By Kaosarat Atolagbe
The Local Government Chairman, Ajeromi /Ifelodun LCDA, Okeowo Olufemi Okeowo is ready to make his constituency become a beautiful bride again.
Okeowo who is just a year old in office has great expectations of what he would do within the four years as stipulated by the law.
He rolled out his plans in this brief chat.
How did you feel when you were appointed local government chairman of Ajeromi/Ifelodun LCDA?
I felt happy, good and accomplished, but it was with mixed feelings because of the big responsibility and task that come with the office. Being a chairman of any LCDA is not for show, party or ceremonies, but a place of seriousness, responsibility and work. The job involved is quite tasking, demanding and energy sapping and, therefore, I have the fear for the challenges ahead of me. Again, I believe that I am a winner and an achiever at the same time. I know God will stand by me to achieve greatness for Ifelodun/Ajeromi community.
How long have you been in office?
We have a four-year tenure to operate, but I have spent a year and three months in office. We started in late July 2021 and this is November.
What are some of the achievements credited to your tenure?
We have achieved a lot, from the drainage construction to many streets that have been interlocked and road construction on Muda Street. Drainage systems on Coker and market streets are ongoing and we are completing them very soon. We have done a lot of educational and health empowerment programmes to assist our people in this community. Again, there have been sports activities for our children to bring them to a level of responsibility, in order bring them out from the streets. We have done a lot, yet we still have a lot to do, we pray God to lead us through.
Are you satisfied with what you have done compared to your campaign promises to your LCDA?
Satisfied? We have only just started, have gone very far and really very happy. Do not forget that we still have three more years, that means we have a long way to go and this is still our first tenure. In fact, we are not even distracted with the campaigns and its responsibilities, rather we are focused and will continue to remain focused
What about the proper use of the finance earmarked for the office, is it being used for the work or it’s business as usual?
It cannot be business as usual. Have you been here before? You needed to be here before now to see things for yourself then and how it is now. You need to see the way the local government council area was before it was changed and reconstructed to its present state. This is exactly what we have for the people of Ifelodun. We will continue to rebrand and improve the environment to suite the lives of the people here especially on health, education and security network too.
Which other areas would you want the state government to support your constituency?
We are getting the state government support regularly and we are operating on the agenda called “THEMES”. For us to be able to do that, we have to get support from the state government and they gave us fire station in Ojo road which we commissioned two weeks ago. The blocked drainages that were beyond the capacity of the local government, the state government stepped in to assist us. Our health support programme is coming up in December too and we are also getting state support on that. All our projects are primary and secondary responsibilities, so we still have a lot to do.
Clean healthy water has been a challenge to this community, what is your take on it?
In our 2023 project, we plan to have a water scheme in the three axes of the LCDA, Amukoko, Alaba and Ojo road. We plan to do mechanized boreholes to bring much water to reach the community. We have plans for more improvements on our facilities, while creating new ones like the primary health care centres and making the existing ones secondary health centres. We also have plans for newly constructed roads and many more.