The Lagos State House of Assembly Committee Chairman on Local Government Community, Rural and Chieftaincy Relations and former Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Food security Hon. Sanni Ganiyu Babatunde Okanlawon has tasked the Local Government Chairmen across the state to firm up the peculiarity in their areas for maximum development, speaks to other sundry issues in a recent interview with Sunrise News, Olanrewaju Adesanya brings excerpt.
Kosofe Constituency 1 which you represent at the Lagos State House of Assembly still grapples with some issues given its geographic spread and peculiar topography, how well have you been able to use the instrumentality of the position you hold to better the lots of your constituents?
Government is already addressing our infrastructural deficit. The main issue bother on the realm of environment, infrastructure deficit; drainages, canals and flooding especially in Oworonshoki, Ifako area of my constituency and even some parts of Ogudu but the days government have been trying from the outset to ensure that we improve on all of these and do all our best possible to stem the tide of flooding in my constituency. Last year we did a lot in desilting-removal of waste from our canals and drainages so as to allow for free flow of waste water.
This year it is in the budget to fix the canals embarkment to the right and left of some of our primary channels and this will allow free flow of waste water.This is part of the values we are adding to stem the tide of flooding and ensure that we make live livable and meaningful to our people, so in the realm of environmental infrastructure we are doing a lot this year.
Okeowo Shomorin road and drainage has been awarded we are experiencing flooding there, in some parts of Anthony about five roads will be fixed including the drainages, talking about the Camp Road, Adebayo Mokolu, Sade Ayangade, Adeniran Ajao all of those areas will be fixed. So as to ensure that we have good roads for motorist and drainages to allow for free flow of waste water.
I will be monitoring by way of carrying out oversight functions to ensure that there is value for money.
The rains are here coupled with the attendant issues that bedevils resident in such times, the pains of yesteryears are clear cut pointers of what to expect now what in concrete terms are being put in place to mitigate the worrying impacts of the climate change in your constituency?
There is no cause for worries the government is up to the task for areas that are volatile in terms of flooding, people will be updated about what to do whether to move away from such areas, the government is available to give an update about that. The Ministry of Environment I am sure will be doing a lot in that respect, so as to avoid unnecessary fatalities but what is preoccupying our minds now is fixing our drainages.
The primary, secondary and tertiary channels, for instance, in Mende now we are fixing roads and drainages, in Arowojobe and Ajao Estate particularly we are fixing about six, seven roads, secondary channels, the governor has embarked on it since almost two years, it is nearing completion.
It is about seven long stretches of secondary channels. What does that speak to? It says that we are poised to abating the tide of flooding in our constituency, because hitherto this waste water empties nowhere but forms some kind of lake in the community.
So, these drainages that government is doing will address all of that, for those who are living close to areas that are flood prone as time goes by, people will be updated about your weather situation and be advised accordingly.
Given the economic hardship people encounter on a daily basis, the skyrocketing pace of price increase of staple foods and other necessities of life, what is the strategy like in with the federal government humanitarian reform models that flows through the National Assembly representatives down to the localities, is there any existing synergy amidst the stakeholders in your constituency to make live a lot easier for many?
As far as we are concerned in my constituency, we are doing our bit to alleviate the suffering of the people, this hardship and economic downturn you are talking about is a global issue even yesterday we were told that America’s debt is 360 billion Dollars, UK we were told is going to recession, so it is a global thing. However, as a government we have a responsibility to alleviate sufferings of our people.
So, in my constituency what is going on there is that I as their representative in the Lagos State House of Assembly, I am doing my bit within my means like very recently I just distributed 150 bags of rice you know what that cost. I had to divide it into wards and those beneficiaries includes; artisans, market men and women, the physically challenged, the CDA, CDC, the NURTW, ward members and many others. Ensuring that it gets to the grassroot, those people who actually needed it in the next two weeks I will be doing the second phase of my scholarship ,that is a five million naira scholarship to be distributed amongst fifty of my constituents who are students in the higher institutions, basically indigents but brilliant students so all of these are geared towards assuaging the pains of the times, some students are brilliant but hail from a financially challenged home, so what people like us should do is to assuage their pains by providing succour, such succour is what we have been doing in terms releasing palliatives to the people, instituting scholarships.
The first edition recorded success because three of them graduated from the University with first class and some that are still in the university are still maintaining first class courtesy of our financial assistance in terms of scholarship.
This year we are doing fifty, as we talk today the screening exercise is ongoing, we are doing fifty but over hundred has applied so we have to screen, these are things that we are doing to ensure that we assuage the pains of the times.
Mentoring of future leaders is fast fading off culture within our social space, have you any plans to rejig it and precisely how are you going about it?
It is part of our educational scheme, we are doing mentoring I personally attend classes of our students in the secondary and primary schools and I personally mentor, all geared towards bringing forth excellent students and a well-informed society.
When you have the best of education hopefully you become great in life rather than not having education and education can be divided into so many phases; it could be formal education, qur’anic education, biblical education and vocational education.
You must have an education it is when you have it that you can be a good member of the society, that you can be useful to yourself, to your family and to the society. So, I often attend the classes to mentor and charge the students.
I introduced the scholarship; I introduced debating activities where prizes are given to students and the winner will occupy my sit as one day legislator. These are things we’ve been doing in the past that we will continue to intensify.
In thew realm of sport, I have table tennis academy so many of our youths are well engaged there we have our coaches from the Lagos State table Tennis Coaches two of them who I pay on a monthly basis, they train our young lads even from the cradle to ensure they develop that skill and talents in table tennis because we must begin to catch them young, over there abroad what they do and what makes them thick is that they catch them young even at cradle so that is what we have introduced so that you grow with it and mature into it. Not minding that you may have your formal education, we have spaced this so that it doesn’t disturb formal education so acquiring that skill is creating another vocation, another empowerment for our youths, you may not necessarily use your certificate to start looking for jobs and all that white collar jobs. If you have proficiency in that vocation called table tennis or football that maybe what you will use to heck a living in your life.
What Charge do have for the Local Government Chairmen especially with due consideration of the challenging time we found ourselves?
They must consider their areas of strength as it pertains to the peculiarities in their localities and turn it around for our good in Lagos they have been doing a lot lately; by way of giving palliatives regularly to the people thus cushioning the adverse effect of the clearly global economic challenge the world now grapples with, I as a former Special Adviser on Food Security to Lagos Government till 2019, had an opportunity of transversing the whole of Southwest and even met with the governors in each of the states also in Kwara and Edo state to chart a course for better and sustainable agricultural independence through integration, as we speak we have several hectares of land in Egua Ogun state and many more spread across the states, where we can cultivate rice Paddy depending on the specification of seedling, Lagos State can give them seedlings say Farrow 44, which gets ready for harvest within four months, we will be ready to offtake paddies at that point and bring it to our rice mill in Imota which sits on 13 hectares of land and has the capacity of producing 32 metric tons of grains per hour, by so doing transportation cost for off taking from Kebbi state and elsewhere will be reduced and all commerce surrounding the process in our rice mill will further create jobs for our people, rather than we having a rice mill sitting on a vast land been left inactive and we can as well service the existing market with quality grains especially at this time when daily sustenance is been threatened by price spike on staple foods.
Our local governments Chairmen can also consider their peculiar natural endowments especially in arable lands, aquaculture even husbandry and work towards production of Agric produce that can thrive there, other areas without arable lands can go into food processing as there are clearly not enough storage facilities for perishables, they can leverage on this opportunity to better our lot as a state even at this trying time.