THE INTERVIEW PART 2: OUR POLICY DIRECTION IS TO CONNECT WITH THE PEOPLE IN SOUL

WHY WE SHALL BE INVESTING MORE ON ROADS AND TRANSFORMER IN THE NEW YEAR

By Razaq Adedeji Jimoh

The supply of ten 500 KVA Transformers as your project in the energy sector, how did you do their distribution: was it by equity or there was a way you did it?

It begins that every listening leader will not be doing things in isolation. You need to go through consultations. When the idea to invest in the Energy Sector project came to me as a direct support for our President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA), I had to call a stakeholders meeting with the Community Development Committee (CDC) to inform them of our intention to distribute ten transformers. These stakeholders comprise or let me say include all the CDAs in Ayobo/Ipaja. There, I disclosed the intension and requested that any interested CDA should write a letter to the Council Chairman through the CDC Chairman.

After that, we set up a committee to determine the beneficiaries. But we knew the basis of their applications would be different. Some would think there is opportunity of transformer, let us also bid for it. There are communities we know that are operating on load shedding of 3 days on, one day off. We also know there are those that in the last six months, one year, they don't even have transformers. When we had the letters submitted by communities, we now correlate it to all this knowledge to query ourselves: ‘who and who need this thing most’?

Then at that stage, we went further to the necessity at ward level. There we queried: how many request did we get from ward A? How many did we get from ward B? And on and on! Having answered and settled all this, we now came up with our decision and the decision was not invincible. We made it among the selection committee who were themselves representatives of the larger committee themselves (CDC). At the end of the day, there were some Wards that got three. Some got one and some got two. But the fine thing about it is that there was no single Ward that did not benefit. We did not distribute it equitably like because we have ten wards, let it go at two per ward, no! We distributed them to those we saw that needed them the most.

As for the other question whether the transformers were already in operation? No! But as from tomorrow (grand finale day), all the ten beneficiary CDAs will begin to pick up their transformers to their different locations. The transformers are already there for them to carry by tomorrow.

Talking on your empowerment schemes; the last time we heard about that was your gift of N100,000 for 100 people and so it reflects in your scorecard here. The question is for how long will this continue? Next to that is what would the Local Council be doing to track utilization of the funds?

As I always say, in Ayobo/Ipaja under this Ijoba Irorun, our policy direction is to domesticate the Renewed Hope Agenda to be entrenched and impart lives in our locals. In value content of RHA, it is to help the less privileged, the aged and the windows. In this arrangement, we proposed giving out N100,000 to 100 people per month and we have modality for that. We are not just giving it to anybody. We are giving it to the people we know that the impact will be seen in them, at least however in a little way the outsiders will see the change in them.

This time, we are going for the first edition of the programme. We are targeting the market women; we are targeting the aged; we are targeting the widow. And again, it is not just an aged and it is not just a window. You know there are widows who are more comfortable than those who have husbands and wives. Despite that they are widows, they are well to do. But when you see somebody that is struggling, you will know that this one is not doing well.

So to get our results, we went out all by ourselves to identify those we knew that if you give this N100,000 to this person, he will know the value since they will be the first beneficiaries. The next edition will be to identify the less privileged in the community – people we know, that with this stipend, it will go a long way in his or her life.

That is our selection modality. It is not about sitting down somewhere, collate names of your favourites and showcase them that you are empowering people. At any time we are giving out the cash, if you have opportunity to be around, you will know that 80% of those we are giving are those that worth to be giving something in their physical sight.

On health care issue, what inches have you been able to make and how does it affect the people of Ayobo/Ipaja positively?

As for the health; in Ayobo/Ipaja LCDA, we have seven Public Health Centres (PHC). Out of the seven, we have two flagships which mean they are running 24hours. The five that are not running 24hours, we make sure that their 14hours operation are productive enough by ensuring that the doctor is always on ground and the medics generally are actively engaging their patients and that there are enough staff.

In our own little way, we have upgraded to the stage that in every of the seven health centres, we have our own Pharmaceutical Unit. We did this for the Council to subsidise the prescribed drugs to the patients. What I mean is that when you get to the doctor and they prescribe drugs for you, there is now a designated Council Pharmacy where the worth of drugs you will at N1000, N2000, outside you will get it at reduced price. There is also this standard we maintain in line with the State's health policy: that if you are 60 years an above in age, if you go for any ailment treatment in the Public Health Centre, there are some drugs you have to be given free. In Ayobo/Ipaja, we ensure that our residents are not left out of these benefits.

On the council's revenue mobilization and the problem of leakages to corruption, what is your administration doing to ensure digitalization that has become the panacea to it?

Even before the coming of this administration, the financial flow of the Council had been digitalized. I think in the last three, four years, Ayobo/Ipaja has been operating e-billing system and that was what we met on ground. Without approaching any council official, you can pay the rate or any tax due to the Council to the bank directly or pay it at the comfort of your room. Then, you will come down to the Secretariat with your evidence of payment for official receipt.

Gone are those days when you pay to somebody and they will use pen and paper to write receipt for you – where you pay N10,000 and they will write N3,000 in your receipt. Gone are those days. Today, if you pay N1, you get receipt for your N1. For long, local government does not accept cash again. Even in all these our health centres I was referring to, if you get there to the cashier and you cannot pay by transfer, there is POS for you to pay through if you are holding cash.

The next thing to say is that the ball is now in the public court to help in curbing the corruption. To enlighten them: if anybody is claiming to be a staff of this Council comes to you with a bill; in the bill there will be account details of the Council you will pay into. That one has been in existence before this administration. But I must add that we are also trying to build on that idea because we discovered that the system blocks some loopholes in terms of Internal Revenue Generation in the local government.

And again, let me use this opportunity to tell the people of Ayobo/Ipaja that they have a role to play in effort to stop this corruption. A cliché goes that out of every twelve there will be a Judas. No matter how we strive to prevent corruption in matters of IGR, there would always be some Council staff bent on perfecting their ignoble cause. This is why my appeal will go to the people of this LCDA that under no circumstance they should ever pay cash to any Council staff. They should always come to the Council to ask for their e-billing and they should make sure that it is the exact amount they pay that shows in their receipt.

You just said it that the people of Ayobo/Ipaja have not seen anything yet in spite of this sterling, performance. “It is just a tip of the iceberg” to quote as you said it. What should they be expecting in the new budget year and how you intend to carry them along in your project planning so that development would be people oriented?

First, I can assure you again that what we are going to showcase as our performance feats next year will be far more than what we achieve this year and I think we don't need a soothsayer to tell us how it is feasible or possible. The evidence is already there in the comparable time lags. 365days' works is not comparable to 100days' works.

In the coming year, by the grace of God and the backup will of our counselors; they have gone round the nooks and cranny to assess the areas of interest for project conception, especially in our schools and health care centers in our communities. This was besides our own field works we have done for the same purpose at the Executive side. They (Councillors) have given us there feedbacks.

Now to carry the people of this LCDA along, we have convened a stakeholders' meeting for them to make their inputs. It was to ask them to tell us what would they be expecting from government to do as their priority projects in the coming year? This was specifically tagged 'Budget Stakeholders' Forum (BSF)'. From their different localities, they have submitted their needs. We are also currently evaluating and assessing them. By the grace of God when we shall be celebrating our one-year in office, we shall be showcasing significant four, five, ten and more projects that we have done in every sector. And surely it shall awe everybody in how greater it would be compared to what we have done this past few days.

For a hint of the examples, we are already planning that the Baruwa Primary School needs more classrooms. This came as a part of the feedbacks from our councilors. So, it include what we shall be doing next year. Second, when I was talking about transformer the last time, we realized that even if we said we were buying 100 transformers, it is likely that it would not go round. In this coming year, we are planning to bring in many more of the power transformers for distribution to our communities. The issue we have in Ayobo/Ipaja LCDA is that it is becoming a landlock because it is the place of emigration settlement from the urban centres and the neighboring states' rural borders. The transformers that were installed for 100 buildings years past now has about 1000 building to carry this time. This is why the problem of transformer is always a priority project for every community in Ayobo/Ipaja. And whatever is their interest should also be our direct service value to render as a government.

Likewise, we were talking of seven roads being built, if we are still doing 100 roads in Ayobo/Ipaja, it is yet works in progress. So as our plan next year, we have gone round to identify another set of priority roads in their numbers to be done. If you have gone round to see the roads we did this time, you would have seen that we did not compromise quality. We executed the projects to the standard that the next government to come in the next 8 years or the sets of government to come in the next 25 years would not think of going back to them again. This gives us the opportunity to say that where ever we have delivered a road project, the Government of Ayobo/Ipaja will never go back to them again in years to come. That is the way we have planned our developmental expansions on the go.

Sir, if the truth is to be said, when we are talking about stakeholders forum, we know it is a gathering for the high and mighty in the community. This is to ask, and it could also be seen as a suggestion: what plans does your government have for the idea of gathering the entire people of this LCDA into a type of Town-hall meeting for a direct engagement with them – that now, you want to hear directly from the people to know their feelings and where their shoes pinch the most?

Agbaje at a monthly meeting of the CDC

On this, let me first begin on the immediate past Budget Stakeholders Forum I said we did, it was not a gathering of the elite or one for captains of industries. The people we invited were CDC, CDAs, market people, transport workers and others of interest groups in that base of social pyramid that we could identify. This even included interested residents of Ayobo/Ipaja wishing to attend irrespective of their social status. Thus, just as you rightly said that our sight could not reach the grassroots deeper as a government, that was why we had these class of people as our target audience to hear from them directly.

But looking into that your suggestion too, it is already in our plans because it was already discussed and mooted as an idea before we came into government. We planned that periodically – say quarterly (every three months) – we shall be engaging the entire residents of the LCDA to tell them what we have done, how far we have gone about our plans for the Budget Year. At the same time, we would want to hear from them how their view of the progress is different from the government's perspectives? We would also want to know what are the things they would want us to do differently going forward from every quarter?

Why this plan has not happened is because it is in this last quarter of 2025 that we are doing the 100 days celebration. And in this mood of joy, we have the opportunity to tell and showcase what we have achieved to our people and also tell them what we are planning to do next as we are telling you now with this Media Parley. After this from next year, it shall begin by the grace of God.

Besides this, we have a ready channel of regular communication with the grassroots people. This is through our monthly engagement with the CDC and CDAs which holds every last Friday of the month. Even though we know that the CDAs are the representatives of the people, we intend to go deeper on our reach to the people in wider forum with the proposed quarterly engagement – where everybody at their lowest – pepper sellers, salt sellers and every one at the base of social pyramid – will gather to engage us directly to make their voices count in this Ijoba/Irorun era.

If Ijoba Irorun would be making a difference with a unique policy, the care for the elders in Ayobo/Ipaja could be one policy to use. What plans do you have for this?

Regarding that, we have a monthly arrangement for them. For the elders, aged and widows generally, there is a program under Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA). It is a monthly program that we will be giving out, especially food stuffs, to them. This informed the program we launched just yesterday tagged “Ounje Irorun” as part of our 100 days project in office. It was the former launching of the care we have for the elders and the aged.

As an addition to that, we are now to go beyond the elders and widows. Come this new year, we shall be introducing “Irorun Market”. This is a project aimed at entrenching our food security policy in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda and the State's T.H.E.M.E.S.Plus administration Pillars. Th e social objective is to make food prices cheaper because we shall be subsidizing them. The people will have access to basic food stuffs like rice, beans, yam and others at cheaper prices. It will be done every month and we will make sure that nobody buys more than a family can consume till another month to come.