The Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, has over the years been working hard to encourage the entrepreneurial journey and skills development of the youth in her constituency, through various schemes over the years. The 21st edition of her town hall meeting in Lagos focused on how the youth can employ innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship to get the country out of the unemployment conundrum. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI, who witnessed the event, reports.
A CARNIVAL-like atmosphere filled the air right from the entrance, as gaily-dressed ladies and gentlemen quietly filed into the venue, amidst beating of drums by itinerant traditional drummers. The security checks at the entrance indicate that the event is not a regular get-together or owambe party, as most gatherings for merriments are called in this part of the country.
Indeed, the 21st edition of the Lagos Central Senatorial District town hall meeting has come and gone, but the echoes are still very much around. The event was attended by key stakeholders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at local, state and national levels.
The consensus of all the party leaders who spoke at the event was that the Senator representing Lagos Central at the upper legislative chamber, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, has raised the bar in representation in many respects. In the last six years, she has kept faith with the resolve to interface regularly with her constituents on deliberations at the upper legislative chamber, the Senate. She has also utilised such meetings as an opportunity to empower the people.
The current town hall meeting was not an exception. The 21st in the series since she was elected to the Senate in 2011, it took place under the theme: Encouraging Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Creativity. Thus, it was an opportunity for her to talk about youth unemployment and the way out of the situation the country has found itself in that regard.
In her address, she observed that the theme of the current meeting resonates deeply with some of the vehicles she has used in reaching out to the people, in form of empowerment in the last six years: the Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Scheme (YESAS); the Petty Traders Empowerment Scheme (PETECS); and the Widows Empowerment Scheme (WEES).
Senator Tinubu said the increasing level of unemployment in Nigeria is worrisome and that innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship are the country’s way out of the conundrum. She urged Nigerian youths to prioritise self-development, by learning skills that can take them from poverty and prepare them for the workforce, because it has become obvious that government cannot provide employment for every single job-seeker.
To buttress her point, the Senator said the recent visit of Facebook founder, Mark Zukerberg, to the country, to encourage small technology startups in Yaba, which is part of the Lagos Central district, is remarkable, because it suggests that Nigeria is transitioning to an entrepreneurial and knowledge-based economy.
She added: “His visit in itself is a pat on the back for techpreneurs and startups; a reiteration of the fact that our great nation is riddled with great talents who defy all odds to excel in whatever endeavours they set their hearts upon; and a restatement of the endless possibilities available to us.”
The senator enjoined the Nigerian youth to find a need and strive to meet it, by being creative and thinking out of the box. In this regard, she paid glowing tributes to two young Nigerians: Rotimi Williams and Angel Adelaja.
She said: “Before I proceed, I would like to tell you about Rotimi Williams, a young Nigerian who quit his banking job to go into farming and today owns Kereksuk Rice Farms; one of Nigeria’s largest rice farms, situated in Nassarawa State. According the young entrepreneur, in an interview with Forbes, all he knows about rice farming, he learnt from the Internet.
“Also awe-inspiring is the case of Angel Adelaja, a Nigerian woman who started ‘Fresh Direct’, an organic farming endeavour which produces fruits, vegetables and meat, using local and affordable technology, to ensure increased yield and viability.”
Senator Tinubu pointed out that such endeavours have the potentials of moving the country out of poverty and to prosperity, adding that it is not necessary to start big. She said: “There is nothing wrong in starting small. Even I, and indeed many great people around the world came from small beginnings. Small businesses are the big ideas of tomorrow.”
In this regard, she praised the effort of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State towards establishing a technology hub, “to create enabling environment for our youth to thrive, to be more creative and enterprising”.
She said: “We give kudos to our Governor, His Excellency, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode who on January 29, 2017 presented cheques of almost N1 billion to 705 beneficiaries of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) in actualisation of our party’s campaign promise to provide support to our youth, entrepreneurs, artisans, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and other unemployed residents of Lagos State to develop and enhance their businesses.
“The beneficiaries received varying amounts ranging from N50,000 to N5,000. The scheme selects beneficiaries from all the local government areas and local council development areas (LCDAs); and I urge everyone in our senatorial district to take advantage of the programme and apply.”
Senator Tinubu said the Lagos Central district has been working hard to kick-start and encourage the entrepreneurial journey and skills development of its youth, through the various schemes she has put in place.
For instance, at yesterday’s town hall meeting, 32 petty traders received N50,000 each from the Senator representing Lagos Central, under her Petty Traders’ Empowerment Scheme (PETECS). This is to enable the recipients invest in their already existing businesses.
Senator Tinubu noted that in previous times beneficiaries under the scheme had received the sum of N20,000, but that she increased the sum to N50,000 this time around, because of the general increase in the price of commodities.
Under the Youth Employment and Skills Acquisition Scheme (YESAS), she said five youth nominated by the district’s Senatorial Youth Leader, Prince Hammed Olanrewaju Mohammed, from the local government areas that make up the district, were sponsored by her to attend the African Youth Initiative on Crime Prevention Conference in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between October 26 and 27, 2016.
On November 10, 2016, 36 youth from the Navy, Army, Police and Air Force barracks within the district were also presented with sewing machines and 2.5 KVA generators, as part of the senator’s empowerment scheme. The beneficiaries were nominated by their various Women Leaders at the barracks.
Fourteen APC Women Leaders in the district, headed by its District Woman Leader, Mrs. Fadekemi Otitonaye, also received three building block-making machines and the sum of N500,000, to start a cooperative.
In her Zonal Intervention Projects, Senator Tinubu is providing toilet facilities with motorised boreholes for 21 primary and secondary schools within the district at the cost of N213 million, through the Federal Ministry of Education.
She added that an additional list of 20 schools within the district has been forwarded to the committee on Appropriation, to be included in the 2017 Zonal Intervention Projects, to also benefit from the provision of toilet facilities with motorised boreholes.
The town hall meeting was also an opportunity for the senator to render her stewardship to her constituents, by intimating them about some of her contributions on the floor of the Senate, as well as at the committee level; she is a member of six committees. For instance, she mentioned three of the bills she sponsored and one of the motions she moved in the last quarter.
One of such bills is the Lagos State Special Economic Assistance Bill. The bill was to enable the state to receive some economic assistance, to reduce the burden of being the nation’s economic capital and former capital of Nigeria. Though the bill was widely described as laudable, it failed to pass the Second Reading.
The consensus of all the party leaders who spoke at the event was that the efforts of Senator Tinubu in sustaining the quarterly interaction and empowerment programmes are commendable. In their submissions, all office holders on the platform of the APC have been enjoined to emulate Senator Tinubu, for not only deeming it fit to render her stewardship, by giving a feedback to her constituents on a regular basis, but also by empowering them.
In his welcome address, the APC Leader, Lagos Central, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, paid glowing tributes to Mrs. Tinubu, saying she is a senator with a difference. The Second Republic House of Representatives member who spoke in Yoruba said it is instructive that the APC governments at different levels are doing well. He said the spate of defections in Lagos and Abuja in recent times show that the party is doing well.
In the words of Second Republic House of Assembly member and former Eti-Osa council chairman, Hon. Yahya Dosunmu: “We that God that our senator is up and doing. If we have three senators like Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, this state will be a better place for everyone.”
Another party chieftain, Hon. Olawale Oshun, was particularly enthused by the training component of Senator Tinubu’s empowerment programme. He said the senator has managed to raise the stake of representation in the state and that others have no choice but to emulate her. “On behalf of the people of Lagos Central, I want to say that we appreciate your stellar contributions,” he added.
The Sole Administrator, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Princess Abiodun Elegushi, equally gave kudos to the training component of the senator’s empowerment programmes. She said the efforts of Senator Tinubu shows that she believes very much in the adage that it is better to teach a man how to fish and feed him for life, rather than merely giving him a fish. She added: “This shows that she has the interest of the people at heart. You are someone we would always like to emulate.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Musiliu Folami, agrees. He said: “We are lucky to have Sen. Oluremi Tinubu; what she is doing is unequalled. It is gratifying to note that she is still doing quarterly empowerment programmes. More grease to her elbow.”
The event was graced by leaders of the APC at different levels. Apart from Prince Olusi, Hon. Dosunmu, Hon. Oshun, Princess Elegushi and Hon. Folami, others who graced the occasion include: the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Wasiu Sanni Eshinlokun, Alhaji Mutiu Aare, Hon. Jide Jimoh, the Acting Commissioner for Transportation, Prince Anofi Elegushi and Nurudeen Akinwunmi who represents Ifako-Ijaiye Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives. A retinue of traditional rulers were also at the event.
