Kunle Adelabu
The Chairman of the Ikorodu – Oga Development Association (IKODASS), Mr Akeem Rotimi Erogbogbo, on Friday, August 13, 2021, paid a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Hon. Sulaimon Kazeem Olanrewaju.
The visit was a homecoming of sort for Erogbogbo who served as the Council Manager in the council some years back as members of the management team and other staff of the council trooped out to welcome him and his team.
During the meeting with the new Council Chairman, Erogbogbo, on behalf of IKODASS, congratulated him on his election and resumption in office as the Executive Chairman of the council.
“Once again, on behalf of the Ikorodu – Oga Development Association (IKODASS), I congratulate you and wish you a happy and successful administration in office”, Erogbogbo said.
While stating that he too emerged as the IKODASS Chairman about three months ago, Erogbogbo added he has been able to organize Timeout with Octogenarians in Ikorodu, Education Summit and also met with the Commissioner for Education in the state to discuss the implementation of the communique from the summit and also partnered with an organization to distribute food items to people.
He added that his administration has also been able to present its vision and mission alongside impacting programmes to be implemented in the next two years.
A copy of the mission statement of IKODASS under Erogbogbo was presented to the council chairman.
Erogbogbo stated that IKODASS is working towards holding a programme this month and another in September and solicited for the support of the council towards the success of the programmes.
“Just like you, I recently emerged the IKODASS Chairman with enormous responsibility to sustain the achievements of the past administration and at the same time, improve on it.
“We have organized ‘Timeout with Octogenarians’ and they were happy with it. We did not just intend to host them once and forget about it, we have plans to also embark on visitation to their homes.
“There will be another edition next month where we are going to bring another set of Octogenarians together. These old people love the programme and we shall continue to make them happy because they have served the community, state and the nation in their active days and it is now our duty, as a community, to also appreciate them”, he said.
“We have also organised an educational summit because of our concern about the state of education in Ikorodu and the summit was great. We also issued a communique which has been sent to stakeholders.
“We have also had a fruitful meeting with the Commissioner for Education on the implementation of the communique and we are not stopping”.
Speaking on the upcoming IKODASS events, Erogbogbo said that the association is planning Ambassadorial awards and IKODASS lndoor Games Youth Championship and called for the participation and support of youths in lkorodu West LCDA for successful outcomes.
“For this month, we are planning to have the IKODASS Ambassadorial awards to honour some people that are non – indigenes but who have been contributing to the social and economic developments of Ikorodu”, he said.
“These are people who have great interest in Ikorodu and from whom the town has benefited immensely from. With this, we intend to bring them closer and make them partners in progress”, he added.
“We are also coming up with a sporting engagement programme, ‘IKODASS lndoor Games Youth Championship”, that is going to be an annual event to help engage our youths and make them productive”, Erogbogbo told Hon. Sulaimon.
“It is also an avenue for us to create a platform for them to show their skills, develop them and expose them to local, state, national and international championships. We want to detect them from the grassroots.
“In this respect, we are going to need the intervention of the council to encourage young ones to participate fully. We want full participation of Ikorodu West LCDA and other Councils in the tournament because it is meant for our youths across the division and beyond.
“In addition, we want the Ikorodu West LCDA to support our effort in developing the youths by sponsoring any of our programmes. Through this, the council will enjoy branding, listing and mentioning in all our publicity, brochure and at the venues of the tournament”, he said.
He also assured that more of the IKODASS activities will be seen in Ikorodu West LCDA and other councils during his administration.
Further, Erogbogbo charged the Chairman to ensure that challenges being faced and those that he’s still going to face do not deter him from making giant strides and impacting positively on the residents of the council.
He also charged him to have plans in tackling every challenge that he is contending with so that he would know how to deploy the fund when it comes.
“I know that people’s expectations are high but I also know that you have the capacity to deliver on your promises”, he said.
“You will have to engage the people in your council and let them know about your challenges and how you intend to implement your programmes. Also, endeavour to let them know what you are expecting from them.
“We, as a body, are ready to assist our councils through our Citizens Assembly. Through this, you will bring the council to the people and at the same time, bring the people to the council.
“Our agenda, as a body, is to partner with government and NGOs in changing the narrative in Ikorodu”, Erogbogbo said.
Hon. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, welcoming the IKODASS Chairman and his team to his office, said that he was elected to solve problems and assured that he's prepared to do by turning around the situation in the council.
While stating that the challenges he is facing are enormous, Hon. Sulaimon stated that his administration has started by improving the morale of the staff and instilling discipline in them.
“I welcome you and your team to our council and we are glad to have you here”, he said while welcoming the IKODASS team.
“This is a council that is without any asset but I was elected to solve problems and not to complain and that is what we are doing.
“The first thing that we are doing is instilling discipline in our staff and boost their morale. This is what we intend to do without fighting them. It is about understanding and working together for progress and development.
“Part of our efforts to boost morale of our staff and make them productive is restoring the public electricity by contacting the PHCN and do the needful for them to reconnect the council back to the power grid.
“We are working towards improving the welfare of our workers because we need them to be productive, especially in the area of revenue generation.
“We have great challenges that we are faced with but we are also doing everything to tackle these challenges and make the council move forward”, he added.
He also pledged to partner with IKODASS in developing youths in the council.
“You can be rest assured that Ikorodu West LCDA will participate actively. I am going to consult with the necessary departments to see how our council can get our youths to participate in the indoor games tournament and other IKODASS programmes and activities”, he said.
