In an exclusive interview with former Kosofe Chapter of People’s Democratic Party LGA Youth Leader and 2023 House of Reps Aspirant, Comrade Sulyman Momood Olayiwola aka Opomulero, and publisher of KosofePost, Bilesanmi Abayomi, where he shared his background and plans for his constituency, among other sundry matters.
Except.
Can you tell us the precise platform you are using?
I will say, for now, I will be looking at the Labour Party offer.
What should the citizens expect from you if you accept the Labor Party ticket offer and are elected?
If given the ticket, I believe the current political dispensation in Nigeria has made it look as if those who represent us are doing us a favour.
They are not, however, doing us any favors. By putting them in positions of leadership and putting them in places where we are represented, we, the people, are actually doing them more favors.
One is that I understand what it takes to represent, defend, speak and fight for the people and I understand what it takes to legislate and to make law. My interest in the House of Representatives stems from what the people stand to gain, not what I stand to gain. What comes to my mind is what will my people benefit from every law that is made or promulgated in the floor of the house.
If my people won’t benefit, then I am not for it. I have done a lot of empowerment programmes and in all honesty we can’t keep ourselves away from stomach infrastructure considering the economic hardship our people are facing, more especially under the current APC led government. This is not because stomach infrastructure is the ideal thing, but because the people are actually finding three square meal tough and expecting their representative to help alleviate it.
So if you don’t provide stomach infrastructure or empowerment programs for your people, they will see you as a bad representative. I will then go back to my local government chairmen under my constituency and ask them the issues that affect them directly, and these are the things we will go back to the assembly to negotiate with.
For instance, if a community wants a road and what my people want is different, I will negotiate and do trade by barter because I will make sure that the needs of my people are well protected. For my own personal projects, I will be doing what I can for my people.
For example, a solar powered street light on all major road in my constituency is not a rocket science project for a representative to take it up. I will ensure the installation of traffic lights in strategic places within my constituency and I won’t involve the state government because whatever projects I embark on are for the entire benefit of the state.
These traffic lights will be powered by the sun. I am privileged to have traveled out of the boarders of this country and have seen some government and people innovations and projects that are grass rooted. These are projects are not done by the state but by the various individuals who represent the community at various arms of governments, so who says we can’t do it in Nigeria?
As a member of the house of representative, these and many more innovations will be part of my personal projects because we shouldn’t only make laws but also make life more meaningful to Nigerians.I will look at my constituency and see what they lack: good electricity, good water etc, and even though electricity is not within the representative exclusive power, I can facilitate it, just as I have seen the current representative of Kosofe Federal Constituency facilitating many projects, but most of these projects are more like empowerment programs and stomach infrastructure.
However, I will facilitate long-term projects such as good roads, electricity, health care, education facility, sport, technology and water supply. I will also ensure I sponsor and push for 100% free and compulsory education for primary and secondary schools for all Nigerians. Mark my word, “compulsory”
I will be precise and affirmative on health care issues, because there is no functional primary health care in the Nigerian system. I will use Nigeria as a template for the NGO that I run outside the country, and the first beneficiaries of the health care will be the children in my constituency, which will be basically for them. I will ensure that health care in the local government works, and I will advocate that every ward in my constituency should have a health care facility, and for some of them, where the facilities are already there, we will support them basic medical equipment and medical needs.
This is because I don’t expect the local government chairmen to do it alone because it is going to be too tasking and it is far beyond the counselors.
When I become their representative, I will contribute my quota to the health facility.I usually tell people that good governance and good representation is not rocket science; it is just the willingness and sincerity on the part of those who represent us, because most people who are representing us are actually there based on some political godfather, so they are limited to what they can do for the people who elected them.
How do you make laws that will affect your god-father because you have a god-father who imports generators into the country and you want to initate a law that will be against your god-father’s interest?
So, when I get to the House of Representatives, I won’t hesitate to let Nigerians know what the stumbling block to electricity and other people oriented project are. The entire country deserves to know who this stumbling blocks are, and Nigerians will understand why their representatives don’t want to step on their godfather’s toes.
So I’m not going to make excuses for the kind of person I am, and if I push for something and it fails, I’m going to tell my people about it.
Therefore, I am not running on someone’s interest but on the interest of the people I represent.
Without collaboration and lobbying from your colleagues, it may be difficult for you to achieve your plans for your constituency and Nigeria at large.
Yes, lobbying and negotiation is a major tool in political participation, which I will deploy for any project for my constituency, even in the USA, where we have the Democrats and Republican, the Democrats still negotiate to get things done.
There is negotiation in advance government and so we will negotiate to the benefit of the constituency . I will support your projects while you support mine as well. It is all about service to humanity.
You are one of the prominent constituents that tackled the incumbent lawmaker, Honourable Rotimi Agunsoye, during his first term in office.
Why the sudden U-turn since his re-election in 2019?
There is no sudden change in anything. I am always and still on his neck. No representative in Nigeria have constantly being on the hot seat from it constituents like Hon. Agunsoye. He is someone I respect a lot and he is more like a father, but if you think there is a sudden change, it is because there is a change in the way he represent us now. We have called him out on several programmes and issues and indeed he has prove to have a listening ears.
What’s your take on the former two terms?
After a 7-year break, House of Representatives Member Honorable Dayo Alebiosu who represented the Kosofe Federal Constituent, renewed his third term agenda. I don’t have any issue with the former two terms of the Kosofe Federal Constituency, Hon. Dayo Alebiosu, on his renewing third term agenda after a seven-year break. I must make it clear that I have met him once and I admire his intelligence
However, my concern with him is that what is the something else he is looking for in the green chamber after spending eight years, and if our people still want him there after he spent eight years, they won’t ask him to go and sit down. So for me, after the eight years, you now want to come back. To do what? It is not done, if he feels he has added value to himself over the years, then he should know that he has added more capacity to his person and so therefore should press forward with his political participation by adding that value in a more robust position for Lagos state as a whole. I want to state it clearly that I was part of the people that kicked against him for his third term then, even though I wasn’t a member of his party then.
The Reps’ seat is not an inheritance or someone’s property, but it is the seat for the people of Kosofe. However, he has done his bit, so should leave the stage for other people to do their bit.
Who says he can’t become the governor of Lagos State considering all the value he has gone to add to himself in past 7 years and or is he not intelligent and sound enough? Who says he can’t become a Senator? Must you come back to serve in the same capacity that you have serve for eight years acquiring? Is there anything that is so special that you couldn’t do during the eight years that you want to do it now? These are the questions we should be asking him.We are not saying you are not good, but leave the seat for other generations because you cannot continue to be a member of the House of Representatives till you die. He can still serve in another capacity. EXPERIENCE COUNTS.
What experience have you gathered that prepared you for the office you are vying for?
If you say experience counts, but any time our people talk about experience, I believe they want to use it to rob the ignorant ones. Experience is good, but it doesn’t have anything to do with what is good legislation, but it has something to do with how much lessons you have learnt from the issues of life. What have I learnt from Dayo Bush’s representation? How much have I learnt from Rotimi Agunsoye’s representation? And how much have I learnt from the failure of this current administration? Is the current president of Nigeria experienced or not?
He was experienced because he was once the president of this country. He was a military leader and he had experience in administration. However, is he a failure or not? So didn’t he have experience before he became president, and what has he done with that experience? So we should be talking about productivity , willingness and courage to deliver good service to the people.
This is because your experience doesn’t determine what is good or what is bad, because what is good is good and what is bad is bad.It is not the person that has a life-long experience and cannot metamorphose it into service delivery.
This is why I am saying that I have learnt a lot from my days in the prestigious Olabisi Onabanjo University; I have being friends, and son to governor, senators, local government chairman, assembly and I have interacted with them and I was born into a political family, so I understand what it takes to negotiate, and that is the experience you need to leverage on in the issues of life.
I have learnt from the lessons of my father, from ROT, Dayo Bush and I have learnt from so many people that have supported and disappointed us.It’s how much I’ve learned about life issues, and it’s more useful to me than the 10 years of experience that appears. I can tell you that there are many lawmakers in the House of Representatives who are performing better than the more experienced ones. It is about the vision and the willpower towards serving your people, which one represents. What is senator Abiru legislative experience before becoming a senator too?
Ahead of the PVC registration deadline and 2023 general elections, what is your message to the electorate?
My message to the electorate is to go out and get their PVC for the benefits of their own lives and for their children’s lives, because if you have your PVC, it can secure the lives of those kids.
At least one thing is sacrosanct; for every mistake a generation makes, two generations will suffer for it. We are in a mess today because the generation ahead of us made mistakes, so those generations suffered for it, and we are now suffering for it. We don’t want that to happen to our own children.
Once you get your PVC, remember your children and the generations unborn. If you haven’t gotten it, I beg you to consider getting it. I have mobilised my people to get their PVC and I am optimistic that the New Nigeria we desire will emerge.