There is palpable joy amongst the residents of Odi -Olowo Ojuwoye LCDA right now. And the euphoria has been in the air around the community since the inauguration and swearing-in of the newly elected Executive Chairman of the LCDA, Hon. Seyi Jakande. And the reasons for their excitement are not far-fetched.
Hon. Seyi Jakande was part of the previous administration headed by Hon. Rasaq Ajala that performed tremendously well in eight years. Hon. Seyi Jakande played a pivotal role in that administration as the vice chairman, deputizing for his boss at the time. He performed oversight functions, working closely with all the parastats under the LCDA. He distinguished himself as a highly dedicated and proactive Chairman whom the immediate past President found to be absolutely loyal and reliable. Hon. Rasaq Ajala was always confident that, with his vice, Hon. Seyi Jakande beside him, he could go to sleep knowing the affairs of the LCDA was in capable hands. And this very deep and profound bond that existed between them reflected in their working relationship which in turn reflected in the volume of achievements they recorded together as a team. This is why everyone in the community looked forward to the emergence of Hon. Seyi Jakande as the new Executive Chairman during the local government chairmanship election that held recently across Lagos state. They knew that, with Hon. Seyi Jakande at the helm of affairs, his administration would be a continuation of top notch performance across all spheres of the community. It will be another four great years of academic excellence and improved social welfare and security delivery for the people of Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye LCDA.
Last week, City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) and TIMOTHY FOWOMOLA engaged the very quiet, soft-spoken and brilliant administrator, Hon. Seyi Jakande, and got him to share some of his plans with us. And the gentleman, who happens to be one of the sons of the legendary Alhaji Lateef Jakande, a man regarded as perhaps the most celebrated Lagos State Governor in terms of his achievements, showed why the people voted for him enmass. His intelligence and commitment to meeting the expectations of the people shone all through the conversation. Enjoy excerpts.
Congratulations, on your emergence as the new chairman of Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye local government. what were some of the factors that helped you triumph at the polls?
I think the most important and significant factor is the fact that I was the Vice Chairman in this local government. Having served as a vice chairman for eight years, I think people did appreciate the impact that we have been able to achieve in those eight years. And of course, they demanded for a continuity of what we have been able to do in those eight years. So I think that was a very significant impact, the fact that in eight years we’ve been able to change the narrative within our community and then the appreciation that the prospect that continuation offers . And of course, going into the election, I’ve also developed a solution, which I anchored around the HEWA agenda. You know, having worked for eight years, it was easy for me to project in the next step, how we progress and how we move forward. So, for me, I think it was a field ambition.
It was a journey that was an aspiration that actually started with a lot of great hopes and a lot of determination, that all that has been achieved over the years must definitely be sustained for us to move forward progressively.
Is this present position a defining moment in politics for you?
Every person’s moments is a definition of God’s wish. So I believe that it’s a starting point. I believe that occupying the position as Executive Chairman from the position of the Vice Chairman has actually given me that opportunity to acquire enough experience, both in the political field and the administrative field. That has actually helped me, that on assumption of office, getting to the office, I was able to hit the ground running from the very first day.
Now, beyond the fact that you served as Vice for eight years and, of course, you were a very integral part of all the transformation that took place, that must have given you some sort of confidence going into the elections. But were there moments that you had doubts? Were there situations that came up that gave you concerns that it wasn’t going to be a landslide victory for you? Share with us some of those challenging moments leading to the elections.
Well, for me, I would say that every contest comes with its own challenge. And in order for you to actually go into a race, you must be prepared to lose. There’s two sides of a coin, win or lose. You know, when you go into a race where there is a spot for somebody to lose, you know, you have to be very, very careful and be on top of the game. But all I did was to aspire to win and I did everything that would make me win. I consulted with all the leaders, I consolidated on my relationship with the people within the community. And you know, having been together for eight years in the capacity as Vice Chairman, of course, I could read the tempo and the feelings and the yearnings of the people and, of course, their demands.
You know, so I did my whole agenda in such a manner that I know where this administration was going to climax on our agenda on the first, last four years and, of course, where we need to start off. So it was easy for me to project ahead, Put a plan that’s comprehensive, that shows and IS tailored to what the people within the community actually deserves. So we know their demands. We know what is necessary. We know where we’re going to stop, I mean, in the current administration and we know appropriately the way to start for. And most of the programs that, of course, we intend to sustain that we have initiated in the past eight years, I was an integral part of us, those policy making and decisions So it’s not going to be a difficult task for me to continue to sustain those programs that have endeared us to the people of the community. So I believe, honestly, that I did more than enough to win because at a point, people were saying, where are the opponents? I didn’t relent, my eyes were set on the target. I ensured that I didn’t close my eyes until the job was done.
The last time we spoke, we spoke extensively about your legendary dad, the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande. What sort of influence would you say his legacy also had in your emergence in terms of influencing people to support you, to want to consider giving you that benefit of doubt in terms of performance? Would you say that also played some role in your emergence?
So I believe that, of course, I’m very grateful to my late dad for creating a very exciting legacy, by way of family and blood and of course, in the public view, it has impacted a lot on me. And I want to say that. that’s actually helped me in my public life, serving as a vice chairman for 8 years. So the merit is not just being a vice chairman, the merit in it is serving well, creating a balanced support system for that administration, and ensuring that all of our promises and campaign pledges are truly implemented, giving the executive chairman and all of the team a value support kind of system that ensures that we deliver on all our promises. So I think that that rich pedigree where I come from, actually enhanced me in that capacity. And then, of course, I’ve been able to maintain and sustain such pedigree.
So it’s not just being a vice, but the fact that we have been able to contribute significantly in the affairs and the running of the executive position of the local government as a vice chairman and, of course, to deliver on all that we have been doing. So that is what the people have seen. That is what the leaders have actually appreciated and evaluated on all that we have done, and believe that the best person that can actually move us forward from this stage to the destination, to give the people of Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye a greater prosperity was me, as the vice chairman to step in the same position as the Executive chairman.
Having served as vice chairman for 8 years, there’s no doubt you and your predecessor have achieved a lot. Can you give us two things that you are going to do differently now that you are occupying the seat?
Government is a continuum. What we have done is to stabilize on the achievements that we have done by way of continuity, by way of sustaining all that has been done and, of course, bringing in new innovations for the good people of Odi -Olowo Ojuwoye. So, all that we have done in the past 8 years, you know, people-centered programs, in the areas of education, in the areas of sports, in the areas of health, just like what we have been doing over the years. We have been consistent in our programs. We have ensured that every, every year we have returned more enhanced on the same program, adding new innovations, putting things that we need to correct, and of course, making sure that these things become more impactful, expanded, and all of that.
So we continue to do that, we continue to experience that all our programs have been introduced. We continue to try to play back annually all that we have done and ensure that all of the little errors that we have noticed in the previous year are corrected and things are made better and put in proper perspective so that people can continue to enjoy the dividends of democracy. We have new innovations. It’s a journey and you know, we have a clear visions to see where we’re taking these communities to. And we’re not going to limit on anything to ensure that we deliver and make sure that a greater Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye is definitely achieved. We have initiated it, we’ve built on the foundation, we will continue to build on that foundation so that every child, every adult, every female, every member of this community will have a fair share of the dividends of democracy coming to them, that’s it.
From all that you have enumerated, what are your immediate priorities right now?
So, we have anchored our campaign on the HEWA agenda. HEWA agenda is the H, which stands for health, and you know, where we talk about health and environment. We're talking about the E, which stands for education empowerment where we empower our children in schools, and of course, the W for works and security, and then the A for agricultural and tourism. So, getting into office, we have started early from day one. The first assignment as a Chief of Security, your first job is to ensure that the lives and property within this community are safe, and that's why the very first thing we did after, of course, the management meeting is to conduct the peace and security meeting, initiate it, get the results from all the police units, and then immediately took a decision to address some of the very serious security risk that was coming as a challenge in certain areas. To be specific, the one on Ogunmokun bridge where we have a series of reports of robbery that have been going on there in the past few months.
So, what we do is to set up a joint task force to address that issue, set up a task force that comprises of all of the police divisions within this community, you know, the DSS security, the neighborhood watch, and of course, our own agency which is the OTEC. We have combined all of this together to aggressively address the security issue in Ogunmokun and to the grace of God, it was a big success. We had a lot of arrests in the first three days and almost 45 to 50 people were apprehended for various crimes of robbery and attempts to steal and all of that within the first three days. And on the fourth day, we launched our Light Up Ogunmokun solar program, starting with that area, making sure that the whole of that axis on Ogunmokun Bridge is all lit up, using the solar and introduce CCTV cameras so that we can relax with 24 hours surveillance on that bridge and that was what gave us a result. Excellent result. Till date, that place is safe. No arrests has been made because nobody's stealing anymore.
So, we continue to sustain that in that area of security, you know, and the special task force is here to stay. This is an agency that we have established. Even as we speak, they are ready to move at any time to see where there's any trouble, where we have a challenge in terms of security and all that within the whole community. So, all the police divisions have been working together. They have a strong synergy with all the security agencies within this community. And we have also, in the same way, extended that to the area of education where we're having an intense two-weeks ICT training for the good people of Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye and we had a very impressive turnout.
The target was to have about 200 students trained, but we had an impressive turnout of more than 500, giving us a lot of difficult time trying to screen and scrutinize to ensure that we're able to put these numbers to the specified numbers of people that we can occupy within that space because this is an ICT center, you need to look at the facility that can accommodate them. But we will continue to see how we're expanding it so that they can accommodate more people or to see how we can do it more frequently.
In the same vein, we're also kicking off with our annual GCE form, where we begin to advertise to give indigent students, more than 250, GCE forms. And as usual, which is a practice, we don't just give out these forms to GCE students, we ensure that people that will benefit are people that are very serious, people that must have passed and scaled killed a certain percentage using our qualifying exam method, and ensure that people that actually will benefit from this will get it based on their status as indigent and also on merits having passed through those our qualifying exams.
And of course, these exams are tailored towards the syllabus of the WAEC, so they get the merit and also prepare other students towards the forthcoming exam even if they don't benefit from the GCE.
How do you plan on engaging the youth and getting them involved in activities that will get them busy?
Well, since we assumed office, which was only a short while ago, there has not been a specific youth engagement, but however, we have a series of engagements from day one. I'm sure you've witnessed a few of them while you're waiting. Yes, we do have other youth caucuses but all of the organizations have one youth structure or another, either as a youth leader or as a youth ambassador, one way or the other. So, for every engagement, for every organization and all of these stakeholders that we have engaged from day one, there's always a representative of the youth in all of that.
And we have great plans. You know, we started the Chairman’s Cup, Odi-Olowo. This is an event that started from the previous administration and will run through this administration and we'll finalize it in September. So, it shows that we have a synergy and stability from the previous government, you know, an extension of what has been going on from the previous government and climaxing in this government. And it's more than three months into the government and everything has been smooth, nothing is affecting the other. Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye is a work in progress. It's a continuation of service. It's a continuation of what has started, we will just continue to keep to all that we have done right. So, we have moved in, you know, very easily, smoothly and we continue to make progress.
Finally, you spent 8 years as vice to the immediate past chairman. Now, you just started your first four years and hopefully you'll get elected for another four years. What were those significant lessons in terms of experience that you learnt in the last 8 years that will help you go the long haul of the first four years and then, by the grace of God, the next four years after? What are those things that you picked along the way that will help you drive your ship for the next 8 years?
I think I was lucky to have been able to find myself as vice chairman to a very hard-working executive chairman and that has actually shaped me, prepared me for the challenges ahead. So, working in the executive capacity as chairman, is not a lot different from vice chairman in the sense that you, the buck stops on your table. You have to make decisive decisions. So, the experience I've gathered over the years as a vice chairman has really been valuable. And luckily, the vice chairman position gives you also an overview of all of the parastatals and administration of the local government. And working with the chairman, I've been able to take some critical decisions and steps in implementing all of our projects. So, I’m more than prepared, I have found it extremely very comfortable, no sweat at all. I’m very, very prepared with a clear vision and of course, very determined that, from day one, every step we take, takes us forward, and we're not going backwards.
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