In this exclusive chat with Popular News, the Lead Pastor of HillCity Christian Centre, Benin, Leo Olu-Martins, who is also a rights crusader, talks about a horde of issues relating to politics and governance.
Excerpts:
It is said that you have the ears of the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki
The governor is a public servant and it is ideal that he should have the ear of everybody. So, it’s not out of place for him to have the ear of everybody. Having the ear of the governor is not supposed to be peculiar to just one person. Everybody is supposed to be able to access the Government House. It does not belong to one individual. It is for all of us that is why they call it Edo State Government House. It is not a bad thing that I have a personal relationship with the governor. It will be a huge privilege to have the ears of the governor.
You’re also an in-law to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in the state having married his sister.
You seem to be using sister loosely here. She is more like his daughter. My wife virtually grew up under the tutelage of Pastor Ize-Iyamu. He introduced me to her. I cannot hide that from public knowledge. He was the chairman of my wedding programme. He sponsored the programme. The two cars that I and my wife used for the wedding were from his garage.
Saying that I am surrounded by people of influence is not a lie. Being surrounded by people of influence is the grace of God in my life. I can only give praises to Him.
How have you been coping with fighting for human rights and been surrounded by people influence?
We always say that there are two extremes in society. There is government and there is big business. In between big business and government is civil society. In civil society there are civil society practitioners. If you’re not in big business or government you’re in between and a large in between. To the best of our ability we get on the streets, we are engaged, we pay working visit to influence government policies to make sure these guys are not just responsible to themselves but responsible to their immediate environment.
Of course, we cannot do that without the collaboration of the fourth estate of the realm. When they don’t listen to us we fall back to the media to put pressure on them. Patrick Henry says collective interest can’t be guaranteed as long as the actions and inactions of the government, and indeed, people of influence, is shrouded in secrecy. That bit that we have done is to the extent of the collaboration with the fourth estate of the realm for which we appreciate them.
Governor Obaseki is now going round campaigning for his PDP candidates for the Saturday, March 18th state House of Assembly polls can you confidently join him in the campaign?
I am not a member of the PDP. I have a platform called Canvassers for Democracy and the rule of Law. Anybody who is campaigning for true democracy or the rule of law I will help that person to canvass to that extent. There is nobody in Edo State who wants a rubberstamp House of Assembly. There is also nobody in the state that wants an unnecessarily combative House of Assembly in the state. If we have tolerated President Muhammadu Buhari for eight years what does it take, in a manner of speaking, to tolerate Governor Obaseki for less than one and half years?
I have told my Esan brothers who have being campaigning that unfortunately for them if they succeed in toppling Obaseki it will fall on Esan man as acting governor. I don’t want a person from Edo North, so to speak to be the one hitting the head of a person from Edo South with the head of a person from Edo Central. If I meet the governor in a soap box while he is canvassing for true democracy I will support him. Ideally, I am a member of the Labour Party (LP) and I am canvassing for its candidates in the Saturday, March 18th polls.
