Kunle Adelabu & Kenneth Odede Efezino
-Our govt will focus on women, children, special people
The Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Abdulazziz Olajide Adediran Jandor has explained that his gubernatorial campaign visits to every nook and cranny of Lagos State was designed to enable him and his running mate have better understanding of the conditions of the residents and what they require of him.
Jandor, whose campaign train arrived in Ikorodu on Tuesday for a three-day campaign tour of the Ikorodu Division of Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria, has disclosed.
On his arrival on Tuesday, Jandor, his running mate, Funke Akindele and members of his entourage were at strategic locations and visited various interest groups, while it was the turn of Ibeshe, Igbogbo, Offin, Oreta, Ijede and Imota on Wednesday.
Today, the team covered Majidun, Isele, Agbede, Odogunyan, Agbala, Ajina and Aga, to draw curtain on the marathon visitation. They also visited some religious leaders and interest groups.
Addressing members of his party, supporters and residents of Igbogbo at the open space beside MALOK Petrol Station, Igbogbo, on Wednesday, Jandor said they are bringing their campaigns closer to the people in the grassroots to feel them and know their requests.
“I am sure what we are witnessing today is not something that we see every day because I don’t know if you have seen anybody who wants to be Governor that has come into this place before. Their style is for them to go to the Town hall and return to Ikeja, but for me and Funke, we have said that the State that we want to govern, we will see the people and we also want the people to see us not only on posters”, PDP Governorship candidate explained.
“We have said that the State that we want to Govern, we will make sure we enter everywhere for us to understand what it is and how it is, so that when we get to the office, we will know how to go about it.
“So, this is why we took our campaign to all the wards. We have been in Ikorodu since yesterday (Tuesday). We have been everywhere, so that we can see the state of our State and how our people are living.
“We also want you to feel and hear that person who wants to be your Governor, as against the one you only see on posters and these are the things we are doing differently”, Jandor added.
Jandor said that his administration will change the narratives of administering the state, adding that his government will accord its residents respect.
“We are going to assure you that this coming election is for me and your sister from Ikorodu, Funke Akindele. We are going to be the Governor and the Deputy Governor of the State”, he said with authority.
“What we are doing differently for the first time in the history of Lagos is that, we want to run a friendly government; we want to run a government that will stop discriminating between the non – Yoruba speaking and the Yoruba speaking people.
“We want to run a government that will respect you and your market where you trade, not the one that will be terrorizing you in your market; we want to run a government that all of you will beat your chest and say that is our Governor and his Deputy, we are the one who put them there and not one man. This is what we are going to do differently”, he emphasised.
He assured residents of Ikorodu that special attention would be paid to the Division by his administration, especially in the area of road infrastructures.
“We have entered everywhere in Ikorodu since yesterday(Tuesday), and we have seen a lot of negligence that Ikorodu is facing, but we are coming back to pay attention to all the inner roads and fix them”, he said.
The PDP Governorship candidate also said that his deputy, when he becomes the governor of the state, will ensure that special considerations are given to women and children.
“The assignment my Deputy is coming to do is to give our women and children special attention”, Jandor said.
“We are going to give you empowerment, not the type that they will give you noodles and some other things. We will give you money to set up your business, so that you will be in the position to give people noodles, that is what we are going to do.
“My President, the Sixteenth President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has promised that he is going to set aside the sum of 10 billion dollars for the women empowerment and the Youth empowerment program, and that part of the money will come to Lagos. So, that is what we are going to use to empower our people”, he added.
“We will also be giving our children special attention, we will make sure that anybody who makes an attempt to beat our children or our women, goes to jail”, he threatened.
Speaking on his agenda for people with special needs, Jandor said that his government would create a ministry to take care of the needs with a special person in charge.
“We are also saying that from 2023, we are going to have a government that will be paying special attention to our vulnerable”, he said.
“For the first time, we are going to start the Ministry of Children Affairs. We will also create a Ministry for people living with disabilities, so that we will give to them what is due to them because they are part of our society and also one of them will be the Commissioner, so that in everything we are doing across the state, we will be able to accommodate them.
“This is how we intend to run a Government of inclusiveness and I want to congratulate you, the people of Ikorodu, because you will be having a Deputy Governor from this Division”, he added.
“Thank you all for waiting and receiving us well, and don’t let them lie to you that the Governorship votes are for PDP and others for those in another party, that is a lie, because this election is for PDP from top to bottom. God bless you”, he said.
Among the PDP chieftains at the rally were: the Deputy Governorship Candidate of PDP, Mrs Funke Akindele, PDP Chairman in Ikorodu, Dr Olanrewaju Oshin, Senatorial Candidate of the PDP Lagos East Senatorial District, Mr. Nicolas Akobada, a contender for Ikorodu Federal Constituency Seat, Mr Awesu Adekunle AbdulAzeez, Lagos State House Assembly candidate for Ikorodu Constituency 2, Prince Oyebo, Mr Lawrence, the Chairman of the Non-Indigenes in Igbogbo and several others.
