My Quest is to Rid Alimosho of Dormancy in its Representation …Honorable Akinsanya

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  • He is young, versatile and well exposed to the tenets of leadership, a farmer, an entrepreneur, a youth advocate, a Muslim Yoruba man married to his lovely Christian Igbo wife. He is HONOURABLE AKINSANYA ABDULAZEEZ AKINWALE, the candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for the House of Representatives representing Alimosho Federal Constituency. In this interview with the Publisher, ABEL LAZARUS, he bares his mind on his aspiration, experience and his LET agenda for his constituents.
  • Excerpts:
    TAM: Can we meet you Sir?
    AAA: My names are Akinsanya Abdulazeez Akinwale, the candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for the House of Representatives to represent Alimosho Federal Constituency,
    a graduate of Business Administration from the Polytechnic Ibadan and holder of Masters in Project Development and implementation from the prestigious University of Ibadan. I am a grounded son of Alimosho having lived here for over 38years and had all my primary, secondary and tertiary education while in Alimosho. I am an entrepreneur and a farmer with a cattle farm in Shokoto behind Lafemwa in Ogun State. I have worked in both the private and public sectors with vast experience by traveling wide and far within Nigeria and outside. I am also a youth advocate by forming progressives youth forum with few friends with the aim of empowering the youths and leading by example through mentoring. Most importantly, I am a Muslim Alhaji and married to a beautiful Igbo Catholic Christian lady.
  • TAM: How long have you been in politics?
  • AAA: My political career started way back in the days of Social Democratic Party. I have been active at the background but have not participated in any elective office. My venturing into politics is as a result of inherent failures of the representatives of Alimosho and the gross imbalance in the polity as it affects the most populated local government in West Africa. Alimosho with her population and having just two constituencies in the state, it is unpardonable that it will only be represented at the federal level by just a member as it poses a serious threat for the development of Alimosho. Other local government not as big as Alimosho are represented by two or more members. This obviously has its negative impacts on its youths as they lack the needed opportunities.
  • Hon. Abdulazeez Akinsanya
    Hon. Abdulazeez Akinsanya

    TAM: How well do you know Alimosho LGA?

  • AAA: I have lived in Alimosho for over 38years of my life. I know Alimosho in and out; a peaceful environment with the largest population of divergent cultures with businesses and development rising, yet it has not recorded any instance of communal clash.
  • TAM: Why do you want to represent Alimosho at the House of Representatives?
  • AAA: Those representing Alimosho until now are all dormant representatives and that is my major reason of contesting because we can’t continue this way. Alimosho deserves better than what has been imposed on us. There is need to have more vibrant representatives than what we currently have. As big as Alimosho is, it’s sad that it’s representative has not been able to push for any bill in over three and half years, no constituency project or any form of empowerment can be seen while our youths are left to rot in poverty with graduates roaming the streets because of no jobs. This we must change. It’s time to build a system that will focus on youth development . My LET agenda stands for Leadership, Empowerment and Transparency.
  • TAM: What will you be offering people of Alimosho if elected?
  • AAA: My LET agenda is focusing on leadership empowerment and transparency; for one to be a leader there are prerequisites expected of such a person and this is why I will be focusing on providing basic education for every interested resident of Alimosho. Education remains a major bane of development in Alimosho as the world is gradually metamorphosing into a digital era and which only the educated will be able to adapt. I will create database and applications for the artisans like tailors, plumbers and what have you to enable them tap into the digital age. The program will drive on empowering those in one trade or the other unlike the current situation where a vulcanizer is given Keke as an empowerment program thereby forcing him to close his trade for a temporal income method that usually doesn’t last. My empowerment will focus on helping with the modern technologies that relate to ones trade/business. Transparency will be my way of accounting for all derivables accruing to my constituency through regular engagement with constituents.
  • TAM: What is your assessment of the current representative?
  • AAA: He has performed below par and the reason is obvious going by the number of people trying to unseat him from that position. It is laughable to have a representative who has not moved any bill for his entire stay in the house. With his profile, I had expected better than what is playing out presently. Alimosho deserves better a representative.
  • TAM: Alimosho remains the most populated Federal Constituency in Nigeria today. What are your strategies in meeting her demands?
  • AAA: It’s very easy, the reason others have failed in meeting the need of the constituents is that they are never on ground. Once they are voted in, they relocate to other parts of the state abandoning the constituents. My strategy will be to have regular regular interaction with my constituents, hence their needs will be identified. The work of a representative is to make sure that his or her people get their due and this is what am going to do.
  • TAM: Your party, the People’s Democratic Party seem to be finding it very tough in marshalling out her campaign. How would you say this will affect your aspiration?
    AAA: The challenge we have is that the ruling party has continually flouted the peace pact signed in late December 2018 and early January 2019. The pact ordered all parties to refrain from defacing other parties’ campaign materials but what we get today is once your poster is pasted, by the following morning the APC would have used their posters to cover ours. We are not deterred because we are aware that posters don’t win elections. We are adopting other methods of reaching out to the people who are already choked with the present situation and only waiting for the elections to express their anger. Nigerians today are able to compare where we are now and where we were before 2015. The election is obviously going to be a referendum against bad governance. We are also happy on what they are doing which confirms PDP as a threat to their continued being in power.

  • Hon. Abdulazeez Akinsanya
    Hon. Abdulazeez Akinsanya
  • TAM: Vote buying is obviously a menace in this general election. How are you educating your supporters?
  • AAA: My team’s position is very simple on the issue of vote buying. I don’t ask them not to sell their vote rather I make them to understand that if someone gives you N10,000 for your vote he has succeeded in giving you just N2,500 for each of the four year term which translate to about N7.00 a day. If it’s okay for you then sell it and mind you, you have succeeded in selling your future and that of unborn generations. Nigerians are aware of the gimmicks and they are ready to move against the politicians. I call them politicians because am not. I am a citizen with empathy for my people.

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