AJELARA NOSIRU IYANDA
While some politicians used their positions to amass wealth and flaunt same among their people, it was a different ball game for the former Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who said that despite being at the helms of affairs for eight years in Osun, he did not have a single house to himself in the state capital.
He said that though he had the opportunity to get what he wanted, he saw acquiring wealth in official capacity as the Governor as vanity upon vanity.
The former Osun State Governor was the Guest Speaker at the public presentation of a book titled, ‘Eleniyan Perspectives’, written by a former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Olusegun Olulade. where he delivered a lecture titled, ‘You can be what you want to be’.
The Minister Designate told his audience that the youth should endeavour to separate their needs from wants, adding that the two are distinctively separated.
“I lived in a government house, I passed government roads, my security was provided by the government. Also, my children are old enough and the government provided my clothes.
“My guests are taken care of by the government. I didn’t have a house of my own in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State as Governor for eight years, so what did I need a salary for?
“It is now I am thinking of getting a house in Osogbo and I have been contacting friends to help me.
“I have friends that have houses in Ilesha, Osun State, my home town who are begging people to live in the houses. Building a house there is a want and not need for me,” Ogbeni Aregbesola told dignitaries at the event held at D’ Podium International Event Centre, 31B, Aromire Road, Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday.
“Needs are the things you require daily such as food, water, shelter and others.
“Wants are things like houses, cars and others. A car is a necessity in our society, but your choice of cars should be according to your capacity.
“Many people pursue their wants and forget their needs. Wants are expensive, but needs are not,” he remarked.
“Someone like Bill Gates set a goal that was beneficial to himself and to other people. He fulfilled his goal and has gone to other areas as a philanthropist.
“Chief Obafemi Awolowo set a goal of providing free education for the people of the South West, which gave a gap of 50 years between the people of the South West and those from other parts of the country.
“Many of us desire to be political leaders such as president, governors, ministers, commissioners, local government chairmen and others it is very easy, but you must work for it.
“While some people have opportunities and are not prepared, others are prepared, but the opportunity has not come. “You must be prepared so that when the opportunity comes you will grab it.
“You can be whatever you want to be in life if you maximise every opportunity that comes your way and set positive goals. If you want to have a happy life, you must set a goal. The trouble of an individual not having a goal can make their life meaningless
“A lot of people are poor because they are consumers and not producers. They spend more than they earn anytime and the wisdom of being rich lies in earning more money than you spend.
“There must be self-restraint. Don’t indulge yourself. You must learn to save and invest,” he said.
To Aregbesola, though the future belongs to the youth, they must be productive to make the future worth living for them so that they won’t constitute themselves to be nuisance to the society. He warned that the youth should change their attitude now.
“If you don’t produce or work to add value then you are a parasite.
“The future belongs to the youths. The youths are here for a long haul. We should therefore be more concerned about them.
“Young people are setting the pace such as Bill Gates, Mark Zucherberg and former British PM, David Cameron, who turned the world around as leaders in their young ages.
“We have the likes of the late Anthony Enahoro, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alaba Lawson and others, who became leaders as youths.
“But today, our youths indulge in internet fraud, rituals and other vices.
“Our youths should be ambitious and separate entertainment from knowledge. The future is knowledge driven,” he said.