Mr. O.Z Ojikutu is a contender for the Chairmanship
position of Mosan/Okunola LCDA on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC.
A very early starter in the race, he went off media and there were speculations
he had withdrawn from the race. He told us however that the period he was
silent was when he went back to the drawing board so as to come out strong. We
caught up with him at the venue of a meeting he attended and asked him some
questions on a document about his ambition being circulated that we laid our
hands on. Read the interview he had with Alimosho Standard’s Femi Odeyemi.
Q: Thank
you for talking to us without notice sir. We got wind of your 13 point agenda
for the people of Mosan/Okunola courtesy committee of Democrats and Technocrats
in Mosan/Okunola. We are interested in a few of them. Can you specifically tell
us your plans for the Youth from what is written here? It says “gradual
degradation of youth delinquency in the LCDA and promotion of job opportunity
on equilibrium basis in the LCDA”.
 |
| Mr. O.Z Ojikutu |
Mr. O.Z Ojikutu: Thank you very much; I
thank you for this impromptu meeting. As you can see, I just came out of a
meeting and will be going in for another one but I will grant you few minutes
to respond to your questions on the specific points you are interested in. If
we have to talk on the 13 points, we might end up staying here for more than
three hours. Having said that, I want to use this opportunity to greet my good
people of Mosan/Okunola and to wish them well, I also want to tell them that we
are on the March again to victory for our amiable and distinct Mosan/Okunola
LCDA expecting elections for 2015. By God’s grace, we shall all rejoice at the
end of the day. I am interested in working solely and hand-in-hand with the Governor
of Lagos State, that is my big brother and boss, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode. The Governor
also talked about this point during his campaign and I believe in this LCDA, we
can work around it. Having visited many countries abroad, I believe I have the
exposure and understanding of how to tackle this menace. In Mosan/Okunola for
example, we have five wards. If in each ward, I can have 30 youths made up of
male and female who are unemployed, irrespective of their level of education to
make 150 in all, I will bring them into the local government and they will
render services while the Local Government gives them stipend. I don’t want to
disclose the services they will render now but I can assure you, they will be
taken off the unemployment radar. They will work for just five days a week and
twenty days a month and I will give them N10,000 pocket money. In fact, in a
day, they will only work 4hours for me and at the end of the month, I will give
you N10,000. I will also make sure they don’t work in a place where they will
have to take transport. By so doing, I am sure the youths will be engaged and
negative thinking won’t cross their mind. Their parents have prayed, fasted and
sent them to school, they need to stop depending on their parents.
N10,000 as stipend per youth in a month,
150 youth in all, will they make the money from which they will be paid or
where do you hope to get that money from?
Mr. O.Z Ojikutu: We already have it mapped
out. They will make the money and even surpass it, I have seen it work but I
don’t want to reveal the secret to you here. I have seen it materialize and
implemented in countries abroad.
The people of Abesan in particular are
always complaining they don’t feel the direct impact of whoever is in
government in Mosan/Okunola and the response of those in authority is that
there is no IGR from Abesan. Do you think you will get money from Abesan and if
not, will you pump money into Abesan?
Mr. O.Z Ojikutu: That’s a very technical
question my brother. I am telling you categorically that I will bring out money
from Mosan/Okunola. The former chairman tried his best but his best could not
satisfy the curiosity of the majority. Demand continues, therefore supply must
not stop. That’s simple Economics. There is a roadmap already on how we will
get the money. The only thing we need to do is to put the round peg in the
right places with proper monitoring. I know what is needed in Abesan and other
Wards, I am going to meet the needs of all the Wards in Mosan/Okunola.
In the document with us, there is a part
that talks about periodic Town Hall meetings and accountability. How are we
sure you will fulfill that if you win?
Mr. O.Z Ojikutu: Thank you, it is the
easiest thing to do. As the Chairman, I am expected to have Counselors and
Supervisors. There are five Wards in Mosan/Okunola, definitely we will have
Councilors and Supervisors from each of the Wards. These people will agree with
me that my failure is theirs and my success is theirs. We will work together to
make sure the LCDA succeeds. They will tell me the needs of the people and I
will work on them. Everybody including the Party leaders will be carried along.
There will be a map for all Wards with letters to represent the progress we are
making. We will make everything open to the people and they will be the judge
of our progress.
What plan do you have for security in
Mosan/Okunola?
Mr. O.Z Ojikutu: I talked about global
security system in the document with you. Mosan/Okunola will be the first local
government that will start this idea and within the first year, the Governor
will invite us to replicate it at the state level. It will involve the police,
the CDA, the CDC and a department in the local government, Agric and Community
Development will be in charge of it. The names of all inhabitants of Mosan/Okunola,
where they work, what they do there, their state of origin will be gotten
through their landlords. Even the police will like to work with us because we
will make their work easy.
We don’t want to take too much of your
time sir. We are conscious of the little time you have for us. What will you
like to tell your followers?
Mr. O.Z Ojikutu: I want to greet my people
and also let them know their vote is their power. Their power is their bullet. They
should be mindful of using it wisely so they don’t miss their target. Forward ever,
backward never.
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