Kunle Adelabu
The Chairmanship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs Saidat Odofin, has stated that her aspiration to become the chairman of Ikorodu Central Local Government is borne out of a call that something must be done quickly to support Ikorodu and its people.
Odofin, an indigene of Ikorodu, emerged as the flagbearer of her party at the primary elections held at the PDP secretariat, Olubi Street, Ikorodu, on Saturday.
The party flagbearer spoke with THE IMPACT after the primary elections that also produced four other chairmanship candidates and councillorship candidates that would fly the party’s flag at the July 12 local government elections.
She also spoke briefly about her agenda for Ikorodu, if elected as the chairman.
“Why I have decided to go for the chairmanship position is simply because of a dream and that dream basically said that we need to do something quickly about this town – Ikorodu, and I did. I want to do something for my people in Ikorodu.
“The things that I have seen are not good enough for our people. When you want to make difference in the lives of the people, the best way to start is at home. Like parents, they started teaching their children from home.
“We want to change the lives of our people and that is why I am starting from Ikorodu which is my home. We will get things right if we want to. We can run affordable schools within our town and give our children better education and we can employ people to take jobs and provide particular services for our people.
“If we don’t have enough medical services, we are going to provide more facilities for the use of the town”, she said.
Odofin, who said that Nigerians can be set on a path to greatness if things are done properly at the grassroots level, also spoke about her plans for the youths.
“When we see that we have a lot of mental issues due to the prevailing drug abuse among our youths. We should set up recreational centres to engage our youths. We need to find things for them to do after schools.
“We need to bring back the old values. We need to enroll the youths into Boys Scout, Girls’ Guide and others things, rather than things that only them glue to the social media.
“Everything is in our hands and if we start small within our town, that is where necessary changes could be made. If we set good examples in Ikorodu, I am sure that others would follow suit. A good example goes a long way in making the difference in Nigeria, starting with our local governments.
“All of us can stand in our local governments to have the right chairmen, moving in the right directions to facilitate solutions to the needs of the populace within that particular town and things would change for the better throughout our country”, she said.
Her message to the electorate in Ikorodu is very simple:
“Everybody should ‘di de, ja de, di po fun PDP” (stand up, come out en masse to vote for PDP in the forthcoming local government elections)”, she charged.
Saida Odofin is an indigene of Ikorodu who attended the University of Ibadan, for her first degree and thereafter, worked with the institution for a year teaching the first-year students.
She served at the NTA Sokoto, for her NYSC, an experience she described as “absolutely amazing and fantastic”.
After the NYSC service, she went back to England for her Masters programme in English and Film.
At the moment, she works in the field of Human Resources which, according to her, makes her have a better understanding of people.
