981, May, we had the first minimum wage act in this country , and the minimum wage was N125 per month, at that time, one dollar was 64kobo, if you convert N125 to dollar, it was $195.3, at the rate of N360 to the US dollar. Today that N125 naira is worth over N70,000 , so I don’t see any hullabaloo with N30,000 minimum wage that the governors are saying it is too much. To me it is inadequate.  If the government can afford to feed a prisoner with N450 daily, if you convert it to naira and kobo for a whole year that is N164, 000 plus for one prisoner. So, your N30,000 per month works out to N360,000 per annum , at least a worker deserves to have a family, if he has a family of four at the rate of feeding a prisoner, the worker will require N600,000 to feed his family in a  month. Discounting rent, transportation, and other incidentals. Even from that amount you will deduct tax, so you will see that your so-called N30, 000 is a slave wage.

 If we take a look at the economy few years back, Nigeria recorded low patronage in crude oil sales, price crashed, and that led to serious economic recession. And taking a look at the plagues befalling the country; militancy, kidnapping, etc, will you still blame government for not taking proper care of its workers?

You talk of militancy, who caused it?  It is the government. It is the political class, because the people whose territory the oil is mined, are neglected, Yoruba man will say “ituje lonfo egbe”. I happened to come from the oil producing area, people who live on water who don’t have water to drink, they have no roads, even where they have school, they are ill-staff and ill-equipped, and you see so much money spent in other areas, the militant started when Abacha had his two million man- march and the Nigeria Delta youths that saw what was in Abuja, were infuriated that we who own the resources don’t have anything to show, that was what led to the militancy. They didn’t go into militancy just for nothing but because they wanted to press for their right and they still have the right to do so.

The insurgency we have now is all politics, politicians are behind it, Ali Modu Sherif brought this people in, to they were using them to solve scores in the Northeast, particular Borno state. But the thing has gone out of hand. If we are talking about recession, is it only in Nigeria that we have recession?

When we had the rainy period, did we save for the rainy day. During the gulf war, do you know how many billion was wasted which we could not account for, about N12billion.

During the Ajasin period, you were convinced that the government was not able to pay two months salaries and that encouraged you to  reach out to some power brokers and were able to come up with a formula, that provided enough resources for state, are you still convinced today that most of the states in the country can pay this thirty thousand naira, or you want to advocate that we should have a new revenue allocation formula?

Taking it holistically, the present situation especially at the national level, even in the state, the political class has been allowed to bite more than is due to them of the resources.  What we need is a resource redistribution. Senator Shenu Sanni exposed them when he said Senators were taking N13.5million every month.

That is discounting constituency allowance and others, whereas the highest paid director on level 17 in the federal or 16 in the state takes less than N500,000. The man in the senate may be a school certificate holder, the director may be a PhD holder. We have to redistribute the resources of this country. That is number one because the politicians have exceeded the emoluments fixed by the revenue mobilisation allocation and fiscal commission. Because what was fixed for them is even under one million, but they are taking over N13m.

Between 1962 and 1991, the widest gap between the lowest and highest paid was ratio 1 to 37. Today it is about ration one to 1.6million, if you calculate from what Shehu Sanni exposed.

For the political class, there re-enumeration should be reduced, For the people on consolidated salary, their  re-numeration should be reduced.  As a matter of fact, I am now of the view that we should be advocating a top bottom approach to the fixture of wages.

What you are going to shed at the top, the savings you will make by shedding weight at the top will cater for people below.  As  a matter of fact I have just put up a paper, which I intent to present to Labour- the need to have adjustment of renumeration, to agree on a pay relativity, pay ratio between the lowest and the highest paid. You will see that we would accommodate at least N50,000 minimum wage and the resources of this country will carry it.

The labour today, we are aware that in many cases they actually collect money, just like you said earlier that it will be a very sad development if they are compromising their stand, but from facts available, even from workers, they always allege that whenever there is an issue once the labour leaders are called upon, then they change their position. Today if we are to talk on the present situation  what should be their stand when issues come around their members?

I don’t want to say that they compromise due to financial inducement, since I don’t have evidence, I would never say that is so, but like I said earlier, if it is so, it is very unfortunate and it is sinful. Epe oniru epe alata, aja awon to ba sebe o.

But as it is today, if the truth must be told, the labour leaders have to buckle up.  It is good for Labour to be conscious of the right of the workers at every point in time. I can draw an analogy.

You said you are not aware that some of the labour leaders are being induced financially.  But are you aware that pensioners before they collect their gratuity they are being fleeced by civil servants, they collect bribe?

I am not aware. I have been a union executive since 1969 and I was active till November 1994. I was seen as an activist for 25 years.

Since I left, its only when anyone feels that he requires my advice that they come to me.

That means you are not aware?

I am not aware.

Would you be disappointed now that we are telling you. It’s a common knowledge that anyone who wants to collect gratuity today, civil servants would collect bribe from such people. It’s a strange development. What would be your reaction to this if it is true?

Corruption has no permanent base. And piety have no permanent base. Righteousness has no permanent home and you cannot decipher the construction of a man from the look of his face.

If I am told that  that happens, I would say it is most unfortunate, but one thing I know for certain, by the time I got my own gratuity, nobody collected one kobo from me, and before I took  my pension, nobody collected one kobo from me, if they say that they have been doing that, I would be surprised.

If it is so, people who collect this money are criminals, people who pay too, they have helped the criminals to actualised their plan.

Sir, gone were the days when we had activists like Gani Fawehinmi, Wole Soyinka, Beko and the likes of Falana, but today everybody is  a politician and we hardly have activists who will give direction, who will sit government up, on the state of the nation. What is your take about this?

If that statement is correct, I will blame the present generation for it. Because the people you are talking  about, by the time they started, they were young men in their late 20s and early 30s. I got to the executive of the civil service union at the age of 31.

The struggle that I have been making  since that time, at eighty  now you will not expect me to be on it, but those people on the stage, the youth on the stage… Awolowo was a young man when he became the Premier in Western Nigeria. He was still in his early forties by the time he became premier. But today because everybody is looking for money, nobody wants to make a sacrifice.

Sir in those days there used to be a relationship between the socialist oriented countries, and socialist orientated community in Nigeria.  Dapo Fatokun sat on many scholarships, through which helped a lot of people, and by that he was able to shape their orientation towards socialism. Today we no longer have such facilities and that may be responsible for the dearth of activism in Nigeria, do you share this view?

I would say to an extent again that the government has a substantial part of the blame. We once had a socialist community in Nigeria, referred to at that time as Ayetoro, the floating city.

Ayetoro was self sufficient in almost everything. It was a religious community. Because the government feared that if care was not taken and they allowed the people to grow, one day people in Nigeria will start to agitate for socialism. That was why the place was infiltrated, first by the federal government having a fishing post in Ayetoro. Later, western region. By the time Ayetoro started, nobody owned properties.

If your allegation is right, how do we now correlate that with the failure of even socialism itself at the global community?

Gorbachev, who started the destruction, was an American trained economist. He was planted to destroy socialism and that was what led to the break up of the USSR. And perhaps that was what also led to the disintegration of Ayetoro? To an extent. In those days they used to train their children in Germany, the last but one head of Ayetoro community is a German-trained engineer. And at that time, everything in the community belongs to the community not to individuals.

You served as the chairman of the panel that investigated RUGIPO students’ riot, what can you deduce  the factors that led to the crisis?

I will say a number of factors. One, it appeared there was  high-handedness from the leadership of the place. Two, the management of the institution allowed for dichotomy.

You have some people who are pro Rector, and some who don’t want the Rector and want the truth that will stabilise the institution to prevail. As a result, the institution did not have a common focus. And as we said in our report, it appeared that the rector was no longer managing the institution as it should be because he had too many other things on his hands that distracted him. I must say this also, Owo community should also have its own contribution towards the development of that institution because the place is situated in Owo. I found out during the enquiry that if Owo community has a special endowment, or a particular thing that they have supported to bring into the situation.

To whom much is given much is required. Owo community too should be interested in knowing the goings on in that place, with the view to making positive suggestion for the development of the institution.

But the last straw that broke the camel’s back was the issue of the fees defaulters. By the time the institution put down its feet that those who were defaulting would not write exams, the students rioted.

You won’t believe that there are people, who throughout there in the polytechnic had no matriculation numbers.

In fact,  less than 20perent of the students paid fully their tuition fees. That was part of our discovery.

Ordinarily, what comes in from revenue of the place, government needs to add a little bit to it and the place will be flourishing.

Even the OSPO Consult, which is supposed to be the business arm of the institution, everything there had gone into ruins. Imagine the management owing the Guest House over N7m.

The engine purchased for the bakery was just the oven for confectioneries, biscuits and so on.

Well, my terms of reference did not cover all those areas otherwise we would have gone into into and see who and who are responsible that should be called upon to make refund.

That should have been the duty of the visitation panel. Our own work was to look at the causes, the immediate and the remote causes of the crisis, which is the issue of no fees, no examination.

Sir, have you had any inter-phase with former Governor Bamidele Olumilua, after you left office?

(laughs) We met for the first time about three and half years after my involuntarily retirement.  We met at the funeral of Apostle Ogunfeyimi, the founder and the head of the C and S Church of Zion.

That was the first time we met and we embraced, we greeted because I thank God that since I left the service, I have not been eating from the dustbin. God had been faithful and to me.

I read one novel in 1961, a character in that book said, “life seems to me to be too short to be spent in nursing past grievances and animosity.”

Since I read that book, I don’t bear malice against anybody. I agree that that that was the part of the journey the lord has destined me to pass through and who knows, probably God has used him to lift me up.

Because even though I had less than N200 both in bank and in cash at the time I was given my retirement letter and I had six children to cater for, to God be glory that the youngest of my children completed her NYSC in 2005. The education of my children did not stop. Why should I be angry with anybody?

And probably if he had not retired me in 1993, who knows I would not even have been appointed a commissioner, because at the time he did, it was God’s own programme. It lifted me up.

I would have retired mandatorily on 1st May 1999, if I had not been sent away in 1993.

If Adefarati came in May 99, and I have just left the civil service in 1999 and I did not work for his party because I did not belong to it, but because of what he knew about me when he was servicing in the cabinet of Ajasin, he picked me as a commissioner in the civil service commission. That is why Yoruba says, atori kan sekan loloun.

Insecurity remains a major challenge in this country. What is your observation about that? How do we solve the problem?

Anybody who is living in Nigeria would know there is insecurity. In a paper presented in 1998, I said that those who are in relative comfort now should watch it because unemployment would be a catalyst for insecurity in this country; and the open display of wealth by the “robbers” in government.

It would reach a state where the common people…in fact I am surprised that by now that the common people have not risen in revolt against the rulers of this country. So I am not surprised that we have insecurity.

No antidote for hunger. No pill has ever been invented that will stop hunger. Yoruba said oosa ni enu, ojojumo loun gbebo.

The unemployed, and does not have another way, if he was told that he is in demand to be a thug, he would ask that the day he did not die, what was his worth? He would surrender to be a thug.

If they talk him into it, he would get into armed robbery, join secret cult.

If you want to have peace let the people in government stop the ostentatious lifestyle which they derive from looting of pubic funds and let the resources of this country be equitably distributed so that everybody will have something at the end of the day through which he can feed himself. We are just starting, unless something drastic is done, I can foresee a revolution in this country.

How is life at eighty, moreso when you are looking so boyish at eighty?

Age is a figure, what is important is the grace of God. I thank God that I enjoy the grace of God and I don’t envy any person.

I am contented with what God has given me. I return all the glory to him, for health, for provision, because if he has not given me the health I would not be what I am, and if he had not provided for me.. we are talking now of insecurity in the country, it is because some people find it difficult to eat that they go to crime.

People of your age in other climes, probably would not attribute what they are enjoying so far to the grace of God. They will attribute it to good health, good government policy, housing scheme, good policies for the aged. What should be the attitude of government to the old people in this country?

I  think the time has come when we should introduce social security for the aged.  I want to feel that anybody above 70 years should be able to go to the hospital and enjoy free health services.

In the Hospital Fees Law , enacted in September, 1918.. I was not born then, but I happen to have read it. The first revision to that law was during the tenure of Major General Adebayo as the Mayor of Western State. I helped in the drafting for the ministry of health. So I had the opportunity of reading that book.

People who have attained the age of 70, which the colonial masters planned for us, had access to free health service when they go to the hospital, even for surgical operation.

In Nigeria, I think any government who can consider the introduction of social services will deserve the vote of Nigerians.

Right now no presidential candidate has talked about old age care, nobody has talked about social security.

However, the piglet asked his mother why is your nose tilted up. He responded, it would soon be your turn.