Kunle Adelabu
In their attempts to find ways of ending what is generally termed as deliberate marginalization of the people of lkorodu Division in the scheme of things in Lagos State, youths in the Division have embarked on coordinated campaigns to ensure that Ikorodu Division is no longer taken for granted.
The latest efforts in this regard are not unconnected to the exclusion of the Division in the recently constituted membership of the Lagos State Local Government Service Commission (LSLGSC) by the Governor of the State, Mr Babajide Sanwo – Olu.
Some of the youths, under the aegis of the Concerned Ikorodu Division Youths (CIDY), have written to Governor Sanwo-Olu on behalf of the Division to express their disappointments over the issue and to call on the Governor to review the list of his nominees and include a representative from Ikorodu Division.
The youths based their position on legal and moral grounds and the unrelenting cooperation and support of the Division to the State since inception, especially to successive governments.
In the letter titled, ‘Call For The Inclusion of Ikorodu Division In The Newly Constituted Lagos State Local Government Service Commission (LSLGSC)’, the youths of the Division, while stating that they are major stakeholders in the State, called on the Governor to use his good office to correct what they called “injustice and unfair treatment of the Division”.
“As major stakeholders in Ikorodu Division and Lagos State as a whole, we, the concerned youths of lkorodu Division, are adding our voices to the clamour by other stakeholders in the Division to call your attention to the exclusion of the good people of Ikorodu Division from the newly constituted Lagos State Local Government Service Commission”.
The concerned youths cited sections 14 (4) of the Nigerian Constitution and section 45(2a) of the Lagos State Government (Administration) Law to buttress the demand of the Division for inclusion in the Local Government Service Commission.
“Your Excellency, the recently approved list of Chairman and members of Lagos State Local Government Service Commission with the exclusion of Ikorodu division, yet again, does not only expose a presumed resentment against the division, but also berates some extant laws, especially S. 14(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, which mandates that the composition of state or local government or any of government agency to be carried out with due recognition of the diversity of the people within its area of authority as it emphasizes the need to promote a sense of belonging among all the people of the Federation”, the letter stated.
“In addition, S. 45(2a) of the Local Government Administration Law of Lagos State complements the provision S. 14 (4) of the Nigerian Constitution by stating that members shall be nominated from each of the divisions of the state and each nomination shall be confirmed by the House of Assembly”, the Ikorodu youths added in their letter.
“We are appealing that you should use your good office in correcting this injustice by reconstituting the Commission to include a representative from Ikorodu Division before sending it to the Lagos State House of Assembly for screening and approval”.
The youths of the lkorodu Division also alleged that the Division has been suffering from marginalization since 1999 and that despite that, the people of the Division have been supportive of the party in power since then while their homeland has been persistently treated unfairly.
They stated that they had expected that the present administration in the state would change the situation, considering the support it got from the Division during the last gubernatorial election, and accord Ikorodu Division its dues in terms of political appointments and projects, but that nothing has changed yet.
“Considering the acceptance and support that your person and your administration have enjoyed from the good people of Ikorodu Division, we expected that we would be treated fairly and justly, but from all indications, nothing has changed from what we had been experiencing since the advent of this democratic dispensation in 1999 when Ikorodu Division started witnessing marginalization in terms of political appointments and allocation of projects”, the concerned youths alleged.
“Yet, Ikorodu has continued to be with the progressive party the same way it had been from the days of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Congress (AC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the current era of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“During the last general elections, we gave our votes without hesitation at the APC primaries, even after the party’s primaries, we still did not rest on our oars as we did not only vote for you massively in the general elections, but also guarded our votes jealousy; beat our own voting records and created new one by recording 45,879 votes and emerged third in the highest votes cast at the election”, the youths recalled in their letter to the Governor.
”This, we did, believing that your government will realize our importance as an integral asset and division in the state and prioritize our needs by providing for us basic amenities that will better our lots; consider us for appointments and work towards ending the marginalization that we have been constantly made to face by successive governments. WE SAW HOPE IN YOU”.
More so, the concerned youths said that the delay in confirming Ms Bisola Ruth Olusanya, the acting Commissioner in substantive capacity also buttressed their stance that Ikorodu is not been giving its due place among the IBILE ( the five core divisions of the State).
“Mr Governor, twenty months after your inauguration as Governor, the narrative seems to have gone worse, even what should naturally situate here viz positions and benefits, are either being heavily debated before it is finally given or we don’t get it at all.
“Instances abound in the appointment of just one lkorodu indigene in the Lagos State Executive Council and the delay in confirming her as a substantive commissioner months after the resignation of the former Commissioner in her Ministry.
“Also, our disappointments over the exclusion of Ikorodu Division from the board of Lagos State House of Assembly Service Commission among others are still very fresh in our minds”.
They pleaded that the Governor should reconsider the list of the Lagos State Local Government Service Commission and include a representative of Ikorodu Division in the Commission.
“Mr Governor sir, we hope that your administration will do everything necessary to change the marginalization narrative towards Ikorodu Division by revisiting the composition of the Lagos State Local Government Service Commission as released by the Head of Service of Lagos State last week (Tuesday, November 3, 2020) and include a representative from Ikorodu Division”, Concerned youths appealed.
Meanwhile, members of the Concerned Ikorodu Division Youths and others had met with their two representatives in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the representative of the Ikorodu Constituency I and Majority of the Lagos Assembly and his Ikorodu Constituency II counterpart, Hon. Nurudeen Solaja, at the weekend to know the efforts they are making to address issue regarding the exclusion of the Division from the list of nominees for the Lagos State Local Government Service Commission.
The representatives of Ikorodu Constituency I and II had called for the meeting to let community activists, journalists and some youths know their efforts so far regarding the exclusion of Ikorodu from the LSLGSC list released by the Governor and other issues.
The group, on Tuesday, November 10, 2020, also met with the representative of the Ikorodu Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Babajimi Benson, over the issue.
They charged the State and Federal Representatives to ensure that the Division is recognized and included in the Commission, and also urged them to ensure that Ms Olusanya is confirmed as substantive Commissioner for the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as ensure that the present acting Rector of the Lagos State Polytechnic, who is the only indigene of lkorodu division vying for the Rectorship of the I institution, clinch the much coveted position.
The elected representatives and political leaders were also urged to guide against the repeat of the situation where Ikorodu is shortchanged in the future.
The three elected representatives, who met separately with the youths, have pledged to continue to work for Ikorodu Division and its people and ensure that the Division gets what is due to her.
