SPEAKER of Osun State House of Assembly, Mr.  Najeem Salaam, in this interview speaks on unpaid salaries in the state, Justice Oloyedes petition against Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the proposed summit being championed by a group among other issues.
By Gbenga Olarinoye
THe insolvent status of Osun appears to have grounded the business of governance. Are you not worried about this?
Bankruptcy is declared when a state or an institution has gone under. Osun has not gone under. Yes, we have financial challenges but they are temporary.  We are working around it.  I must acknowledge the unalloyed support of the people and some section of workers who think beyond the box.
Osun is passing through a phase and it is so because Osun just like others is a constituent unit of a troubled nation, which was raped badly by the ousted Peoples Democratic Party,PDP.
Economic planning
And  if President Muhammadu Buhari could describe the country as an Augean stable that must be cleaned up, what do you expect Osun as an integral part to do? The predicament  is not the making of the governor or as a result of poor economic planning.  It is a structural problem and not until the top gets it right, the federating units would still be contending with epileptic economy. The kind of federalism we practise is what I call feeding bottle federalism.   Osun is the least paid in terms of allocation  and now that our allocation has fallen short of what we are used to, what can we do? We are  Strategizing on how to wriggle out. It will  take time, but we have to do it