I Admire Rauf Aregbesola A Whole Lot – El Rufai

Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has come out to say that Rauf Aregbesola actually inspired him to run for governor.

He revealed this as Aregbesola commemorated his 63rd birthday with a virtual colloquium on Saturday, May 30, 2020.

According to him, he admires Rauf Aregbesola a lot because he is very passionate about showing concern for the vulnerable citizens.

He added that the current Interior Minister should also be applauded for his simplicity and inclusive style of governance.

His words, “The theme of creating mass prosperity is a very relevant one, because we tend to talk about poverty reduction, when we should flip it and talk about the other way round.”

“What do we do to create mass prosperity? Now, I have great admiration for Governor Rauf Aregbesola. I still call him Governor because I think Governor is higher than Minister.”

“I was Minister first before being Governor. I was privileged to be sent by the APC to conduct the primaries for Aregbesola’s second term of office. That is when we first spent quality time together.”

“And what struck me about him is his passion, his concern about the fate of the most vulnerable and the simplicity and the inclusive way he ran his government.”

“At the time I went to Osun to conduct the primaries, I was not contemplating running for office as governor….but what I saw in Osun, the quality of the schools I saw which Hajara Adeola made reference to..now I know how they were built.

“The way and manner…you could see, just driving through Osogbo and going to Ede, you could see that everyone was busy.

“And I asked Aregbesola what he was doing and he told me how he was getting young people, paying them a stipend of N10,000 I think for a month, to engage in construction of drainage and civil works and so on.

“So, I can understand why his unemployment levels are so low, because he tried to use the machinery of government to get virtually every young person busy, doing something. They were not earning minimum wage, they were earning something.

“And by the time they have a full day of activity, they are too tired to engage in crime and so on and so forth.”