Your Security & Safety; In whose hands?- Book authored by Elder Daniel Idowu

Today 26th April, 2015, Elder Daniel Idowu will launch a Book
" Your Security & Safety; In whose hands?"
that he just wrote.
Venue is RCCG Fountain of Grace,
23, Abosede Aro, by Baale
Opeki Junction, Abesan Estate,
Ipaja, Lagos.
You can call him for correspondence on 08038310980

Pastor Fred Odekhian slams Contractor handling Ayobo/Ipaja road

"The reasons most of our roads are not completed by the contractors is because they don't have structures to carry out the contracts given to them." This was said in a message titled Prepare for your Next Level, delivered by Pastor Fred Odekhian, the zonal Pastor in charge of Court of His Majesty, a branch of Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG Church at gate bus stop, Abesan. The message which was taken from 2kings chapter 3 had the man of God telling his congregation to prepare for the blessing they expect from God. He went on to say the reason many don't get blessed by God is because they don't have the capacity to contain the promotion or blessing they are seeking. He gave an example of the Ipaja/Ayobo road as a contract given to someone without the necessary requisites to carry it out well and that's why it has dragged for so long! He said part of not being ready for God's blessing is using the money meant for road construction to finance political campaign.
Pastor Fred Odekhian, a Pastor respected in his circle as a successful man both in church and business (financially) said this during a church service recently. He is the only Pastor driving a G-Wagon in Abesan and might be the richest too. Though he Pastors a church in Abesan, he doesn't live in Abesan. We have attempted to have an exclusive with him several times but the very outspoken Man of God claims he is media shy.

MAJIYAGBE HAS SUFFERED NEGLECT FOR MANY YEARS, WE HAVE NOT FELT THE IMPACT OF ANY GOVERNMENT-Youths

                          

---No Politician should come to Majiyagbe to campaign!

As the okada man carried me into Majiyagbe, a suburb of Ipaja, Lagos, I beckoned on him to take it easy. The road was very rough; he kept throwing me up and down and when I asked him, oga don’t you see the road is bad… was what he muttered. Truly, the road is bad, not only that, the houses looked ancient. Is development not in this area of Lagos state? I asked myself as I was taken through the streets.

I had earlier received a call from a group of people, mainly youths who identified themselves as The Voice of Majiyagbe, Ipaja community. They had made an SOS call to Abesan News on the state of their infrastructure. On the phone, they stated so many things going wrong in their community and how they have tried without success to tackle them. They pointed out the very bad roads that had been like that since many of them were born and no sign that it might be a different story soon. I decided I was going to visit their community to see the roads myself and that was what got me to Majiyagbe in Ipaja, Lagos state.

As I got there, they were already waiting for me and eager to show me their sufferings. Will you believe you are in Lagos state? They asked me as they pointed to their bad roads. Today I went to bring a car my father just bought and I had a smooth ride till I got to this place. We have not felt the impact of this place at all, said the Prime Minister of the group, Mr. Kehinde Majiyagbe. The spokes person of the group, Chief Akin Williams who spoke at length decried the state of the community infrastructure.  He told us how the community has suffered neglect by different administrations in the area. He lamented on how empowerment programmes never got to their area. In his own words, “though they claim Lagos is a mega-city, this place is an ancient village and you can see it yourself. The people of this area have never had the impact of democracy and you will wonder if there is anybody responsible for the development of infrastructure in this area.”

Speaking to Abesan News, the Prime Minister who said they had come to a resolve not to allow politicians campaign in their community stated the number of times they went to the leaders but nothing was done. “as an indigene of this area, I have not witnessed any meaningful development in the area. There was a time we held an event in this area and people that came asked us if we had any government in this area. We had to lie to them that the person who is the chairman is an unknown person” lamented Mr. Kehinde Majiyagbe.

One will wonder why they didn’t show their grievances to the past administration of Ayobo/Ipaja LCDA led by Hon. Shakiru Yusuf, but they were quick to respond. “on the issue of the chairman, we have on several occasions gone to him and even had serious disagreement with him to the extent that we almost fought, but he has not done anything to our roads. He kept promising till he served-out his tenure. There was a time he asked us if he should give us one hundred thousand Naira and we buy sand to grade it ourselves or he gives a Caterpillar and we buy sand to grade it. This is someone who went to a party and spent hundreds of thousands on the spot.” They responded.

If they couldn’t get the attention of the Council Chairman, what of the Councilor representing them? “Damola just cruises around in a car, he has never come to say hello to us”, they chorused. “His mum stays around Ile Eleni, he doesn’t stay around here and he doesn’t care about the people here. He does not even give room for people to greet him, talk less of telling him what our problems are. We are waiting for all of them now, they will definitely hear from us”.

Hon. Bisi Yusuf was reported to have done very well during his tenure, didn’t he do anything for them too? Not at all, one of the youths answered. The only thing we can point to is a Bore-Hole and it’s not working. He claimed that he empowered 2000 youths with computer education but we were all told to pay N2,000 each for handout! They did not pay us for 3 months when we worked for them. Everything they are claiming is propaganda.

We the people of Majiyagbe, Ipaja have therefore come to the resolve that none of them, either low or high profile politician should come to our community to campaign, share fliers or paste postals. Anybody seen will be dealt with and his postals torn. In fact, there won’t be any election in Majiyagbe!

Interviewwith the Convener of WEGEC, Hon. Opeyemi Akindele

As a way of giving back to the community that has given her so much, the immediate past two-time Vice Chairman of Mosan-Okunola LCDA, Honourable Opeyemi Akindele distributed books to the four primary schools in the LCDA. Abesan News caught up with her and asked her a few questions. Please enjoy;

AN: You recently distributed books to the schools in the LCDA, can you give us an insight into what it is all about?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: I’m an educationist to the core; I did that as part of my pay back to the community. As a professional teacher, I have been involved in the development of education in the LCDA. Though I live on my salary alone, I floated an N.G.O that has been assisting people in various capacities including education, health, empowerment and many more since 2006 because of my love for people and their wellbeing.  The books’ distribution to the four schools is my way of lifting a little burden off the parents of the pupils. We distributed books in Abesan Primary School, Estate Primary School, Housing primary School and Mosan Primary School.

AN: So how will you rate the standard of education in public schools in Mosan-Okunola?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: I think with the good performance of His Excellency Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, you can see that education is improving and things are getting better from the performance of the students. In Mosan-Okunola, there is this competition that comes up annually called Spelling-Bee. It was started by the then First Lady of the State and present Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. Pupils in the 57 LGs and LCDAs go to compete. A pupil from Mosan-Okunola emerged winner and that is to show that we are doing really well as far as education is concerned. The students at secondary school level are also doing excellently well.

AN: Did you distribute the books in your capacity as Vice Chairman or as WEGEC convener?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: As both…as the convener of WEGEC and as the Vice Chairman. WEGEC, Women Empowerment and Gender Equity Center care for the less privileged, especially the young girl-child but because of the name “equity” in WEGEC, the Board of Directors decided we should touch education in Mosan-Okunola. As a Vice Chairman also, I decided to give back to the community. Though the Local Government did theirs, the one I did is in my personal capacity.

AN: Tell us about WEGEC

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: I have two mentors who made me register the NGO, these are Dr. Abiola Akiyode, the convener and Director of Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre and Chief (Mrs.) Olabisi Olateru-Olagbegi, the Executive Director of Women Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON). Also, the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, that’s the late wife of Abiola (MKO). I had interest in Politics from school and joined to contest as a councilor then. Though I didn’t have much as a teacher, I contributed by buying GCE forms for people. I ran to these people and they supported me by printing postal, fliers, T-Shirts and so on. I thought if women could do this, I can also be a part of development to the community. If you look at it, you will see women are more but they end up singing and staying at the background with nothing really tangible for them. I source for money to assist them by training them in Fish farming, Bead making, paint making, decoration, Fashion designing, catering and many more. So WEGEC was set up to assist people, especially the women.

AN: You were part of the immediate past government of Mosan-Okunola, how would you rate the performance of the administration?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: It’s been ok, nobody is perfect you know, and there is no government that can finish the work of a community. Our children unborn are still coming to rule the Local Govt. With the little resources we had, we tried our best to deliver in Education, Health, empowerment, security and many more.

AN: People in Abesan Estate in particular have complained that they did not feel the impact of Mafe’s administration which you were the Vice Chairman, what do you have to say to that?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: (smiles) they won’t say that, like I said, a government cannot finish the work of a community, we have two Wards in Abesan, I and II. Formally, the roads were not ok but now, the roads have had a facelift. Primary Schools were refurbished, about six blocks were constructed by the administration, there is an on-going Mini Health Centre going on and will be completed soon. What I believe Abesan needs most because it is a well developed community, is a good drainage system. The administration has tried in the health sector, youths and sports too. I made the Jerseys for the final match they played during the world cup competition involving Germany and Argentina. Like I said, no government can finish everything, the people of Abesan should be patient, when continuity starts, they will feel the impact more.

AN:  We are hearing rumour you might be contesting the chairmanship of Mosan-Okunola LCDA

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: It’s not a rumour, I have interest. I have been Vice Chairman for two terms now, I have gone through training and I know I have what it takes to be chairman so as to continue where Mafe stopped.

AN:  In the last administration which you were part of, the relationship between the administration and the people of Abesan was not too cordial, if you eventually become the chairman, will it change?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: Cordial in what sense?

AN: Policies, contribution to the Estate among many others

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: I have been in the Estate since 1983 and I got married in the Estate. I won’t open my eyes to see that Abesan is not being developed at all. Interestingly, I was the Chief Education officer in Abesan Estate Residents Association for two or three administrations. If I become chairman, Abesan will definitely feel the impact very well. I am a good administrator and I know what it takes, I was a Principal of a school for five years and I taught for seventeen years in total. There is no doubt that my administration will be the best ever.

AN: Do you have plans for the youths?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: Oh my God! They are my constituency; they are the brain behind any politics. The youths and the women will be at the forefront. They are the ones that go around during elections, they sing your praises and run around for you, they make things happen. If you are a good politician, you know you can’t joke with the youths and the women because during elections, they are readily available for you. The youths in Mosan-Okunola will not regret having me as their chairman, I promise you. I will surely pay them back through empowerment programmes, trainings, employments, and so on.

AN: Talking about empowerment programmes, some people are complaining it never gets to them. Whenever there is any empowerment, the party leadership hijacks it and it won’t get to the people at the grassroots.

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele:  That is not true, it’s not true at all, there is no how everybody will be beneficiaries, for example, if we have 2000 members in Mosan-Okunola and we have 20 slots, it will be by ballot and it won’t go round. This time around with my connection in the State, because I was the Chairman of all Vice Chairmen in the State, with that connection with commissioners and people in high places, I will assist the youths and they will never regret having me as the chairman. It is not everybody that will do white-collar jobs. I understand they also train youths in vocational jobs during youth service now, though I don’t know how true it is, but it is very good. Some of these trades give more money than full time employment. My administration will give direct and indirect employment to all youths.

AN: What’s happening to our roads, the Ayobo/Ipaja road to be precise?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: We have to give kudos to our governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN. We all know the challenges there. There is a pipeline that is causing delay there, and that is why the government had to contact the NNPC so they can work together to avoid explosion and loss of lives. If not for that, they would have finished it. They are trying, and it will soon be completed by God’s grace.

AN: What should the elderly people expect from your administration?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: They will also enjoy because they are our parents and we have to take care of them. Most of them are pensioners; we will take care of their health and welfare. We will reach out to them, and they will also benefit largely.

AN: They say women are better leaders because they are passionate, are we going to experience that when you become the chairman?

Hon. Opeyemi Akindele: I promise you.

Hon. Akindele Adunni Opeyemi in brief…

Executive Secretary, Mosan/Okunola LCDA

Educational Background

Honourable Akindele attended Nusara-Ud-Deen Primary School, Mushin Lagos where she got her First School Leaving Certificate in 1979, she then proceeded to Ansar-Ud-Deen Girls’ High School, Itire, also in Mushin where she had her West African Secondary School Certificate in 1984. In 1990, she bagged a Teachers’ Grade II Certificate from Local Authority Teachers’ Training College, Iyana-Ofa in the old Oyo and now Osun state.                                                                                                                She went on to The University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos and in 1999, she got her First Degree in Mathematics, a Course mostly reserved for men and feared by women. She then moved on to obtain a Masters in Education from the Lagos State University in 2013.

Professional Membership

She is a Member, Chattered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria, MCIPM, a Fellow, Institute of Public Management, FIPM.

Work Experience

As an Educationist, she has worked all her life in the Teaching profession before she became active in politics. She was the Headmistress of Royal Int’l School in Baruwa between 1990 to 2000, the Head of Department of Mathematics Department at Royal Comprehensive College, Baruwa, Ipaja between 2000 and 2001, she rose through the ranks to become the Vice Principal of Royal Comprehensive College in 2001. In 2002, she moved on to Akintoroe Memerial High School in Ashipa, Ayobo, Lagos where she became the Principal. She was the Principal of the College until 2005 when she set up her own school called Brookfield’s Int’l School located in Ashipa, Lagos.

Political Antecedents

A grassroots politician and a strong mobilizer, She was the Secretary for Ward D, Zone One, Secretary, Democrats Women Forum,Mosan Okunola LCDA, Treasurer, The Mandate Group, Mosan Okunola LCDA, Vice Chairman, Mosan Okunola LCDA and Chairman, Lagos State Association of Councils of Vice Chairmen, LASACVIC