…DECLARES TO RUN FOR LAGOS HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
By Okosun Dennis
Agunbiade Primary School, Shomolu was the place. Soon, the atmosphere became electric as people of different colourations adorning fez caps with the inscription: “Orekoya 4 Assembly” started streaming in in their grosses.
By 5 pm, it was obvious that the political train was about to take off with its destination at Lagos State House of Assembly in 2023. In no distant time, the dramatist personae emerged with a retinue of dancers.
When he spoke, the coast was clear, the focus was defined and the direction was well explained laying emphasis on what he intends to pursue if given the opportunity to serve his Constituency 1, Shomolu, Lagos State.
Hon. Abiodun Orekoya, while declaring his intention to vie for the Lagos State House of Assembly, Shomolu Constituency One on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that he would tackle the problems of illicit drug use among the youths as well as initiate a dialogue with Area Boys popularly called as “Agbero” with a view to having a saner environment in the state.
Speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday at Agunbiade Primary School, the venue of the formal flag-off of his interest to contest, Orekoya added that fighting insecurity will form the fulcrum of his legislative functions when he is elected into the Lagos State House of Assembly.
A freeborn of Shomolu, who is a trained Electrical Engineer, in his remarks stated that he would focus on fighting insecurity by ensuring that the majority of youths are educated through a free and compulsory Primary and Secondary education.
Orekoya insisted that free and compulsory education remains a focal point which he would enunciate to ensure that every strand of insecurity is stamped out from Shomolu and its environs.
Adumbrating his thrust of office if, given the opportunity to represent his Constituency, Orekoya emphasized, “Insecurity, we are going to look at it together. My first solution is education. Most of the boys involved in this menace are between the ages of 12-16 years.
“We need to make our primary and secondary school free and compulsory and that is what is happening in other developed countries that we copy. If you travel outside Nigeria, you don’t see children roaming the streets.
“With my knowledge of governance and with huge spending on education, we need a change of policy that will make education compulsory and qualitative. Parents spend 60-70% of their salaries on school fees. Therefore, the government needs to help.
“We can get the children back to school through good legislation. We know where the money is and the state government spends over N2 billion annually on primary education. We will use our Constituency office to propagate government policy” Hon Orekoya emphasized.
On drug use among the youths which oftentimes, leads to all manners of anti-social activities and organised crimes, he reiterated, “Drug is an international problem. We would get them out of the streets by getting jobs for them. Some of them are involved in these illicit drugs because of a lack of what to do. We need to get them involved in various areas – Sports and other vocational training.
On Area boys popularly referred to as “Agberos”, he explained that the basic thing is to engage them in reasoned dialogue. They are part of us and we don’t need to throw them away. There is nothing we can do other than call them to a round table. Many of them are sensible people but they are looking for what to eat. We would actively engage them,” Hon. Orekoya added.
https://any.peopleandpowermag.com/i-will-tackle-illicit-drug-use-insecurity-menace-of-agberos-hon-orekoya/
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