I will participate fully in bringing dividends of democracy to our constituency — Engr. Tunji Akinosi
Engr. ‘Tunji Akinosi, is a Member-elect, House of Representatives, Ado Odo/Ota Federal Constituency. In this interview with SUSAN ONI, he speaks on grassroots politics and what his constituency people should expect.
Good day, sir. Can you please introduce yourself?
I am Engr. ‘Tunji Akinosi, I am a member-elect for House of Representatives for the good people of Ado Odo Ota Federal Constituency.
Can you please tell us your profile?
I am a Mechanical Engineer, I hold a Master’s degree in Engineering MEng, a Master’s degree in Project Management and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
I was a civil servant in the Ministry of Communications before delving into politics. I have been privileged to be chairman of Ado Odo Ota Local Government, I was Commissioner for Agriculture in Ogun State between 2008 and 2011, and also Commissioner for Forestry between 2019 and 2022.
We congratulate you once again on your victory as the House of Reps-elect for Ado Odo/Ota Federal Constituency. How do you feel about your victory, and what should we be expecting at Ado Odo Ota Federal Constituency as you would be assuming the office by May 29?
First, I thank God and secondly I appreciate my boss, our God sent Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, my leaders and my constituents, the good people of Ado Odo Ota Federal Constituency!
As per expectations, they are high and part of the thing we can talk about is the size of our federal constituency, according to the INEC register, we can clearly see that almost three hundred and fifty thousand (350,000) people registered for that election and ours is a federal constituency with the largest concentration of industries and Ado Odo/Ota Federal Constituency expects more from the Federal Government.
There will be bills we need to work on so that we can make the federal government put more interest in our constituency. Over 70 per cent of our roads are federal roads and we have put so much into the purse of the Federal Government, so we are now saying the Federal Government should see what we are contributing and what we are going through.
We hope you are not going to be an Honourable member that will be sitting in the chamber without doing anything, and are you giving the people of Ado Odo Ota assurance that you are going to deliver?
By the grace of God, I will deliver. All I know is that I will not sit in that chamber and just watch other legislators deviate from what we are elected to do. I will participate fully in discussions and of course bring the dividends of democracy to our constituency.
What do you think the second term of Governor Abiodun means to the people of Ogun state?
Looking at what Governor Abiodun has done in his first term, in the real sense it was not 48 months we have about 13 to 14 months that was affected by COVID-19 and few months that was taken away by End SARS, so about 18 months have been affected out of initial 48 months and see what he was able to achieve.
The Governor did not start fighting his predecessors like other Governors will do. He started working with roads and other infrastructural projects and other projects that his predecessors started but could not complete, he started by completing them.
Take a look at the road that leads to Kuto. The bridge and others were not completed until the tenure of this Governor. So he did that and in my own senatorial district I don’t know if you saw what our Ogun West senatorial district was reduced to before May 2019, you would see that there was no single passable road from Ilaro to Owode, it was this Governor that did that magic!
The roads that connect Ota to Lagos, have been completed.
He’s the one constructing the Agbara, Oba Adesola to Atan road, and all these roads are Federal Government roads.
He was also the one who constructed Joju road.The major road from Sango to Ijoko Alagbole and co that was left by the previous administration, the Governor is making it right.
If he could achieve all those in less than 30 months, I’m certain he would do more for the people of Ogun State.
We have it on record that the PDP governorship candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu has described the victory of Prince Dapo Abiodun at the last election as a “stolen mandate” and has gone to court. What is the expectation from the Tribunal on this issue?
First, I cannot talk about the Tribunal because the case is in court, and secondly, if Hon. Ladi is saying it is a stolen mandate, I think he talks that way every four years. I don’t think it’s something that is worth thinking or talking about. Prince Dapo Abiodun won the elections.
How do you think Tinubu’s tenure will look like, and what kind of government do you think he’s going to operate?
Asiwaju, being the President of the country, is a man who has seen it all and has got so much experience; he was victorious due to many people believing in him. So I’m certain he would do so well for the nation.
What should people of Ado Odo/Ota expect during your tenure?
House is principally for law making. What I would say to my constituents is to exercise a bit of patience and I’m certain that they will get the best in terms of having the federal government intervening in our federal constituency and as said earlier, we are the people that voted en-mass for this coming government and we shall reap the fruits of our labour.
We have also proposed to have a youth forum where we would be talking to the youths. We also talked about skills aside being a graduate.
We have also proposed to have a youth forum where we would be talking to the youths. We also talked about skills aside being a school graduate.
Looking at the current situation now, government can not employ everybody, so we are moving to teach our young ones to have skills that differs from what they learned in school so that will help them get things together. And we will enlighten them on how responsible young people should behave in the society. All these are coming together as a full package for them to start working on. So that by the time they attain age of 25-26 aside being a graduate, they would be proud to say I have this skill that I can add to the society.
We are close to having another democratically elected President. What is your advice generally for Nigerians?
Nigeria is a developing country, and I want to say, it may not be at the level we want it to be, but I am certain that Nigeria is improving and we are not stopping.
First, I thank God and secondly I appreciate my boss and leaders most especially the Governor of our state in person of Prince Dapo Abiodun, and I also thank my constituents if they did not vote for me, you would not be here congratulating me. As per expectation, expectations are high and part of the thing we can talk about is the size of our federal constituency and according to the INEC register, we can clearly see that almost three hundred and fifty thousand (350,000) people registered for that election and ours is a federal constituency with the largest concentration of industries and Ado Odo/Ota Federal Constituency expects more from the Federal Government. There will be bills we need to work on so that we can make the Federal Government put more interest in our constituency.
If not for the State Government, the federal consistency would have been in a serious mess as far as good road is concerned. We also have unemployment issues and infrastructural issues.
