Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s Speech at the Launch of Omoluabi Progressive Caucus Everyone is Talking About

The immediate past Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday, 22nd of August, 2023, launched the Omoluabi Caucus of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ilesa, Osun State. At the event, the former minister who is also a former two-term governor of the state, delivered a powerful speech that has continued to reverberate in the Osun political landscape and beyond.

He noted that the group was not a faction, but genuine foundation members of the party who have no intention of abandoning the ship of the party as it navigates the most turbulent waters.

We are no sprinters, but long-distance runners and we will still be standing when all the fair-weathers have gone – Aregbesola.

“A political party is actually an agglomeration of interests and tendencies. Reading well from the United States where we borrowed the Presidential System, we can see that the Republican Party is made up of big businesses, nationalists, religious right and others. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is composed of welfarists, labour unions, ethnic and sexual minorities and others.

“They are together in the party because their interests are broadly similar and they believe the party is the right vehicle for them to realise their goals. Sometimes they compete and clash, but for the most part, they cooperate and form strong bonds to give their party the victory in every election cycle. The party loses any time this bond is broken,” Mr Aregbesola stated at the event.

Read the full speech titled, We Are Progressives, We Are Omoluabi, below:

SPEECH BY OGBENI RAUF AREGBESOLA, AT THE LAUNCHING OF OMOLUABI CAUCUS OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS IN OSUN, HELD AT ILESA, ON TUESDAY AUGUST 22, 2023

Protocols,

WE ARE PROGRESSIVES, WE ARE OMOLUABI

It gives me great pleasure to be at this grand occasion, as I welcome you all to this pathbreaking event in the annals of progressivism in our dear state, Osun.

What we have come to do here today is to renew our commitment to the path of progressive ideology and politics as inherited from our great past heroes, beginning from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola Ige and others in the pantheon of progressive politics too numerous to mention.

Emerging from the ashes of the near annihilation of our party in the governorship election of 2022 and the general election earlier this year, we should rise up and renew our strength and reclaim our place in the political firmament in Osun.

We have been at this juncture before, after the 2003 election in which our party lost the stakes and was at its nadir in the state. At that point, likeminded progressives under the banner of Oranmiyan emerged to begin a movement that mobilised our members and the people of the state into a veritable electoral machine that won the 2007 governorship election which ushered an epoch-making two term administration in the state and handed over to a successor from our party. Unfortunately, our successor could not maintain the estate entrusted in his hands, leading to the dismal performance of our party at the polls and the urgent degeneration of affairs in the party.

Given the enthusiastic and heartfelt reception accorded us by the people anytime we are in the state, it is clear that they did not reject us or our party. They are only not well pleased with the individuals who have turned our party into personal fiefdom and abandoned the path of progressivism and the interest of the people.

The Omoluabi Tendency is a caucus within the All Progressive Congress (APC), actually one of the caucuses in the state. We are not a faction. We are the genuine foundation members of the party and we have no intention of abandoning the ship of the party as it navigates the most turbulent waters. We are no sprinters, but long-distance runners and we will still be standing when all the fair-weathers have gone.

A political party is actually an agglomeration of interests and tendencies. Reading well from the United States where we borrowed the Presidential System, we can see that the Republican Party is made up of big businesses, nationalists, religious right and others. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is composed of welfarists, labour unions, ethnic and sexual minorities and others.

They are together in the party because their interests are broadly similar and they believe the party is the right vehicle for them to realise their goals. Sometimes they compete and clash, but for the most part, they cooperate and form strong bonds to give their party the victory in every election cycle. The party loses any time this bond is broken.

Our party failed principally because of indiscipline and lack/loss of focus. This is manifested in form of lack of character and incompetence. Character is the mental and moral qualities required in an individual to occupy certain office or perform certain task. Competence is the skill required to get specific task done. It is bad when one of the two is absent, but it is always catastrophic when both are absent. It is beyond disputation how the absence of these virtues spelt doom for our party in the recent past.

These virtues are integral to the Omoluabi ethos in the Yoruba belief system. When we were at the helm here, we not only lived this ethos, we made a conscious effort to revive and promote it among the generality of the people of the state.

We should therefore consciously return to this path of rectitude and distinguish ourselves as Omoluabi in its most pristine form.

Our movement is for all comers in the state. We make no discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, occupation, economic status and any circumstance of birth, except in adherence to our core values and character. We are open to all people, young and old, rich and poor, educated or otherwise, traders and blue collar, landowners and tenants.

We are going to organise periodic training in character building and vocational skills for members of this tendency and prepare them for leadership roles in all walks of life.

The core of our belief is that political power should be deployed in service of the people. This conviction stems from the wisdom of our forebears, who left us with the progressive tradition of seeking the highest benefits for the largest number of people. They emphasized associating with the best in character and human values, always exhibiting discipline and promoting human dignity with integrity. This ethos finds its roots in the very origins of governance. Government emerged from the social contract in which the people, prioritizing collective welfare and security, willingly gave up their power of self-governance. They entrusted this power to an agency, ensuring the security of lives, property, and the general welfare of everyone. That entrusted agency is the government.

The government should galvanise the natural resources within its geography and the physical and mental resources of the people and deploy it for the betterment of the people and the greatness of their land.

When the government pursues its raison d’etre, it succeeds and the people rejoice. But when it abandons the people and begins to pursue the particularistic interests of its functionaries, the people suffer.

But we are irrevocably committed to the development of the people and their welfare. On this, we stand on the shoulders of giants. Chief Obafemi Awolowo presided over the most progressive and developmental government anywhere in Africa. Chief Bola Ige was a genius of the Fabian socialist administration in the old Oyo State. Between 1999 and 2007, I was part of the progressive administration in Lagos, under our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is on this same foundation that we premised our unforgettable eight-year governance in Osun, which you all witnessed.

When others are modifying their character and disposition to blend with exigencies, we have resolved to dig deeper into our inner recesses and emerge with a better version of ourselves.

We are staunch progressives, deeply rooted in the principles of Omoluabi, and this guiding light will always illuminate our path. Our political engagements are free from animosity or hatred, for our love for all of God’s creations knows no boundaries. This unconditional love paves the way for our core values. At the heart of Omoluabi Progressives lies discipline—whether in personal endeavours, social interactions, political relationships or any sphere of life. Those who cannot align with the Omoluabi ethos don’t have a place with us. Our guiding principle remains a blend of character and competence. While character shapes the human soul, competence reflects one’s efficiency in creating value. These twin pillars, we believe, are the keystones of human civilization and progress. As we recognize our stage of development and the urgency to uplift our people, we’re convinced that reinvigorating these core values is pivotal to maintaining our resonance amongst them.

By the grace of God, I have been a two term commissioner in Lagos, two term governor in Osun and a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am fulfilled.  But all these will count for nothing if our people are still shackled, forlorn and hopeless. I will therefore be engaged until the last person is emancipated.

There is no guarantee that the journey will be easy, but we are motivated by the fact that our cause is just and victory is assured. We will not be discouraged and we shall not rest until the dawn breaks from the night.

I thank you all for your kind attention.

Osun a dara!