Kunle Adelabu & Wale Jagun
-Less than half of the released sum shared among councils
No doubt, the sufferings caused by the ongoing lockdown issued by the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 have cut across all classes of people as the lockdown continue to bite harder on the citizenry, especially due to the additional two weeks extension.
The prolonged shutdown of the economic and social activities has affected many people across the country, including old and young, working, none -working, upper, middle and lower classes, while those in the middle and lower classes, especially in Lagos State, are the mostly hit.
Many of those who felt unconcerned when the Governor of Lagos, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu made the announcement that his government would only cater for 200, 000 households in the state out of the over 20million Lagosians are now crying that the prolonged lockdown has invariably affected them and that they too are now vulnerable and need support.
Due to the lack of capacity of the government (which is now reviewing its relief program) to cater for all, many government functionaries, individuals and corporate bodies have intervened and are still intervening in the dire and challenging situation by providing food and cash relief to residents of the state to cushion the effects of the social and economic shutdown on the people.
In Ikorodu, State government functionaries like the Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Babajimi Benson, the Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Sanai Oyeniran Agunbiade, Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly (despite outside the country on health ground), Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Nurudeen Solaja and the Director – General, Lagos State Sports Commission, Mr Oluwatoyin Gafaar Bolowotan and Hon. Sesan Dada, the Vice Chairman, Ikorodu West LCDA, have all provided succor to residents to mitigate the effects of the lockdown on them.
Council Chairmen in the six councils in Ikorodu division have also distributed relief materials, while institutions like CALEB University, Pepc Foundation, Association of Direct Entry Five (D. E 5), Lagos State School of Midwifery 1983 Set, Joy Cometh International, Lagos State Polytechnic Alumni Association, Lakers Club, the Ayangbure and Adeboruwa palace, Eko Club International have all done the same.
Individuals that have also intervened to support people were Mr Tokunbo Abiru, the Managing Director, Polaris Bank, Otunba Ganiyu Abiru, Chairman, Ikorodu –Oga Development Assciation (IKODASS), Mr Mukaila Lamina, a businessman and politician and Alhaji Babatunde Rotinwa, Chairman, Lagos State Local Government Commission, among others.
It was in the midst of all these philantropic gestures that news filtered in that the Senator representing the Lagos East Senatorial District, Sen. Adebayo Osinowo, has released N30millon as his own contribution in providing relief for his constituents.
While the monetary relief was said to have been distributed at Ketu and other parts of the Senatorial District about three weeks ago, THE IMPACT gathered that beneficiaries in Ikorodu Division were given their own shares of the largesse about two weeks ago.
However, youths and students in the division have raised concern about how the money released by Senator Osinowo who, according to them, is also representing them, was distributed without consideration for them.
Some party men are also complaining that the total money shared amongst the political wards in the Senatorial District was far below the N30millon that was released by the Senator.
Some of the youths claimed that they constituted the largest number of votes that gave the popular politician his mandate and that they are also adversely affected by the lockdown.
A cross section of the youths and students placed the blame for their neglect on the Senator’s lieutenants that were saddled with the responsibility of sharing the money.
Comrade Adedeji Fatuga, the founder and Coordinator of the Ikorodu Ambassadors Group, speaking with THE IMPACT, demanded to know how those who handled the sharing of the donated monetary relief came about the modalities they used in sharing the money.
“First and foremost, I’ll like to ask: How did they identify the less privileged that the money was distributed to?”, Fatuga asked.
“Secondly, we all know that everyone is affected by the COVID-19 lockdown – Youths, elderly people, students, indigenes and non- indigenes, traders, artisans, transporters among others. So, among the people that have benefited from the money, how many of those that I mentioned received the money?
“Did the sharing of the money cut across all races, religions and tribes? This question is necessary because it seems that the Senator or his representatives only focused on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) alone?” he stated.
“I think in a period like this, people need to stop playing party affiliation with things like this.
“Also, I will like to say that the 30 million naira that was said to have been disbursed to all Local Governments under the Lagos East Senatorial District which Hon. Bayo Oshinowo is representing at the National Assembly didn’t get to 30 percent of the youths because if you do a survey to ascertain how many youths benefited from the money, l am sure the result will be poor”, he alleged.
The Ikorodu Division Youths Initiative Movement (IDYIM) (#NotTooYoungToRun), in its own reaction on the matter, commended the effort of Senator Osinowo in providing the monetary relief, but faulted the approach in its disbursement.
“First, I think it is peremptory to admonish the spirited efforts of the distinguished Senator, especially in extending relief fund to members of his constituency in the guise of democracy dividends.
“His intention seems to be a very perfect one but the approach in execution is not only defective but has also suffered a great deal making the relief seemed like a political compensation rather than a proper relief from a representative to the vulnerable”, #NotToYoungToRun said.
“As one of the most formidable youth organizations in Ikorodu division, our earliest survey of the cause of crimes in Ikorodu is idealness and hunger due to poverty and a good number of crimes, especially the ones perpetrated by the youths, have been attributed to these cause. Who then are the most vulnerable? Your guess can be as good as ours”, Ikorodu youth organisation asked.
“The Distinguished Senator has done his part by involving the Assembly members and chairmen in the division whom he believes are the grassroots people and should have a better template to reach out to constituents and stakeholders alike so that the monetary relief could get to the most vulnerable” , IDYM opined.
“Except otherwise proven that there was an instruction from the Senator regarding those that should benefit from the money, he should be excused from the liabilities of those who failed to recognize the youths and students as stakeholders. I wonder who holds more stake than the heir apparents to both the economic, political and physical structure of the district?
The youths body stated that political leaders involved in the disbursement of the money need to explain to the youths in the division why they were denied of the benefits despite the fact that they too are affected by the lockdown.
“Our leaders owe us an explanation on how the monetary relief was disbursed and why a major driver of the district (youths) was exempted from the largesse?”, the body asked again.
“A whole lot of people are affected by the pandemic, hunger remains prominent among the effects of the measures being taken against the spread of the deadly virus. The youths are, however, also victims and should not be reduced to mere volunteers but should also be allowed to benefit from the stimulus packages being provided to ease the sufferings in the land”, Ikorodu youths stated in their statement.
The President of the National Association of Ikorodu Division Students (NAIDS), Comrade Soyiga Samuel Adeshina, speaking with THE IMPACT on behalf of the thousands of students in the division, also commended Senator Osinowo for the monetary relief package but charged the council chairmen to explain how the disbursement of N30million was done.
“Whether Senator Bayo Oshinowo distributed ₦30 million naira or not is not a problem because I know he is capable and Ikosi Isheri had come out to appreciate him and also claimed that the fund had been used for its citizens’ welfare. I think it is time our own Local Government and Local Council Development Areas come out to brief us about the disbursement”, the NAIDS President stated.
He recalled the support given to the Senator by thousands of Ikorodu youths during the last general elections during which Sen. Osinowo emerged as a Senator but that the promises made to them are yet to be fulfilled.
“In 2019, when he (Senator Bayo Oshinowo) was contesting, the students and youths stood by him, in fact, I was invited to Ikorodu Local Government Secretariat hall when he came to Ikorodu and Hon. Segun Olulade addressed the youths and students and also made promises to us that the youths and students would never be neglected but it seems Senator Bayo Oshinowo is no longer honouring his promises to us”, Soyiga stated.
“Although, our students body, which I was its general secretary then, is not partisan but I was invited to know about his plans for the students in the Senatorial District.
“I am aware that the youths and students have disclosed their displeasure over the sheer neglect of students and youths organizations by the local government councils in the disbursement of the money donated by Senator Osinowo. The action of the councils is not surprising because they have not done well enough for the youths and students during this critical time”, the President of Ikorodu students association stated.
“The representatives of Sen. Bayo Oshinowo promised to relay our messages to him and also assured that the needful will be done.
“Personally, I am not happy with our political officers, leaders and others for neglecting the students at this critical time. Since the Federal Government ordered that all students should leave their schools to their respective homes, only one of our political officers has listened to our pleas and his team has promised to reach out to the students next week. We believe them because this is not the first time they are attending to our needs.
“I don’t know why our Local Government, Local Council Development Areas and other leaders will completely neglect students after promising to attend to the educational sector in their campaign promises. The students who are the direct players in the educational sector have been totally shut out at this critical time”.
He claimed that due to the adverse effects of the lockdown and neglect, many students are now selling their properties to survive in this critical period.
“Many students are selling their phones and other things to eat. It seems our leaders have forgotten that there are many students who are sponsoring their own education themselves. As beautiful as the state government’s directive that lectures should commence using evivo virtual classes, many may not be able to participate because they have sold their phones while many other won’t be able to afford data for the classes”, he stated.
“Many students are not happy, we are just consoling them and promising that our leaders who we regard as fathers would listen and come to our aid” NAIDS President.
While commending the State Governor, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, and members of his cabinet as well as the council chairmen for the way they have handled the Coronavirus issue, he charged them on behalf of thousands of Ikorodu students to include the students in their plans.
Hamed Olaniyi Ganiu, a chieftain of the IDYIM and Ikorodu Ambassadors, in his opinion, stated that the pandemic has exposed the insincerity of politicians, especially towards the youths in the state.
He stated that youths in Ikorodu are only useful to politicians in gaining political power and nothing more.
“This COVID – 19 has exposed the insincerity of our politicians towards the youths. When they are sourcing for votes, they will comb the nooks and crannies of every community under their constituency and senatorial district to get the youths and seek for their support.
“I need to say this, most of our politicians that are dishing out stimulus packages/relief funds now are not doing it with good heart, they’re just giving it for giving sake. It’s just to register their names in the register of those that give and also add to their profile in preparation for 2023 general elections ”, he alleged.
“Honestly, we are not even aware of the money in the first place not until news started flying around about how the money was shared in other LGs and LCDAs.
“Though, I don’t know why the Senator decided to use the LGs and LCDAs in disbursing the money to the beneficiaries. To me, this decision shows that the Senator does not want to identify with his people at this critical period, that is why he gave the money to local governments to share”, he alleged.
He appealed to the Senator to adopt a more effective channel in getting his subsequent gestures across to his constituents”
“The local governments which were saddled with the task of disbursing the money handled the task dissatisfactorily. The money was mostly given to party faithful instead of the not to the needy. The youths were not even given any consideration. I will appeal to the Senator to please adopt a more effective method next time.
“Our senator need to know that there are formidable youths and students organizations in Ikorodu division which he and his team can work with directly if he truly has the interest of the youths at heart. Whenever situation like this arises, we have reliable youths organizations like the Ikorodu Division Youth Initiative Movement, National Youth Council of Nigeria (Ikorodu, Imota, Igbogbo and Ijede Chapters) Ikorodu Ambassadors, National Association of Ikorodu Division Student and lots more that can be liaised with”, Hameed stated.
“Our politicians need to understand the power of the youths in every society. Any society that wants to experience peace needs to show genuine concern towards her youths’ well-being, especially during critical times such as the ongoing lockdown.
“There are many youths outside there that are bread winners of their families prior to this pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. They feed their families with the little they make on the street on daily basis, and now that there is lockdown, there is nothing to lay their hands on again and yet the society abandoned them, whereas, many of these youths work for one politician or the other during elections.
“I will like to use this medium to advise our Senator, Bayo Osinowo, to try and create a synergy between himself and the youths in his Senatorial District, mostly Ikorodu Division, in this period and beyond and should also make sure that whatever is due to the youths in the division is given to them directly”, he suggested.
Mr Olalekan Biliamin, the Chairman, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Ikorodu Local Government Chapter, in his own reaction, absolved Senator Osinowo of any blame, stating that he worked closely with youths during his campaigns but that he was surprised that youths were not considered for the intervention fund.
“For me, I am sure that the decision not to include the youths among the beneficiaries of the fund did not come from the Senator because we know he worked with the youths during his campaign and the election that won him the Lagos East Senatorial seat.
“His campaign team gave the youths a keen attention with Honourable (Segun) Olulade heading the Youth Committee, so, the fact that the youths were not considered to benefit from the fund came to me as a huge surprise.
“We are not saying that youth leaders should be beneficiaries but the youth constituency should be given a sense of belonging by allowing the youths to nominate those among them that are in dire need of this relief.
“We have students who are still in their hostels and couldn’t go back home due to the lockdown. We have youths who are orphans and depend only on God to survive. So, this insinuations that the youths will survive anyhow should be discarded”, Ikorodu NYCN Chairman stated.
“I personally spoke with one of our youths who is working closely with the Senator and he told me that he has no clue of what actually happened and this sends a bad signal.
“But because Senator Bayo Oshinowo is youth friendly and has played a key role in making sure that we are nurtured properly, we will give him a benefit of the doubt and assume that it was an oversight and not intentional.
“We are on the look out to monitor this relief materials or support sponsored by the government and public office holders”, he stated.
How Senator Osinowo’s Monetary Relief Donation Was Distributed
Our investigation revealed that Senator Bayo Osinowo released the said sum of #30million to the leadership of his party, All Pprogressives Congress (APC) at the Senatorial level for distribution across the 98 Wards in the District.
THE IMPACT also gathered that the Senator directed his Local Government Coordinators to work with Assembly members (who are his eyes and ears) in their respective constituencies. Also, Council Chairmen and All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairmen in all the Local governments were also directed to partake in the disbursement of the money to beneficiaries in their respective domains.
It was gathered that N12, 250, 000 out of the N30milion released by the Senator was actually released to the 98 political wards in the Senatorial District leaving a balance of 17, 750, 000 to be accounted for.
However, there has been no explanation on how the balance of N17, 750, 000 was disbursed or spent by the party.
More so, THE IMPACT reliably gathered that N125, 000 was allocated to each of the 98 electoral wards with 20 members of each ward given N2, 500 and this brings the total amount spent out of the #125,000 earmarked for each ward to N50, 000.
Also, some identified religious, trade and community groups were also allocated N75, 000 in each ward.
It was also gathered that based on the allocation, the sum of N875, 000 was allocated to Ikorodu Local Government, while Ikorodu West, Ikorodu North, Igbogbo/Bayeku, Ijede and Imota Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) were allocated N625, 000 each.
Meanwhile, a section of the party is saying that Ikorodu LG was allocated N1millon and that the LCDAs also got more.
Alhaji Rilwan Jinadu, the Coordinator for the Senator in Ikorodu LG, speaking with THE IMPACT on phone, denied that a one million naira was allocated to Ikorodu LG.
While stating that the method of allocation in all the 98 wards were same and can easily be verified, Alhaji Jinadu added that aside 20 beneficiaries across the political wards in the district, identified groups were also allocated same slots and given same amount.
“There is nothing in the rumour that N1million was given to Ikorodu. The truth is that N125, 000 was allocated across all the political wards. You can do the calculation to know how much was released to each of them”, he said.
He stated that he coordinated the disbursement of the money allocated to Ikorodu Local Government with the support of the representative of the Ikorodu Constituency I, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, and the Chairman, Ikorodu Local Government, Hon. Wasiu Adeshina.
“In sharing the money allocated to Ikorodu, I worked with Alhajii Kabat Ajalogun who represented Hon. Agunbiade and Sayleke (Mr Adeleke Akadiri) who represented Hon. Wasiu Adeshina”, he revealed.
Explaining how the disbursement was executed which corroborated our investigation, Alhaji Jinadu stated that:
“There are 98 wards in the East Senatorial District. The disbursement was N125,000 per ward. From the N125,00, N50,000 was distributed to 20 party members in each ward, while the remaining N75,000 was disbursed to League of Imam, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Traders, Community Development Committee (CDC), LACOSTA and Transporters across each of the 98 electoral wards”.
Speaking on the protest by the youths across the division over their alleged exemption from the disbursement of the money, Alhaji Jinadu stated that they have been factored into the distributions to Wards and other groups whose major beneficiaries, according to him, were youths.
He, however, assured that the protesting youths and students would be considered in subsequent programmes by the Senator.
Also speaking with THE IMPACT, former Council Leader, Ikorodu Local Government and the Director – General, Onward Movement of Nigeria, Hon. Azeez Jimoh Olosugbo, denied his involvement in the entire disbursement process as alleged, stating that he only assisted in ensuring that those that were earmarked to benefit in Ikorodu LG alone get the envelopes which had their names.
“lt was only the money sent to Ikorodu Central that I was involved in its disbursement. In actual fact, names of the beneficiaries had been written on the envelopes that monies were inserted. My job was just to help ensure that every individual received theirs”, he clarified.
He also explained how the Senator’s monetary largesse was shared in each ward.
“Aside the 20 individuals that benefitted in each of the political wards, Community Development Committee (CDC) also got 20 slots, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) 20 slots, Muslim Community 20 slots, Market Association 30 slots, LASCOTA 40 slots and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) 20 slots.
“Some widows and individuals were also considered”, he added.
The young political strategist denied the knowledge of the sum released to councils and wards out of the 30million naira released to the party by Senator Osinowo.
Alhaji Taiwo Longe, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ikorodu Local Government, “in a phone chat with our reporter, equally denied the knowledge of what was disbursed to various councils.
He stated that the money was allocated to beneficiaries with their names on the envelopes.
He also stated that the party acknowledged the important roles of the youths and students in the emergence of APC as the ruling party and its achievements in Ikorodu while also claiming that most of those that benefitted from the money were youths.
The Director – General of the Senator Osinowo’s political group, Primate Charles Odugbesi, also speaking with THE IMPACT on the issue, stated that youths were factored into the disbursement of the money at the political ward level and in other groups that benefited.
He added that it wasn’t deliberate on their part not to consider the youths and students in the division, assuring that they would be considered in the subsequent programmes.
“It wasn’t deliberate because while allocating the money to people at the ward level of our party, we made sure that most of the beneficiaries were youths. Also, most of the transporters and members of other groups that benefited were also youths”, he said.
While appealing to the youths and students in the division”, the former State Secretary of APC stated:
“All the same, we have noted their concern and they are going to be factored into the Senator’s subsequent programmes.”
“They (youths) are actually strategic to our plans and we cannot neglect our them and the students”, Primate Odugbesi assured.
Speaking on the money disbursed by the Senator, Primate Odugbesi simply stated that the money was the Senator’s intervention in cushioning the effects of the COVID – 19 lockdown on his constituents.
