A Lawmaker in the Lagos State House of Assembly who is chairman the House Committee on Agriculture, Hon. Kehinde Joseph from Alimosho Constituency 2 has vowed to move for a rebranded livestock and animal rearing system as well as ensuring indiscriminate killings of animals in the state is outlawed. Hon. Joseph spoke about a new bill being considered on this by his committee and why the people of the state should embrace the new bill, when it is eventually signed into law by the Governor of the state.The lawmaker, who was the Special Adviser to the immediate past governor of the state on Civic Engagement, speaks on other sundry issues with OLANREWAJU ADESANYA
What can you say about the animal bill your committee is working on?
It is a welcome bill and most of what the lawmakers said during the second reading of the bill are apt. One of the things we want to achieve with the law is to protect the welfare of the animals. We believe that we must be humane in dealing with animals. If you see the way people treat animals such as rams, goats, chickens and all that, especially those that are selling them, you will be amazed. They also have lives. We also discovered that may be because of our security challenges in the country, people are rearing wild animals as if they are domestic animals. They rear animals such as tigers, lions, cheetah, snake and even crocodile. There is a dog that is very wild that people rear, we have some other ones that are dangerous, we don’t want people to rear them. This is what this bill will help us to achieve.
We know we will have some challenges because one or two sections of that bill is about emergency ram sellers, who sell in front of their houses during Ileya Festival celebrated by Muslims. A section of that bill forbids such a thing, I mean people cannot sell animals indiscriminately. The Speaker of the House pointed it out that our social life must be put into consideration. Look at the way Ogun worshippers kill dogs, for instance. Veterinary doctors know how to kill these animals, they neutralize them and the dog will just sleep off. So, if they want to die, let them die a peaceful death not that someone would kill them with hammer. Some people even use mortar to kill dogs. If some people want to kill a cat, they would put it inside a cage and pour kerosene on it and set it on fire. People also kill pigs in a wicked way. With the bill, if you want to rear any animal you must be able to cater for it. A section of the bill gives room for whistle blowers such that anybody that sees you maltreating animals would report you to veterinary doctors or the people in-charge. You will be prosecuted because they are animals too. If you don’t have the power to care for them then don’t rear them.
Are we getting to a stage, where people would obtain license to kill animals?
Of course, we are getting there though it is not in this bill. It is like somebody getting house helps and you start maltreating her. So, if you know you don’t have the means, just leave them alone. One of the advantages of that bill is about animals that are roaming the streets, it will curb it even in Lagos State. This includes those rearing goats, hens and others.
Have you been to the big abattoir in Lagos State?
We are yet to go there, but we will soon be there, we have visited the Rice Mill in Imota, we will visit the main abattoir in Oko Oba, Agege and other places under our jurisdiction.
What have been the challenges facing the people of Alimosho Constituency 2?
One of the advantages I have is that I had been a member of the Executive and the way we conduct proceedings there is different from the way they do it in the legislature. What I try to do is to merge the two. Most of the times, in the executive we highlight whatever we want to do through presentation. It is not common here, the first time I had such an opportunity was the stakeholders meeting that we normally have. I came in as a lawmaker on June 7th 2019 and two months later, we were asked to do stakeholders meetings in our constituencies and because of my experience in the legislature I quickly did my presentation and gave it to some of my people to work on. I have been living in that area right from my youthful age. One of our problems is bad roads, we have a lot of infrastructure decay, especially in Alimosho 02 including Ikotun, Idimu, Isheri, Igando, Isheri Oshun and others. I have 11 kings, first class Obas. Constituency 01 is bigger than my own, but they have may be one or two Obas. Fortunately for me, my in-law is an Oba and his wife is Iyaloja, so when they have problems they come to me. The Kabiyesi and Iyaloja come to me and some of my recommendations have been executed. The Governor was at Igando to commission Jakande homes in July 2019 and I was given an opportunity to speak at the event.It was during the birthday of a former governor of the state, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande. I grew up in the area so I understand their challenges. I had been a party member, youth leader, local government executive member, and then I became a cabinet member and now I am a member of the state house of assembly. They have started executing my projects one of which is Ikotun Roundabout. I said they should do something about it that it was too big. It was giving us a lot of challenges because of the size and thank God they have adjusted it the way they did that of Allen Roundabout in Ikeja. It gives us a lot of respite now. We also have a challenge with the General Hospital, Igando, we have a dump site there. The dump site poses a lot of challenges because of the odour that comes from it. People who came for treatment in the hospital now become sick because of the stench from the site. Moreover, the road around that area was bad, but thank God they have repaired the road now. In the past you would spend about three or four hours to get to the hospital. The road was not good, so they repaired and enlarged it. The place was later expanded so the compactors have free movements. We also have Ishuti Road, which leads to a very big sea. My predecessor did a lot on the road, and now they have started working on it.
The welfare of the people matters, to do some roads some houses have to go and we have been meeting with the people concerned. They could easily remove some things before the house is demolished and the government would compensate them. I know what my people want. We have Lagos State University close to that place and a lot of people pass through the place. The dump site is filled up and I have told them that the best thing is to relocate the dump site. That general hospital is very important, apart from the one in Ikeja and the one in Gbagada, it is the third biggest general hospital in the state.
From Ojo axis down to that place, they don’t have a general hospital, people have to come down there for treatment.
Also, we have been able to help our youth to get jobs through the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) Programme under the state Ministry of Agriculture, and some of my people have been given teaching jobs, while some have gone to the School of Nursing and some have been employed as doctors.
On my own, I have been able to do boreholes for my people and I power about 30 streets with generators and these have reduced crime.
We have a lot of minors in Egbeda, Igando and Ikotun that are causing problems. They are attracted to the place by the dump sites. They are not Yorubas, but they speak our language. They are the ones attacking people at night and in the early hours of the day. They sleep inside the dump sites and they do a lot of things.
The elderly among them teach them a lot of things and they are involved in drugs and crime and a lot of people report them to me, especially ladies and women who said they snatch their bags and dare them. They are there by 10 or 11pm, they rob people at night and in the morning. They are between 12 and 16 years of age. They later graduate to become armed robbers. Even some of them would get homes in the place and others will start to live with them. I thank God for the Head of the Lagos State Task Force, Egbetokun, he has been able to come around and effect some arrests. That is one of the things the anti-cultism bill wants to achieve. You cannot just take them to the rehabilitation centre because they are too many. It is either there is a programme for them or they would be prosecuted and one wonders why their parents have them when they cannot care for them. They speak Yoruba fluently whereas they are Hausa boys.