Amidst overwhelming expectations of it’s citizens, in the face of obvious low financial capacity to address the needs of an humongous population in an electioneering season, the leadership of Agbado-Oke – Odo Local Community Development Area of Lagos State, has called on the State Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, to give it a special attention to help it address its mounting challenges.
The appeal was made on Wednesday, by the Vice Chairman of the LCDA, Hon. Ajoke Obe while fielding questions on a Local Government environment’s focused program “Ni Agbegbe Wa”, on Miliki 101.3 FM, powered by FullSteam Communications.
The LCDA was invited to the program following accolades that greeted it’s decision to invite citizens and stakeholders to a town hall meeting where they tabled their respective needs to determine the content of the LCDA’s new year budget.
Giving reasons for the enviable step taking by the LCDA in preparing it’s budget, Hon.Obe said the move became necessary because ” we don’t want to assume for the people or force projects on them.
” So, what we did was to invite the people who actually turned out in large numbers, to tell us what and what they want provided for them in our next budget”
Obe mentioned that the one year three months old LCDA administration, actually did the same thing last year, leading to it’s focus on Primary health care delivery where she reported tremendous success has been recorded so far.
” I just registered at Meiran Health Centre myself, because what we have made of the health center now gives enough confidence. The same for the centre at Agbele . The health centres in Agbado Oke Odo are doing very well now and that is because we are not taking the health of our people for granted. For us in Agbado Oke Odo LCDA, it’s a priority” One submitted.
While registrering the gratitude of the Hon. David Oladapo Famuyiwa led LCDA to Governor Sanwoolu for always addressing issues affecting the LCDA promptly, Hon. Obe however, wants the Governor to give the LCDA more attention.
Declaring that ” we need special attention in Agbado Oke Odo and more assistance from government” Obe explained that people are ignorant of the fact that not all responsibilities in a council are that of the council management whereas many belong to the state.
“People don’t know, so they feel for instance, that every roads in the LCDA must be handled by the council when in reality, they may be state roads.
“This is one of the reasons we need the special attention of our active Governor, especialy in critical areas like road. The roads in our LCDA are unusually long and the population is large as well. So, whatever we are able to do as LCDA pale into insignificance because of the big volume. For instance, we have been able to rehabilitate over 80 roads, yet it’s not showing”
While speaking on efforts being made to address flooding in the area, Obe decried the activities of people who abuse drainages by either building on them or by dumping refuse in them, even as she blamed the activities of some characters in the area which she said, almost stalled a preventive operation carried out ahead of the effect of recent destructive flood witnessed around the country and the state.
According to the Vice Chairman, in taking proactive measure against flooding in the LCDA, she met with the Commissioner for Environment who assigned men to work in the area, precisely at Raji Rasaki area of the LCDA
” When the team were settling down to work, some characters in the area insisted on collecting money before work could be allowed to start. I could not imagine such obstruction and foolish demand, but we did what we had to do eventually” adding that, that proactive move, forstalled what would have been a devastating effect of flood in the area.
Requesting for action “against these area characters who prowls everywhere” Obe thus called for more synergy with and assistance from the state government to make the LCDA a model not only in the state, but in the country.
