Banker turned politician, Hon. Ayodele Joseph, is the Chairman of Apapa Local Government Area, one of the highly resourceful local governments in Lagos State. In a recent encounter with The Eagle Online, the vibrant and upwardly young mobile young administrator reeled out blow by blow his achievements. Excerpts:
You were in the banking sector before moving into politics. How has it been with you?
Frankly speaking, it has not been easy. It was more very difficult during my first term but over time, I was able to adjust. People don’t usually want change. There was no way I would not want to bring some changes into the ways they used to operate. So I was resisted in several areas because I felt that the working environment has to be different. As for me, I come to work as early as 8am and a lot of them used to come to work then around 10am or 11 am. I wanted a change from the old ways of the public sector. I wanted a blend of both public and private sector. Initially, there was a lot of resistance, but over time, we really had to adjust. You need to give me part of what I want and I will also give you what you want. That is the blend we have now.
There is a perception generally that local government chairmen don’t do anything. Most of the jobs are done by the state government. They only sit down in the office to pay salary. What have you done so far?
It’s such a pity that people will be saying that because there have been instances in taking up such issues. We’ve touched almost spheres of lives and all sectors since I became the chairman of Apapa Local Government. In the education sector for instance, the first thing I did was to go round the schools and I realized that most of them don’t come to school in their school uniforms. The school have uniforms but you see them in different jerseys. So I took time to interview some of them and they said their parents can’t afford the uniforms. That was how we took it upon ourselves that every year, all primary school pupils within the local government will no longer buy uniforms again. In Apapa, students don’t buy books any longer. I could remember when I was in the corporate world, I used to come to Apapa and see students hanging on buses to school, probably their parents can’t afford transportation to school. So within my first 100 days in office, I bought two buses that take them to and fro free of charge. And we have been able to add more air conditional coaster buses for more comfort. That is not all. We give out free GCE and JAMB forms. We don’t just give out these forms. For JAMB, we ensure to give them tutorials before they embark on the examination. Of course, we participated in different competitions such as Spelling Bees and so on. We also brought in a new innovation and that is a quiz competition that we arranged in Apapa. The winners, we usually take them to the United Kingdom because it will be a tall dream for them to know how to study in the UK. We also take winners of several competitions abroad for exposure. I’m from Ijora Olowo. During my inspection, I discovered that there were about 100 pupils in a class. So I later took a decision that particular school will be used as a model for schools within the local government. If you can turn Oshodi to a very clean environment, then it will be very easy for you to turn Ikoyi to whatever you want to turn to. And that was what we did to several schools in Apapa. Ijora is generally known as an haven of poor infrastructure. So if we could transform it to a modern school that is comparable to private school, then the sky is our limit. Ijora Oloye Primary School is now looking good. We built a block of 12 classrooms. We gave them swings, playing ground, sick bay and several infrastructures you can think of. We are currently building one of such schools at Apapa. One is Ara Kano Primary School and Methodist Nursery and primary school. We actually took that step so that we won’t have too much students in a class, which may lead to epidemic if care is not taken. We also have a school in the riverine area, which was abandoned for years before I became chairman. So within my first 100 days in office, I ensure I completed the school before my first tenure ended. On roads, we have done nothing less than 120 roads within the local government and where road never existed, we had to create roads, especially for the people of Ijora Oloye because they only have one traditional road that leads to the community. Though it was so tough in doing that because there were so many buildings that had to be pulled down, but I summoned a town hall meeting where we all agreed to pull down some affected buildings to give additional road to the community. I would have loved to do more roads but there is no fund to do that and the Federal Government is not helping matters at all. My first term was far better because former President Olusegun Obasanjo was able to release some funds, which really helped us carry out several projects in the local government. I also established Apapa Road Maintenance Agency, with the aim of creating employment and maintaining our roads from time to time but we deal with not too long stretch of roads.
What has been the challenges you face in your effort in generating internal revenue, especially from Federal Government establishments in the local government?
Many don’t understand this. That is why they always say we are richer than any other local government in Lagos State because we get N2 billion as our monthly IGR. We don’t get a dime from all these Federal Government establishment because whenever we go to them, they will tell you they can’t pay you. And if you look at the revenue receivable by the local government such as tenement rate, which is now Land Use Charge, is now being done by state government. So should we be running after commercial buses for tax? If Nigeria Customs and NIMASA could be generating several billions monthly in the area for the Federal Government without any recourse to the local government? I believe we are being cheated by the government.
Don’t you generate any revenue at all?
We do but it’s not at optimal level. When I came in as the chairman, part of what I did was to block all the leakages because if I had not done that, some greedy staff do collect the revenue and keep in their personal pockets. So I had to bring in a lot of checks and balances so that we can make money into the purse of the government.
What is your next move now that you are about completing your second term?
I need to consult my elders in my party. That is when I can determine my next move. But I will prefer the National Assembly where I can champion the cause of Apapa Local Government.
Outside work, how do you enjoy your life?
I enjoy watching football.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
