KLM Presents One Year Score Card Of Holding His Constituency Mandate In Trust

ABUJA: The Representative of Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Hon. Kolawole Lawal Mobolorunduro, fondly called KLM has assured his constituents of his readiness to do his utmost best to proudly and fairly utilise the mandate given to him to represents them at the National Assembly, for the common good of his constituency.

According to a release e-signed by Hon. Lawal and made available to StarTrend Int’l magazine & www.star trend international.com by Mr. Tunji Olaleye, the Rep. said, “It is on this premise that today, 11th June 2020 being a year when the current 9th Assembly was inaugurated; I present the account of our modest and humble strides within one year of holding your mandate in trust for you my good people.”
Read the full text of his score card below.

My good people of Egbado South/ Ipokia Federal Constituency,

You may recall that the fourth pillar of our *AHEAD* campaign mantra and by extension our schematic campaign manifesto was *ACCOUNTABILITY*.

This is so, because our firm believe, backed by evidence based scientific analysis is that Accountability is a major principle of good governance, and a direct precursor of development.

For the purpose of clarity, our *AHEAD* mantra was arranged to make it easy for articulation, rather than ranked in other of importance, so no single pillar outranks another; but they are all complementary to each other to herald and ensure sustainable development of our constituency.

We promised to carry you along in the matter of governance and regularly update you with our activities and our roles in the happenings at the National Assembly. We made good that promise when at the first 6 months in office we gave you a vivid account of our stewardship so far then.

So it is only proper, and a matter of integrity to continue the tradition which we have established. For to whom much is given, much is expected.

*It is on this premise that today, 11th June 2020 being a year when the current 9th Assembly was inaugurated; I present the account of our modest and humble strides within one year of holding your mandate in trust for you my good people.

I must mention, albeit modestly that I am doing my utmost to proudly and fairly utilise the mandate for the common good of our constituency.

Anytime I stood up on the floor of the hallowed chamber, I usually feel the weight of your expectations on my shoulder. It is an enourmous responsibility which I have resolved and prepared to continue to discharge creditably, with your support and encouragements. I continue to stand on the pedestal of your trust and firm believe in me; on the shoulders of all my predecessors in office to speak resonantly about the myriads of challenges we have as a people.

My good people, we tabled our requests, we offered practical suggestions for the solution to our challenges, proposed solutions and sought for support to ease our hardships and to make lives more meaningful for you our dear constituents.

*Covid-19:
The year 2019 was no doubt a challenging year for us all, particularly in our constituency given our position and peculiarity as a Border Community. The directive on the Border closure order of the federal government as well as the Nigeria Customs service directive on supply of petroleum products to border communities left us in a precarious situation with significant negative impacts on our socio-economic activities. We therefore approached year 2020 with hope that the year will come with succour. But how wrong could we have been!

The year 2020 came with its own peculiar, unique and unprecedented peculiarities. In the first quarter of this year, the global community was thrown into tumult and everyone forced to go on unplanned holiday. Practically no country was spared. The resultant socio-economic consequence for both the government as well as individual families was huge. The price of Crude oil which is the mainstay of our economy crashed terribly resulting in oil glut in the global market. Suffice to mention that it has been projected that this effect will likely last with us for a while.

My good people let me assure you that I empathise with you and appreciate the fact this compounds the hardship already being felt in our constituency due to the continued closure of the border and its attendant effect.

We also recognise, appreciate and commend the valuable roles being played by our health workers in this pandemic. We note the challenges and limitations you face in this fight against the dreaded virus. We cannot thank you enough. You are all our heroes.
We remember and pray for those who sadly lost their lives to the pandemic and we pray for the repose of their souls.

In a bid to slightly ease the impact of the lockdown on the economic situation of some families in our constituency:
•We sponsored and delivered food relief packages to some vulnerable families across all the 22 wards in the constituency.
•We assisted some families with cash incentives
•We also provided and distributed hand sanitizers for our people in all the 22 wards
•We sponsored television jingles on the State electronic media to create awareness and educate our people on the scourge of Covid-19
•We continue to assist and support vulnerable constituents in this period.

Please remember that the virus is still a threat, even if it appears that the rate of infection is abating. It is tempting to have a false sense of security with the lockdown being eased by the government, please do not let your guards down. Continue to observe social distancing within reasonable limits. Pay particular heed to health advisories by all the relevant health Agencies

*Border Closure:
I embarked on a consultative tour of the Constituency as soon as I received the news of the hardship, harassment and difficulties our people were facing due to the border closure. I had meetings with the Comptroller in charge of Idiroko Command as well as the Officer in charge of the Police. I also met with the Officers in charge of the Ajilete, Ihunbo, Agosasa and Ijofin Check points. We had useful discussions and I pleaded with them to have a human approach to the enforcement of the border closure directive.
Our discussions are still ongoing, both on a formal and an informal basis. And we are working towards achieving a lasting solution to the challenges.

I must commend the mature disposition of the youths from our constituency, particularly Ipokia Local Government Youth Forum who were not clearly happy about the incessant killings, like all of us, and chose not to be complacent. They engaged the leadership of NCS and organised a stake-holders workshop to create awareness and address the dangers associated with smuggling of petroleum products. I was elated at this proactive approach of the Youths and made preparations to be physically present at the workshop which was slated for 25th March, 2020, but which unfortunately did not hold due to the pandemic.

I am hopeful that this programme will be held as soon as situation allows.

*Legislative duties:
I actively played the roles required of me as your representative and as a parliamentarian. I was quite active on the floor of the House, contributing to debates as well as presenting our own cases. I was also proactive in our oversight function as a parliamentarian. I took part in scheduled visits to all MDAs under the supervision of the House committees I belong to.

As the Chairman, House committee on ethics and privileges, I led by example. I must also give credit to the members of the committee as well as all Honourable members of the House for maintaining decorum at all times and thus ensuring the peace, harmony and stability the House has enjoyed so far.

You may already be aware of the number of Bills and amendment to existing Bills I sponsored and Motions that I was able to present within the last one year, let me quickly apprise you of the stages the Bills are, and the outcome of the motions moved in the House.

The high number of motions and amendment to Bills which we were able to present on the floor of the House should not be seen as gloating or chest thumping, but they should be seen against the backdrop of the myriad of needs, deprivation and challenges in our constituency.

*Motions:
We are all aware of the challenges we face due to the bad state of roads in our constituency, with many being impassable. While this is not peculiar only to our constituency, good road infrastructure will by all means, enhance and improve our economy and socio-economic activities in our constituency.

It is for these reasons that motions on road infrastructure to make life easy and also to ease the movements of people and of goods were high on our to-do-list.

Therefore, the following motions were tabled before the house under matters of urgent public importance and motions on notice:

1. *Motion on the Expansion and Rehabilitation of Idiroko/Owode-Ota road*.
The economic importance of this international road which was constructed in the early 60s cannot be over emphasised. This road is responsible to a large extent for the high revenue generation of the Nigeria Customs through the transnational movement of goods and services. The huge economic impact of this road was again confirmed in August 2019, when the Ogun State Command of NCS proudly reported that it generated about N1.28 billion in July, an achievement of about 99.08 per cent above the targeted income for that period.

The Idiroko/Ota road is also the only recognised road in the constituency which serves as the gateway and link between our neighbours and our country.

The motion was voted on and adopted on 7th Nov. 2019 as a result of the adoption of the motion; we continue to liaise with FRMA, Ministry of Works and other relevant agencies to commence work on the road as soon as funds become available.

2. *Motion on the construction of a link bridge in Tongeji Island in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State*.

Tongeji Island as we may all know is a bed of natural resources which hosts a large deposit of crude oil in commercial quantity if prospected.
The Island also holds huge potential for revenue generation from tourism if properly harnessed. At the moment, the presence of the Nigerian government is not pronounced as it should be, and this gives an edge to our neighbours to weigh in and exploit the situation. Consequently, if care is not taken and action expedited, this could result in another *“Bakassi scenario”*

A motion for a link bridge which will enhance the movement of our people and encourage investments on the island was thus moved on Nov 14, 2019. The motion was consequently voted on and adopted by Honourable members.

3.*Motion on the need to rehabilitate and dualise the Ita-Oshin-Ilaro-OwodeYewa-Ikoga Road in Ogun West and Central Senatorial Districts of Ogun state.

The relief and succour that this road will bring to the entire people of Ogun West in movement and in transporting farm produce and goods is better imagined. The motion was presented on the floor on Dec 5, 2019. It was consequently voted and adopted.

4. *Motion on the need to suspend the policy halting the supply of petroleum products to towns within 20 kilometres to the international borders by the Nigerian Customs Services in order to stop the smuggling of the product out of the country*.

Arising from this motion, in collaboration with relevant security agencies and national intelligence committee of the house, some filling stations were listed and permitted to be opened between Oke-odan and Idirokoto ease the suffering of our people and safe our people from the potential and possible collapse of Ajilete bridge due to persistent vehicles hold up on the bridge.

It is sad that the situation at, and around the Ajilete bridge still exists. We will continue to pursue the improvement of the situation through mobilisation, political and legislative collaboration.
Ministry of Works need to carry out an urgent structural assessment of the bridge by its team of structural Engineers. We cannot fold our arms only to run helter skelter when disaster strikes.

5. *Motion on the urgent need for rehabilitation and reconstruction of Idiroko international land border in Ogun State*.

The land border which was constructed in the 1960s needs urgent facelift in some areas and outright reconstruction in most areas. The land border lacks modern technology, equipment and security tracking devices. Modern Custom Services no longer rely on absolute force in the form of pursuing fleeing smugglers and shooting innocent citizens. Intelligence gathering and smart custom services using modern technology is what makes the difference in other developed countries of the world. This is what we seek and this is what we are working towards.
The motion also seeks to improve the working conditions of the security operatives posted to the land border.

I am happy to inform you that the motion was presented on the 26th November 2019 and adopted by the House the same day.

• While still awaiting work to commence on all these roads, we sponsored the grading of link roads in all the 22 wards in our constituency in February this year to ease movement of persons and goods

6. *Motion on Gas*:
Having worked for many years in the petroleum industry, I am not oblivious of the need for improvement on some areas of the industry.
This motion was moved with the aim of getting the Federal Government to review the contract terms in the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) to accommodate gas terms such as Gas Development Agreements, Cost recovery, profit Sharing etc.

When implemented, stakeholders will be able to determine the current situation in the gas sector and create ways to attract investments and set out terms that will grow the economy with special reference to creating legal backing for price mechanisms.

*Bills:

1. *A bill for an Act to Establish the Federal University of Technology, Ipokia* Ogun State was moved for the educational advancement of Yewaland in particular, and for the training of technology-manpower for the whole country. A university of Technology in our constituency will guarantee the objective tapping of our abundant resources.

Suffice to mention that the Bill passed the 2nd reading on 10th December 2019. The required further legislative and executive processes are ongoing to ensure this generally and widely desired initiative sees the light of the day.

2. *A bill for an Act to amend the border communities Development Agency (BCDA)* was sponsored by me to enlarge the scope of the Agency’s coverage to ensure proper designation of the border communities in both our dear state and in other border communities in the country.

The Bill if amended, will also reform the composition and functions of the Agency to enhance effectiveness. All Border communities throughout the country will benefit immensely from a reformed and more effective Agency. The Bill passed the second reading in Nov. 2019

3. *A Bill for the Alteration of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999*.

May I remind us all that this is a recurring attempt which had been severally undertaken by some of my predecessors but which never got the assent of the President before the end of the previous legislative assemblies and thus has to be restarted all over again.

This Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by changing the name of “Egbado South & Egbado North Local Government Areas to Yewa South &Yewa North Local Government Areas”.
This is to align with the law as legislated by Ogun State House of Assembly and consequently gazetted by the State Government following the assent of the State Governor.

This is the desired identity of our people and we shall pursue it both on the legislative, Judicial and human rights front. In sha-Allah, we will see to the completion of the process and obtain the President’s assent before the end of this assembly.
The successfully scaled the First Reading when presented on the floor of the House.

4 *Bill on Regulatory Agency for the treatment of Cancer:

Bearing in mind the scourge of Cancer and the resultant increased mortality rate in our society, I moved a motion for the establishment of a regulatory Agency to regulate the treatment of Cancer in Nigeria and to ensure that Cancer patients received prompt, accessible and affordable cancer care and treatment.
The Bill successfully passed the first Reading.

*Empowerment & Training for Youths:
We belief that our Youths deserve every support required to be gainfully employed and empowered in other to place them in a position to be able to contribute meaningfully to the development of our both our constituency, our state and country at large.

We also recognise the need to give them leverage and offer them a platform to exploit their potentials to the maximum, thus we facilitated some trainings in ICT. The choice of ICT was in recognition that the world is now technology driven.

We also facilitated training in peace and conflict resolution, community conflict early warning and early response and advocacy for Women because peace is a prerequisite of sustainable development.

We engaged over 80 aides across all our wards to act as liaison between us and our constituents and also placed them on monthly stipends. We embarked on quarterly empowerment for our leaders and members in all our wards and also gave back to our stakeholders during the festive periods.

*The following trainings were undertaken:
1. IT website development training and desktop publishing for youths in Egbado South/Ipokia Federal Constituency – 2 phases
2. Advocacy for Women and Peace Building sensitisation program for youths in peace building in Egbado South – 3 phases
3. Community conflict early warning and Early response programme in our constituency – 3 phases
4. Distribution of Generator sets to some individuals in our constituency

*Medical Outreach:
There would have been a massive medical outreach this month as plans had been concluded with our supporters. The Medical Outreach was targeted to give out both surgical and medical treatments to our constituents across all age groups, but unfortunately, the pandemic and the consequent lockdown prevented this.

Please be assured that this is high on our priority list for when situation returns back to normal and we are allowed gathering with no restrictions as to numbers.

*Petition:
One thing that continues to make us sad in our constituency is the incessant killings of our people albeit, through stray bullets from the reckless and sporadic shootings by Men of NCS when allegedly in pursuit of suspected smugglers. It is a serious matter which calls for concern.

Those killings have always left us sad, frustrated and angry to say the least. But we had always displayed equanimity regardless.
Last November, I was able to lay a petition on your behalf on the floor of the house for the extra-judicial and unwarranted death of some school students in Ihunbo. The petition was initiated by Hon. Sikirat Ajibola who is our representative at the OGHA and together with her team of lawyers – Barr Bamiwola and Barr Orisadare – the petition was followed up to the NASS.Let me reiterate that I continue to engage the leadership of the NCS both at the State and federal levels.

*Tributes:
We remember and pay tribute to the memory of our constituents who lost their lives as a result of stray bullets from the men of NCS.

We remember the students of Ojumo High School Ihunbo, we also remember Late *Sekinat Agbelade*, a promising young girl who was killed in March of this year at Agosasa.

We also remember Late *Ridwan Bello* another SS2 student killed in Owode Yewa in May this year.
We pray that may their souls rest in peace. Our thoughts and prayers are always with the families, the communities and friends of the deceased.

I will like to reiterate and give you the assurance that my office will continue to work together assiduously with all relevant stakeholders and interested parties to pursue the cases to logical conclusions.

This is necessary to serve as a deterrent to the unruly behaviours of some of the security operatives in our constituency. But most importantly to arrest the tide before it engulfs the constituency.

We need to engage all stakeholders and sound the message clearly and loudly that our people are not guinea-pigs, whose lives could be terminated at will and without repercussions. Our lives are precious and sacrosanct. We are fundamentally guaranteed a right to life as provided by the constitution of this country, regardless of our position as a border community.

*Summary of our modest Activities in the past one year:*
• Consultative meeting with the leadership of the NCS and the Nigeria Police and tour of the Check points in the Constituency to enjoin security operatives to exercise caution and restraints on enforcing the Government’s directive on border closure. In view of the reports of intimidation, and harassment being meted on our people.
• Sponsored and delivered food relief packages to some vulnerable families across all the 22 wards in the constituency as Covid – 19 palliatives.
• Cash incentives to some families to assist with economic situation on an on-going basis
• Provision and distribution of hand sanitizers for our people in all the 22 wards
• Sponsored television jingles on the State electronic media to create awareness and educate our people on the scourge of Covid-19
• Sponsored and funding of the grading of link roads in all the 22 wards in our constituency in February this year to ease movement of persons and goods
• Motion on the Expansion and Rehabilitation of Idiroko/Owode-Ota road.
• Motion on the construction of a link bridge in Tongeji Island in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State.
• Motion on the need to rehabilitate and dualise the Ita-Oshin-Ilaro-OwodeYewa-Ikoga Road in Ogun West and Central Senatorial Districts of Ogun state.
• Motion on the need to suspend the policy halting the supply of petroleum products to towns within 20kilometres to the international borders by the Nigerian Customs Services in order to stop the smuggling of the product out of the country
• Motion on the urgent need for rehabilitation and reconstruction of Idiroko international land border in Ogun State.
• Motion on Gas to attract investments
• A Bill for an Act to Establish the Federal University of Technology, Ipokia Ogun State
• A Bill for the Alteration of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999
• A bill for an Act to amend the border communities Development Agency (BCDA)
• A Bill on regulation of cancer care
• IT website development training and desktop publishing for youths in Egbado South/Ipokia Federal Constituency – organised in two different sessions for different groups of participants
• Advocacy for Women and Peace Building sensitisation program for youths in peace building in Egbado South – organised in three different sessions for different groups of participants
•Community conflict early warning and Early response programme in our constituency – organised in three different sessions for different groups of participants
• Distribution of Generator sets to some families in our constituency
• Opening of our constituency liaison offices in Ilaro and Ipokia
• Construction and opening of our ultra-modern multi-purpose constituency office in Oke-Odan.

Conclusion:
As we have said earlier, permit me to reiterate that we will not relent; we will not waver in our quest to attract sustainable development to our constituency in particular, but also to Yewaland in general.In this, we will always covet and appreciate your physical and Spiritual supports. Let me also remind you that our arms are spread open to welcome contributions, advises, constructive and objective criticisms and ideas at all times.

We embarked on the construction of a multi-purpose constituency office in Oke-odan to bring us closer to you our good people, please be assured that the doors of the office are wide open to every constituent, so feel free to walk in at all times. In the same vein, the constituency liaison offices in Ilaro and Ipokia are functional.

I also want to thank all of you who have been a pillar of support to us. We value your kind and generous words of encouragement and most especially we appreciate your encouragement for our modest strides since we resumed at the National Assembly. I am humbled that the words of encouragement which came from across party or political divide. Those words mean so much to us and we are not taking them for granted. Thank you.

Let me further assure you that these shows of solidarity will spur us further on. They will propel us to give our best to you our people. We will continue our giant strides result-oriented actions on all areas which will guarantee the improvement in the quality of lives of our people and the sustainable development of our area.

We promise to continue our giant stride in the hope that normalcy will soon return to our society.

Thank you for your trust in me.

Hon. Kolawole Lawal Mobolorunduro (KLM)

Representative, YEWA South/Ipokia Federal Constituency

National Assembly,

Abuja.