Akoko and Adeogun representation at House of Reps

Since Nigeria’s return to democratic government, Adejoro Adeogun, elected during the 2019 general elections on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, is the fifth elected member to represent the Akoko South-East/South-West Federal Constituency of Ondo State at the House of Representatives.

Three and half years into his term, he has posted remarkable results in stewardship and performance to make his second term a reality; subject only to the votes of the people and not the munificence of any overbearing godfather.

In his primary duty of truly representing his constituency in lawmaking, robust debates and contribution to national and local developments and studious discharge of the oversight roles of the legislature, as mandated by the laws of the land, Adeogun has posted new records that will be difficult to beat.

But this piece is more of an assessment of his contributions to the fortunes of his Federal Constituency outside the remarkable records within the green chamber of the National Assembly.

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Arising from one’s objective appraisal of his person and activities is his concern about engaging qualified constituents in gainful employment. In line with this, he has been able to facilitate employment for many constituents into various Federal Government agencies and parastatals, apart from assisting hundreds in growing their businesses.

Owing to his efforts, Akoko-South indigenes are now better represented in the Nigeria Ports Authority, the Nigerian Railway Corporation, Foreign Affairs, Department of State Services, Department of State Services, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Immigration Service, Federal Medical Centre Lokoja, Nigerian Army, Federal Fire Service, the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, including the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board and Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Agency.

For those who were unable to make it into the above federal parastatals and ministries, Adeogun was able to facilitate the enlistment of 110 of them for the N-power programme of the Federal Government in September 2021.

Adeogun also nominated and enlisted 60 members of his Federal Constituency for a Youth Volunteer Programme under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources in October 2021. Again, when another opportunity presented itself, he nominated and got another set of 100 youths from Akoko-South enlisted for an empowerment programme under the Federal Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity.

Adeogun is unashamedly an advocate of youth empowerment and his interventions confirm this noble bias. Adeogun’s devotion to youths is beyond mere sloganeering. Between 2020 and 2021 he provided three-year scholarship opportunities to 400 students at Upland College of Education, Ipesi Akoko. Beneficiaries were mostly indigent youths who do not have the economic strength to afford tertiary education, including educationally disadvantaged teenage mothers who desire to further their studies.

Another area that stands Adeogun out is his penchant for identifying the true needs of the people, instead of succumbing to the lure of quick political gains derivable from populist projects with little or no real impact on the standard of living of members of his constituency.

For Adeogun, interventions must be strategic, pragmatic, and utilitarian. His facilitation of Targeted Credit Facility (COVID-19 loans) ranging between N100,000 and N500,000 to 200 local farmers and small business owners across the Federal Constituency in June 2020 lends credence to this assertion.

Before then, he had in January of the same year (2020) distributed support equipment (in partnership with the Nigeria Ports Authority) to 150 constituents among who were fashion designers, barbers, hairdressers and other such often neglected artisans and professionals.

It is worthy of note, that unlike in the past when some vocations were overlooked and seen as a reserve for unserious persons, Adeogun has demonstrated an unusual understanding of the changing trend in society by including members of the creative industry in his interventions.

The lawmaker distributed start-up and support equipment (in partnership with the Nigerian Film Corporation) to 150 constituents in the creative Industry. Fashion designers, hairdressers, photo and videographers, barbers, music artistes, sandcrete block makers and disk jockeys among others featured in this round of intervention.

Adeogun’s indelible prints also loom large in the area of educational infrastructure. He provided classroom furniture for 600 students, including office furniture for 50 teachers in selected secondary schools across Akoko-South Federal Constituency. Beneficiary schools include Isua High School, Ogoso High School, Korowa Oka, Eseodo High School, Iwaro Oka, Etioro Community High School, Ipe High School, Obahoho Comprehensive College, Epinmi, Oyinle High School Oba-Akoko, Omuroko High School, Ipesi Akoko, Oroke High School, Akungba, Agbogbo Grammar School, Supare, and Ojomirin High School, Oka-Akoko.

The honourable member also presented bursary awards to 200 students from the Federal Constituency who are schooling in various tertiary institutions of learning across the country.

The level of diplomacy and maturity required from one who is a representative of a place like Akoko – which is home to people of diverse languages, religion and economic needs – is often taken for granted. To be able to balance conflicting interests from different sections of this unique federal constituency is definitely a yeoman’s job.

His strong grassroots network makes it easy for him to identify what the people of different sections of his constituency want and need at every particular time. For example, in 2019 and before his inauguration as a legislator, Adeogun undertook the massive renovation of Oka Town Hall at Ibaka, along Palace Road. Less than two years later in October 2021, he also undertook massive renovation of the central mosque at Ose Oba. He didn’t go about imposing the same project across the constituency as some political neophytes might have done for the sake of striking a balance, rather, from his grassroots network, he was able to identify what was needed by each community.

Fagbemigun is an Abuja-based multimedia journalist