Damola Oderinu, the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for Ejigbo State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly elections spoke with osun.life’s Samson Popoola on his background, ambition and plans for the good people of Ejigbo State Constituency. Excerpts;
Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I am the candidate of the African Democratic Congress, aspiring to represent Ejigbo State constituency at the Osun State House of Assembly. I had my Secondary Education at Unity School, Ejigbo. Thereafter I proceeded to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso where I obtained a B.Tech (Honours) in Industrial Chemistry. I was at one point the PRO of Ejigbo Students’ Union in 2005 also the PRO of the National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS National Body). During the course of our administration, we lobbied the State government to increase student’s bursary from One Thousand Five Hundred Naira to Five Thousand Naira (N1,500 to N5,000) which was the major achievement of the then NAOSS administration under Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the former governor of Osun State. Since then, I have been actively involved in the struggles that has to do with the development of Ejigbo Local Government and OSUN state at large. I find myself very fit and competent to represent my people at the State House of Assembly because I have been with my people and I’m quite aware of the challenges before them. So, I know my people and my people know me.
In terms of development, what do you think the people of your constituency lacks?
Well, the major thing my constituency lacks is Road Infrastructure. There is no motorable road that links Ejigbo township with other neighbouring villages. The present APC administration, at some point, deceived the people of my constituency that all road projects has been awarded to a company called “Perfect Structures” owned by Dr Remi Olowode of blessed memory. Unfortunately, Dr Remi Olowode’s demise came few months after the award of the said road contract and we could not confirm if truly he was paid or not. In a nutshell, road infrastructure is one of the major challenges.
The second thing that is alien to the people of my constituency is electricity. Ejigbo sometimes lives in total blackout for a week or two. This is in spite of the fact that Osun State has the biggest Power Supply and that is the sad aspect of it. While the other parts of the State enjoy electricity supply for Twenty to Twenty Three Hours daily, Ejigbo might not see a blink of the electricity for One week or two. And we have a lot of people who depends largely on electricity for their businesses to flourish and something must be done in this area so that people can earn their daily living in order to improve their standard of life.
Lastly and this is peculiar to the entire state, Education is so backward, hence the need for overhauling in the education sector and this is part of our plans to reposition education in the state.
How would you rate the performance of the present serving member from Ejigbo State Constituency, who also happen to be the Speaker of the House?
Precisely speaking, He has failed to attract a single developmental project to Ejigbo State Constituency in the last Eight years. The only thing he has done was the rehabilitation of a road that leads to his personal house and nothing more. The facts are there and verifiable.
How would you assess the coalition of SDP/APC alliance?
Let me say this emphatically that the coalition does not mean “collapsing SDP political structure into APC”. It simply means where the SDP does not have a candidate to contest an election, the party would support the APC candidate(s) in such election. For instance, the SDP/APC coalition stands for the Presidential, House of Representatives and the Senate elections. But at the level of the House of Assembly, there is no such things like coalition because SDP has a candidate. On the other hand, it is important for me to mention that not all SDP members are supporting the coalition. Some SDP members have sworn never to have anything to do with APC. So, SDP is divided into four different factions as we speak; while some people are still maintaining their membership of SDP, some have already pitched tent with APC; some have defected to PDP while the rest are with us in ADC.
From your permutation, which party do you think will form the majority in the next House of Assembly?
That is a very difficult question to answer. As a matter of fact, major parties fielding a candidate will have a representative in the House of Assembly in the coming political dispensation, hence it is very difficult to say a particular party will form the majority in the House of Assembly. Although, our politics can play out to be funny in one aspect; the ruling party usually takes the lead and form the majority because when candidates from the minority party in the House of Assembly are sworn-in, they usually announce their defection to the ruling party perhaps because of patronage or for reasons known to them.
If given a chance to choose, which House committee would you like to serve and why?
I will prefer to serve in a committee overseeing works. This will give me the opportunities to take infrastructural developments to my constituency. I cannot be in a committee overseeing works without ensuring that the good people of Ejigbo local government benefit from all developmental projects. This is why I love to serve in that capacity.
Lastly, what message do you have for the people of your constituency?
Well, my people, I am your son Oderinu Adedamola, I am seeking your mandate to represent our constituency at the State House of Assembly under African Democratic Congress (ADC) with a Handshake logo. I have an unstained name and will maintain that. I promise that the collective interests of the people will be my utmost concern. Please, do not thumb print, use instead your index or middle finger so that your votes will not be counted as void. I will not disappoint you.
Thank you.