Hon. Jimi Benson who presently
represents Ikorodu Constituency at the House of Representatives, the good name
of his family particularly that of his uncle, Late TOS Benson played a good
role for him coupled with his strong determination to serve the people of
Ikorodu Constituency. He believes the 8th Assembly has what it takes to turn
around the fortunes of Nigeria to a greater height especially with the
personality of President Muhammadu Buhari. He shared his views in this
interview
Tell us about your experiences as
regard your election, how true that the margin that gave you victory was slim?
Thank you very much for the
question, the election was quite interesting. Some people thought it was close
but the margin was about 25,000 difference, the number that can fill up Onikan
Stadium. Ikorodu delivered even more than we thought which means, Ikorodu
people believe in President Buhari, they also believe in the leadership style
of Lion of Bourdillon, former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Were you at any point felt jittery before
and during the election?
I believe in God, the author of our
fate, I knew what He had in stock for me, my intention for the election was
clear. I wanted to serve my people and didn't have any iota of doubt of what
the Lord can do about my ambition. We invested a lot in human capital, I had a
very good team, we ran an issue-based campaign with a lot of technology. As we
speak, I have a database of all the voters in Ikorodu, I have a volunteer
scheme also that has 25,000 members. We prepared well and God did it for us.
The only issue that I had was that the election was militarised because our
election took place the same day with the Presidential election. The PDP, in
their desperation for power used a lot of soldiers to harass innocent voters to
rig the election in their favour but it did not affect us.
Do you agree that the name of Late
TOS Benson also worked for you in this election?
A good name will always pave way, I
thank God that I had a great uncle who contributed a lot to Ikorodu and beyond.
I also pray to leave a legacy for my own children; I am hardworking, I follow
instruction of my uncle and it all worked for me in the election.
Some outskirts of Ikorodu used to be
for the PDP in the past elections, how were you able to break into that
stronghold?
In this election, it was issue
based, we toured all the 30 wards in Ikorodu. We sat and ate with them, by
virtue of my work, I have known all nooks and crannies of Lagos State
particularly Ikorodu before the election, so it was easy for me. I felt their
pulse even before the election and knew their challenges and needs. I was able
to do some palliatives for them because they believe in me and my promises and
I pray to God to help me fulfill them. We shall also leverage on Governor
Ambode's promise who plan to grant one billion naira wealth creation policy.
Ikorodu indigenes who are unemployed would be able to start up their
businesses. The governor would also provide 20 roads in each local government
in a year, so if all these are implemented; Ikorodu will never be the same
again after four years.
Your predecessor, Hon. Abike
Dabiri-Erewa to some people did very well while some felt she did not perform
well, do you think her scorecard affected you positively or negatively?
Hon. Abike Dabiri did very well,
like I always say she laid the foundation which I will build on. She's very
popular at the floor of the Lower Chambers. When I tell colleagues at the
Assembly that I am from Ikorodu, her name comes up, she has been a worthy
ambassador of Ikorodu. Back home, she could have done better as some thought,
people mistake the function of legislature with that of executive. I will say
Abike Dabiri came, saw and conquered.
Where are you starting from in terms
of promises you made to your people?
We promised to be good ambassadors
by influencing development projects to our constituents, in my community. There
are lots of roads that are bad, I will put pressure on Federal Government to
repair bad roads in Ikorodu. There is a federal hospital at Igbogbo area which
has been abandoned for a while, I am going to use my influence to make sure it
is fixed. There are also constitutional issues, some local government areas
have not been recognized and I am so passionate about it; Lagos State needs to
be given special attention. Apart from federal government, Lagos State has the
highest number of employees, we need federal government's support for the Light
Rail project currently going on. There is no reason why we can't have a free
Trade Zone in Ikorodu. Many of our youths are unemployed here, I hope to
influence projects that will create jobs for our youths.
Share the experiences you have
gained so far on the floor of the assembly. It's a big departure from the 7th
Assembly, I learnt that in the last Assembly they had only 30% of people who
have degrees but in this 8th Assembly, 75% of candidates in the House have
degrees, so the level of intelligence may be higher.
Source: shokishombolonews.com
