Encomium
HON. Jubril Ayodeji Abdulkareem is the immediate past chairman of Agege Local Government Council. He was there for two terms. He was once the vice chairman of the council and supervisory councilor too.
Now, he wants to go to the National Assembly to represent Agege Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives. His opponents are Hon. Samuel Adejare, the incumbent, Hon. Taofeek Adaranijo, his counterpart at Orile Agege Local Council Development Area (LCDA) and Ashimiyu Adekola Adebayo. But he said he is sure of victory because his God has never disappointed him and will not disappoint him now…
What would you say informed your joining the House of Representatives race for Agege Federal Constituency?
I look at what we have been able to achieve at the local government level, which I can say supersedes every other administration that has been in that local government. Even when you do a comparison between Agege and Orile Agege, you will see that there is more development in Agege than Orile Agege.
So, I now realized that we need continuity of whatever we have been able to do. We need to sustain the development that we have been able to achieve. We need to provide more legacies. Being at the House of Representatives will also enable me to replicate what I have been able to do in Agege, in Orile Agege.
It will also afford me the opportunity of relating with the chairman of the two local government areas Agege and Orile Agege to let them imbibe the culture of providing the people’s needs rather than their selfish interests. Because some of us believe that when you are there at the local government level you need to enrich yourself. Whereas governance goes beyond that level.
There is an adage that says Ibi ti ati nse lati nje (where you work is where you derive benefits). Once you are there, one way or the other, God will give you what will sustain you. But that should not be at the detriment of people’s needs. I have said it and I will say it again, what we have been able to do in Agege, no other chairman, since the creation of the local government has done as much.
We have impacted positively on the lives of the people of Agege. We want to do same to the people of Orile Agege. We should be given the opportunity to do more.
You are up against prominent people such as Hon. Samuel Adejare and Hon. Taofeek Adaranijo, your counterpart at Orile Agege LCDA. What do you think your chances are against these people?
They are very prominent but when you talk of someone who has impacted their lives most, I am the one. When you think of someone who is most acceptable by all, I am the one.
I know with God on my side, I will represent Agege Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives in 2015, Insha Allah.
I have a covenant with my God. The Allah that I serve has never let me down. I am a Muslim cleric and I know what I am saying. Allah says as a human being, if you do not change your own attitude towards Him, He will never change His attitude towards you. I have not changed my attitude towards Allah and people. So, I know that God will not change His attitude towards me.
Do you nurse any fear that things may not turn out the way you think?
At all. I am 100 per cent sure in my Allah. You will come back and see. We will celebrate together.
-TOLANI ABATTI
