Hon. Adedamola Richard Kasunmu a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly Ikeja Constituency 2 during the Town Hall Meeting held on Thursday 29th October 2020 held simultaneously by all the State Assembly Members under the Speakership of Hon Mudashiru Obasa having spoken extensively on the activities and achievements of Lagos State House of Assembly as an institution in the last one year, permit me to now digress a little and come closer home.
The year 2020 has been a year like no other. It is a year that looks like many years rolled into one. Just as we were smarting out of Covid-19 lockdown that hit everyone like a thunderbolt, another disruption erupted like a earthquake. It is a year that showed God reigns supreme in the affairs of men and that, there is power in unity when we come together for a common purpose.
ENDSARS PROTEST AND THE FUTURE
Permit me to briefly talk about the recent events in respect to ENDSARS protest. Despite the undesirable crescendo of the protests which rocked our states and other parts of the country last week, one major take-away from it is that, there is great hope for our country Nigeria if the people of my generation can sincerely come together and form a united, positive and patriotic coalition. But we need tact, insight and more wisdom to achieve this.
Being a youth and a former Chairman, House Committee on Youth, Sports and Social Development, my support for the ENDSARS protest ab initio was total and this in conformity with the position of Lagos State House of Assembly which passed a timely resolution recommending the dissolution of SARS even before the Federal Government acted. As a matter of fact, I personally made several placards with various inscriptions expressing support for the demands of the protest in preparation to join the protest before things went awry.
It is indeed unfortunate that, such a peaceful and innovative protest was highjacked by enemies of good things who unleashed coordinated terror and on our state.
As we have all seen, the destruction was monumental and very tragic across the state.
Ikeja Constituency 2 was also not spared. Critical state infrastructure and institution were attacked and wilfully looted or burnt down. In our constituency, especially in the Ojodu axis, the following places were attacked:
1.BRT Terminal at Berger where all the ultra-modern buses got burnt to ashes
2.Lagos State Public Works Corporation also at Berger was attacked and viciously looted
3.Federal Road Safety Corps office was burnt down with several vehicles
4.Vehicle Inspection Services (VIO) office was also attacked and burnt
5.Ojodu Police Division was set on fire, with several vehicles and adjoining businesses going up in flames
6.Ojodu Primary School was also tragically razed
7.Ojodu LCDA Secretariat was also attacked and vandalised.
This is just to mention a few. It was indeed a sad occurrence in our constituency.
I want to seize this opportunity to commiserate with our dear Governor and the people of Lagos State, especially those in our constituency who lost dear ones or valuable properties to this incidence.
My special condolences also go to the victims of the reported Lekki Toll Gate shooting and all our security agencies who lost their lives in the line of duty during the crises. May God comfort their families and restore these loses.
I firmly believe in the ability of our government to get to the root of this matter to ensure that justice is perfectly served. Fortunately, one of our brilliant youth in Ikeja, Temitope Majek is among the Judicial panel of Inquiry recently inaugurated by the state government, I have no doubt that Majek and his colleagues will represent the youth constituency and our political constituency very well at the panel.
Having said that, I want to quickly commend our community youth across the constituency for standing strong and for defending our communities against external aggressors, even in the face of vicious violence. Big ups.
I also appreciate the youth who came out in oneness last weekend to carry out clean-up exercises in major parts of the constituency shortly after the attacks. You did a great job and we are proud of you all. God bless you.
Lastly I want to appeal to my people, the youth. ENDSARS has given us a formidable platform upon which we can build a better Nigeria, let us use it with tact.
Let us continue to shun violence in our communities and state. Let us continue to encourage one another and let us continue to support each other.
On my part, I count it as a privileged to be your legislator and representative and so my doors are open to you all at any time. A Youth summit is in the picture.
Working with the state government and other stakeholders, we will to bring succour and solace to those who have lost one thing or the other to this incidence. An assessment exercise of the extent of the damages in Ikeja Constituency 2 has commenced already and when this is concluded it will determine the level of support to be put together.
Once again, I want to sincerely thank you all for coming and I also thank you for listening.
Together we shall make Ikeja Constituency 2 great and Lagos will recover.
HealLagos
WeMove
HON. KASUNMU’S Highlighted hus SCORECARD from OCTOBER 2019-OCTOBER 2020
Between the last time we met in September last year and now, quite a number of things had happened. We lost almost over half of the year to COVID-19 pandemic, but despite this, below are how far we were able to go in terms of representation.
1— LAW-MAKING AND OVERSIGHT FUNCTIONS—In October 2019, the Leadership of the House of Assembly appointed me as CHAIRMAN, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON LANDS. In this capacity I have been involved in various land dispute resolutions across the state and carried out oversight functions to a number of government schemes across board. I have also been actively involved in law-making processes through insightful contributions on the floor of the House. My contributions often form part of the resolution of the house. An example of this is the Market Board resolution.
2—FREE GCE REGISTRATION---Two-Hundred (200) Students from across the constituency benefitted from ARK FREE GCE REGISTRATION 2020. This cut across all out 10 wards as well as various groups and subgroups. The cost of each Registration is N15, 000 bringing the total to N3MILLION.
3—EDUCATION ENHANCEMENT—Over 1000 school girls benefitted from ARK EDUCATION ENHANCEMENT INITIATIVE.
Under the phase 1 and 2 of this programme, we partnered with Ms Jonna Gudmundsen from the Republic of Denmark and Hameedah Poverty Relief Foundation of Nigeria to educate, train and empower our school girls across the constituency on menstrual hygiene and other vital aspects of school life.
(Some of our women leaders, councillors and youth leaders seated here, assisted me in making the programme a success in Ojodu and Ikeja). The third phase of the initiative will focus on the boys.
4—SPORTS --A number of constituency youth won various cash Prizes and trophy during ARK 8-LEGEND BALL SNOOKER COMPETITION held at Presken Hotel, Ikeja in January, which I sponsored 100%.
Celebrities like Saheed Balogun, Tunde Blackk and others were in attendance as well as some of our Youth Leaders. More competitions will take place before the end of the year 2020.
5—YOUTH DEVELOPMENT—
(i)-Ten (10) youths from Ikeja Constituency 2 got my sponsorship to participate in IBILE YOUTH ACADEMY LEADERSHIP TRAINING. Out of these, one Miss Yewande Oseni emerged as one of the finalists and she is currently representing Lagos State a DEPUTY DIVISIONAL YOUTH AMBASSADOR for Ikeja.
(i)- One of our Constituency entertainers, Ahmadu Shanana (a.k.a Shana Show) got enlisted to perform at Greater Lagos Fiesta through my recommendation last December. We intend to use his platform to support and inspire other upcoming acts.
(c)-Another youth, Segun Benson (JP) from Ikeja got sponsorship to Jerusalem pilgrimage from my office.
6—EMPLOYMENT/VOCATIONAL SUPPORT—
(i)--Unlike the previous year, the number employment I successfully processed was quite low. Out of 31 employment processed, only 20 % have so far gottheir employment letters. These include one (1) Medical Doctor, Two (2) LASTMA and Three (3) with LSPWC. The remaining, which cut across Teaching Service, Health Service, NDE and others are still at various stages as at today 29th October, 2020. As soon as they get their letters, we will announce.
(i)-Also Five (5) Vulcanizers and Two (2) Barbers benefitted from State Government empowerment through my office.
7—FACILITATION OF ROADS REPAIR—Some of the roads nominated to the state Government for repairs from my office include:
(i)-Aina Street (Ojodu)
(ii)-Odozi Street(Ojodu)
(iii)-Ogunlowo Street(Ikeja)
(iv)-Mojidi Street (Ikeja) and a number of others.
8—N25 MILLION COVID-19 RESPONSE: The total figure spent in my response to COVID-19 from the beginning of the pandemic till after the ease of lockdown was over Twenty Five (N25) Million Naira. This covered:
(i)-Production and distribution of 5000 units of 250 ML Hand Sanitizers
(ii)-Production and distribution of 5000 high quality Nose Masks
(iii)-Purchase and distribution of FOOD PALLIATIVES in three Phases.
(iv)-Under ARK COVID-19 CASH SUPPORT, over 500 Constituents benefitted from Direct Cash Transfer in sums ranging from a minimum of N5000 to N50, 000 during the lockdown period.
(v)-Production and distribution of enlightenment and awareness materials
9—OTHER FINANCIAL ASSISATANCE—One Hundred and Two (102) Constituents got quality Financial Assistance in various sums to sort out personal needs ranging from Business support, health, accommodation, social and other needs. Total TRACEABLE money spent on Financial Assistance within this period is N5.6M. This excludes Christmas, Sallah and COVID-19 cash reach-out.
10—PROVISION OF BOREHOLE WATER—Last month (September), I initiated the process of drilling boreholes in FOUR (4) Locations in the constituency. These locations include:
(i)-Ipodo
(ii)-Ojodu main (Aina)
(iii)-Yakoyo
(iv)-Anifowose
I have liaised with the leaders of these communities and good locations have been identified. The project would have gotten to an advanced stage by now, if not for the interruption by protests in the last three (3) weeks.
By the Grace of God, we will expedite action on the borehole project and complete them in record time.
There are many other things we have done but time will not permit me to give you more details here.
Once again I thank you all for your support and cooperation. I promise to keep serving and representing you better in the journey ahead.
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