The war of words that ensued recently between a group in Agboyi Local Government, Agboyi Progressive Union (APU), and the executive chairman of the local authority council, Mayor Dele Osinnowo, over the newly constructed Agboyi link bridge may be far from over, as APU has challenged Osinnowo to provide video and pictorial evidence of all the projects he claimed to have executed in Agboyi since he assumed office seven years ago.
APU had recently, through a press statement, warned Osinnowo to desist from alleged fraudulent claims that he was instrumental in the construction of the new Agboyi link bridge, while the group maintained that the Council boss didn’t only know anything about the project but further accused him of not living up to his role as the Council boss, as he was alleged not to have visited the project site in about fifteen months the project was constructed and that he only surfaced with a camera to do photo shoots on the bridge after its completion.
On the other hand, however, Osinnowo, in a statement signed by his media assistant, Opeyemi Ahmed, responded to the claims made against him, engaging in non-charitable choice of words.
In the latest development, however, Agboyi Progressive Union, in a statement signed by its Secretary, Prince John .B. Bankole, put some records straight and ultimately challenged Mayor Dele Osinnowo to come forward with video and pictorial evidence of his projects in Agboyi, whether on-going or commissioned.
The statement reads, “The Agboyi Progressive Union would ordinarily not have responded to an attempt by a sinking man like Mayor Dele Osinnowo to rationalize his fraudulent claims as it regards the success of Agboyi Link Bridge, but we deemed it necessary so issues can be further put in the right perspective for the sake of the future and the awareness of the public, Agboyi residents, particularly.
We had thought his reaction was going to be reasonable, i.e., he would apologize and probably make amends where necessary, but what we discovered was that, in his bid to justify his actions, he only unknowingly admitted that his visit to the bridge where he snapped photographs was not different from how a model would visit a tourist site to do a photo shoot, since he could not provide details of his acclaimed collaborations towards the success of Agboyi Bridge. However, it remains a misery how a council chairman can possibly stay away without making an appearance at the site of a project he claims to have rendered collaborative effort to initiate, not even a project that gulped in a huge amount of funding like that of Agboyi Bridge.
Equally, because he lacked substance regarding the issue at hand, he resorted to mere bickering and attacks on personalities. Most unfortunate is that he also tried to pitch Agboyi Progressive Union against distinguished and amiable Senator Mikhail Adetokunbo Abiru by claiming the group didn’t acknowledge the lawmaker’s contribution to the success of the bridge. Meanwhile, while he couldn’t detail the Senator’s role to convince anyone of his acclaimed ‘collaboration’, we are pleased to educate you that for the purpose of administrative details, a Senator is a federal entity, which means the federal; thereby, our distinguished Senator Abiru was covered in the credit given to the federal government.
On the issue of flooding, which he tried to shift to the council manager, maybe we should remind Dele Osinowo that flooding is an annual occurrence in the Agboyi community for obvious reasons, and we are bold to say we have never seen the chairman and his team on a visit to Agboyi to sympathize with the people on any of such occasions since assuming office seven years ago. We challenge him to counter our claim with evidence of such visits.
Osinowo claims he ordered the setting up of a committee for the flooding. On that note, one wonders what exactly the committee’s obligation is, if it actually requires a committee to visit people over their losses, or if it is after the expiration of their office term that the report of the committee will be implemented. It may not be out of place to mention that unlike Mayor Osinowo, who instead of acting went ahead to set up a non-existing committee, his counterpart, the chairman of Isheri/Ikosi, did not only show concern for the plight of her people whose areas were ravaged by flooding by visiting them; she went along with the Honorable Femi Saheed, who represents her constituency in the state’s house of assembly, so he would be able to mention it for a possible solution on the floor of the hallow chamber.
APU also wishes to educate the chairman that the Agboyi layout survey was designed over 30 years ago, after the project was first proposed in 1963 when Agboyi was under Ikeja district council, and at no point did the good people of Agboyi ever consider Church Street as the choice of the layout. The same copies of the proposal were submitted to the federal government through the state government.
On the issue of the solar panel system for the water project, the position of the chairman clearly shows that he still lives in the past. If he would not mind being tutored on the workings of solar panels, we would be glad to lend a helping hand. For the avoidance of doubt about our position on how solar energy can be used to power water projects, we recommend the Chairman visit Buguma and Koluama in Ijaw, south of Bayelsa State, where the KEFEES development foundation built a solar-powered water project for the Riverine community that shares the same water level and eco system as Agboyi. My chairman, be reminded that governance is about solving problems.
It’s also imperative to let you know that we take an exception to the subtle insult you hurled at the people of Agboyi: that they are illiterates who do not know their rights from left by insinuating that their position against your actions, as made known by the Agboyi Progressive Union, was engineered by Prince Ladega Ibrahim Kehinde. It may interest you to know that Agboyi have loads of Oladega Ibrahim Kehinde in their folds. Meanwhile, since you chose to bring Ladega into the issue, it won’t be a bad idea if we take you through the effort made by this same young man towards the success of the Agboyi Bridge you made fraudulent claims about. It’s on record that Prince Ladega Ibrahim Kehinde passionately advocated for a link bridge to Agboyi by engaging former governor, His Excellency, Akinwunmi Ambode, and his successor, His Excellency, Governor Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu, over the same topic both in the public and private spaces. He also took advantage of his weekly radio show that has run for 17 years on Radio Lagos 107.5 to seek development and promote Agboyi. As one who was once the spokesperson of the Agboyi community, he needs not hide under any guise to air his views. Also, the Agboyi Progressive Union cannot, for any reason, deny our son in the person of Prince Ladega Ibrahim. He’s a source of pride for Agboyi, and we are proud of him because of his passionate effort to liberate Agboyi. We are equally proud of his personal achievements because, in whatever he does, he makes Agboyi a priority. Prince Ladega Ibrahim Kehinde is a trained broadcast journalist from the prestigious Lagos State University of Science and Technology. As a matter of fact, you (Dele Osinowo) once benefited from his expertise when he worked as the deputy director of media and publicity for the campaign that produced Mayor Dele Osinowo as the executive chairman of Agboyi Ketu in his first term. He’s moved on to be appointed as the Special Assistant on political matters to the immediate Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives in the 9th assembly, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, now the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu. Prince Ladega Ibrahim Kehinde is a man of great influence and grassroots mobilization. We thank you for identifying Ladega as a voice and asset in Agboyi. Lest it’s forgotten, it is on record that Prince Ladega didn’t lose a single unit to the opposition at the last presidential and gubernatorial elections in his ward at Agboyi. He is a politician with a second or even first address; as such, he’s currently busy with his job. We, however, want to use this medium to advise Dele Osinowo to learn to live up to his role as council chairman and drop the habit of heaping blame for his maladministration and administrative ignorance on anybody.
In the same vein, we want to advise Osinowo to desist from picking on the organizing secretary of the Agboyi Progressive Union, Prince Musbau Adebisi, as the view credited to him in our first statement wasn’t his personal view but a representation of the entire people of Agboyi.
Concluding, we hereby challenge Mayor Dele Osinowo to prove us wrong that in his first tenure as the chairman of Agboyi, he had a single commissioned project in the two federal wards in Agboyi Island that comprises Agboyi 1, Agboyi 11, Agboyi 111, Odoyi Estates, Araromi Ilaje, and Owoyele Aro Estate. We volunteer to foot the cost of the video recording of any projects he successfully carried out in those federal wards in his first term. Finally, APU wishes to reiterate that opinions are free, but facts are sacred. Mayor Dele Osinowo should take note. We also wish to invite him to come and continue his photo shoot at the newly built 40-bed maternity hospital by the federal government and supervised by the Lagos state government in Agboyi 111.
Signed by Prince John .B. Bankole,
Secretary, Agboyi Progressive Union (APU).
