2015 Election: Lagos LGA Chairmen Empower 3,000 Artisans, Market women

The race for 2015 elections in Lagos is getting hotter as the chairmen of the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs in the state embarked on massive grassroots empowerment of artisans and market men and women with tools for their trade.

R-L: A beneficiary, Mrs........., Vice Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Lagos State, Chief. Funsho Ologunde; and Chairman, Conference 57 of Lagos State, Mr. Suleiman Hakeem, with other members of the Local Government Chairmen, during the distributions of Empowerment Items to members of the party by Conference 57, of the 30 Local governments and 27 Local Development Council Area (LCDA), of Lagos State, at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Ikeja, Lagos....yesterday 01-08-14 PHOTO: KOLA OLASUPO

(R-L) A beneficiary, Vice Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Lagos State, Chief. Funsho Ologunde; and Chairman, Conference 57 of Lagos State, Mr. Suleiman Hakeem, with other members of the Local Government Chairmen, during the distributions of Empowerment Items to members of the party by Conference 57, of the 30 Local governments and 27 Local Development Council Area (LCDA), of Lagos State, at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Ikeja, Lagos.

At least, 3,000 artisans and market men and women were giving fridges, deep freezers, outboard engines for fishermen, generators, foodstuffs like rice and garri; popcorn machines, mobile phones, spray painter, mechanic box, soft drinks, sewing machines, hair dresser machines, among others, which runs into over N150 million.

The chairmen, under the aegis of Conference 57 are all members of the All Progressive Congress (APC). They were quick to point out that the gesture was not part of ‘stomach infrastructure’ to woo Lagosians to vote massively for the APC in the 2015 elections.

Thousands of APC party faithful throng the venue of the programme, Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Lagos State Government Secretariat, Alausa, Lagos, Nigeria at the weekend chanting solidarity songs in support of the APC.

APC party chieftains were present at the occasion, among whom was the Vice Chairman, Lagos West, Funsho Ologunde, who represented the Lagos APC Chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale.

The empowerment programme was ostensibly turned into a campaign rally with the item of APC sung over and over again as party clouts, market men and women intermittently disrupt the programme with eulogise each of the speakers.

Chairman, Conference 57, Sulaimon Akeem, popularly known as Oris, said the decision to empower 3,000 people was not part of the popular Stomach infrastructure, which evolved after the last Ekiti State election, where governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose was accused of inducing the people with food which made them vote massively for him.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that poverty seems to have become a natural phenomenon in Nigeria. Successive government in Nigeria has been noted to have made efforts towards poverty alleviation in Nigeria.

“It is obvious that most poor people in this country cannot provide for themselves the basic needs of life. The persistence of poverty in the world and in deed in Nigeria has made it imperative for us to embark on some developmental programmes to ensure improved standard of living for the poor masses,” he explained.

Oris stated that the APC, was focussing on meeting the basic requirements for permanent reduction of poverty in the country through the provision of basic needs as health service, education, water supply, food and housing, among others.

He appealed to beneficiaries to make proper use of what they had been given to eke out a living for themselves, adding that those giving machines should not sell them but use them for businesses to make profit, adding that “we believe that the business you use what you have been given to start, if properly nurtured, can grow to an oak tree.”

Lagos State Governor Mr. Babatunde Fashola and Chairmen of the 57 Local Government Areas at the weekend underscored the need for collective efforts to address the woes besetting the country.

Speaking at the event, Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola bemoaned the failure by Nigeria to achieve socio-economic and political growth after over a decade of democratic governance.

Represented by the Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, the governor said the vision of state and local government area was to work together to grow the state to be the pride of the country.

“We do not do poverty alleviation but grassroots empowerment. The council chairmen have done well in providing infrastructures for the citizens. They have build roads, schools, hospitals; construct drainages, empowerment programmes and others. I must thank the council chairman for taking care of the grassroots. The council have come together to do the biggest empowerment programme in the country.”

Stressing the need for the residents to be vigilant in the face of security challenges rocking the country, Fashola called on all to continue to be security conscious to keep the state safe.

“I want to tell the residents of Lagos that the security of this great state is also their responsibility. We should not leave it for the government alone. We need to support the council chairman in their programmes so that they can provide the dividends of democracy.

“We need to be steadfast and do not accept expired rice from some people who claim to love you. These are tactics from the opposition. And I do not want them to scare you with their strategies.”

Fashola stated that Lagos state is the only state in the country that did not ban the activities of commercial motorcycle operators, saying it was outright ban in other states controlled by the opposition parties.