Candidate of AllProgressives Congress (APC) for the October 31 senatorial by-election in Lagoseast, Tokunbo Abiru Wednesday disclosed his plan to set up an endowment fund toalleviate poverty and reduce unemployment in the senatorial district.
Abiru, a former commissionerfor Finance in Lagos State, equally pledged quality representation for thepeople of the district, saying he would promote legislations that would improvethe quality of life for the people of Lagos East if elected on October 31.
He made thesepromises Wednesday at a meeting with stakeholders in Ikorodu Central Localgovernment Area ( LGA) and Ikorodu North Local Council Development Area (LCDA)ON the next senatorial by-election in Lagos East.
The stakeholders atthe meeting comprised leaders and members of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), National Union of Road Transportworkers, National Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities andCommunity Development Association (CDA) and Nationalyouth Council of Nigeria (NYCN).
Atthe public engagement, residents including community leaders, traditionalrulers and youth leaders asked diverse questions about the deplorable state ofroads, public schools and what they described as an unacceptable rate ofpoverty among the people nationwide.
The National Bureauof Statistics (NBS) had, in 2019, put poverty rate in Nigeria 40.1percent, which by implication over 82 million in an estimated population of about 206million live on less than $1 dollar per day.
Respondingto their concerns one after the other, the APC candidate acknowledged the sorrylevel of poverty in the country, which according to him, could only beeffectively fought from corporate, individual and pubic fronts.
Whenelected senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on October, Abiru promisedthat he would set up an endowment “to alleviate poverty and reduce unemploymentin Lagos East, even in Lagos State.”
Besides settingendowment that would focus on poverty alleviation, youth empowerment,employment generation and gender balancing, the APC candidate pledged hiswould-be constituents quality representation.
Citing differentinstances of result-oriented representation he offered while working in thebanking sector, he explained how he led the management team that rescue Skyebank Place from outright collapse between July 4, 2016 and August 30, 2020.
Consequent uponstrategic leadership he provided within this timeframe, the APC candidatedisclosed that the transformation plan he executed at the bank saved the jobsof over 8,000 personnel.
He, therefore,assured the people of Lagos East that he would, first and foremost, prioritisetheir welfare and wellbeing, while acknowledging the outstanding performance ofall the senators that had represented the senatorial district.
Abiru disclosed thatif eventually elected on October 31, the performance of the district’s previoussenators “will be a yardstick the people of Lagos East will use to measure hisown performance.”
He said: “Thewelfare of Lagos East will be paramount to me. The office of a senator is notan executive office, but I will work hard to lift up people from poverty andaddress their socio-economic concern through the instrument of legislation andlawmaking.”
Abiru explained thathe would take advantage of his relationship with the Minister of Works &Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo- Olu“to ensure the completion of all ongoing road projects in Lagos East andprevail on them to initiate new road projects.
“We will keepreminding the federal and state governments about the concern of the people inlagos East. As the ongoing road projects are completed, we will prevail on thegovernments to initiate new projects and programmes for our people.
“That is why we havebeen advocating special status for Lagos as the cornerstone of my campaignagenda. There are a lot of facilities that are attracting people to Lagos afterfederal Capita Territory (FCT) had been relocated to Abuja,” Abiru explained.
In response to aninquiry by Baale of Ojogbe, Olukayode Olomo, Abiru acknowledged that resolvingthe challenges of public schools in the senatorial district “is not just aboutproviding chairs and desks for the pupils, but also about using moderntechnique of instruction and teaching.”
