Hon Sabur Akanbi Oluwa (SAO) took the oath of office as Ajeromi Constituency 11 representative at the Lagos State House of Assembly on June 06 and has been focused bringing democratic dividends to his Constituency without making noise and a peep into his scorecard less than two years will wow any Thomas why the lawmaker has not been noisy about the massive regeneration and overhaul at Tolu School Complex, numerous Scholarship awards, Desilting of Canals, Numerous Road Interventions, Street Lighting and Massive Cash Supports to Youths etc. This is the concluding part of our chat with the Lawmaker
How sweet or tough has it been for you since your election?
Politics is what you call it and what it is to you. If you think it’s an act of putting yourself forward for service, then it becomes an interesting and a course worthy of doing. I find politics interesting, and sometimes it can be weird, but it’s a price to pay to serve.
What’s your reaction to the allegation by the Okorogbo community that they have not seen you since the last time you came to campaign in their area?
You just brought that to my notice this morning, when you said I have not been there since I won the elections. That’s not true. I have been to Okorogbo three times that I can remember. I may not have done some of the things the community wants, but as opportunities present themselves, I will do them.
Okorogbo is still on my mind, and I know they deserve more, but sadly, the business of government has been quite slow. The opportunities are shrinking every day, that’s why it looks like some of the things that need to be done for Okorogbo people seem not to have been done.
Politics in this area is very dynamic. You, getting re-elected, is a work in progress. What’s the prospect of you improving the lives of the people?
My focus is not getting re-elected but doing the job I have been elected to do. Politics is dynamic, and a lot of interest will keep coming up; the demands and expectations of people do change over time. What I tried not to do during my campaign time was to make any promises. I avoided making promises because I was not aware of the position I was about to occupy. However, some of my fears have come to reality.
Anything can happen anytime. If you had made a promise, fulfill it. If I had made a promise during my campaign and did not fulfill it, that means things changed; a lot of economic calculations changed. A large part of the 2024 budget had to be used to cushion the effect of inflation on the 2023 budget, and some of these things were not envisaged during the campaign.
Things are moving, but not as fast as we expected. I know the future is quite bright. Things have changed, and Ajegunle is no longer what it used to be. I believe it’s still a work in progress.
Take us through your academics and family background
I am from the Oluwa family. A family that’s dedicated to service. A lot of members of my family have been appointed to be elected into government positions. When you put yourself up for service, especially when it’s not one, two, or three persons, you know the family is built on service. Often, not everyone will be pleased with the service of the people. I have heard opinions about some of my family members who have occupied elective positions; Some positive, some not very positive. I will say that my family members who have occupied certain leadership positions have certainly done well.
Three of your family members are gunning for the chairmanship position in Ajeromi, one is your direct sibling. What’s your take on this?
I told you that my family is a family of service, and we have what it takes to occupy any leadership position. You can’t take it away from them that everyone running for this office is qualified. You know the three family members who are running, but only one person will emerge.
Apart from members of my family, you have several other people running for this election, and it’s only one person will emerge. They are eminently qualified, and the elections will throw up the best.
Are you not supporting any particular candidate from your bloodline?
I will not throw my weight behind anybody. If you look at the arrays of aspirants, you will see they are mostly my ardent supporters and people who have worked so hard for me to emerge. Even before the campaign, we had all been together. We know everyone, their antecedents, and what they can do. So the choice is for the electorate to choose the best among them
There’s this noise in town that people don’t want the Oluwas again. What’s your take on it
These people have developed over time and have their capabilities. It will not be fair on my own part because I am in the House of Assembly to tell them not to run. The party and the electorate will make the best decision. Disqualifying anyone based on people’s agitation is unfair. I don’t like physical confrontation, and I believe that during electioneering, the crucial stage is the primary. If they can avoid problems by coming up with a consensus, that will be great.
Let’s talk about your academics
I did my nursery and primary school in Ajegunle here and then secondary school in Command Day Secondary School, Ojo, Lagos. I went to Alhama University, where I got my first degree in International Relations and History. I served in Abuja at the House of Representatives under former Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila. I started my master’s degree at Base University before I came back for the election.
Your Constituents are in the dark concerning the problem at the House of Assembly. We expected our representatives to take a stand, and that will help us to take a stand. Secondly, in the budget, we need to be carried along. Why are we not carried along?
I will say that’s not true that we don’t update you regularly. Our medium of update may not be universally accessible. We do a lot of electronic messages to update on issues that we know are relevant. They are entitled to know everything, but there are decisions we also need to take on their behalf. It’s politics at play, but I have to pitch my tent where the interest of my constituency will be protected, and also look carefully because, as a first timer, the reason why the parliament is engaged in seniority is that it’s synonymous with experience.
I trust the judgment of some of my older colleagues, and I also try to see things from their perspective. I know the people voted for us. Because there’s nothing like an independent candidate, the leadership of the party stepped in, and we have to listen to them. Updating them about provisions made for the budget is not a problem; the information is always available. The budget is an estimate, and these are things that will benefit our people. All the trillions you hear are not physical cash, but cash we are expecting.
My office doesn’t execute, it’s just to legislate, and that’s why we say we want to do this and that. We have seen a lot of projects in Ajeromi in the budget that never saw the light of day. If you keep telling people to expect this and that, and nothing comes to fruition, they will be disappointed. It doesn’t mean we can’t ask for more. It’s also my responsibility to regulate the emotions of the people
Growing up, what sports were your specialty?
Everyone knows I used to play football.
Ajegunle used to be the hub of sports and entertainment, but we seem to have lost that for now. Talking about the Mock Nations Cup and others, what’s the plan to bring back some of these sports that made Ajegunle vibrant?
I don’t seem to agree with you on that. But we should look at where the problem is coming from before talking about the solution. Over time, our youth used to be very interested in sports, but they’re not so now. Young people are interested in sports, but there’s a need for coordination, just as it happened during our time, when our elderly ones coordinated the sports because of their love for sports.
It was a good way for the community to come together. Like football was a uniting force, it never looked at tribe or religion. Though a lot of them are trying to survive but they should not allow this to rob us of the joy or the fun we derive from some of these things.
Sports have been a veritable tool for development, though we may not have harnessed them very well. There’s a sort of organisation now that includes having a Sports Council. There will be a need for us to invest in some of these infrastructures to meet the standard. Sports centres are very important and they have helped us as stabilizing forces. There’s a need to see that some of our facilities are upgraded, and if there’s a need to add more, it will be done.
Football, basketball pitch, and other sports, these things will be provided.
Tell us some of your mid-term achievements, the ones you attempted that never came to fruition
I am happy with my scorecard, and I have gotten feedback from different platforms. Comments and criticism help us and provide feedback, so when I get comments, I go back to the drawing board to adjust and look at some of the things I didn’t do well.
The first thing in engaging someone to work with you is the scope of work. The scope of work in lawmaking is to create the framework for the government to work. There are opportunities therein that we must not miss. I should be able to ask them, Where are the provisions made for my people? And I am able to lobby for that and some other projects, including.
I owe the people the responsibility. In my scorecard, I will say that the people who have elected me should be proud of me. I sponsored a bill for the Lagos State Electricity Bill, which has been signed into law. Not many legislators have been able to sponsor bills; some of them have been there for 12 years, and they have not been able to sponsor a bill. It’s a landmark law. What the law intends to do is for us to take our future into our hands
There can be no economic development without certain infrastructure in place, and one of them is electricity, which almost cost me the last election because of the crazy billing that still happens till today. In sponsoring the bill, this means ensuring that the regulatory power is not left to one entity. Having more regulatory agencies will be good for the country. In 2023, the National Assembly made a law to allow states to determine if they want to have that regulatory power. I said Why not go with a law and a framework. I am doing my best to make sure our voice is heard
I have to move a bit away from the scope of my job to see how I can give back. Some of the ways I can give back are to try to lobby for more projects to be included for us, though some of them are still ongoing. I know we have a lot of schools in the locality that are not up to standard. I have tried to lobby for these schools to be renovated; some of them will be done, but I have to be careful because I was given an option.
Do you want a regeneration of more than 20 schools, or do you want to pick a few? I thought in my wisdom that we should do an overhaul because it’s a mess, and people come from far and wide to study here. There’s a need to have a standard school with all the amenities, and we can start focusing on the other single schools
In 2024, I lobbied for a couple of roads to be done, but I realised that there’s a lot of variation on existing contracts, some roads have been abandoned by contractors because of inflation, since they needed more money. I am privileged to be in the House Committee on Works, and this has given me the privilege to see some of the deplorable roads. We thought instead of opening new roads, why not make the ones we have motorable, and over time, we can begin construction of new ones. That led to the resurfacing of a lot of roads, which is still ongoing
Making laws is not our problem, but implementation and execution. How do we tackle the problem of an estimated bill for our electricity and the issue of landlord/tenant impasse?
Each arm of government has its function. We, the lawmakers, make laws, while the executive executes and the judiciary follows up with enforcement. We can only do our part of the job, and as we go along, we try to push other arms of government to do their bit. The problem is never the law because the law is a very dynamic tool. There’s a tenancy law in Lagos State, and if there’s such a law, that means the government cannot leave the tenants in the hands of those people, which means there are regulations. Which means some of these regulations are what people are supposed to protect, have aided.
There are a lot of things that need to be considered. Inflation may have crept in, which will cause the prices of things to rise, and the man may want to increase his rent. Secondly, for a man who has managed to build a house during his active years and decides to depend on the rent after his retirement, how would you advise him on how to peg his rent? You can only appeal to people, let them know that as life is happening to them, it’s happening to other people.
That is why the honourable members brought this matter to the floor to be addressed by the house. At this point, it’s not a constitutional matter but a matter that we will be engaging stakeholders. We can only make laws, but we cannot execute. We try to amend some of the laws that are draconian because these are tools that can be used to exploit the people, especially the landlords.
When it’s suitable for some people, the law works. We want something that will suit everyone
What have you done for the youths who are your main supporters in these two years that you have been in the House, and what are you planning to do?
Some of the things I have done for them may not have been publicized. Like the sports centre and Tolu city centre. I helped some of them to purchase JAMB forms and also pay for their lessons because they need to be encouraged. No area in Lagos has the number of schools that Ajegunle has, and this place should be one of the most educated areas. We have satellite centres of campuses around here. Here should be the hub of education in the state, going by the number of schools here.
Apart from this, I also support the area by supporting sports events. Any youth that have positive things to do, it’s my responsibility as a leader to support them. Though I can’t do it all alone, if I see people who mean good for the community and they ask for my support, I am always willing to do that.
Apart from the JAMB forms, I also give scholarships to some of the students who came top in the state. In the 2024 JAMB results, three of them came tops, and I have to encourage them with a scholarship for the entire duration of their academic
I have also organised a fashion show for fashion designers to encourage them, and gave some of them cash to scale up their businesses. We are still trying to see the best approach to empower the youth because we have a large number of youths in this area, and the government cannot do it alone. We are looking for a sustainable way to engage them. Before you engage someone, their mind must be ready, and you engage them in something meaningful. Some of the things we need, you can empower them to produce. They can produce, and when they do, they are creating an economic benefit.
We cannot lose. Entertainment is one area I am also looking at, which we must do something about
