She is one female politician who has made her mark in the political space in Ondo State. That is Princess Oladunni Odu who has continued to show class in the political circle, as an outstanding female politician to always reckon with.
Princess Oladunni Odu is also an astute administrator and she has served as Commissioner under 3 military administrations in different ministries.
Since her foray into Politics, she had served Ondo State, under 2 civilian Governors, as Chairman of the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board, first under the administration of late Governor Olusegun Agagu (between September 2003-February 2009) and later under the incumbent Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, before she was eventually appointed to the position of Secretary to the State Government in March 2021, making her the 1st Female to occupy that position in the history of Ondo State.
Apart from being a female politician of high standing in the State and nationally, Princess Oladunni Odu is also well known for her good fashion sense and style.
She recently spoke with CityPeople’s Contributing Editor, Leke Olagbami on her success story. Below are excerpts of the interview.
You have served Ondo State in various capacities. You have been Commissioner under three military administrators. You have also served two civilian administrations twice as Chairman of the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board. And now you are the Secretary to the State Government. What are those qualities that have always worked for you?
Each time I have the opportunity, I always try to share and talk about those three qualities that I have and which am sure had been my staying power.
First, I always tell women, young women and people of my age and most especially upcoming young women who wishes to be in politics that wherever they may find themselves, they should be hardworking. If they are hardworking, they may think people are not taking notice. People are taking notice. Whether you are working in the dark, some people are noting what you are doing. So be hardworking. Being hardworking is one of my strong points.
Hard work, honesty and loyalty to the system. There is nothing like 99.9percent loyalty. Loyalty must be 100percent and you must strive to be honest to your Boss. When you let your Boss know everything you are doing, you will not run into trouble. For example, if you are to wake up at 2 am from your sleep, if you are able to
maintain honesty as a virtue, what you will say at that time when you woke from your sleep will never be different from what you will say at 12noon. I have those three things in me that had worked for me over the years and those virtues had continued to work for me. Hard work.
You cannot take hard work from anybody who wants to succeed. There is no room for the indolent person because people are taking notes, here and there. Even people in the markets are noting what one is doing here in the Governor’s office. You will marvel at what people say or know about us here. You will wonder, and be saying but these people are not here with us; they are in the market; how do they know what is happening? Somehow they have their people working around here and they tell them things.
Honesty. Be honest to your Boss. If you are honest to your Boss, wherever your Boss is, he will always remember you for good.
And, he will always protect you for good. In 2017, my Boss, Arakunrin, actually pencilled my name for a Ministerial appointment. He has always done good things for me. He has always nominated me for good things because he had worked with me and knows the kind of person I am.
Loyalty..100percent. I have no other Boss apart from the Governor of the State and my loyalty is strictly to him and the Government of Ondo State.
How did your appointment to the position of Secretary to the State Government come about and did the announcement come as a surprise considering your strides of having served Ondo State in different capacities in the past?
I would not say it was through the announcement. I would say the Governor called me to intimate me. He didn’t just instruct that my name be announced on air.
He actually called me on March 16, 2021, around 9 am, that I should see him in the Government House.
That day, I was just returning from Lagos and I went and met with him at the Government House as he instructed.
At the Government House, he asked me if I would be willing and ready to serve as Secretary to the State Government. I thanked him for the wonderful thought of considering me worthy and fit for the position and for the privilege to serve as the Secretary to the State Government.
After thanking him, I asked that he should give me till the following day to give him a reply in order for me to have an opportunity to first consult my family and then my Pastor. And, I did that. And, my children gave their blessings and my father in the Lord prayed about it and I got the go-ahead of the Lord.
The following day, I called Mr Governor and I went to see him and thereafter the announcement. That was why I may not say the announcement came as a surprise but rather the offer of that office came to me as a big pleasant surprise and something that I would forever be grateful to the first family of Ondo State because our Mama, the First Lady, Chief
Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, Ada Owerri 1, was very instrumental to having a female as Secretary to the State Government because this is the first time in the 46years of history of Ondo State.
The First Lady was desirous of having a woman as SSG because she is an advocate of women to “be-more” in society. She is the initiator of
“Be-More”; that is, “our girls can be more than whatever the society really wants them to be”. In the same vein, whatever society wants a woman to be, women can be more than that. That is the spirit behind the”Be-More” initiative of our First Lady.
Now that you have been in office as the first female SSG in the history of Ondo State, what have you been doing to further encourage more women to be active in politics and not be discouraged by the way society perceive women in politics?
We keep having meetings with various groups of women. At every such opportunity, I always make it known that it is germaine that women should come on board and politick. Its germaine that educated women should come into politics and that we cannot be fighting for gender unless you are qualified and purely on merit. We have enough qualified women out there who should really not be afraid to come into politics. Women should be courageous. Yes, politics is seen as a murky terrain but with tenacity, with courage, with focus and vision, women can be more successful in politics and be the desired choice of change in the field of politics.
I have been in politics for 22years and I don’t have any regret whatsoever for joining politics. I enjoy being in politics and I still want to continue being a politician because it’s the only way one can bring development to the people or fast-track development to your people because it is only when you are there that you can be able to influence things than being outside.
So, it’s better for as many women as possible to come into politics and compliment the efforts of the men because men have been there and they have been doing wonderfully well. I keep telling our menfolk, bring us on board. Let us join hands with you to develop our society together. Give us a platform. Give us the wings to fly and we will fly to the admiration of all.
You have been in politics for 22years. What actually motivated you to go into politics?
I never intended to be a politician because I had a different view. If you are outside a particular system, you will not know the good things or many of the good things in that system.
When we were leaving office from the military administration in 1999, I was interviewed by journalists and I was asked what was the next move for me and if I had plans of going into politics? My answer was, No. To show I was not ready for politics. In 1998, when the military administration was winding up and preparing for the transition to civil rule, I was even offered the chance to go to the Senate and I equally said No, because politics was not my desire then. I kept saying I was not cut out for politics. That was what I thought then.
But after we left in 1999, an Uncle of mine visited us in Lagos and persuaded my husband to allow me go into politics because they saw my input especially when I served during the military administration as Commissioner for Education and was able to build schools, renovate schools and bring some developments in the education sector to the State. Based on these contributions while I served under the military administration, my Uncle persuaded my husband that he should release me to come home and go into active party politics. My husband agreed to my Uncle’s persuasion and gave me the permission.
After the permission was granted, I set machinery in motion. The then leader in my local government was the then Minister of Aviation, late Dr. Olusegun Agagu.. I approached him and he admitted me into the Peoples Democratic Party which marked my entry into party politics.
Ever since, I have not looked back. I have been in politics and I have been enjoying politics and I must emphasize, I have no regrets whatsoever since my coming into politics 22years ago.
Politics like you stated earlier is murky. And, for a woman being in politics, it is always seen in bad light. Considering this perception, how can more women be encouraged to join politics without being disturbed by the perception that a lot of people including women themselves have about politics?
That was what I said earlier.
If you are outside a system, you will never know what goes on inside. You are outside and you are hearing things. They are like tales. And, those things you are hearing may really not be the whole truth.
For you to get to know the truth, come into it with a clear mind and with a mindset to make a difference. Tell yourself, am going to make a difference.
They say politicians tell lies. I don’t tell lies. And, it is one thing I have not learnt in politics. You don’t need to tell lies. I am bold to say this too, about our Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, he does not tell lies. He tells you as it is, bluntly. He is so forthright. He is so credible. He is such a man of integrity who will say it as it is, without lying about anything. If he is going to do anything for you, once he says, I will do it, you should go to sleep with his words. If he says he will do it, he will. He will not tell lies. He will not play games with you.
I am in politics, and if you ask me, “Ah, Princess, you will build road for us since you are this and that”. I will tell you, I don’t have the powers. If making road or building road is part of what government allots to local government so be it and yours will be done for you. I will not in anyway lie to you that it will be done because government has structure. But, if what is due for my local government is not given, I will plead that this should be done but if it’s not part of what should be done, I will not for any reason lie to you that it will be done. Like I had said earlier, government has structure. Government has budgets and work with budgets. There are things that had been budgeted for in different areas. What is not meant for you, there is no way I can tell you lies that I am going to facilitate it because if is not in the budget, if it is not structured for you, there is no way it’s coming to you.
In this regard, I still maintain, people can still be honest, can still say the truth and be good politicians. So, my advice to women is to come into politics with an open mind and a clear vision and mission. Understand and know that the men had been there before you. Respect the men. Massage their ego because they had been there long before us and we are just coming on board.
To succeed, women coming into politics should have this at the back of their minds, you are coming on, not to say you can do it better than the men but rather you are going to complement whatever the men are doing.
If women do this and the men can judge us, they will know whether we can do it better or whether we can do it equally well like them or whether we cannot do it as good as them. They will be the judge. They will judge us because they sit as judges and judge the women.
But I can personally vouch for our women and tell you, bring on a woman on merit and that woman will surprise you beyond expectations.
Looking at your disposition presently as SSG and before becoming the SSG, what has really changed about you?
Nothing whatsoever. Am still myself, the same me, Oladunni Odu. Just myself. Nothing, absolutely nothing had changed about my person. Those who know me very well can attest to that fact that I am still me.
So, how challenging has the job been for you?
A: It is highly challenging but one thing that is good for me is that God is backing me up, all the way. The grace of God has totally backed me up immensely in the continous discharge of my duties without any lapses whatsoever and without stress.
Let’s look back at the time the administration of Governor Akeredolu came on board. There was backlog of salaries of about 7months or thereabout of which the government showed enormous commitment in offsetting and I think about 6months of that backlog was paid and Ondo State workforce were thrilled then about the backlog and the regular payments that followed. What really happened that made Ondo State to relapse and began owing workers salaries again? There are stories making the rounds that Ondo State is owing 3 to 4months salaries presently. What is the true picture?
I am happy you knew when we came in that there was backlog of salaries of about 7months and the government of Arakunrin actually succeeded in clearing 6months of the backlog. Kudos to him for that. Beyond clearing the backlog, the State Government under Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was also living up to regular payment of salaries without owing then. When Arakunrin became Governor, he promised that he would make the payment of workers and their welfare a priority and he did say, “a labourer is entitled to his wages. I will not owe civil servants their salaries”.
Like I said earlier, my Governor is a highly credible person. He meant every word that he says and keeps those words. That he would not owe salaries.was a promise. The result of that promise was made manifest when Arakunrin came on board. As he was clearing the backlog, he was paying the current salaries and was not owing our workers.
But we are all living in this country. We are living witnesses to the ravaging effects of Covid-19 which crippled businesses to the extent that for over 8months everything was at a standstill, not only in Nigeria but all over the world. Nobody anticipated Covid-19. If you travel abroad now, the effects of Covid-19 are still being felt. Covid-19 has affected everywhere.
If you travel to Britain now, the whole of Oxford Street used to be very busy, but if you go there now, you will notice that 80percent of the shops operating on Oxford Street had been closed down.
I passed through France, and if you see what had become of the Duty-Free. About 3months ago, I was thinking I was going to do some of my shopping at the Duty-Free in France because I didn’t do any shopping in London and thought of doing it at the Duty-Free in France because it is cheaper there but 90percent of the shops had not been opened as a result of the ravaging economic effects of Covid-19. It affected everywhere in the world. The Covid-19 affected our internally generated revenue badly. It affected the Federal Government and you know what that means because we get part of what sustain the State Government from the federal allocation and make up the remaining from what we generate internally. Our two sources of revenue were badly hit by Covid-19.
Covid-19 and it’s effect was global and Ondo State and Nigeria being part of the world was not an exception to the economic downturn that came as a result of Covid-19. So, our problem which resulted in salaries being delayed and unpaid stemmed from the after effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Right now, we are trying to brace up. What the Ondo State Government is owing workers now, is about 2months salaries and our Governor had said,
“With God on his side, he would pay every money being owed by December”. With God on his side, he has promised to pay and we are being positive. And, we are joining him in prayers to make sure that this salary arrears will become a thing of the past in Ondo State.
How will you describe Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. Some call him ‘Mr Talk and Do’. Some others see him in another light, they say he is too heady somehow. So, how do you describe him?
(Laughter) Well, people are entitled to their opinions about him. But, what I know about him, all the years I have known him, is that my Governor can be positively stubborn. Maybe, that is what some people describe as being heady like you had said in your question.
Yes. He is positively stubborn.
And, my Governor would say things the way he sees things and doesn’t care whose ox is gored. If my Governor believes in something or a cause, my Governor pursues it vigorously and with every energy in him. My Governor does not care about what people might be saying, his major concern is his people. He has a social contract with his people and he owes them the duty to protect their lives and secure their properties. And, he would stop at nothing to achieve that. He doesn’t care how it affects him personally. He believes it is sacrosanct to protect the entire people of Ondo State and secure their properties. That is why you see in Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu had continued to make sure the Amotekun Security Corps live up to expectations and to also ensure that Amotekun is sustained and come to stay, come rain, come shine.
It could be remembered, when he wanted to start Amotekun, Yes, it was agreed among his brother Governors that they would start a security outfit and at a point the Federal Government didn’t seem to like the idea and some of the Governors almost chickened out but my Boss stood his ground.
Again, like I had said earlier and just like you also said, he is ‘Mr Talk and Do’. Whatever he believes in and whatever he is committed to, and, if he says, this is what I will do, go home and sleep with your two eyes closed and even snore, if you can, because whatever he had said and promised will be done.
Like I said, he can be positively stubborn for any good cause. That is the nature and person that my Boss, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu is which will continue to stand him out among others. For any positive matter or issue, my Boss will be stubborn to fight it out because he believes in that cause and he wants to see it to fruition. And, because he wants to see it to fruition, he would stop at nothing to achieve results. So, in that regard, people might describe him as stubborn because he will definitely stick to his gun and achieve that which he wants to achieve.
He is too forthright. He is very blunt. He doesn’t hide his feelings over issues and over any matter of concern. He will speak his mind the way he believes in. And, all the time when he sticks to his gun, he gets positive results.
Recently, when the issue of the 2023 Presidency became a hot issue of discussion, where some people were agitating for the Presidency to remain in the North. My Governor took the matter up and stuck to his gun and started championing the cause. He spoke loud and clear. At every fora, he told people that the Presidency must come to the South otherwise it will be unfair and unjust. He emphasised the fact that it cannot remain in the North for a possible 16years.
He was so loud and emphatic about this. At last the Presidency zoning in our party came to the South, and to make it even better, it came to the South West. And here we are today, we have our Capo contesting the Presidency and by February 2023, our Capo would by the grace of God emerge as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
You are often times described as one of the most stylish Ondo State women, if not the most stylish based on your dress sense. What determines style for you?
I don’t know what you mean by the most stylish. However, I try to be me, Oladunni Odu in whatever I wear. And, this has been me, even from the days when I was a Commissioner during the military era. I have not changed my style. I like looking modestly nice and it makes me happy each time I look in the mirror and see myself modestly nice. If that is what call style or whatever name you chose to call it, I just like to maintain my modestly nice look at all times because it makes me happy.
Send Us News, Gist, more... to citypeopleng@gmail.com | Twitter: @CitypeopleMagz
