‘HERE TO SERVE, MY POLITICAL MOTTO’ – HON. IDIMOGU

By Oki Samson, Trek Africa Newspaper

Hon. Jude Emeka Idimogu, Chairman, House Committee on Wealth Creations and Employment, Lagos State House of Assembly

Jude Emeka Idimogu is one of the lawmakers in Lagos House of Assembly and the only one there of Igbo extraction. Having won two terms as the representative of Oshodi-Isolo Constituency II, he has warmed himself into the hearts of the people of Oshodi. He is also the House Chairman on Wealth Creation.

The lawmaker who is riding on the support of top Igbo cultural groups in Lagos has been announced as the new apex leader of Igbos in APC Lagos. He shared his experience so far with Oki Samson of Trek Africa Newspaper in the State Parliament particularly in the past one year.

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Trek Africa: How far have you done in the past one year?

Hon. Idimogu: I think in the last one year, we have not focused so much on lawmaking like that because there are some laws that are archaic that we need to revise, we know that there are many laws that are not being executed, and there are needs in our constituencies that we have to present to the Executive and I want to thank the Governor for giving us attention.

For me, the typical responsibility of a lawmaker is to make laws, pass motions, do oversight functions, and representation. There is no oversight now because the budget has not been passed yet. It is when work has started and money is released to a ministry that you can do oversight.

Trek Africa: COVID-19 is biting hard, how are you reaching out to your people?

Hon. Idimogu: A lot of palliative from my end to constituents especially during this COVID-19 time which is hard for everyone including me. But we have to help in our little way. I am accessible to my people. This is the house I have been living even before joining politics and I am still here. My motto is here to serve and I told God to give me a platform to serve humanity and He gave me. I cannot run away from the people because I have the position. Good or bad, midnight or afternoon, we are here together. If there are problems, we solve it together. This is more important to me, all the point about building borehole is normal thing to do.

Politics is an opportunity to serve. The money you make is to give back to the constituency not to live flamboyant life. You must be accessible and be seen to be accessible. Even if you can’t finance, advise them, put heads together with them, ideas will come. When they see you around that you are working for their interest, they will be happy.

Trek Africa: As Chairman of the House Committee on Wealth Creation, what have you been doing?

Hon. Idimogu: Government cannot provide jobs for everyone. When you don’t have industry, things will be tight. It is productivity that brings employment. As Chairman of the Committee on Wealth Creation and Employment, I thought of something but we have not yet put it to the House because we are on break. The idea is government can come up with soft loans for SMEs, maximum is N500,000 so that it can reach many Lagosians. But the mindset of ‘it is part of my share of government’ should be removed. Ensure you know them, ensure they are registered, so when they are doing well, they will pay back. This is because our banks are not helping matters, 20% interest is too heavy for businesses. You give them money but also follow-up on them with training and enlightenment. When there are issues, you can quickly arrest the situation before it is too late and the business collapses. You know that apart from the payback, government is entitled to tax which brings some of them into the tax net, economy is jumpstarted, you keep them in business and small jobs are created with adequate supervision. If we do this right like 1000 every six months, you will see that in years, we would have created a big change.