WHY LAGOS-EAST APC VOTES BAYO OSINOWO FOR SENATE-OLADUNJOYE

WHY LAGOS-EAST APC VOTES BAYO OSINOWO FOR SENATE – OLARENWAJU OLADUNJOYE, SUPERVISOR FOR EDUCATION, KOSOFE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

by Oki Samson

Hon. Olanrewaju Oladunjoye, Supervisor for Education, Kosofe Local Government, Lagos State

The senatorial primaries have come and gone but shortly after the election, OKI SAMSON, Editor, Trek Africa Newspaper caught up with Hon. Olanrewaju Oladunjoye, the Supervisor for Education in Kosofe Local Government Area who spoke on why Lagos-East All Progressive Congress (APC) votes Hon. Bayo Osinowo as the Party’s Senatorial Candidate and other political issues.

Trek Africa: What’s your take on the aspirants for the senatorial primaries holding today in this community and who do you think the community is voting for?

Oladunjoye: First of all with all due respect to the two aspiarants; Sen. Gbenga Ashafa and Hon. Bayo Osinowo, I will like to say there is no gain saying or trying to exaggerate how popular Bayo Osinowo is, he has been in the area and he has been very accessible, and one of the characteristics of a true politician is access; access to people, access to information, and access to the feelings of the people. And Hon. Bayo Osinowo since I have known him over two decades now, has shown relentless feeling for the downtrodden, he has continually year in year out heed to the yearning of the people. Hon. Bayo has also shown us that apart from just been a candidate or going to Abuja to represent us, he has shown selflessness which is one of the hallmarks and characteristics of a good politician.

Sen. Ashafa on the other hand has been in the senate for the past eight years, and we the people in the Kosofe local government, Somolu local government, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki have over time had issues with having access to him, and if a politician in any jurisdiction fails to give access to the people it means that he or she won’t know exactly what’s going on in his area.

It is one of the things every politician must know and learn. Without having access to the people and the people having access to you, you can’t actually know what they need, and Senator Ashafa has failed in this regard, and that’s why the people in the Senatorial East have come together in one voice to say enough is enough, we need actual proper human driven representation, and we want representation that has direct connection with the people in the area, and that’s why we are here to lend our voice for Hon. Bayo Osinowo, this is not about money, it’s not about whether you are rich or poor, it’s about somebody having the number one characteristic which is access.

Trek Africa: What’s your advice to the APC committees who have come to conduct this election?

Oladunjoye: One of the things we have to note is that once you disenfranchise the people from their right, people are not going to be happy, so one of the things they can do is for them to give us a level playing ground. If Ashafa feels he is popular let him come to the field let us show him that it is about numbers, politics is about numbers you don’t buy numbers, it is either you have numbers or you don’t have. People that are here are not here because we want to give them anything, they are here because they have direct access to this man, and they are here to express their right.

Let me tell you the truth this man deserve to be President not because he want to give anybody money, the foundation of any society is the people, you don’t built something on nothing in law, it’s clear that people are here to express their right. You cannot disenfranchise thousands of people, we are here to show our support to stand by him and it is clear that we have the numbers, so if Ashafa thinks he is popular we will show him. This is not the age where people are blind, this is the social media age and people are awake and in tune.

Trek Africa: Just yesterday Hon. Jide Sanwo-Olu won the primaries to be the flag bearer for APC in the state, what’s your take on this?

Oladunjoye: Like I said access to the people, access to information is one of the true characteristic of a true politician, and one of the things that is sounding about our governor elect, if I can call him that, is that is in touch with the base. You cannot isolate yourself and claim that you are working for the people, you have to think about the people you are governing as a multi-dimensional thing, you have to work all-encompassing with everybody, we have different sets of people in the society, we have the rich, the middle class and the poor, and you have to work  with absolutely everybody, you cannot segregate or isolate anybody, you cannot decide to say this set of people are the once I want to work with, and our governor elect has shown us that is a man of the people for him to have the mandate of the people it means he is in touch with the base. He is a man of humane disposition and we will all stand by him.

Trek Africa: As a grassroots politician what’s your advice to the youth as 2019 general election is fast approaching?

Oladunjoye: I am an advocate against violence. I know what it means for people to lose their lives, and for the past thirteen years I have tried to use different platforms to persuade the youths from any form of violence and APC is a party that preaches peace and we have continually told our people that there is no gain in violence, in a society where peace reigns everything blossoms and the youth of Kosofe, Somolu, Epe and Ibeju have come together and said they will shun violence throughout and beyond the electioneering process, they will stay focus and abide by the rules and regulations.