Professor Robert Ajayi Boroffice, OON, is a distinguished African scientist. As the pioneer Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency, he took Nigeria to the space, building a befitting National Space Centre which is today a pride to the African continent. In this interview with Tayo Babarinde, Boroffice, the Labour Partys senatorial candidate for Ondo North Senatorial District, speaks about his science and politics, among other topical issues. Excerpts:You are known as an intelectual and a technocrat, what informs your foray into politicsAnswer; well, i have always believed that politics is an inevitable enterprise for the development of our people and for the development of the nation. If you are concerned about the development and progress of your people, you cannot run away from politics whether actively or passively. One way or the other you cannot just run away from politics because it is indeed an unavailable enterprise which is very essential for the development of the nation.A lot of people complain about the politics of do or die being played in Nigeria. How will you describe Nigerian politics As a don, do you feel comfortable being a politician in a nation like NigeriaWell, I am not comfortable, but I have no choice since I have decided to be involved in politics. I can see this do or die syndrome which is unfortunate even from the elite, people we probably expect to know better. It means some people are not actually going there to serve the nation. The high level of corruption has really shown that some people see it as a business. They put in some money to win an election at all costs and then they go there to make a lot of money which is unfortunate. So, this do or die syndrome should be discouraged. Honestly, Im not comfortable but there is nothing I can do as long as I have decided to be in politics. I would only pray that more and more people that are civilized, and that are really patriotic come into politics. With that, this unfortunate situation would eventually disappear.You are contesting on the platform of Labour Party. What informed your choice of that political partyWell, if you look at the logo of the Labour Party, you see the wheel which signifies labour, which is industry, hard work. Then there is a woman which represents a mother, there is a man representing the father and there is a child. So, it is people-oriented, family oriented. And if you look at the motto, it is equal opportunity and social justice. I think thats what we need in this country, for everyone to be taken care of and you can see that the programme of the Labour Party in Ondo state is tagged the caring heart programme, which connotes a heart that cares for the people, a programme that is people-oriented. So, Labour Party is the most attractive of all the parties and from what I have seen from the Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, his programme has been geared towards the development of the people to the welfare of the people and I think if you look at the programmes and activities of the Governor so far, you will agree with me that, he is the best in this country. The noble and laudable programmes of his administration stand out in terms of addressing the needs of the people, in terms of responding to the aspiration of the people. You know the bottom-top approach of his allocation is very important. He goes to the communities and asks them of their needs and once these assessments have been done, he responds by developing. So, I think this is an innovation in the history of state administration in Nigeria. And his style of administration is becoming a reference point. From the comments of the World Bank and World Health Organisation, it has been clearly stated that, with this type of development, it means Nigeria can still develop. I think this is a very positive comment. Talking generally, looking at all Dr. Mimiko has been able to achieve within this short period so far, I think Labour Party is the party to join.What are your plans for your constituencyWell, my plans for my constituency, which is the Ondo North Senatorial District in the Sunshine State, is to represent them adequately and to ensure that in allocation of resources, we have our own fair share from that of the federal allocation i.e. the annual appropriation exercise; that we have adequate allocation to meet our needs in the Ondo North Senatorial District. Of course, since we are to legislate, I will ensure that laws and bills that we are going to make are those that will favour my people in the senatorial district. These are things we are going to emphasise on and of course the so called constituency projects, I would also adopt the Ondo State govenment strategy by going to various communities in my constituency to find out their needs so when the issue of our constituency projects comes up, I will know exactly what each community requires. I hope that doing so will go a long way to eradicate poverty and enhance the standard of living of my people and by extension they will be able to enjoy the dividends of democracy. What do you hope to achieve as a politicianWell, I think my goal is to ensure the delivery of dividends of democracy to my people, however long or short the period I am going to stay in active politics.Going by your exposure and experience, what do you think Nigerian politicians lack and how do you think they can win the peoples confidenceI think they lack integrity and honour. Some of them seem not to understand their roles as politicians in the various capacities. When you are a senator or a member of the House of Representatives, you dont have executive powers, so dont go and promise heaven and earth when you know you cannot do it. Yours is to legislate. I think some of them made very impossible promises which they cannot fulfill, people begin to lose confidence in them and when you lose confidence in them on the other hand, the electorate will say well, since these people have made several promises and dont normally fulfill them, let us exploit them, let us take as much money as possible from them before they go into the polls. So, it is a vicious circle, what happens now is that, you spend a lot of money to contest an election, if you win, you want to get back the money you have spent so you have no time to address the problems of the people. In the process, election process becomes so expensive, there is lack of trust. The man who is the candidate doesnt trust the electorate; the electorate dont trust the candidate. It is a lot of problem, but what I know is that, many of our politicians have no integrity and honour. They deceived the people; they go into their various positions, acquire so much wealth and just forget about the people who voted them into office which is really sad and unfortunate.What do you think are usually responsible for the murder cases, public disturbances and crisis that trail political campaigns in the country How do you think such cases can be minimisedIt is a very big problem. I think people go violent for many reasons. One, when politicians want to do second term and they have not fulfilled the promises they made during their first term, people react violently. That is one reason. Second reason is that when people have no confidence winning an election and they want to win by force, they go violent. They hire what we call the hard boys to disrupt campaigns to disrupt electoral processes or election processes, and they even go to the extent of hiring assassins to eliminate opponents. If you are confident of winning an election, why must you eliminate your opponent, why do you want to eliminate your opponent, why create chaos during the election, why do you want to attack your opponent during his campaign. So, I think it is lack of confidence and this do or die syndrome.
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