Kunle Adelabu
Lekan Aroyewun Project, the political movement of the former aspirant for the Ikorodu Constituency II seat, Mr Hammed Olalekan Aroyewun (HOA), has declared its support for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming general elections, Mr Aro Moshood Abiodun, popularly called ‘AMA’.
However, the group, comprises of vibrant and articulate young men, is not just endorsing the candidate, but has also decided to make available its agenda for AMA in its quest to partner him in advancing the constituency.
In a statement released on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, and signed by its Director – General, Mr Nurudeen Oshinlaja, titled, ‘AMA will Carve a Niche for Himself’, the LeAP management team charged the APC candidate to focus on educational and youth developments as important ways of developing the abundant human resources available in the constituency.
According to the LeAP DG, this is the first of series of our engagements with AMA, aimed at supporting and advancing his candidacy and ensure that he wins the election with a landslide victory.
The group also assured members of the public that the APC candidate will deliver and make positive impacts on the Ikorodu Constituency II, stating that Rep. Babajimi Benson mentorship and inspirational leadership couple with that of Sen. Tokunbo Abiru will be the much needed boost that would spur AMA into quality performance.
“Moreso, the proverb that “ọmọ kò ní bá ipele ńilé kí ó ṣì aṣọ dá” (a person who is bequeathed with enough shawls or headties would not choose wrong clothes) is apt here. No matter how short the mentorship has been, AMA is condemned to deliver excellently as JB (Rep. Babajimi Benson) has done strategically and graciously for years.
“That you have a mentor like JB who has ‘projectified’ legislative duties without abdicating the legislative duties is a big plus for AMA and the constituency. Additionally, the ‘doing good’ senator (Sen. Abiru) provides more inspiration that will certainly make AMA fire on all cylinders”, he added.
LeAP, while charging the candidate to invest in education by supporting the existing efforts across the three councils in Ikorodu Constituency II, stated that his intervention in this area would not only compliment efforts of Rep. JB, state government and community based organizations, but also brings about sustainability.
“For synergy, AMA will carve a niche for himself in at least 3 broad areas.
“Spearheading active beyond-the-classroom educational engagements. Evidence shows that the 3 LCDAs of Igbogbo/Baiyeku, Ijede and Imota try to improve on doing the basics to sustain primary education in the constituency with commendable support from the likes of JB. It is also gathered that the Lagos State government has, aside the normal running of the state’s secondary schools, begun to cover the infrastructural deficiencies in the schools”, Oshinlaja said.
“There is firm assurance that AMA will spearhead active ‘beyond-the-classroom’ educational engagements in the whole constituency.
“The achievements recorded by the education programme of the annual Igbogbo Day Festival attests to how important it is to drive active ‘beyond-the-classroom’ educational engagements. For example, the prizes graciously given to the annual winner of Igbogbopedia by IBLCDA will motivate not only the winners, but also other students. The Ijede Development Foundation (IDF) has also great feat in the past years with its quiz and debate among schools and more importantly, the IDF award of scholarship and establishment of an ICT training centre”, he added.
“Another focus might be to domesticate the Lagos State Coding School Programme in our constituency. This is one programme that will help students and youths a lot. Skills therein are useful for academic works, entertainment works, business operations and may be further developed for novel software development business. Thorough training for as few as 5 enrollees per LCDA per year (or as the case may be) will go a long way”, he said.
The group also charged AMA to assist public servants from the constituency in programmes to develop them and improve their capacities.
“Another novel idea is what I call ‘Career Advancement Qualification & Training’. One of the highlights of the Igbogbo Day’s public service day was the encouragement given to public servants to continue to develop themselves.
“This advice applies to all engaged individuals in various sectors. But many of the trainings and qualifications will gulp a lot of expenses before they can be completed. An intervention by AMA in this area will be massive. The benefits to our constituency is that there will be a large pool of highly qualified and experienced human capital who will further advance the development of the constituency.
“When AMA begins to implement his ideas, God willing, from May 2023, total education will regain its pride in our constituency”.
As somebody who has been engaging in youth development through sports and other activities, LeAP enjoined AMA to continue in that line to empower large number of youths in the Constituency II.
“If his selfless contributions to social wellbeing, youth emancipation, and sports development (as typified by his recent supports and sponsorship for the Igbogbo Day’s beauty pageant, youth empowerment packages, and the well-packaged boxing competition) are to be extrapolated, one can imagine that a lot of social intervention packages will be implemented by AMA”, he said.
“Again, the immense support provided by JB’s iCare in this regard cannot be overstated”, he said.
On the other hand, the LeAP DG charged constituents to support and vote AMA for them to smile.
