Looking through the line of experience garnered so far, what are clear differences between the executive and the legislative arms of government and what has been your source of strength been in the service back to back?

I was an Executive Secretary and pioneer Executive Chairman of Yaba Local Council Development Area from 2003 to 2008, after which I became the Chief Executive Officer CEO of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) for nine years, I later served shortly as Special Adviser to the Governor on Cleaner Lagos Initiative in 2018-2019.While I was serving in the executive capacity I had total responsibility for capital projects, revenues that accrues. We bring our budget to be screened and approved by the house. I will strongly tell you it is an experience for me. To give corrective measures that is the duty of a legislator. I will say at the executive arm we are not so careful but the legislators ensure we are doing the right thing.

I am a chemical engineer, I schooled abroad went on scholarship to study chemical engineering in Romania and I did my first and second degree in chemical engineering after that I came back home for my National Youth Service Corp, prior to that I got my admission for PhD in London University in 1986,on pesticide chemistry but due to funds and other logistics I said to myself I already had my masters what did I need the PhD for?

But today I am planning to do my PhD, I did my second Masters in UNILAG on environmental management in 2012-2014 and when you talk of the environment, chemistry is the basic, so when I was the GM of LASEPA it was like I got back home. I started my PhD in University of Ibadan in 2015 but unfortunately I had an accident sometimes in 2016,2017 and I have to defer it and I am thinking of going back to complete it, because I already finished the first segment of it remaining the second aspect, so I need to go and resuscitate the admission back.

Lagos Mainland Constituency 2 the scope of coverage and your legislative representation, what has it been like thus far?

I represent Lagos Mainland 2 constituency which precisely starting from Adekunle by the council to Alago Meji-Simpson-Faneye linking Old Yaba road, Muritala way,Borno-Way, Spencer then Olonade,Yaba,Simpson on the other side,Adegunwa,Lious Avenue,Noble,Tokunbo then coming towards Oyadiran Estate Sabo by City College School,going down to Onike, Unilag Road,Ajayi street,Araromi Street,Majaro and Doyin,by MFM, Unilag down there then Iwaya Road,Owodunni up to that junction of Oko Agbon where Makoko meets it.

That is the order then coming to this side that is Yaba,Birrel,Queens College,down to Onike back to Herbert Macaulay down to YabaTech junction by Jibowu to Igboobi Sabe back to inside Yabatech to Abule Oja,Abule Ijesa that is it.

As a legislator, by my experience here many Nigerians don’t know the work of legislators, many believe when you are a legislator you come here to pluck money,not knowing that you don’t have a budget of your own and you know what, I don’t blame them because they form their opinions about us from information right activists put out there.

I have an example here, I was somewhere and one of the activist was making a claim about the National Assembly budget, saying yes the budget of National Assembly is 70 billion so after calculating each Honourable member 100 million and that of Senator X amount, forgetting that the budget of National Assembly comprises of the Assembly commission where you have over 400 to 500 staff that their salary is in there, running cost, training are all there, is it for the legislator? No.

Why are you misleading the public? So many people had that perception because they believed what the activist are saying,without trying to find out by themselves. When I was at the executive I was the accounting officers of the local government and the agencies I headed. I had the opportunity to do things for people but as a legislator I am on salary and running cost, but everyday you will see people requesting, demanding their mother died, their grand mother this, you know what I tell them?

Tell me what I can facilitate to come to your area. The favour I need from is just simply put mention what is needed in your area which I can facilitate, but all they want is money and when you start giving them money at end of the day when you go back, they are the same people that ask you what have you done in your area? You see what really saved me was the project I did while I was at the local government. So when I was campaigning I was using the projects I did many years back to campaign and some of them are still there today. So as I am talking to you now I have started sinking some boreholes, I did free JAMB distribution, also I was at Unilag few week ago, I gave scholarships to less privilege people and I said to another set of people, where you have 4.2-4.5 point I am going to give ten people scholarships by paying their tuitions and during the last summer vacation, we did summer lessons for school children, SS2 to SS3 after which we gave them back to school kits; school bags, exercise books and the best in the four centres were given notebooks and money.

I am also tying down part of my running cost that once it is up to four, five hundred thousand I am putting solar street lights in selected areas within my constituency, before the end of December we will have that. I also visited Yabatech last week met with the Rector who welcomed me along with his team and I indicated my willingness to partner with them and to hear their problems because it is my constituency and they told me in the staff quarters area that they need borehole, and I said consider it done before the end of this month I’m gonna do that.

These listed are what I have done between eight months, even some of the boreholes I sunk in Iwaya now when I went to commission last week they are still demanding that I get them a generators and I say by the grace of God I will give you generators too. All these I am doing from my running cost and my own private earnings because we are on salary and running cost but people don’t want to hear that.

On Safety standards in Lagos State,can you say we have fared quite well all the while?

It is going to be an understatement to say we are up to date, we are not. Quote me, in this part of the world we are not safety conscious and I want anybody to challenge this, we are not safety conscious. When we build our houses in this part of the world, every room is burglary proved. You have duplex with many bedroom apartment with the living room and dining upstairs and downstairs all burglary proved, in case there is fire upstairs where is the escape route? Are we safety conscious? No. In work places too we are not safety conscious.

When you talk of safety the first thing when you want to start a construction safety must be taken into consideration, you must have safety booths, you must have safety elements, restricted areas must be specified during construction because trucks bringing equipment and materials. So we are still not there.

Look at most of these event centres, before ministry of physical planning and urban development could approve for you, you have to specify the number of people that can be there. In a party where you have 1000 people, immediately in developed countries the police will come and walk everybody out because it is no more safe. Number two in those event centres in case of accident where are the escape routes? Safety we are not so conscious. Now what about hotels?

They run burglary everywhere and it is like one is caged and if anything happens where is the escape routes? So these are the areas we need to look into; hospitality businesses, houses and event centres even in government offices.Look at the house of assembly now, if there is fire look at the escape route.

We have it here but we can still improve, when you talk of safety you relate safety to risk, you know they are synonymous, so everywhere you go to identify the safety risks after which you evaluate and assess what the measures I need to put in place to mitigate it. When they tell the event centre owners you cannot have more than 50 people in this hall, they will say the government is bad,but the government is looking at the safety of the people there.

Anything more than 50 people in that location is not safe for people, it is high time we start giving heavy fines to violators to serve as deterrence to others, but having the political will is a problem, oh! It is our people and all that, we need to come together to ensure safety compliance in every area of our lives.

What roles does dysfunctional drainage channels in some parts of the state have to do with waste water movement?

Our drainage channels are not dysfunctional as you mentioned in your question, rather it is what we all did wrong in our homes, many of us any time it rains, you bring out your garbage and throw into the drainage channels and when it get stocked it blocks the drainage so water coming along that part cannot flow pass it, you know we have the tertiary channels, secondary and the primary drainage channel and the canals before it discharges into the lagoon.

But the canal is a not receiving the water anymore, most of the canals have been overgrown with weeds, because it is not being fed, people dump their waste in it and the nutrients start allowing algae’s to grow on it. The tertiary drainage channels which are the ones from the inner streets, who is clearing it? No one, that is the responsibility of the local government authorities, but they are not doing it anymore. We have the local government, the state and the federal. The state should ensure that the local government rises up to its responsibilities, how?

Your primary responsibility is to clear the tertiary channels, when we were young it is the local governments with the supervision of the “Wolewoles’ sanitary inspectors, they will come to inspect the house-‘wolewole kilori,tanwinjin yanmuyanmu’,are we still doing that? We are not. Ministry of environment drainage channels look at the secondary and primary drainages to the canal but you are been disconnected. There is a disconnect from the tertiary to the others, so it is not feeding the canals and anytime it rains all the area is flooded because it is not feeding the canals that supposed to discharge into the lagoon.

I still intend to peruse the judgement on the last Saturday environmental sanitation case and talk about it because we need to revisit that. In those days last Saturdays there is sanitation but let us leave that aside now, local government sanitary inspectors (wolewole) should stand up now ,in front of any house any drainage that is not flowing, that is silted that house should be sanctioned.

If we don’t want to go back to the last Saturday sanitation thing because of the three hours restriction, everyone should do the sanitation anytime you like as long as your frontage is not blocked. If your frontage is blocked you have an abatement, they will give the first abatement-clear your frontage, if the blockage is coming from elsewhere use a wire goose to block it from coming to your house, we come next time and observe no change we shut your house or you go and pay fifty thousand naira to government.

But will that work because of political will? We need to close our eyes to ensure we have a cleaner and healthier environment. To have enough political will to get things done, failure to do this will get you no where. I’m being blunt with you that is the right way to go about it, when I was a local government chairman when your frontage is blocked we sanction you. When you are sanctioned because of defaulting environmental procedure, it is the responsibility of you and I. we have identified the fact that it is because we stopped the last Saturday environmental sanitation exercise that this is happening, what are the best step to take? It is that everyone should clean his frontage, failure to so do attracts sanction. When we use few houses as scapegoat everybody will comply.

HON ADEBOLA SHABI REPRESENTING LAGOS MAINLAND CONSTITUENCY 2

Landfills and government approach at ridding the environment of air pollution emanating from the likes of Olusosun and the other one on Igando axis of the state?

Olusosun wasn’t a dumpsite,what happened was that the place far back 1972 up until ’74 that was where gulvanti excavated its sand to construct Ikorodu road and olusosun became a pit as due to the excavation and people now took advantage of the existing pit there, bringing their waste from Alapere and it became a dumpsite in 1976,that is the story of Olusosun. It is a fact that development met Olusosun already existing there,not the other way round and in the sense of siting an engineered sanitary landfill,one of the conditions is that it must not be on the highway.

It must be off the highway but Olusosun is on the highway,Igando is on the highway,development them there so when it now got to that stage,the government ought to have been more proactive in the sense of the management of our waste, because we are in the twenty-first century in other climes nobody uses a dumpsites like this anymore, we have engineering landfill but waste are being dumped in Olusosun and the leechets coming from the waste percolating into the underground thereby polluting the underground water in Ikeja environs,the same leechet go down to our lagoon too.

When waste in Olusosun are compressed by anaerobic decomposition it brings out methane gas,which we are wasting,menthane gas contributes about 35-40 percent to climate change,global warming and the government is spending a lot of money on climate change summit. Why are we deceiving ourself? When we are contributing to the effect of global warming,and we are saying we are fighting what are we fighting?

Go and check methane contributes 35-40 percent of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming while carbondioxide contributes about 55 percent, the remaining percentage are water vapour and other small gases that contributes to the ozone layer depletion. Now the same methane gas we are talking about could be used for power as well,why are we being so wasteful? We generate over 20metric tons of waste in Lagos on a daily basis,this is Lagos not Nigeria-Turkey as a country generate 10metric tons and they generate electricity from it,so why are we wasting resources in this part of the world?

Turkey generates 10metric tons of waste while Lagos generates 20 metric tons and we cannot have our power therefrom I don’t know how to add this up,but I have seen something about us that we speak more grammar than the British people,we talk more and we work less, as an engineer we don’t talk much grammar,we act more than talking. Imagine us generating such huge waste and we cannot turn it around for our good! Even now when the federal government has devolve the power generation off the exclusive now on the concurrent list.

Now look at Abia state generating its power I read about it three days ago, 24 hours electricity in Aba. In those when I was the GM of LASEPA,we the GM of EPA’s all over Nigeria we had a meeting in Abia State and Aba-Owerri road used to be the dirtiest road but today they have made use of the waste generating their own power. What are we doing here? Speaking too much grammar, grammar is not everything it is about being proactive.

Our wetlands in Lagos are gradually going into extinction, where do we go from here?

Wet lands are water receptors,waste water from all parts gather there before discharging into the lagoons, that is why it is called wetland but today we have encroached and built on them. We have a department in the ministry of environment-conservation department which deals with the wetland area too,ministry of environment should tell us how many of our wetlands have not been encroached upon? They have been encroached upon and it is not the fault of the ministry of environment,I give it to them,ministry of environment has been protecting our wetlands but Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development will give approval to build on wetlands without recourse back to ask from the Ministry of Environment, we are not coordinated at all, in the system here in Lagos State they are not coordinated because there exist a synergy within the system before physical planning can approve get in touch with the Ministry of Environment they will tell you this a wetland you can’t build on it and when you encroach on wetland there is nowhere the water will go. What are we talking about flooding?

We are putting too much pressure on the Commissioner of Environment and the ministry, when we are the course of their problems because where the water suppoised to go as a receptor before discharging into the lagoon has been encroached upon, so what are we saying,water must find its way,when we talk about waste being dumped in our drainage channels,talk about wetlands too it is so germane.We should preserve and protect our wetlands.

They are our protectors for the future being receptors for us, they will prevent flooding but we have encroached and built on it and the Land Bureau will allocate the lands arbitrarily to people. Does that make sense to you? It doesn’t. I am working a bill regarding that as well as on sanitation too I am studying the judgement, but if unable to I will do something on the house frontage channel blockage. There must be fines on that.

What will be your counsel for Nigerians given the economic hardship bedevilling the nation?

My advise to the people the way things are in the country today, I want to plead with everyone of you Mr. President feels your pains,likewise Mr. Governor of this state also feels your pains, so for emergency palliatives the state government has reduced the fare by 25 percent,on agriculture and food palliative the state is giving 330,000 households rice,garri and yam flour, and about 1000 existing bukkas where people can go and to eat with their LASRRA cards,healthwise there is free delivery,free ante natal and for people with high blood pressure free drug refill on that ailment and diabetics.

All these things the state government has made it available for you please lagosians go and register,get your LASRRA card and benefit from these. It is not about APC alone, the state government has constituted a committee which I am a part of, we have PDP member as a part of the committee,Labour Party, Civil Society Organizations and religious fathers too both Christian and Muslim therein, so it is not about APC agenda. Everywhere I go I preach about this that don’t think it is our people alone,it is for all Lagosians the government is for you. Whichever political party you belong, this is your government, take advantage of it.

The post Lagos lawmaker, Adebola Shabi scores state low on safety standard compliance, wetland protection,others appeared first on Sunrise News.

Excepts:

Evelyn Osagie is several things to so many people, a brand, an artist, a poet, a performer, photographer, arts and culture enthusiast and a journalist. Third of March is going to be your 16^th anniversary as a journalist, which one came first, a poet, a performer or journalism?

I will say that poetry came first. Performance came when I was trying to reinvent the genre in my own small corner, to make it accessible, to be able to communicate my poems to people around me to communicate poetry in simple, everyday language to those who were my audience at that time, my medium was through writing and verbalizing it to people around me. I realise that when I give people around me the lines to recite, sometimes they can’t make any sense out of it, but when I verbalise it, it tend to make better sense, whether they are versed, schooled or illiterates that’s where performance came in, but poetry seem to be giving birth to every other aspects of the art for humanity that I’ve been involved in, whether it is performance, or what we now call spoken words, or journalism, I got into journalism through poetry too, sending my published poetry collection to The Guardian which got published, then doing ad-hoc internship with The Guardian Edo State Office, then coming and doing freelance at Lagos.

I started performance 30 years ago. I remember I was in my teens and I was one of those who participated in a poetry competition in the church. It was the first time my parents got so very happy with me because of the honour that came with it that they saw firsthand the viability of what I had been disturbing that it could become something of honour.

As a journalist and a performer, how will you describe your experience as a poet and a culture and arts reporter in the last 16 years?

It has been an amazing journey, amazing because I started first by reading other amazing writers works and being inspired by the mastery of their works and I was imagining when I would begin to write the way they write and touch other people’s hearts the way they touched mine, so it was amazing that I eventually started covering that same sector and seeing these same people I read their works and from whom I drew inspiration. It was the greatest gift one can even get, and then to be paid doing what you love doing. I keep telling people that I have spent the last 16 years enjoying myself, where I am doing what I love doing and being paid for it. So I’ve not worked in the last 16 years Ive just been enjoying myself. I love travelling, they paid me to travel, I loved writing, they are paying me to write, I like meeting people, especially people in the arts, and they paid me to do that. So its been a huge journey, a journey that has brought me immense joy and fulfilment. Some people would say, what have she achieved? But the fact is that everything I have been doing is to give God thanks for sparing my life. I was not supposed to live, I have near death experience several times in my life’s journey. I have had the cause to realise that when God gives me the opportunity to return, I realise that I come back with some experience. When you come back you realise that your orientation changes, when everyone is running forward, you will be moving backwards. You are always with a fresh perspective and that’s what, with God’s help, I’ve been doing.

One of the things you have also done through your writings is advocacy. You are committed to lifting others and helping them. How did you get into that and how has that part of your journey been?

A: It has also been a very interesting journey. In all the years I’ve covered arts. I think the second year of my working in The Nation that I won the ANA Literary Journalist of the Year, which I won jointly with the person who is now the Weekend Editor of Daily Independent Newspaper, Pastor Yemi Adebisi, and apart from that, any other workshops and conferences I have attended had come through my advocacy. I think it wasn’t deliberate, but was divinely planned. When I had my last near death experience, it gave me a food for thought and began to make every minute or second or hour I have to count. Beyond reporting literary and visual arts and other forms of culture and arts, I wanted my life to touch others and I think that is how it all started. And I started with different stories around children. For me my younger days were days I cannot forget and were my most memorable moments and I say of I can’t relive that I can make sure children around me are able to enjoy same too. I wanted to be part pf those who are lending their voice to the plight of children and that is how it started and I started by writing stories of children, I also ensured I document the children in pictorial stories, and I am so grateful that it caught the attention of UNICEF in Nigeria and other NGOs and CSOs and several organisations that were leading causes, setting agenda, and I realised that I was setting agenda for children or the girl child, or people living with disability or HIV/AIDS and even down syndromes and different other aspects through my writings, and conscientising policy makers to making policies around these people with vulnerabilities and I have been fortunate to be part of and be part of people who drafted policies around some of these themes and groups, so its been a fulfilling thing, looking back to the lives that God let me touched, I am grateful that its not just an individual it is collective and being recognised for that, I recalled that there was one of those years I was part of eight journalists from Nigeria who Switzerland and United Nations selected whose works had affected the lives of women and children and policies around them and we went to Geneva. Its been a very interesting journey and I was happy for the recognitions and the people I have met on the journey. One of them is the girl with the mentally challenged mum and herself and today the kid has grown into a full woman. There was a particular story I did on some community where children were orphaned by HIV/AIDS losing their parents to AIDS. My interpreter then, I remember, giving him money to buy his WAEC form and telling him that people are going to come for him and sponsor him and like a prophet it happened. People from that community who were made who read the story, because I made sure I wrote about him and all the efforts he made and all his assistance he rendered to me doing the interpretation of everything. He went on to read Law and the day he was graduating from Law School, the whole community called me to come for the event and were calling me his mother, that I was among those that sent him to school. Some have even gone to join Law enforcement agencies. One of those girls I wrote about is doing her NYSC now. I hope someday, I would be sponsored to revisit those stories and report on those kids where they are now and what they are doing. My desire is to go back and follow those stories and seak with those children to see what they are doing now, each and everyone of those children, what has become of them and especially those who has received one form of help or the other through my stories. I was told when I was invited by the former governor of Nasarawa State that there some Arewa Groups wrote to him that they followed up on the story I did on the community where kids were orphaned by HIV/AIDS that over 100 kids received scholarships. I don’t know them but I was told people rose from different areas to ensure that those kids got education. If that alone is all I achieved like the Muslims would say Alhamudulillah. This is what my works has produced, am fulfilled, am happy, but I know there is so much more. There are scores of children I learnt got sponsorship to do corrective heart surgery through my writings. This is not trying to brag or boast as if I had a bragging right, but to use this medium as a way to encourage those who are coming to ensure that they see advocacy as a huge area they can still make great impact in journalism. To let those who are aspiring, those who are coming and those who are already in to know that their pen is their voice and it counts in changing humanity chaning the way people view things. Setting agenda and standing in for the downtrodden, becoming a voice for the voiceless. It pays. People had mocked me, do you have a car, do you have a house, you’ve probably may not have been promoted in how many years but for me, it is beyond all of that. Though all those are good but been able go to sleep at night with a smile on your face. This things warm your heart when people see you outside and say you wrote about so and so thing and it touched them in profound ways. It gives me so much joy that am touching lives.

You are made of more, you have your hands in so many pies. The only aspect of culture you’ve not done is modeling. You are into batik making, you are into fashion designing, you are into photography, so how do you find time doing so many things, being in so many places and yet remaining Evelyn Osagie?

The typical African woman is a specialist in multi tasking. She is able to juggle so many things at the same time. Look at our mothers, they are in the kitchen, they are cooking yet their eyes is watching their children playing, they are watching the one doing their home work and the ones fighting. The kids may be saying mummy is busy in the kitchen, yet, the woman has her eyes everywhere. She’s saying am seeing you o, you what are you doing there? I think women generally have their gift and ability and I the African woman is specially gifted. As a girl, growing on the streets you are given different tasks, though we gave the boy child tasks too, but we have a special place for the girl child because of her roles as the matriarch of families. The ability to manage things from the very beginning grows on the girl child. The family expects them to look after their brothers and keep the home safe and clean at all times. In the midst of all that you don’t lose who you are, so for me being able to do several bits of arts stems from this background, Is it photography, of course, this is linked with journalism, because ive always had that passion for photography even before I came intpo journalism, but the peak moment that brought me into photography was that moment I thought I was going to die and I started documenting, so, as I document what I write, I document it in pictures as well, I didn’t know God was giving me treasures that would one day enrich humanity. In that course of reporting arts and sharing arts with other enthusiasts, it took me into fashion. I became one who had to school in it and graduate. Someone just swa what I made and said you’ll be good in this and that was how my journey into fashion started. Where your treasures are so will your heart be. For me, my treasure is in the arts and culture and in that space, as things are coming everyone is giving birth to the next, it just merely needed me to be focused to be able to know how to share your time, be who you are and when you are called to serve in any of those spaces you are able to do so. Fashion is intertwined with art, as you grow in one you are growing in the other. It is not brilliance because it wasn’t planned but I was fortunate enough to grow all of them as I grow in the profession because they are all intertwined and I am finding the connection and moving with it.

As a performing artiste and a writer, you must have met on your journey these past 16 years notable Nigerians who have impacted your life, and your craft can you share with us some of your experiences?

There are so many people and organisations that have impacted my life and so many of them I may not even remember to accord their rightful place right now. First and foremost for my craft as a writer and a journalist I am very grateful to Association of Nigerian Authors. Back then in school when I was in Benin, I was made the Creative Writers Coordinator and that made me an automatic student member of ANA. Back then at school, people like Prof Nkechine, who encouraged us and gave us freedom to write and Prof Festus Iyayi’s role can never be under-emphasised. He mentored me and connected me to people like Kunle Ajibade and Odia Ofeimu. Especially when I showed him my first finished poetry collection manuscript, he was so impressed people were asking for it to be published. I remember the lessons he taught me to wait going further to introduce me to Odia Ofeimu and Kunle Ajibade, started it for me, then becoming a journalist and writing about these people and meeting with the names that we read about, people like Dr Wale Okediran, Denja Abdullahi, and the Late Hycinth. These are men who held me close. I remember this woman, I cannot forget the first Vice President of ANA Prof May Ifeoma Nwoye, she was a woman who held my hand, mentored me, and took me under her wings, despite being the Bursar of University of Benin then. She took me to her home where we would sit dead into the night reviewing literature, looking at her works and mine and comparing notes. It is such an honour to be with her. To meet with people Gabriel Okara, and the lies of the late John Pepper Clark who saw me and encouraged me and saw my gift and told me this is what we have been teaching our students in literature class. That made my day. I am grateful to the great environmentalist Pa Nnimo Bassey, who mentored me from afar, and invited me just last week, to perform a poem at his latest book laumch. My wow moment was to be selected along with celebrated poets like Akeem Lasisi and Efe to perform on stage adding our voices to the cause for the environment, put together by Prof Wole Soyinka. That to me was an Ah ah moment as the last woman standing at that moment aside the younger ones brought in belonging to different poetry organisations. That for me was an Ah ah moment. For 30 years I experimented with poetry in that experiential poetry and I came to a decision that poetry is a genre that is not duly appreciated or given its rightful place, because of the elevated language that would be difficult to understand. I didn’t just want my books on shelves, I wanted my works, my lines in hearts and tablets of peoples soul. I wanted my lines to greet me at every door. I want all of my lines to welcome me at every door. I remember the late JP Clark telling me Evelyn, Nigeria is not ready for what you are doing, and I said I will do it and will keep doing it and here I am it means my experiment worked. When great minds like Prof. Niyi Osundare, Prof GG Darah, who conscripted me to be part of the Nigeria Association of Oral Literature, it showed that one has come of age and right now I have shifted the narrative and my experiment at experiential poetry worked and has gotten a certain result and perhaps it is time to move on to the next phase of my poetry.

Q: Looking at experiential poetry, looking at yourself and journalism which one will you say has brought you the greatest joy?

A: I think poetry and journalism both have part of me and are areas I expressed my creativity and both speaks of me. People have not really met me as a poet in terms of my real person. Ive always written poems to get attention. I’ve always written poems based on needs Just like anyone doing a feasibility study and asking what is the unique thing that draws people in any particular product, asking why would people buy this product and try to rebrand the product along with what was brought up in their research, to be able to win that market. That is what I have been doing all this time to see how to break their stiffness to poetry. When I started my poetry on the street, which was community theater I  called Words Meets Images. I write my poets and give my lines to market women and community people to be part of the cast. Just give them my lines and they perform it and I perform my own poetry. Talking about unity, because that is what I passionately believed and peace and not allow politicians to lure them into violence or to do what they do not want to do. That tells you a little of what I believe, but people have not really met me as a poet to know my thinking to be able to say oh she is this or that, whether I am an environmental poet, you could only see part of that perhaps when Prof Wole Soyinka organised the Movement for the Environment where one of my poems titled Natures irates screams. Generally, I do performances to draw attention to things or sell or speak to the target audience am looking at. The next phase of my experiment would begin to introduce myself to the people because it seems right now, I’ve caught certain attention and people are asking me how to get my works and wants to buy my works my CDs, that’s where people can now see who Evelyn is, the kind of things that interest me. I can still share a lot of what could interest other people because I am a human being who is going through what they are going through, and whatever interests me should interest you and the next thing is basically my interest, I must be able to bring you in, so that we can enjoy these lines together.

Q: With 30 years on stage and 16 as a writer and culture journalist, what are you doing to grow succession of young women?

A: There are so many that my art as poet has affected and in my own small world I’ve been touching lives, but as one who is experimenting so to speak before now, a lot of the time a lot of people don’t even understand even the young ones, when you engage them and try to make them understand they don’t seem to. They ask me for my books, they say Aunty Evelyn with what you’ve been doing you should be able to have your works on paper and that short period when you begin to explain to them that this is an experiment, and sometimes when you say it, people would not be able to understand and until now that I’ve come of age so to speak and I can begin to speak with some boldness and begin to engage the minds of the younger ones more going forward. That is when one can be able to say this is where I am coming from and this is what I was trying to do. It is just like like a prophet who comes and tells everybody it is going to rain heavily in the next one hour despite the fact that it is scorching hot. Nobody would be able to understand until the rain come, so the rain has come.

Q: So the rain has come, what is the rain bringing your way?

A: It is bringing a lot of good things, it is bringing albums, it is bringing books, it is bringing artworks and photography, biopics. It is also bringing auctioning, it is bringing artworks and heritages of building institutions around some of these crafts and sectors one has been fortunate to be. It is going to bring heritages for posterity. It is going to bring mentoring of the young people hold their hands. What I’ve been trying to tell the young ones is that ou don’t need to have publishers crowding you to publish your works, for your voice to be heard. If your father is there, your mother is there, your brothers or sisters, those are your audience, they will one day sell your story to the next person and one day, things would change. This generation is blessed by all these social media platforms to get their voices heard. When we were growing up the only people we used were people around us, I forced people around me to to listen to my poems or read or be part of my cast, including my parents, I draft them into my poetry performance and people looked forward to that and this opened many doors in its own little ways. People recommending me to others and people offering me privileges simply because they have seen me perform in the past. So don’t just keep to yourself and that is what my art on the street out to achieve. Bringing parents to understand that their children had a bundle of talents around and should not kill them. They should encourage them. If my parents did not encourage me, I might have been tired on the journey, art is not a very lucrative thing and even covering art is also like that. Most time, artists would want you to buy their brochure. You can’t blame them. They also needs money, they also needs money to do a lot of things. Writers most times want you to buy their books even though you are covering them. Just like art is not lucrative, even writing it is not lucrative. It is just that you are part of somebody’s progress. I have been part of several people’s growth and progress.

Q: Thirty years on stage and 16 years in journalism on March 3, was this day deliberate, or planned being the International Women’s Day?

A: That question is very interesting, Someone had asked me Evelyn, you are always planning things, you planned it? Funny enough it is not planned, it just happened. When they were celebrating 50 years of Umecheta as an artist, I remember when I am covering all the events that accompanied that I realised we both shared the same birthday, July 21 and I was so happy and impressed amd that endeared me to one of her first son and everybody was asking, even though it wasn’t documented, it was so interesting that I shared a date of birth with such very interesting personalities who I respect her works and whose work inspired me as a young lady, to know the plight young girls and how she was able to handle her home during her hey days. It wasn’t planned. Interestingly it is 16 years of me working in The Nation Newspaper as a journalist but I don’t know why I chose that day to pick my employment letter, maybe I had read somewhere that the day is International Women’s day and they just asked me so when are you starting work and I said March 3 and we just agreed and it was written as my day of employment. But that showed also my passion for women and I tell people, I remember telling a colleague Olukorede Yishau, who had told me, you are not supposed to be here, you supposed to be out there writing books, performing poems full time amd I tell him I am on disguise like a spy in the newsroom. Im in the Nation speaking silently for women and for writers, the first time that they gave writers under the auspices of ANA full page colour page without being paid was when I started writing on them and that was deliberate. I wanted to change the narrative of the perception of the celebrities. I wanted people to see artists and writers as the real celebrities and for me it was the writers because they contribute a lot to the development of education in this country. They are the silent voices behind the growth of education and promoting the reading culture. There are writers that people thought they are dead or people do not even know how they looked like. I was meeting them at events and taking their pictures. I was thinking that time was running out and was meeting with all these writers and taking their pictures and I went to see the then Editor, Mr Gbenga Omotoso who is now the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State. I just told him sir I went for this event, do you know David Okara, he said I know him now, and Elechi Amadi, and he was surprised he is seeing these people in pictures and that was how it started. For years it went on like that and it went beyond ANA members but to all writers associations began to have more assess to the media and other media houses copied it and ANA review was usually like a scholarly document, but they started doing interesting things that connects to the people. They started picking interest in my pictures as well. These are areas journalists can also make other streams of income especially photo journalists, people were buying pictures from me especially groups, they wanted some rare pictures of everybody. I started bringing writers to the people and gave writers greater accessibility and that camaraderie that people had with writers of the book that they read and that for me was instructive.

Q: Your specialty as a mouth to ear poet must have brought you close to some notable poets can you share with us some of the people you’ve met on your journey and what they have left with you?

A: I have met several persons, I would still go back to the people I have earlier mentioned, Odia Ofeimu, I choose to call him Odia Ofeimu, I should call him Pa Odia Ofeimu, for he is a very down to earth person he is my daddy any day. He has inspired me, he has held my hands and saw me grow. There was a time that people were accusing him of granting only me interviews even if he won’t grant any other person and he tells them it was because Evelyn will not misinterpret me. Prof Niyi Osundare, Kunle Ajibade, Prof Festus Iyayi, these are men who saw the gift in the days I was still a small girl. They saw today yesterday and kept urging me in and followed up on me, Prof G.G. Darah, I can’t forget him. I can’t forget the place of Mama May Ifeoma Nwoye in my life. I was coming to cut my teeth in Lagos as a green horn she wrote recommendation letters to editors of all media houses in Lagos, which I didn’t deliver. I remember telling a very notable person that this woman want to put me in trouble, the editors would have been expecting so much from me and would just push me to one corner and if I couldn’t measure up. I was clearheaded that I wanted to learn the ropes. I wanted to learn on my own terms. To learn and grow on merit. It’s crazy but am happy and lucky I kept those recommendations and fought my way up. People like Prof Tessy Iyase Odozi, wife of the former Deputy Governor CBN who sponsored my first book exhibition. She is the one who discovered me as an artist. These are legacies. People like Prof Peju Olayiwola, she is the one who discovered me as an Adire and Batik maker who held my hands and trained me. I can’t forget Prof JP Clark of blessed memory, he is someone who believed me to a point he handed me treasures, legacies. I can’t forget Prof Wole Soyinka, from afar, he has inspires me. There is a particular picture which he particularly drew my attention and say troublesome girl come and snap this one you will sell it with millions of Naira tomorrow. I was shocked that he knew I was always troubling everyone with my camera. He recognised me and drew me close. I am sure he probably didn’t remember me as that troublesome girl always troubling you with my lens. I remember he picking me out of the lot for his event. I remember one of his prodigies telling someone that Prof chooses those who invited and picked to perform in his event by himself and to receive that type of endorsement from no lesser a personality than Prof Soyinka is a very great honour on my poetry. I cannot forget what it has done for me and to me. I won’t forget the place of Prof Ebun Clark the wife of the late Prof JP Clark. Her role in my life, holding my hand, encouraging me, even up till now with me handling the women page of The Nation, she reads me, when she didn’t see the section these past weeks she calls saying what again, I was looking forward to reading you, telling me that Evelyn you are a good story teller. Those words encourage me. In The Nation Newspaper I cannot but mention Prof Olatunji Dare, and his mentorship and the way his words have encouraged me. All my editors, especially those on the Editorial Board have been my inspiration. Mr Sam Omatseye was the one who pointed me in a different direction and opened my eyes to the greatness of my advocacy and encouraged me not to drop it. This is because at that time, people felt I was always following bust stories and taunting me that am always going to the bush to look for stories and saying I can’t make it from there, but he encouraged me to keep at it. My current editor was another, even before he became the editor, he has been the one encouraging me. Even all the EDFAs that have ever been in The Nation Newspaper they have always been at the backend encouraging me. They are my greatest critics and fans. How would I not talk about Prof Femi Osofisan, the one I love I say it with all boldness, Mr Lanre Idowu, he is my friend. He is someone I respect and cherished. He and his wife has held me, watched me from afar and watched me grow. They nurtured me from afar. The list is endless if I ended up not mentioning your name please forgive me. I can forget you. I performed at his book launch event recently. He mentored me from afar as a student of literature and seeing that I am a journalist he has always been encouraging me. As a poet advocate. I also want to thank associations like ANA, FIAN, SNA, these AQUAN, these are associations that helped me. I also have organisations that have helped my work over the years. I looked at myself and I say I probably would not be where I am without these persons.

Q: As you look at the future what are you seeing?

A: I probably would love to tweak the question to say what next, where am I going from here? Everyone who knows me especially my colleagues in the office would be quick to say I have been wasting away in the newsroom, they see drama, they see poetry in everything I do, I always say to them, the day I become a writer am not too sure I will remain a journalist but I will try, I will fight it because writing is a different ball game that demands all of you, just like journalism. These are two jealous aspect of the art. I think we should just watch out for how things unfold because it wasn’t me that does all these things, it was God at the background making all these things happen as if I were writing a script or my biography in the last 26 years writing every chapter, making every section fit. It is Him that has brought me this far and the next chapter of my life going forward would be as things unfolds. But people will begin to see more of me. In the last 16 years I’ve been under cover, I have been doing things behind the curtains. I’ve always been scared. I mean it is scary of coming out, coming to the limelight, it scares me a lot for though I can trail you, or I can steal the show, I am also a very private person, a quite person, people will not believe it because I am always doing things, or talking, but those who know me to my roots know that I can be in the same room with you and you will not know I am there especially when the muse comes, so let’s watch and see.

The post INTERVIEW: I have enjoyed myself in the last 16 years, says experiential Poet Evelyn Osagie appeared first on Sunrise News.

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.

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In an interview with the Channels Television monitored by Sunrise News desk, the Executive Director of Centre for Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CESMAD) Dr Kayode Opeifa, urged the government to take very drastic steps to tame the hydra headed scourge of road traffic crashes. Time he said has come for Nigerian Government to start building safer roads to reduce carnage.

On the years of vehicles approved by the Federal Government?

Let me express my condolences on the about 1,000 people who have died this year alone in road accidents across the country.

I am not aware, and I do not think that the Nigerian government ever made any decision to restrict any vehicle of certain age and I’ve been in this industry for the past 20 years and I don’t think the government will make such decisions because it really doesn’t make sense. What is important is the state of the vehicle and not the age of the vehicle. A vehicle may be made in 2020 may not be good for the road and that’s why you have the vehicle inspection Services to do what they have to do. I also want to agree with the Corps Sector Commander and the Professor but let me add that there is now additional 2 Es to add, which is Engineering and Engagement. Engineering has to do with design of roads and intersections. He mentioned Otedola and what he did not tell you is that in 2011, the Lagos State Government engaged the Lagos State University where he works, and the University of Lagos, and we did a trial run of that road and put in place all the things he had mentioned and for five years after that there were no accidents at that point but the issues causing the accidents were not addressed, it is still there and that is the exit from the Otedola Estate that hot that road at 90 degrees and that is what distracts the driver coming down the hill causing the accidents. That was what was responsible for the last incident that happened about a month or two ago. Also to mention on the issue of age of vehicle, is that we should not be fixate on the age, we should be concerned about the state of the vehicle. Even if the state of the vehicle is good, if the operator is not in the right frame of mind or not qualified to manage that vehicle, it will still be the same thing because 90 percent of this fatalities can be taken care of by the driver.

Enforcement of the roads, many of the  times, enforcement looks as a major issue.

I agree, that takes us back to the issue of sanity on the road. There must be enforcement, enforcement, and enforcement. The problem here is systemic. We have a situation where the nation looks away from infractions. For every incident or accidents leading to injuries and deaths on our roads, all of us are culpable. Recently drivers in Lagos protested against the traffic management authority complaining of extortion. Its not extortion they are complaining about too much enforcement and I’m going to say to those traffic enforcers, please don’t slow down, enforce 10 times the more, we need to get those rickety vehicles, we need to get those bad drivers, those people who are not ready to comply with the law, we need to get them out of our roads. We need to adopt safer road safety systems where we need to put up policies, regulations, laws and put out the nemesis of government. NGOs, Civil Societies, everyone must be involved in the management of that system, until we get to that stage, we shall continue to see all those rickety commercial buses on our roads. We must not allow them to be on the road. If someone is driving a vehicle that is not supposed to be on the road and using such for commercial purposes, it tells you that the man himself is not okay. He may be on paraga, alcohol, or hard drugs, so we need to put on some very stiff measures taimed at educating Nigerians from at least JSS 3, to start understanding what road safety is, it is about everything, it is about the need to ensure that we all do the right thing and the fact that anyone doing otherwise is a risk not only to himself but to the larger society. We need to build systems and ensure that all states of the federation are signed to that system and that is the rules and regulations that we are talking about. Lagos built a system, FCT built a system, Kaduna is building a system, the FRSC which is the lead safety agency should drive this system compliance by all states. The Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Transportation must also do something, they must ensure that states are up to the same level because the drivers’ licence that are obtainable here in Lagos is qualified to be used anywhere in Nigeria and the driver licence anywhere in Nigeria is also useable in Lagos. The road safety signs and signages must be qualified to be acceptable anywhere in Nigeria.

On bad roads and its impact on rate of accidents especially in ember months?

I agree completely that most of our roads are in very bad shape and most of these roads are not safe and cannot prevent accidents. We need to build safer roads that prevent accidents and when they occur, the injuries will not be too much and if there are injuries, there must be no deaths and if there are injuries there must be quick intervention mechanisms that will ensure that lives are saved. We need to build saver roads, our roads as it is currently are not safe. We do not even have a system that does regular road safety audit. Road safety audits are done by external bodies, not by government agencies, not by FRSC but a third party that will comply with the guidelines of the FRSC. Number two, if you watch Nigerian roads in the last eight years, you’ll realise that many lacked adequate infrastructure and signages. The last minister did a fantastic job by introducing lane markings, our road lacks basic feedback mechanisms that ensures they are safe, no lane markings, no traffic signal lights, no traffic signages, except for Lagos, federal capital territory and some of our federal roads that are recently constructed and maybe Kaduna and perhaps Kano. Not more than 10 states are actually complying with putting signages on the roads that would make our roads to be safe. Road injuries are not regarded as a disease, and 1.3million people die annually from road accidents more than the number of people that die from malaria. The reality is that road deaths are more than that of diseases and that is not including okada. The figure we have nationally of road deaths does not include fatalities on our inner roads or from okada accidents. We need safer road users, our drivers licensing systems across the states are terrible, the motor vehicle administration system is terrible, we need to make sure that every state in Nigeria have a driver licensing unit and motor vehicle administration unit removed from the clutch of the Board of Internal Revenue. Agreed it is revenue item, but while we are going after the revenue we must aggressively go after the safety. Less than 10 states have a proper driver licensing and motor vehicle administration system in the country. We cannot have safer road users that way. However, our vehicle inspection systems have improved, now we have computerized system, we must also commend the FRSC for putting up a number of guidelines, the national road safety strategies, but the road safety corps, the various ministries of transportation, all our governors must take road safety as a major issue, it is a health challenge. We are looking three to five percent of our GDP to road accidents, these are confirmed data by the World Health Organisation by the United Nations.

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Who is David Olukoya Doherty?

I am Doherty Olukoya David representing Amuwo-Odofin constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly.

I was born and bred in Kirikiri town here in Amuwo-Odofin, to the Theophilus Oladele Doherty family,my father served government meritoriously till he retired and he is now late, I attended Reservation Primary School Tolu Village, furthermore I left Lagos to my home town, where I attended Ibefun Ilado Comprehensive High School.

What was the experience like growing up, were there any memory of the past that seemingly prepared you for this new stake?

Growing up I was exposed to life on the street so from there I decide to start playing the street politics. I learnt a lot about happenings on the streets but one thing stood out for me which I took from my father, he will always instruct us to never joke with any opportunity availed by government, like voters card,LASSRA even NIN, go and get registered. He will always tell you to take such seriously. When it is time for census you are to stay at home to be counted. I later deduced that my father was only trying to tell me whoever you are the impact of government in your life is quite important.

Given the new pedestal where you are now, what may likely witness a change in your personal lifestyle?

Definition of roles as a legislator and not a local government chairman need be spelt out right from the word go, people need differentiate between the two. We are all out to ensure that in every area of our constituency we give the dividend of democracy to our people because they voted for us. They having entrusted us with their votes, we should be able to do the right thing.
Normally any man that wants to grow up one day will first of all stand and walk. We are just starting and I practically believed we will do all we can to attract development for our people and to our constituency.

You seem to have long envisaged this time will come given the boldness and firm carriage you exhibit?

I developed this attitude of being with politicians, doing a lot of things with them. I was just doing all those things feeling with government I am okay, I do know a lot of big politicians with whom I had great rapport. I envisaged that a day like this will come so back then monies I made in my business, I used in supporting a lot of politicians, even the guy with whom I contested the seat in this last election,I know how much I gave him and my efforts in his previous election that made him win my constituency, he knows me very well that was why he did not believe what is happening.

Given my kind of person I don’t attempt what I cannot achieve, I will not promise someone twenty thousand naira when I know fully well I can’t afford it . So I don’t preach what I cannot do. See me like one of those guys you think was catching fun on the streets but then planning ahead to win in future.

I do my things moderately, listen to the voice of elders and lots of counsel, but all the same I am a business man I worked with Fagbems oil and gas but I identify with my people on the streets, you know they also have a role to play in ensuring one is a success story out there.

Lagos Assembly as the next port of call, what really prompted you to jostle for the seat?

You know looking at a particular thing people normally have varying perspective and view points, for me it all started with my move to join the CDA in my area to help champion the course for development there about ten years ago. While there what the former Lagos State governor Mr Akinwunmi Ambode is passionate about at every stakeholders meetings I attended as a representative of my CDA is how to ensure a formidable CDA, we in the same vein built a strong CDA in Kirikiri town my community to the extent that we made sure we held depot owner association to ransome to do our roads. When they were reluctant on the grounds that the government would not allow them to fix the roads, we asked them to use our CDA certificate because it is a government approved property, that was what we used to make sure they construct that road. That goes a long way to show that CDA has power. On that premise I reviewed the whole situation concerning most of those we voted to serve, I discovered once they are voted in to office, for three years you will not see them till it is time of another election that they resurfaced again begging for our our votes and there is no development in my community. I looked at it and said no this cannot continue in fact I did not even tell any of my exco what I had in plan. I went ahead to the pick the form at our party secretariat to enable do what I have to do, before they knew what was happening they’ve started seeing my posters outside, being the Chief Security Officer of my community so when they now see my posters the whole of the youth body say in fact they don’t have choice, this is our member we have to work for him even if he is not going to win.

What will be your main target in the Lagos State House of Assembly?

The target is this first of all when one gets to a new setting or place you don’t step there with your two legs at once, but need put one leg up and one down to observe what is happening in the house, you listen, you will hear people talk, I mean those that were there before you listen to them, see the way they do their things in a short while you have to pick up and make sure you come up with your bills and lobby to have them passed as well because you are not there to come and fill your own pockets, you are there to represent people who are expecting more from you.

So there is no how you will not listen to people there, get your answer after which you begin to come up with Bills that will survive to the stage of being passed into law and at the end of the day you will get all you needed. A man that is hungry on getting to a food canteen and was asking if they have rice? Is such a man really hungry? He is not, when you are really hungry once you get to a food canteen you ask the attendant there to give you food, it is that simple. They will give you what they have and you will eat it, because you are hungry, it might not be your choice. In Amuwo-Odofin constituency 2 we are hungry.

For me, it is time I bring change for my people. I want my people to see the dividend of democracy in Amuwo-Odofin 2 Oriade LCDA.

No good roads, nothing to write home about when it comes to what the government is doing for the other constituencies. We don’t have anything, water to drink, zero over hundred, light- zero over hundred, school for students is in deplorable state. If you go to our local primary schools you will confirm what I am saying. To the extent that we old students sometimes contribute money to buy furniture and books for students. Back in our days in school there is this scheme by the government known as SMC, they go on school inspection both students and teachers every week those are no longer available. Nowadays teachers abdicate their core responsibility of teaching to selling things in school. They have turned our local primary schools to another thing, that is why you see our parents are taking their children to private schools and we have government we voted for, so what is our gain?

Given the peculiarity of your constituency, particularly the presence of many tank farms within the area especially at Ijegun Egba axis, what will you do differently to rewrite history and positively change the narrative as regards development, given your new legislative calling?

Really as a legislator if I say I have the power I might not be right but I still have the power. It is in two ways, you know when there is a case you needed to solve you will tender it before the people, who are in the real sense supreme, they will weigh the case and make a decision on how to go about it. In fact before my first hundred days in office I envisaged calling a Community Development Association meeting, I have just seven wards this will be done ward by ward, starting from ward D to the last ward which is ward I. Once I am done with the community we will then have town hall meeting, anything we gather together from there is what we take to the stakeholders forum. There and then we will table before them, this is what your host community is complaining about you how do we go about it? You know where I am driving towards, each community has tank farms but with me I am going to be a support to them, I am not going to give too much burden but they have to be responsible by doing what is know as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This is their responsibility to the host community it is normal, this includes a lot of things; giving jobs out to them, making sure their environment is taking care of, because when you are doing your business in a place and their roads are not motorable and you are not doing anything then you are not doing well. When working in a community and their streets are littered with waste by people coming to their community to transact business in their area and you are not doing anything to address it, tank farms should have fire service station in every of the community they are using, they should have an health care centre there as well, there are a lot to do, that is why I am telling you that even me I need help. In fact I always tell the ward exco to that I cannot know everything, but anywhere you see that I have not made impact or clearly going wrong please call me back to order.

The need for legislative synergy as new policy that will drive development must be backed by legislation, given your plan to uplift your constituency and constituents how do you want to ensure this does not contradict existing laws at the federal level?

Overtime my experience thus far during the induction meeting with the principal officers and other ranking members, all we discussed is giving me joy because they always tell us our coming to the house is not to go and practice partisanship, whether you are from the Labour Party or APC does not count within the house but rather how are we going to develop the state? How are we going to make Lagos State move forward? Knowing that we are one family, with that at the back of your mind you are rest assured that whatever problem you have will be laid bare and you will get a solution as someone will be ready to put you through, even if he knows this thing is not going to work, he will tell you straight. That which will work he will also tell you with counsel that you will have to go through a due process,so it is always like that. Not minding the political undertone, it worths being practice whether you are a novice or not it is not a big deal, because even in your house you give instructions to your wife for your children to abide by regarding when to stay indoors which must not be flouted. The mother will equally communicate your instructions to them,so all you need to do is to just carry out the instructions given to you but by the time you deviate from the given instructions you start to look for needless troubles.

Subsidy removal issue and the people on the street, given your experience in the sector how will you speak to the perception out their that the action was intended to bring more hardship to the commoners?

I wholeheartedly support Mr President’s decision on subsidy, Baba has spoken well. Talking about subsidy who really understand what it meant among these people on the streets? There are some set of people collecting this money,as far as Nigeria is concerned we consume 60 million litres of fuel every year, the analogy is this, they brought this item into the market saying they want to sell it for 500 naira, government now insist that okay don’t sell it for 500 naira because I don’t want to punish my people, sell it for 185 naira, minus that amount from 500 you will have 315 naira, okay I will be paying you that yearly so as to make sure that the citizen has their satisfaction but instead of doing that which the government had agreed with you, you keep on killing the government over it, the government are dying they pay excess of money they are supposed to pay for subsidy every year, I reiterate my take on Baba’s action, he has spoken well whoever tackles that is the enemy of this country- Federal Republic of Nigeria. You will see it very soon negotiation will come, he will pay the subsidy but negotiation will come and fuel will go back to a price that will be stable for people to buy it. As at yesterday I bought it too- 488 naira per litre not because I have the money to buy it but because I need it. If Nigerians begin to reason that the problem that is on ground has to be looked into, an individual accept first before the government because we are our problems too. Okay the fuel on which government had already paid you subsidy because they are no longer paying subsidy from a particular time, you increased your pump price, I am talking about the fuel you had in stock prior to the time, so is it the government that ask you to sell it at that rate? He is selling it that way because of his own selfish interest. I would not be a part of people that will tell the government to come and settle their home feuds. A lot of them will have problems with their wives at home and will be saying it is the government’s fault. Did the government come to your house to fight your wife? Does it mean because you have financial problem, that now warrant you to fight your wife at home? You ask yourself a lot of questions, check what happened to the university students where one lecturer will teach in five universities and there are other lecturers that doesn’t even have one job to do and we are complaining government did not pay lecturers, one lecturer will leave university of Lagos to go and lecture in University of Ibadan, much later to Nsukka to lecture and next ABU, only you collecting money from government in four different institutions. Gradually this country is dying and most of the problem is being caused by the individual not even the government.

More like a self drill, quickly let’s have a feel of your grasps of the geographic spread of your constituency?

My constituency starts from Kirikiri town and ended at Ijegun Imore. I have seven wards namely Kirikiri town ward D, Mazamaza,Agboju till Oluti in ward E, ward F Satellite, Ijegun, CBN estate, ward H is anything from Alakija till Abule Osun and some part of the riverine, ward I is Ijegun, Imore, Alowo and Igbologun.

The post Subsidy Removal: Whoever tackles President Tinubu is Nigeria’s enemy – says Doherty appeared first on Sunrise News.

How matured is Nigeria’s polity in your view given how the 2023 elections panned out?
On my own experience I can say concerning INEC, they really tried but INEC need some improvement for Nigerians to have belief in them. In advance clime they no longer use ballot paper thumb printing, with respect to the BVAS machine, they need to upgrade so that once you just thumb print immediately your data goes to the server instead of doing paper stuff.

What in precise term are you proposing?
I don’t think that is advance enough, so I will implore them to do more, maybe go digital to enable people see the results right on time instead of moving from one location to the other counting and collating thereby the untoward will be happening.That I think will really help a lot in fact that is fundamental to getting things right. Having travelled out of the country and seen how they handle their elections.

Are you saying this will as well help to tame the harassment and intimidation tendencies in our political experience?

Even issues of threatening opponent during campaigns does not arise, you go online debate on what you have in stock for the country and they thrash it out there.
What do you make of the call that ethnic and religious be jettisoned in politics?
That in my view is not really a problem in the other climes you see some people who belong to Catholic Church, they vote for their candidate, for some others who belong to the pentecostal same applies but I believe we need to mature politically to the extent that everybody has a choice this is a democracy and there is freedom of speech.
There should be freedom of choice too. Like someone that had lived in Lagos for the past 20 years and you are saying that he is not a Lagosian, that to me doesn’t play well.

Also because you have the backing and support or certain advantage over that of some people you don’t have to abuse other ethnic groups, we should understand that as Ibos or Yorubas we don’t need to divide ourselves, they are already dividing us so we don’t need to divide ourselves anymore.
We should rather unite together and vote the right candidate, because Ibo man can be the right candidate for us who will fix everything or it may even be an Hausa or Yoruba so we don’t need to be sentimental about it.

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Given your adept understanding about the polity and your family’s pedigree, why do you opt for the house of Assembly and not House of Reps as the name Jafojo sure rings a bell?
I have always had the ambition to contest the Lagos State House of Assembly, because I am a born Awori man, I am from Lagos and a strong member of the Awori Welfare Association of Nigeria and I have always believed before you can change a particular society you must first come from within, first change that your community first then you can now venture out to say you want to go to the national level. So my vested interest had always been in Lagos and for the right reasons, because I am basically a Lagosian, my grandfather is from Agege, and my grandmother was from Ikeja. So based on my background you can see I have a vested interest in Lagos.
What more can you say really made your made the desire to represent Agege well up more in you aside the lineage connection?
As far back as 2016 I contested as local government chairman because I have seen things that are not right as a citizen of the state Lagos and country Nigeria.
Kindly cite some of these things that are not right in precise terms?
Agege is obviously known and noted for youthful restlessness, we are not doing anything to curb that, we must find a way to curb it also we are not taking ample advantage of the SMEs, these are small medium scale enterprises and that is the engine room of any economy this is not being leveraged upon, we need to make our people employers of labour and one of my ways that I believe is very significant to curbing youthful restlessness is sports, with that I am not referring to your typical football everybody loves to play but I am talking about in-door sports like takwando,judo, table tennis, lawn tennis and more because it gives room for us to expose this our youths that have so much energy and don’t know what to use it for, so that they can use it in the right way that would yield a lot of profits not only for them but for also the environment and we want to be very supportive in all these ideas because I believe that is the way forward, but we keep talking about this youthful restlessness but we don’t see anybody doing anything to curb it. That is the problem.
Is it that Agege is bereft of good hands aside a particular individual who over time has been returned to the assembly to represent the constituency 01 till date?
It is not that Agege lacked people that can do the job, we have too much of them capable hands who can do that job, but I remember when I was in APC as a former member every time of election Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa had always pleaded with the leaders that be some of whom are dead now while others are still alive, he pleaded with them and they in turn come back to us that we should calm down. They say ‘don’t worry this is his last term and he wouldn’t want to go again’. The last time that such a plea came was at the last election which they pleaded with all of us again that since he is going for Senate thereafter he is not going to contest for House of Assembly anymore but before we know it, lo and behold he just did a 360 degrees turn around and said no I am not going for Senate anymore I want to remain in the Assembly. Then some of us felt like it is seems you leaders are not being truthful to us and that is why some of us decided to leave the party.
Some leaders did come around to endorse Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa for another term back then, so he agreed according to report.
I don’t know who those leaders were, if they are real leaders, because one of my leaders that I know who is late now Professor Samuel, I remember having a meeting with him then and he pleaded with us, that this was his last term, just allow him afterwards you guys can come up and contest for the exalted seat, but unfortunately he reneged and nobody is getting any younger, is it when we are 70years old that we will now say we want to contest for Lagos State House of Assembly? No, because we have realized that all the other caucuses within APC were not been carried along. I was of those that donated souvenirs for his campaign in 2019, so it is not like I just came up and say I want to now face him or contest against somebody, I was formerly within the party as a strong member but this people refused to give us any room to breathe and if you have such thing happening there is no other options but to pitch your tent somewhere else, which is what we have done.
APC to PDP and now to Labour can you let us into the basis for the exodus?

We joined Lagos 4 Lagos led by Jandor and he as an Awori man we shared that bond and he pleaded that we Awori politicians should come and work with him. Promising he is going to be there for us and that he is not going to be like all other leaders who just use and dump. Some of our Awori leaders also tried to plead on his behalf, we agreed, we followed him on getting to PDP I came out as one of the people that wanted to contest but we never had a primary, none was done and at that time when it dawn on us some of the PDP aspirants now went to court, though I was not part of them because as at the time I had left PDP for Labour Party but they have always been saying that they are not going to agree, so Jandor just singlehandedly picked somebody, if he had picked an Awori man or a Lagos indigene I would say okay but he now picked somebody outside Lagos, a candidate that is not even popular as I am. So some of my leaders pleaded with me to come to Labour party and I obliged and those guys now proceeded to court and the high court nullified that primary election.
Are you saying as at now they have no candidate in PDP for Agege 01?
That is what we hear.
What edge do you think you have over other contenders, which places you on the radar as the hope that Agege deserves come Saturday poll?
I am the son of the former deputy governor of Lagos State in the person of Chief Rafiu Bakare Jafojo, we’ve come from a long line of progressives, we believe in helping the people, we are also a strong member of Afenifere, a group that believe in helping people, I am a strong member and also the publicity secretary for AWAN- Awori Welfare Association of Nigeria, I am also an indigene of Lagos State.
Now all that summed up, I have never had it in history that an Awori man has been the Lagos State House of Assembly member. So we believe it is our time, it is our time to come out, it is our time to contest for that exalted seat. One of the things we planned to do once we have the mandate is to form a unity government, that will carry everybody along, we are not going to marginalize any particular group, we are not gonna ostracize anybody we are going to work together, because I believe that getting to that exalted seat is not by my doing or my popularity but one because of God, then two because of different groups that will come together and put us in that office.
Looking at the emergence of Labour Party it is not a particular group that took the party to where they are today because at one point in time nobody recognized or followed Labour Party, but because different groups here and there; the youths, the elites and the different tribes we have in Lagos being the melting pot , so they all came together and push Labour forth, whereby it is now becoming a party that is fully recognized. People see that that is the party that want to contest with APC .

Sentiment of Speakership position held by the incumbent Speaker Rt. Hon. Obasa will be played up side by side the accruable benefits the office attracts from far and near, how prepared are you for the dynamics this may bring about?
Number one what has the speakership position he held brought to Agege? What have we enjoyed in Agege? What new things? Is it the building of recreational centres? Is it creating a lot of jobs for our women and men? What is it that we have really enjoyed ? Is it perfect express road? What is it that his being a Speaker has attracted? If you go to some other constituencies where they don’t have a speaker, they are better looking than us, in Agege it is every day they fix their shock absorber because the roads are bad, so what advantage had the people of Agege really enjoyed having Speaker for two terms? Personally speaking I haven’t seen the advantages, that is why a lot of people like us will come and say we must challenge that structure, we must come against and talk about all these things, for so long we have been covering it. We have covered it for almost two terms which is eight years for me that is just too long. Labour is a people oriented party and our plans is that by God’s grace when we get to that exalted seat we are going to work with the people to improve their lives because that is basically what we are coming for. We want people to enjoy the dividends of democracy, we don’t want it to be a partial kind of thing, where a certain group only enjoys, it is everybody because it is not only that group that made you an Assembly member.
It is people coming together putting hands on deck for that to made it come to realization, so we planned to work with all shades of people, that is why we keep telling the people we are going to practice a unity government it is not just one person a group of people that will enjoy the largesse of the state all of us will come together and work putting all hands on deck.
Given your knowledge of Agege, what are the areas you will accord priority if you eventually clinch the seat?
One of the areas that a lot of works needs to be done is my ward, ward C Papa-uku Dopemu, maybe because we never had a local government Chairman or Assembly man that came from there, all that Awori side we feel neglected. Nothing has been done in all those areas they come and talk, telling us all the great things they have in store for us once they come you won’t see them again for another four years, when the next time of election comes around and we are the largest ward here in Agege constituency 01, there is no other ward as big as ours. So my people in that particular ward prompted me to come out and contest for this position. It is a democratic process anybody can come out and contest for any position under any party. So my position has always been this, if you have done well your works will speak for you, if you have not done so well your works will speak against you, that has always been my position.

Prior to now has there been any personal promise that once I am done it will be your turn or?
No there was nothing like that and you have to remember that it is not just only me, it is a group of people other politicians that say okay let him go one more time so you guys would have your chance when you can now contest, like what applies in the Reps, every time he comes to plead with the leaders, they will plead to the younger politicians, saying let him go this time, that he is going to do two terms as Speaker and nobody else has done two terms in Lagos state and we agree.

Given the interplay of politicking in Agege will you say our polity is maturing or stunted?
No, it is maturing because you have people now with the mind of their own, some of the good boys are attacking some people who they believe are going to work for Labour Party and it is our position to let them know that you cannot attack anybody. Everybody has a mind to vote for whoever they so wish to vote for, you cannot threaten anybody to come and do what you want to do, I don’t know who sent them but I know they were attacking some of our people. Three or four days ago I got a call that some APC members who had on APC shirts some of this bad boys were attacking them, they brought down and burnt my banner telling them that they know they want to work for labour party and not for APC. How do they know that, did they enter their minds? So our politics had grown especially by the advent of social media, a lot of people are passing messages via social media and a lot of people are looking at it and thinking right, we have a lot of people with brains and that is why I keep saying if you have done a good job people would support you. Why are they talking about Jakande and Jafojo era? It is because they did good things, people still talk about the works they did. Those days they referred to UPN as party ‘Mekunnu’ it is like Labour Party, it doesn’t have money but it is because of the good works they did, if you have done so well and it is visible to the people in their community they are going to come out and support you and that is why we are asking them that come Saturday March 18th they should come enmasse and support their son Prince Adeniyi Jafojo.
Was this your aspiration at any point born out of a direct instruction from your late father Chief Jafojo, considering his tenacity and passion for Agege’s development?
That is a very interesting question because it was when my father was alive that I contested for local government Chairman and he did prompted me to come out and contest for that position. He did not know he is going to go that quick and with his political strength we believed that he is going to support us but God knows best. To answer your question yes he has always been supportive of me both morally and financially so he had wanted me to always contest and even before he was selected by late sage Papa Awolowo to be the Deputy Governor to Alhaji Lateef Jakande, he had always wanted to contest the house of Assembly seat. As a matter fact far back then he had already bought the form but when they called for a meeting and said no we are going to use you as the deputy governor so you are not going to the Assembly, so what he wanted to do that he couldn’t do having got a good position at that same time is what I am coming out for and by the grace of God I am going to get that seat this election.
Message to the electorates in Agege 01 as they go out to vote on Saturday?
As they go to poll on Saturday I will plead to their gentle soul that they should come out enmasse and vote for their son Prince Adeniyi Jafojo, aka ‘Omo Baba Jafojo’ as the next Lagos State House of Assembly Agege 01 member, they should all come out we have been promised security and it is going to be free and fair so they shouldn’t allow anybody to threaten them because what we want in Lagos state is a free and fair electoral process.

So basically

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By Badejo Deborah

Young journalist, Ibrahim Kegbegbe, has declared that the Nigerian Institute of Journalism wishes him the best in his journalism career for introducing him to Daily Trust and The Nation Newspaper for industrial training.

Ibrahim, who is still in Higher National Diploma 2 at the time of this interview, told our reporter, Badejo Deborah, how the Nigerian Institute of Journalism has made his dream come to a reality.

Can we meet you?

I am Ibrahim Taofeek Kegbegbe. I was born in Lagos Island on the 17 November, 1979. I am indigenous citizen of Kwara State. I am a student of intellectual promise. I am a student whose intellectualism has started becoming a reality through the Nigerian Institute of Journalism.

I am a student who had loved to become a reputable journalist right from my childhood before I got admission to study journalism and mass communication at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) in 2018.

How has NIJ made your dream come true?

Well, I am still a student at the moment at NIJ but I have said that the school made my dream come true because I have been enjoying what a practiced journalist is enjoying. This has come as a result of Mrs Patricia Kalesanwo, the present Registrar of the school, who was the Student Affairs Officer of the school in 2019 giving me a letter to The Nation Newspaper for my Student’s Industrial Works Experience Scheme (SIWES).

So, at The Nation Newspaper, I was able to practise what I had been taught in the class for a year and I was also being taught by the head of my assigned beat, Mr Tajudeen Adebanjo, and his reputable colleagues at the City Beat, Mrs Precious Igbonwelundu and Miss Olatunde Odebiyi.

Moreover, as a student who had several bylines through The Nation Newspaper, when Daily Trust Newspaper requested that the authority of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism send 3 students to its Lagos bureau for Industrial Training (IT), the Deputy Provost of the school, Dr Dele Omojuyigbe, through Mr Oluwafemi Oribamise, told me to get 2 more students for the training. Before then, I had just completed my Ordinary National Diploma (OND).

So, the Nigerian Institute of Journalism wishes me the best in my journalism career for introducing me to Daily Trust and The Nation Newspaper for industrial training.

Were your bosses at the two media houses glad to have you as an IT student?

Yes, they were glad to have me as an IT student. I took my letter to The Nation on the 15 July, 2019 and I was told by the Chief Editor of the medium, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, that I should start my SIWES immediately. I appreciate the efforts of Mrs Precious Igbonwelundu and Miss Olatunde Odebiyi in teaching and guiding me through the nitty-gritty of journalism. As a result of having positive plans for my career, I was told to go to Oshodi after heavy rainfall to interview the traders and residents of that vicinity on 16 July and I had my first byline on 17 July with the headline: “Oshodi residents, traders lament over the flood”.

After my first byline, I had many other bylines before I left The Nation for NIJ to complete my National Diploma study.

Moreover, my experience at Daily Trust was fantastic because most of the stories I took part in were feature news stories which I had been taught how it should be written in school by Dr Boye Ola.

The regional editor of Daily Trust, Mr. Abiodun Alade tried a lot in my career and my first feature article: “Lekki Conservation Centre: Protecting Wildlife, Mangrove Forest From Urban Threat” was a joint byline: Abiodun Alade, Ibrahim Kegbegbe. The article has taken me to the limelight in journalism as I became 5th position in a national contest with it.

 What was the national contest about?

About five finalists were named for the inaugural edition of the  Lekan Otufodunrin Student Journalists Award for outstanding student journalists in the country.

The award in honour of Otufodunrin, Executive Director of Media Career Development Network, Nigeria’s foremost media career coaching and mentoring organisation is the initiative of two of his former junior colleagues at The Nation, Shehu Olayinka and Late Yinka Akintunde.

The nominees were selected from 61 entries submitted by student journalists from various institutions nationwide.

The finalists and their entries were as follows:

Mohammed Yakubu: Evicted By Guns: How Niger State Residents Lose Homes, Families To Violent Crimes, Kidnappings | HumAngle

Ibrahim Badamasi University (Mass Communication 400 level)

Muhammad Ibrahim: INVESTIGATION: How Nigerian State Governments Poorly Interacted with Citizens via Emails During COVID-19 Pandemic, Despite ICT Advancement – Abuja Business Reports (wordpress.com)

Ahmadu Bello University (Mass Communication 200 level)

Fasilat Oluwuyi: Between Waters and Fishes: How water pollution set lingering crisis for Ogun fishermen – Platform Times

Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (HND 2 – Mass Communication)

Ibrahim Kegbegbe Taofeek: Lekki Conservation Centre: Protecting Wildlife, Mangrove Forest From Urban Threat (Daily Trust)

Nigerian Institute of Journalism (ND Mass Communication)

Oluwatobi Odeyinka: INVESTIGATION: Agency diverts boreholes to ex-head of state’s residence, lawmaker’s farm, while community drinks from the stream (premiumtimesng.com) University of Ibadan (Mass Communication 200 level)

The award winner and runner ups were announced on May 9, 2021, as part of the 57th birthday celebration of Otufodunrin.

The first-prize winner received N70,000, the Second prize winner, N50,000 and the third prize, N30,000. There were other cash prizes for other winners.

How would you rate the teaching of Journalism at NIJ?

The Nigerian Institute of Journalism not only teaches journalism but also refines human morals and journalistic ethics.

After a four-day special training on conflict reporting by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ). 30th August – 2nd September 2021.

A book, “VAULTS OF SECRETS” was given to me as a gift by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism after I had been awarded: “A Student With Journalistic Promise”. 

“VAULTS OF SECRETS” is written by a veteran journalist who works as a columnist in The Nation Newspaper; also an author of many fictional works, Olukorede Sadiq Yishau.

Moreover, I was in year one at the Nigerian Institute of journalism when I wrote a letter to the president of Nigeria, Muhammad Buhari, through a credible National Newspaper, The Nigerian Tribune and it was published on 17 June 2019 with the headline: “Let’s build this country”

The presidency replied to my letter through the Nigerian Tribune and many other credible National media by saying that my request is not only meant for the dear nation, Nigeria but for the world in general.

This is the best award among the awards I might have received in life as an undergraduate student because it is durable and ubiquitous!

Why are some NIJ students complaining about the cumbersome teaching of the lecturers?

I do not think the way students are taught in NIJ is cumbersome or rigid. NIJ lecturers have always wanted their students to excel in any journalistic activities, so they do teach to the standard of other world-known higher institutions of learning and engage every student in applicable practicals.

So, whoever wants to be a reputable and reliable journalist would never complain about the way teachings are done in NIJ.

The post “NIJ wants best for me by introducing me to Daily Trust, The Nation Newspaper” ~Ibrahim Kegbegbe declares appeared first on Sunrise News.

The Osun gubernatorial election tribunal upturned INEC’s June 16,2022 declaration of Ademola Adeleke winner of the governorship poll on technical grounds and directed the electoral commission to certify Adegboyega Oyetola in his stead as Governor, how would you react to this development?
The travesty of justice from the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal has again exposed the APC as a party desperate to hold on to power by all means, despite its abysmal failure at all levels.
Suffice it to state that the APC has surpassed all records of electoral malfeasance in Nigeria. The APC rigging machinery has become infamous for its brazen and pervasive use of state institutions to perpetrate its evil agenda in the last 8 years.
Having contested for the Federal House of Representatives and Senate in 2011 and 2015 respectively, I can boldly recount the way it all played out being a victim of ACN/APC rigging machinery. I can boldly assert that that the rigging actually was perpetrated right from the polling units to the collation centres where my victory was eventually upturned.

What really transpired at the tribunal where you filed a petition back then?
Even when I filed a petition at the tribunal, the CTC copy of the INEC result declaring me the winner was stolen by the court clerk(in connivance with the APC)in the Judge’s office.

The Osun election tribunal has ruled in favour of Oyetola, going forward what are your counsel for your party PDP?
Going to the next election, we must take lessons from the Osun judgment to counter the rigging machinery of APC. It is unfathomable that the judges rather than call for a wholesome audit of the BVAS report for all the polling units used for the election, decided to focus on the areas faulted by APC and areas where votes were deducted from the PDP. Even with the evidence before the court, the worst scenario could have been a re-run in the affected areas but that was not to be.The basis of the Osun judgment has shown that the BVAS technology may not be fool proof after all. While accreditation of voters and transmission of results are done electronically, collation and counting of votes are still done manually and are susceptible to manipulation. To forestall a repeat of what happened in Osun, opposition party polling agents should ensure that the collated and counted votes do not exceed BVAS-accredited votes.

But is it not rather awkward to state that APC which had greater control of power as at the time in question across the divide, seemingly going by your take lacks required popularity to win any election?

For the Lagos APC, despite having over 700 elected councillors, 57 elected Chairmen of Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas, over 30 House of Representatives members three senators, and their National leader Bola Tinubu’s several billions nationwide, his seemingly popularity and acceptance, one would have thought the party would rely on the strength of these elected officers to win elections. It is sickening to note, however, that rather than them contest in a free and fair election, the party would opt for rigging and the rigging actually starts from the point of voter registration. At this juncture, it is important to expose different mediums and means, through which such infractions are perpetrated.
You mean the infractions cut across many phases?
Yes and I will try and enumerate them one after the other here for you.

1. PVC Registration and Collection.
   During the PVC registration, the APC made spirited attempts to deny PVC registration of Non-Yoruba speaking ethnic nationalities in a popular market in Lagos. We also have it on good authority that the APC connived with some unscrupulous INEC officials to take registration machines to their private residences for the registration of their members and loyalists even in the ongoing PVC collection exercise, there are reports of PVC of suspected Non-Yoruba speaking Lagos residents being destroyed to decimate the voting strength of the opposition PDP and it is a no brainer that Non-Yoruba speaking groups have always contributed largely to PDP’s votes.
2. Polling Units and Collation Centres.
   At the polling units, the APC would usually deploy a lot of funds to bribe the polling agents of opposition parties, security officials, and any compromisable electoral officer. Despite the introduction of BVAS and electronic transmission of results, the manual counting and collation of results, as witnessed in the Osun case, has only represented rigging, hitherto witnessed at the collation centres in another form.One wonders why the BVAS cannot print out results on election day. The BVAS only becomes useful as evidence in court where the APC has perfected the act of manipulating justice.
3. Thuggery
   Unarguably, the Lagos APC harbours and deploys the highest number of louts and thugs for election purposes. These thugs are deployed to attack the opposition party’s campaigns and destroy campaign billboards and posters. The thugs unleashed mayhem with reckless abandon, while the security operatives look the other way, putting opposition party candidates and their supporters at risk of losing their lives.
4. INEC
   While not casting aspersions on the ability of INEC to conduct a credible election, it is worth revealing that some bad eggs would easily compromise at the dangling of APC carrots. It is therefore expected that polling agents would insist that the elections are conducted by the INEC officials in accordance with the electoral laws any time an infraction is noticed.
5. Police
   The APC would sometimes use its Federal might to influence an election through the appointment of Commissioners of Police(CP) and deployment of officers for the purpose of election assignment. Some police officers are sympathetic to the cause or have a link with an influential member of the ruling party. Some of these police officers go about arresting opposition politicians before, during, and after the election.
6. Judiciary
   The APC plays its last card on election rigging through the judiciary. With a humongous unending vault, I want to also state unequivocally that the party (APC) would break the bank to get favourable judgment at the Tribunal up to the supreme court. Only men of integrity and good conscience, ready to dispense justice without fear or favour would stand up to be counted when the billions are flying. Given the foregoing, I make bold to say that since 1999, the APC has never won an election in Lagos without RIGGING. Unfortunately, the APC has always done it with the support of some PDP saboteurs who have been compromised as polling agents.

In all money clearly plays a key role in Nigeria’s electoral process till date, so going forward what model will you advance for your party given the short time limit to the general election, in order to ensure clear cut victory as you rightly intend?

These saboteurs decided to sell their birth rights for the peanuts offered to them by the APC at the polling units. However, the unfortunate thing is that we all have to suffer for it every four years. My clarion call on the Peoples’ Democratic Party is to re-jig and rework our winning formula by changing the old polling agents, we have used in the past 8 years to avoid compromise by the APC. We must remain vigilant and focused to put an end to the inglorious era of the APC. For us in Lagos PDP, we owe Lagosians who have suffered the lack of qualitative leadership and representation in tight grips of APC. The people’s yearnings for a Governor, Senator, House of Reps, and member house of Assembly of their own from the Peoples’ Democratic Party will only come to pass if we keep our eyes on the ball.

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You have been at the helm of affairs at the National Sugar Development Council for about two years; how has the journey been so far?

Well, it has been both challenging and rewarding, considering Nigeria’s quest to attain self-sufficiency in sugar production in the shortest possible time. We are keen about realizing our goals in the sector. It is also an important learning curve for me and members of my team, given the peculiar nature of the sector. I’ve learnt a whole lot and I’m quite pleased with the modest gains we’ve so far recorded in the sugar sector. I came in with a mindset to build on what my predecessors had done in the past with regards to all the necessary groundwork relating to policies and programmes towards repositioning the sector. Though we’ve had some adjustments here and there to help accelerate this quest which was why one of the things I did upon assumption of office was to meet with relevant stakeholders and visit our zonal offices, sugar refineries and sugar estates across the country. I assured every stakeholder and interest group that I was ready to work with them and carry everybody along because the task before the Council, which is to revitalise the sector, requires the contributions and commitments of everybody.

In my engagements with operators who are key players in the sector, and other stakeholders, I was able to make them pledge their commitments to the implementation of the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) and get serious with their individual Backward Integration Programme, which is the heart of the NSMP, or stand the risk of being sanctioned. Given the seriousness government attaches to the sector, and in line with its resolve to meaningfully implement the master plan the allocation of sugar quota to companies implementing the BIP would be based on their BIP performance, and not based on their refining capacity. Going forward, especially as we role out plans for the phase two of our sugar master plan, sugar quota allocation would be strictly based on performance in the outgoing year. The era where we allocate quotas based on the size of refineries is over. The idea is to ensure that these companies get serious with regards to the development of their respective BIP sites.

What other reforms have you introduced?

One of the key reforms we have introduced is to bring in external resources to support our monitoring. We see monitoring as the key to attaining the objectives of the master plan. It will allow us to truly measure progress and take corrective actions if any player is not meeting their commitments. So, each operator has to submit a quarterly plan and we monitor progress against each milestone. But the wider vision is to deepen the industry and this will involve attracting investments and overcoming some of the constraints. Already, we are interfacing with the state governments on areas that have been identified as suitable for sugar cultivation to ensure the release of land and provision of infrastructure. These states are Nasarawa, Kwara, Adamawa, Oyo, Niger, Taraba, Ondo, Sokoto and Bauchi. Also, in our drive to ensure that disputes over lands are resolved amicably, we came up with the idea of a forum know as the Forum of Governors of Sugar Producing States which is headed by his Excellency, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa state, Engr. Abdullahi Sule. By law, state governors are the landlords across states, hence our resolve to carry them along in our resolve to ensure that disputes over lands between host communities and sugar companies are nipped in the bud.   We are also working with the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Customs to try and ensure that equipment needed by our operators gets out of the ports in time, avoiding congestion. This is because sugar cultivation is time-sensitive and delays in harvesting can result in losses to our farmers, which can discourage them. Finally, we are working with the CBN to arrange single-digit funding that will support investment in the sector. So, in all, we have put in place all necessary measures in our quest to revamp the nation’s sugar sector.

After rice and wheat, the Federal Government considers sugar as the third most important commodity, which prompted the drafting and approval of the National Sugar Master Plan to ensure self-sufficiency in the local production of sugar, ethanol, animal feeds, and an increased capacity in electricity generation, and employment, etc.

How will you rate the first phase of the master plan?

The Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), a 10-year road map policy that seeks to meaningfully revitalise the once vibrant sugar sub-sector and make Nigeria one of the leading sugar-producing nations within the continent, was first initiated in 2012. It is an ambitious and well-thought-out policy framework for the sector, which seeks to bring about a complete overhaul to enable Nigeria to become self-sufficient in sugar production, create direct and indirect jobs, generate electricity, become a notable global sugar producer, and produce ethanol for industrial use. I must say that we are quite pleased with the tremendous successes we’ve recorded with regard to the refining of imported raw sugar. In fact, Nigeria has since met its raw sugar refining capacity, which is commendable. But like I’ve always stated, the successes we’ve achieved in the area of raw sugar refining must be replicated in our BIP project, which is a major component of the NSMP and has the capacity to tackle rising unemployment and also address other socio-economic challenges facing the country. We can only celebrate as a sector if we are able to grow cane and produce raw sugar locally. I know it’s a tough job, but we are more than ready to achieve our target objectives given our commitment and efforts. Also, within the first 10 years of the NSMP, we’ve been able commission a multi-billion dollar sugar factory and estate in Sunti, Niger state, creation of over one million direct and indirect jobs, the takeoff of the moribund Nigeria’s foremost sugar company Bacita, Kwara state, and several other landmark feats recorded in the last 10 years in the sugar sector. It is a known fact that the nation’s sugar sector has witnessed some significant reforms in the last 10 years. The sector is now well regulated, roles of stakeholders are clearly defined, formulation of enabling laws and policies to aid growth and heavy reliance on modern technology to drive the process. Like I earlier stated, research, data and technology are very useful to us as an agency of government. Going forward, all our activities will be solely driven by research, data, innovation and modern technology. Also, the icing on the cake for us is the eventual takeoff of the Nigeria Sugar Institute located in Ilorin, Kwara state. Principally, the institute is the research arm of the National Sugar Development Council which is saddled with the responsibility of designing training modules and programmes for practitioners and staff of sugar companies in the country. With the NSI in place, sugar companies will have no compelling reason sending their staff abroad on training or refresher courses. As I speak to you, activities have commenced fully at the institute.

What would you highlight as the singular greatest challenge bedevilling the implementation of the master plan?

Insecurity is a major problem. Also, business activities are sometimes halted due to hitches such as perennial disagreements over land ownership between host communities and operators, communal hostilities, and other associated challenges like financing and infrastructure. But we are doing our best to ensure that operators enjoy a harmonious working relationship with their host communities. As a means of addressing insecurity in sugar-producing communities, no less than 20 percent of the sugarcane grown in any area must be done by the locals to create inclusion and reduce insecurity.

How badly would you say insecurity affected the growth of the sugar industry, especially in the first phase of the sugar master plan?

You would agree with me that Nigeria’s jobless rate almost spiralled out of control between 2016 and 2020 because the economy went through two recessions. Unemployment is a global problem. It is not peculiar to us alone, but we must take serious measures to address it before it becomes an unmanageable issue on our hands. There is a nexus between unemployment and crime because once people are busy in their workplaces, there is hardly any time for them to plan and execute evil agendas. Insecurity reduces productivity but the good thing is that the Backward Integration Programme, BIP, component of the NSMP has the capacity to tackle rising unemployment and also address other socio-economic challenges facing the country. BIP sites provide season and off-season jobs for hundreds of Nigerians within and outside their locations. In terms of direct jobs, these sugar estates depend on independent sugarcane out-growers for canes for their factory operations. A number of out-growers are on the payroll of these companies thereby improving the economic well-being of members of the host communities and those from beyond. The sugar sector remains one of the many untapped goldmines in Nigeria, and the sector is now well-positioned to provide direct and indirect jobs for millions of our countrymen and women.

A few weeks back, the NSDC authorised two new investors for the sector – Nasarawa and Oyo States; what’s your advice to other states that have not joined the sugar train given its viability and the federal government’s plethora of incentives?

Let me firstly commend state governors in the sugar-producing states because as landlords of sugar projects in their respective domains, they have contributed to the modest success so far recorded in the industry. The guidelines for the implementation of Phase 2 of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan require the input of critical stakeholders like state governors for it to succeed. The NSMP isn’t about sugar production alone, we count largely on its ability to take millions of our people out of poverty, develop infrastructure and improve the economic status of communities hosting sugar projects. We are quite optimistic about our projections in the sugar industry. We shall rely heavily on the use of verifiable data and modern technology to drive phase 2 of the master plan. The sugar sector holds tremendous opportunities for Nigeria and Nigerians in terms of job creation for our youths, increased revenue, and general economic prosperity for the nation. To really develop the industry as we desire, it is not only the state governors that have their work cut out for them, many stakeholders across the three tiers of government and the private sector have roles to play.

What new policies and programmes should Nigerians expect from the NSDC to drive the growth and development of the sugar industry?

We hope to be the largest exporter of sugar in Africa in the nearest future. To achieve this lofty goal, we must all roll up our sleeves and accord priority to our backward integration programme which is the bedrock of our mission as an agency of government.

For instance, to address the lingering issue of the skill gap and the dearth of skilled indigenous professionals in the sector, the federal government, and major sugar operators came together to establish what is today known as the Nigeria Sugar Institute in Kwara state. The NSI exists to train and meet the professional needs of both factory and field operators in the industry; provide jobs for skilled and unskilled workers, and also boost the economy of the host community and its environs. Also, the federal government’s approval of the commencement of Phase two of the NSMP, with actual implementation to begin this year through 2033, is an ambitious and well-thought-out move that will drive and revamp the sector in order to restore Nigeria’s lost glory as far as sugar production in the continent is concerned. Like I did say earlier, raw sugar quota allocation would be given based on the performance of BIP operators and not based on the size of their refineries. We’ve communicated this to our stakeholders, especially the operators. In fact, we even made them to sign recommitment forms for the BIP, indicating that they are ready to act in line with the new order put in place by the Council. It is not a witch-hunt, but a deliberate and well thought-out measure to accelerate our drive to self sufficiency in sugar production.

You marked your 45th Birthday some days back; how does it feel being one of the youngest regulators under the Buhari administration?

Well, it’s humbling and I thank God for the privilege to contribute to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. I consider this a rare privilege and honour I’ll never take for granted. My bosses, that is the Ministers incharge of our parent Ministry have made my job a lot easier for me. I see them as exemplary role models who go every step of the way to ensure that their subordinates succeed in their assigned tasks. I’ve enjoyed good and harmonious working relationship with them, including members of my management team at the National Sugar Development Council. Indeed, it’s been very rewarding contributing to efforts aimed at revamping the nation’s sugar sector.

But age has never really been a limiting factor for me. I started taking on adult responsibilities when I was a kid growing up in a village called Iwo-Ate, in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, following my father to the farm, working from dawn to dusk so as to make ends meet. I was fresh out of school (the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), just in my early 20s, when I started working at Procter and Gamble. Before I turned 30, I was operating at very senior levels, negotiating with, and advising multinationals, and managing multi-million-dollar projects. By 33, I was made the Commissioner of Finance in Oyo State. In 2017, when I was 39 years old, I was appointed chairman of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, ATBU, Teaching Hospital, Bauchi. So, I will attribute wherever I am today to God and hard work. To the glory of God, I’ve had the privilege of serving and offering myself for service right from my teenage years. I was the Senior Prefect in primary school, Senior prefect in my secondary and I also became a Chartered Accountant during my undergraduate days in Obafemi Awolowo University. So, I’m not new to public office so to say. By God’s mercy and divine arrangements, I’ve always topped my class right from my primary school days. So, graduating with a First Class degree in Accounting from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife perhaps the icing on the cake for me. Like I mentioned earlier, it is only God alone who made these feats possible. By strength shall no man prevail. I give God all the glory for where He brought me from, where I am today and where He’s taking me to in the future.

I want to use this medium to appeal to our youths, especially as we approach the election season to shun practices that are capable of destroying them. Politicians across party lines would approach you guys with very tempting offers which at best won’t fetch you anything good than momentary satisfaction. Learn to say no to their offers. Never allow any selfish politician to use you to achieve their inordinate ambition. See yourself as a key player in the quest to build the Nigeria of our collective dreams and aspirations. Violence and civil disorder won’t fetch you anything, rather it will expose you do more dangers.

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