Agege, first local government with approved CBT center —Egunjobi

…As ex-chairman bags Achiever’s Award

By Olatide Adewoyin

CITIZENS COMPASS—In less than a week after he bowed out of service as the council chairman of Agege Local Government in Lagos State, Alhaji Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi on Wednesday, received an Achiever’s Award.

The Award was given to him in Agege, by members of the Civil Society/Development Practitioners in conjunction with Agege Community Movement (ACOM).

The immediate past chairman was recognised for his exemplary leadership for a period of eight years.

Presenting the award, Comrade Toyin Raheem, Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG), said it would have taken place before Egunjobi rounded off his tenure but to allow other pressing assignments.

He said the practitioners could not overlook the laudable achievements of the immediate past chairman but to express their gesture toward him.

According to him, “Without mincing words, the former chairman has performed gloriously, for these reasons, we have to identify with him.

“He needs to be regarded as the Ground Ambassador of Agege,”

Raheem applauded Egunjobi for his symbol of unity.

A community practitioner, Otunba Gbenga Soloki popularly known as Booster eulogised the good work of Egunjobi and admonished him to keep up the good works wherever he finds himself.

Responding, Egunjobi thanked the groups for their gesture. He said his eight years of success cannot be swept under the carpet.

He said the council was the only local government to have an accredited Computer Based Test(CBT) center in the whole of Nigeria particularly Lagos Nigeria.

He said within the eight years, he sank over 50 boreholes across his area of jurisdiction, tarred over 100 inner roads and empowered over 10,000 residents.

“It is not in my practice to receive awards from anyone because I believe I am doing what I am supposed to do. If we are to talk about awards, I am sure nobody will receive a bigger award than me.

“I want you to know that I am one of you. The people of Agege gave me their mandate and I made bold to say that I have surpassed my predecessors in terms of achievements.

“Governance is not all about tarring of roads or constructing drainages but identifying the needs of our people which we have done within the past eight years.

“Under my watch, we introduced vehicles for our students to transport them to and fro their various schools. Everything we did was with the backing of the legislatures because it was passed into law; we have four 36- seater buses to take our students to and from their schools, we distributed 1,000 uniforms to the students and the sewing was contracted to the tailoring association in Agege.

“Also, we donated school furniture to schools and this was awarded to the artisans in Agege as a way to give back to the society. “We constructed functional maternity centers in all the seven wards in Agege.

In the area of education, it is of note that Agege is the only local government in the federation that has an accredited CBT Center.

In the area of finance, we have a multi-purpose 1, 500-capacity event center,” he said.

In order to rid the streets of street urchins, Egunjobi said the council has reintegrated about 250 street urchins, “They were sent to the skill and acquisition center and we give them N10,000 monthly for their upkeep.

“In the area of security, we have introduced local security called Paramole and 250 people were recruited with the monthly salary of N50,000 each. They work directly with the Police and other security networks.

“In the area of empowerment, over 10,000 Agege residents are paid N100,000 monthly. These can be verified.” He added.