The DISCOURSE crew led by the Publisher & Editor-In-Chief, Mr Segun Tomori paid a courtesyVISIT to the Sole Administrator of Oshodi-Isolo Local Government, Lagos State, Hon. Taoheed Taiwo on the 2nd September, 2016 in his office.
He granted an extensive, no-holds barred interview where he answered questions ranging from his experience since assumption of office, national issues and the legacy he is working tirelessly to leave behind.
We bring you exclusive details for your reading pleasure.
Q. Congratulations once again on your appointment, can you introduce yourself and give us a brief insight into your background.
A. Thank you very much. My name is Taiwo Taoheed Adebayo, I’m the Sole Administrator of Oshodi-Isolo LG. I was once the Special Adviser on Chieftaincy, Culture and Private affairs at Ejigbo LCDA. I was once a student union leader and am an active member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.
Q. It has been a few months since you were sworn-in as Sole Administrator by Gov. Ambode. Can you describe your experience so far?
A. Well, the experience has been inspiring. Being saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the affairs of Oshodi-Isolo Local Government to be precise is life-changing, it’s a different experience entirely where you get to touch people’s lives positively, where you get to see how people react to your programmes, where you get to see how people appreciate what you have been able to do to improve their lives so far. So the experience has been worthwhile.
Q. Oshodi has one of the most busy bus park and market in Lagos State. What are the challenges that you can say is hampering the effective management of the Local Government?
A. Traffic gridlock used to be a major problem but upon the emergence of His Excellency, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode, he has deemed it fit to bring to Oshodi-isolo local govt, the Oshodi transport interchange that will come with other social amenities. Oshodi transport interchange upon completion is going to improve the transport system of Oshodi. In the past, we used to have people park indiscriminately on the road, individuals and organizations have challenges moving seamlessly but now with the new project His Excellency has found us worthy of in Oshodi-Isolo Local govt, it is going to be something similar to what you see in most developed part of the world. Like what you see in UK and America for instance. This transport interchange is going to ensure everything is well coordinated from the area of you boarding the bus to the bus-stop you’re going. It is going to be a new experience for the people of Oshodi-Isolo. The people will also benefit from the different social amenities that come with the transport interchange like shopping mall, skyscrapers, bridges that will give Oshodi a new look. The project will change the perception of Oshodi and make people outside the country see it in another light.
Q. How does Oshodi-Isolo LG plan to tap into this fantastic project to raise its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)?
A. The issue of IGR, when we get to the bridge, we will cross it. Our Governor is a listening leader and so far so good, all the programmes that we have here, he has been supportive of it. So upon the completion of the project, we are going to see to that.
Q. Sir, you’ll agree with me that the menace of street urchins popularly known as area boys has been a source of constant unrest in Oshodi, what steps have you taken to manage the situation?
A. The issue of street urchins in Oshodi used to be very serious but before my assumption of office, it has reduced drastically. We are doing everything possible to continue the various initiatives His Excellency has introduced. We have different empowerment programmes we have introduced and also social security schemes whereby we can bring on board all this youths, engage them positively, train them in our vocational centre. After training them, we make sure they have something to do to generate a means of livelihood. So far, we taken so many people off the streets, if you look behind you, we have the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) vocational centre within the local govt premises where we train people on different vocations of their choice after which we give them something reasonable to start up so that they can be better off and be a good citizen of Oshodi-Isolo and Nigeria at large.
Q. Most political analysts believe local governments will function better with autonomy. The National Assembly Constitution review committee is favourably disposed to it. What is your take on this?
A. Local govt autonomy or not, I think the status quo should remain. If we are taking Lagos State as a case study, we have been autonomous enough because you can’t just have 57 local govts and think you want to give them more autonomy than what they have right now or what we enjoy presently. That means you’re creating 57 mini- gods that could actually disrupt the progress, the activities, the developmental projection of the State. So I think so far so good, the Lagos State govt is doing everything possible to manage the present structure which I think will last the test of time.
Q. But the argument of most analysts is that local governments being the closest to the people should not have its allocation tied to States in the States-Local govt joint account in the spirit of true federalism. Do you share this view?
A. I think if you really want to talk about autonomy, the States should have autonomy. I think we should we should decentralize power from the centre. We need to make sure that we carry the states along so that most of the functions on the exclusive list can be brought to the concurrent list. So that all the States that have the wherewithal to move their States forward without depending on Federal govt can do so at their whims. For instance, one of the issues is State police. I think Lagos State government is ripe enough to have a State police. If we have State police, by implication we will have somebody that comes from Oshodi being saddled with the responsibility of securing Oshodi. Such an officer will be familiar with his immediate environment since they going to be recruited from within. Securing such environment won’t be an issue for them. So I think that should be the way forward.
Q. So we can conclude you support devolution of powers from the centre to States and Local governments?
A. Yes, please.
Q. We understand you’ll be here for some months before the council elections, what legacy would you like to be remembered for?
A. Well, you have asked a very germane question. I’ll like to be remembered as someone that improved the art of governance in Oshodi-Isolo LG. Upon assuming the reins of power, we have done everything humanly possible to operate an open government. All our policies have been well formulated, all our considerations has been to ensure we form our policies from the people to us. We don’t just lord our policies on them. Anything we do, we seek the contribution of the CDAs, CDCs, the stakeholders, the market women, the market men, the youths so that we can be on the same page with them. For instance, upon assumption of office, we realized there is crèche in the council premises which has not been functioning. Within our short period in office, we have fixed the crèche, furnished it up to date and made it functional. On your way out now, you can go and confirm, it is now open for public use and our people have been using it.
Also, you’ll realize the rains are here. We have embarked on a rigorous desiltting and evacuation of our drains and drainages to make sure our environment are not unnecessarily flooded. Also, we have just received the first phase of the free school uniforms our administration embarked upon which we hope to distribute very soon. Also we have collected the first phase of the free exercise books; we are expecting the other phase very soon. This we will distribute to pupils of our primary schools
There is a local govt library just behind us that was constructed about 8 years ago but has not been put to use. My administration has done wonderfully well in that regard. We have introduced a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme whereby we write to the people that are well-to-do, philanthropists and captains of industries to come and support us to make sure it is well equipped. A lot of people have contributed to the development of the library, one of which is Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan, former Chairman of Ejigbo LCDA and current Special Adviser to Gov. Ambode on Communities & Communications. Also veteran Nollywood actor, Aki na Paw Paw and other well-meaning Lagosians and Nigerians at large have contributed.
Also if you look behind you, you’ll see a big structure even bigger than the Executive building, we tagged it it legislative building. It will be open to the public soon. All this we are doing to improve the infrastructural development of Oshodi-Isolo LG and also to improve the living standards of our people. If you look around we have embarked on operation “Grade 100 roads”, which we have commenced, we have graded 3 so far. We just had to slow down the pace of our work due to the rainy season. You have the access to confirm all this things I have told you to have first-hand information on the developmental agenda of our administration.
Q. As youth, what would be your advice to youths that have interest in politics but consider it a dirty game?
A. According to a philosopher, “when you fold your hands about things that matter in life that means you’re already bringing an end to yourself”. The implication of not participating is that those that are not competent enough will be at the helm of affairs. My advice to them is, get the required prerequisite, get the required knowledge of your environment, and know what is at stake. Know what you’re going there to do. In as much you’re coming with a development agenda and a clear conscience, politics is a game for everyone to join.
Q. After your stint as Sole Administrator, what will your next political move be?
A. For me everything is in God’s hands. The major responsibility I have is that His Excellency, the Governor has found me worthy to serve as Sole Administrator, this is a great honour and I so much appreciate it. I promise him that within this short period that I will be at the helm of affairs, we are going to do everything possible to connect back to our people; ensure they feel the dividends of democracy; improve on the infrastructural decadence of Oshodi-Isolo and finally make sure our people are well-informed and carried along in Policy formulation.
The DISCOURSE
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