Why I’m Abandoning Music For Politics

When music star, Adegbola Akande Abolore better known as 9ice, first hinted his fans of his interest in taking a shot at politics, it was taken with a pinch of salt. A few weeks ago, when he embarked on a sensitisation tour of his constituency in Oyo State, many began to take him serious. He spoke to some select journalists on his ambition and what will happen to his music career. FUNSHO AROGUNDADE was there

When did your interest in party politics manifest?

I have been interested in party politics for quite some time now. But it is just now that I have decided to take the interest to another level by contesting to be a lawmaker representing my people of Ogbomosho South, North and Orire Constituency in Oyo State at the House of Representatives.

Under which platform?

I am a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC. So, I will be contesting under the platform of APC. I have been a member of the party for some years now.

Why are you leaving your flourishing music career for the murky waters of politics?

I think I have explained the reasons a couple of times but I will restate it. By next year, I will be 35 and I think, it’s high time I beginning to look at the other phase of my life. And politics fits in. I have a passion for politics and it has been in my blood. That aside, if you have been following my music career and the lyrics of my songs, they have always been about people and what can inspire them positively. And you see, if there must be any change, then the people must rise up and make that change possible. We must not continue sitting at the corner to criticize all the time. There are times to talk and also times to walk. Evil they say persist when good men chose to remain silent. We must never abandon our country for those people who have been mismanaging our affairs all these years and expect that things will just change miraculously. No, we can no longer abandon our society to those who don’t care for us. It is our responsibility to be involved in the welfare and development of the country, and we must not sit in the corner and expect miracles to happen. So we must make that change possible.

Why do you opt to be a lawmaker and not in some other executive position where you can have direct control of things?

I believe being a lawmaker will also have more impact. Naturally, I hate when things go wrong. I enjoy settling disputes  and being in the legislature will help to see to the problem of the people. I want to join hands to make laws that will alleviate people’s challenges.

What will then be your core manifesto?

My manifesto has been condensed into an acronym called CARE. We have already identified the pressing needs of our people and I have decided to make sure that those needs are properly tackled. And by the grace of God, we will solve them before any other thing. We all know the importance of education, so we will be awarding scholarships to students who are brilliant, starting from the primary to the secondary and up to the university level. Our care initiative will take care of that. Care for the less privileged in our society, for the elderly, for pregnant women, for the widows and so on. We also have a good programme for agriculture. Whatever you give people, if they are still hungry, they will curse you. So we are going to look at policies to encourage agriculture, to provide food and employment for our people. We also have what we call, ‘You Must Work’. Under this initiative, we will design programmes that will create employment opportunities for our teeming youths. If our youths are gainfully engaged, they will never get involved in criminal activities. They will not have the time for violence and perhaps get involved in crime. They will not become political thugs. So, through our CARE initiative, we want to make sure that this vast demography is fully engaged positively.

Given the past experience of people with politicians, why do you think you should be trusted?

There is no reason not to trust me. I grew up in the street and understand people’s pains and aspirations. True, people do change but there are some exceptions to the rule.

You have been in Lagos and far away from home. How close are you to your people?

I am from Ogbomosho. The blood runs in my vain. Aside that, there is hardly any week I don’t visit home. I spend as much time as I spend in Lagos in Ogbomosho and Ibadan. I visit home regularly and also interact with my people very well. People have been trooping in and out, pledging their support for me. If I have not been coming home regularly, this will not happen. People have been showing support since I declared my intention to run and from the way we relate you can see that I am not a stranger to them and they are not strangers to me. We are brothers, we are friends and above all, we are family. I have never abandoned my people and they have never abandoned me. So, the question of being on ground does not arise.

Recently, your ex-wife went on the Twitter to deride your ambition.

Let me correct you, I don’t think she was referring to me. The comment might be coincidence. She never mentioned my name in that tweet and I am not the only entertainer contesting for an elective position. So don’t let us ascribe things that are not factual.

Are you sure you can go all hog in this your ambition?

I am in this for real. I am very positive. We don’t share money or rice and beans like some other politicians. We don’t play the politics of money or that of the stomach. I am not in this and will not join those who have deliberately impoverished the people so they can take advantage of them during elections. I am here to play idealistic politics. Change is necessary. I am in this to convince people on why it must no longer be business as usual.