Nkasiobi Oluikpe
As part of activities to prove his mettle in the National Assembly, Honourable Ganiu Abiodun Johnson, member of the House of Representative for the Oshodi/Isolo Federal Constituency II, in his usually tradition, has empowered members of his constituency across various divides.
Johnson who expressed joy and happiness over the mass turnout of people that were present at the occasion of the empowerment exercise, stated that it’s all indicative of the love, support and acceptance he gets from them.
Reciprocating the gestures, he assured that he has never and will never disappoint them in his assignment, part of which he disclosed, was the empowerment programmes which will be ongoing.
200 people received cash donations to boost their businesses; some went home with sewing machines; others include grinding machines; tricycles for transportation business; deep freezers for drinks and mineral businesses; hair dryers for hairdressing salon businesses; also those in the agric sector were also not left out.
Justifying his actions, he stated that there is a lot of poverty in the land. And that it was their responsibility to cushion the effects of poverty and look for ways of getting the people out of it.
He assured that even after the electioneering exercise, that he was going to continue with the empowerment programmes: “I did a similar one in 2022 which was a cash gift of N100,000 each to support some of our SMEs. It is a continuous programme. We have to empower our people. The poverty level in the country is high. That is the only way we can help them get out of it.
Part of the things that make you a good leader, he said, is when you are able to support your constituents with empowerment; have a listening ear as well as being able to facilitate developmental projects within the constituency.
Johnson explained that the empowerment benefits are not restricted to APC party members alone but also to the opposition party members.
“We have a template like I told you. You extend it to our party members, the opposition, NG0s, CDCs, CDAs, Arewa communities, Igbo communities, South-South communities and several others. The template that we share is to ensure that the empowerment items are spread across all and sundry. This will help to give everybody a sense of belonging that, yes they are here and are part of the constituency. I run a government of inclusion, which is very key in a democracy.”
He however advised that beneficiaries should try not to sell off their empowerment products and materials but rather patiently put them to judicious use.
“If you benefited a grounding machine. You can just put that outside your house and people will patronize you and little money will be coming from it. Most of the people that got cash are petty traders. They restock their shops. They can always turn it around to generate more funds. They should not see it as free cash but see it as money that they have worked for. They should be able to turn it around. The turnover is what is most important so as to make more money from it.”
Commending the Lawmaker, Otunba Henry Ajomale, former APC party chairman, noted that apart from carrying out his legislative duties responsibly, that Johnson has attracted home from Abuja many projects. This he said included water, electricity, good roads and others.
“We are very proud of him because he has also sponsored some bills in the National Assembly. He has done extremely well for Oshodi/Isolo constituency. We have never had it this good for a Representative to be carrying out empowerment programmes every quarter. We are indeed proud of him.”
