……..Appeal for compensations payment to owners of demolished houses
The much talked about “Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency Development Lecture”, has been held with residents making a passionate appeal on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to complete the several uncompleted projects especially roads in Oriade Local Council Development Area, LCDA, before his tenure expires.
The 1st Chief Speaker, Mr. Ndubuisi Okafor made the appeal in a lecture titled, “Oriade LCDA; The Past, Present and The Future-The Community Perspective”.
Oriade LCDA is one of the two local councils that make up Amuwo Odofin Local Government. The other is Amuwo Odofin Local Government.
Put together by the Convener, Amuwo Decides 2023, a political pressure group,the lecture has the objective to brainstorm on the developmental challenges facing the Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency, and to chat a pathway to a viable future for the area.
Okafor who urged Gov. Sanwo-Olu to continue with the good work he is doing, appealed to him to quickly complete uncompleted roads in Oriade LCDA initiated by the State Government to alleviate the plight of the people, while also pleading for the payment of compensations to their people whose houses were demolished for the Marwa Road since 2021.
He listed the uncompleted projects to include AbuleOshun, Mumuni Adio Badmos, Navy Town and Old Ojo roads. There are also Shalom-Divine-Jovinile-Waterfront and Mobil road-Sanusi-Kessington Collector drainages as well as Oremeji Canal and Fire Station”.
On compensation payment to those whose houses were demolished, Okafor said, “The Chairman of the affected homeowners, Elder Henry Okpekpe just died.
“It is painful that the compensation did not come in his lifetime. He cried to the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, when the community had a meeting with him. The later pledged that the payment would be made soon enough. This has not been achieved several months after. The Lagos state Government should please pay these homeowners who are mainly retirees”.
He equally called on Governor Babajide sanwo-Olu’s government to implement the long awaited Ijegun-Egba Action, but with a human face as well as to construct roads and drainages across the Oriade LCDA”.
Okafor spoke on the need for investments in youth development, sports, education and ICT, as well as the opening up of Hospitality and Tourism Sector in Amuwo Odofin Local Government, saying that they would help to upgrade the living standard of community people in the local government.
To that effect, he called on Senator Idiat Adebule and Hon. George Adegeye representing the people at both the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, to intervene by adopting roads in the area as their Constituency Projects “and specifically lobby Federal MDAs to effect.
He also requested the Federal Lawmakers ‘to introduce a Bill for the establishment of Agency for Restoration and Maintenance of Former Federal Estates or Federal Estates Facilities Provision and Maintenance Commission, bearing in mind that satellite Town and FESTAC would be counted as major beneficiaries”.
On the lecture which he dedicated to the “Amuwo Think tank”, which is the Executive arm of Amuwo Decides, Okafor opined that, “the journey started from 16th February through 11th March, 2023, when the Amuwo Decides 2023 organised a Town Hall Meeting and Governorship Interactive Sessions respectively, for candidates vying for positions in the 2023 general elections.
“Today in a bid to further promote conversation between elected political office holders and we , the people, and consequently deepen development, the Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency Development Lecture Serial 1, titled, The Past, Present and The Future is being held”.
On his part, the 2nd Chief Speaker, Comrade Ayo Adewale, Former Chairman, Amuwo Odofin LGA encouraged residents to find one way or the other to contribute their quota to the development of the Local Government, saying that his administration worked exceedingly hard to make the LGA what it is today.
According to Comrade Adewale, under his government,the Local Government built a Modern Stadium to promote sports development and also established the biggest ICT Hub in the state then.
He also noted that his administration was instrumental to the establishment of several military and paramilitary agencies in the Local Government including “the Navy, Police, Civil Defence Customs and Immigration which met every year throughout my tenure”.
Amongst other achievements, he noted that his administration played a pivotal role in the establishment of a lot of industries such as TATA , Elizade.
He mentioned the Golf Course and Hospitality industries initiated by him “to create employment for our youths”.
Adewale further talked about the initiation of “external Exchange Programmes where some of the councilors under his government were sent abroad specifically to the US and Canada for more knowledge of governance. “Good enough,some of them are now residents of these countries”, he said.
” Education was very paramount during my tenure; We built schools with modern technologies, making learning easy and simple for the pupils.
In the area of Communication, we collaborated with NIIT where our youths were sent for training” he added.
Comrade Adewale insisted that Amuwo Odofin remains the largest LGA in the country.
According to him, “Amuwo Odofin is an offshoot of Badagry. It remains the largest LGA in Nigeria and not Alimosho as claimed, considering the land and water Mass”.
The Guest Speaker, Dr. Innocent Kokobili who spoke on “Amuwo Odofin LG; The Past, Present and The Future-Community Perspective, had underlined that for sustainable development to take place, the people must come together to make their demands to the government of the day, while working in harmony with the Local Government.
Dr. Kokobili who described Amuwo Odofin as a big Local Government, with FESTAC as case study also stressed the importance of maintaining the green areas in the Local Government, by not destroying the recreational parks in the name of building residential houses.
His words: “Families/people make a community and every development depends on the corporation of the people with the local government. This brings development to the community. Any lackadaisical attitude from the people towards the local government will definitely encourage underdevelopment”.
He cited an example of the people of satellite Town, who mounted a great pressure on the government and as a result their pressure yielded some dividends such as Marwa Road.
Kokobili also cited an example of an African Country he visited where someone aspiring to become a political leader must have contributed to community work before he is endorsed, saying such should be encouraged in Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency.
In his remark, Hon. George Adegeye, represented by Mr. Robert Obasi, his SA on Constituency Matters promised to keep working hard for the good of his constituents, as he listed some of his achievements so far to include School/educational Schemes, Installation of Solar Lights, Feeding Programmes, palliative Programmes, Skill Acquisition and Empowerment Schemes and Cash gifts.
Hon. Stella Osafile representing Amuwo Odofin Constituency at the Lagos State Assembly commended those involved in putting together the event for a job well done, saying such programme should be a continuous exercise to provide an opportunity for political office holders to come and give accounts of their Stewardship.
The lawmaker made it clear that no money is voted for her office for any constituency expenses, explaining that her role as a lawmaker is restricted to oversights and supervision of projects to ensure efficiency.
She enumerated her achievements so far to include interventions in road, back to school , students scholarship and food palliatives.
On his part, the Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Engr. Dr. Valentine Buraimoh, ably represented by the Vice Chairman, Mrs Maureen Chika Ashara gave an assurance that they were doing everything possible to deliver purposeful governance to the good people of the local government.
Specifically,he said his administration has constructed 208 classrooms to ensure conducive learning environment for the students and pupils, adding that they have also delivered a state of the art Primary Health Centre in addition to several interventions in transportation, administration ,commerce and justice.
According to him, a partnership with Nigerdock to implement CSR initiative has yielded a brand new junior and Senior Secondary Schools in Igbologun, one of the riverine communities in the Local Government.
Also in attendance was the Police Area Commander, Area E FESTAC, who solicited the cooperation of people of Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency in giving the command useful information for containment of security issues.
Represented by his deputy, Ibrahim Ningi, he “promised adequate security to all the communities in the Federal Constituency”.
The event was attended by Political Heavy Weights, Traditional Heads, Market Leaders and the masses of the Federal Constituency.
