“In the 80s and the 90s, Egbeda was the place where industries flourished. Back then, we used to have Atlantic Carpet, T & G Glass. We had Exide Batteries that made car batteries. In fact, we had a car assembling plant in Egbeda at the time – Leeland. Between the 90s and now, all those companies I mentioned have folded up and no one can explain how that happened. From rumours, some said it was due to mismanagement, some said it was government that clamped down on those businesses. Government ought to take the responsibility of providing for people and companies an environment where they can thrive.
I got curious: who are those representing the interest Egbeda across all levels of government? I found out that since 1980, the people who have represented Egbeda local government just get into office and do nothing. They never passed any bill to better the lives of residents of Egbeda. They just get into office and do nothing while they keep getting paid.
I further discovered that the caliber of people we have been electing in Egbeda are people who have no idea what the constituency really needs – they are uneducated and barely exposed. When these people are elected, they do one or two public toilets, then they buy grinding machines and sewing machines which they will distribute to people. I don’t blame them because that’s only how far their level of exposure can drive them. A man cannot give what he doesn’t have – that’s all they have and so that’s all they give. Think about it – what bill can a vulcanizer who is elected into the House of Assembly pass?
It is not like there no educated and well-travelled folks in Egbeda that could run for office and step up the constituency. Once the knowledgeable people become rich and comfortable, they build new houses in the high-brow areas of the city – Bodija, Ring-Road, Oluyole Estate – and then they move out of Egbeda. Instead of staying to take charge and helping to build Egbeda, they move out to the already built-up places.
For me, I just couldn’t fold my arms and watch Egbeda fall from the height that it used to be as an economic and industrial hub. This was how I started my Egbeda Youth Forum. – a think-tank of young minds in Egebda. Along the line, I realized that individuals alone cannot fix things by themselves, the individuals will always need government. At Egbeda Youth Forum, a matter was brought to our attention. A man built a fertilizer plant in Egbeda but the road to the company was so bad. This man decided to fix the road that led into the community where the company was situated. He got tractors, bulldozers, pay-loaders etc. It was the youths who stopped the project, demanding that they be paid some levy before the road can be made.
The man felt because he was doing the road both for his company’s and the people’s benefit, he wouldn’t pay a dime. Then he went to complain to the local government. The local government officials said that the boys had no power to stop the construction and that it was the local government that had such powers. They then directed the man to pay N400,000 into the account of the local government before he can fix the road. The man tried to explain what he was trying to do with the project but they remained obstinate.
The man then came to us at the Egbeda Youth Forum and that was how I got involved. We decided to lobby the Baale and see if he could talk to the local government chairman so that the road can be fixed. The Baale in turn demanded for N1.5million before getting involved. That day, I almost cried. That was when my people gave up on Egbeda. The man eventually sold off the company property and moved his factory elsewhere. This was 5 years ago.
Now the road is in a terrible state than it was back then.
There’s an estate called Alao Akala Estate which is very beautiful and very big and in the real sense should be like a mini Lekki on its own but the road leading to the estate is bad. Upon making enquiries, I found that the people wanted to do their own road but the local government wouldn’t let them because the chairman wants to, someday, do the road, commission it and make a political statement with it. Today, in Egbeda, people are their own government – they provide their own water, their own roads, etc. People don’t feel the impact of government at all.
My campaign experience so far has been eye-opening. I used to look at Egbeda as a small local government when I started my campaign but I won’t lie to you I soon realized that Egbeda is very very big. It is only 20% of Egbeda that is developed, the remaining 80% is farm settlement – places like Erunmu, Ogungbade, Egbeda etc. These are new areas where you could walk for 20 mins from one house before you see the next.
I used to think Egbeda was Olodo, Kumapayi, Iwo Road, Gbagi but mehn, there are places that many people don’t know. In the course of my campaign, I got to a settlement where there were no campaign posters of any political party. Not even of the APC and yet, that community has about 20 polling units. That means no one is considering those areas. Imagine. If the area doesn’t get posters what are the odds that they will reap the benefits of the elected government?
To think that the federal government intends to open a dry port there.
Also, I have discovered that Egbeda people honestly want better for themselves and they want to thrive in a better space than what they have now. They just want a crop of leaders who will sincerely work towards helping them achieve that. It is only in Egbeda that you campaign and people will volunteer and help you go around to paste your posters and they won’t even collect a dime. They are tired of politicians that will make promises and fulfil them. They want someone who understand their plight and what they really need.
I discovered that people come to campaign to them and promise them things that are not utmost to their hearts. For example, residents in a farm settlement don’t need a dual-lane road as much as they need fertilizers, seedlings, irrigation systems, storage facilities etc. The people in Egbeda, I discovered, want someone who truly understands them. You can only know what people need when you talk to them and I actually find it tasking but exciting. Campaign has made me understand better why Egbeda is the way it is.
Egbeda has young minds that can write codes and programs but there’s no tech hub in Egbeda where they can thrive. What is the government doing to turn Ibadan into a booming tech space in the real practical sense of it? Imagine Ibadan having a booming tech ecosystem – a lot of people who have left Ibadan for Lagos would never have left in the first place. Sadly, our current crop of leaders don’t see Ibadan as a technological space.
There’s a dry port the government is building at Erunmu which is in Egbeda local government. It’s going to be like Apapa. The railway line – which is going to be commissioned very soon – ends at Olodo, which is also in Egbeda. If all these things that will open up Egbeda to development are happening, why is government not paying attention to us? Ibadan airport is in Egebda, so why is Egbeda not developed as Ibadan South West?
These were the things that propelled me to run for office.
In politics, there’s no draw; you either win or lose. When I started the journey I realized that you may not win the election but you will not lose totally. Running for office puts your face out there and then you get a chance to hear the real stories of people – their struggles, their desires etc. You’re never the same afterwards, whether you win or not. If you lose in one election cycle, people will remember you in the next election as the guy who offered them something better but whom they had turned down.
In the course of my campaign, there have been high times and low times but I have never contemplated giving up. In my low times, I encourage myself and remind myself that it is not a do or die affair. I have a day job – politics is not my job. So when I am low, I remind myself that I would go back to my job and restructure and plan ahead of another election. If we don’t win this election, it doesn’t mean we will never win another election again.
This gives me hope.”
(Egbeda, 2019)
