Nigerians should comply with CDC directives to avert disaster – Hon. Alli Adeyemi Taofeek

Hon Alli Adeyemi Taofeek is a member of the House of Representatives, who represents Mushin Constituency 1 in Lagos State, Nigeria. In this exclusive interview held on Monday May 18, 2020, with the Muslim Media Corporation, New York, Hon Alli, highlighted some of his social intervention programs within his constituency, the current pandemic the country battles as well as his significant contributions at the House of Representatives. He also explained some challenges faced as a first timer in the house.

MMC: Sir, can we meet you?

Hon Alli: I am Hon Alli Adeyemi Taofeek. With the support of Almighty Allah, I am representing the good people of Mushin Constituency 1 in the House of Representatives.

MMC: Could you please share your experience as a first timer? What are the challenges you’re encountering?

Hon Alli: Well, it has not been easy considering the fact I am a first timer. But I give adoration to Almighty Allah for his support. I must also sincerely appreciate the supports of those around me at at the National Assembly.

One has to leverage their experience and seek their guidance. I must particularly appreciate the leadership of the National Assembly, especially Mr Speaker, and a few others who always willingly guide new members.

MMC: What has been your contributions within the period you have spent as a representative?

Hon Alli: I have enjoyed the backing of the good people of Mushin Constituency 1 to be their eye and voice in the House of Representatives. I am not just an ordinary member. I played a major role in making sure that the candidates of the progressives, supported by the governors and presidency won the elections. Before that, I traveled across the country with Mr Speaker to publicize our manifestos to Nigerians.

As I am talking to you, I am a vice Chairman of House Committee on political party affairs and members of several others.

In addition, as a chairman of an ad-hoc committee, I led a team of legislators to Saudi Arabia to save the Nigerian lady accused of drug trafficking. We had series of meetings with the Arabian authorities and we successfully resolved the matter.

Not only that, I have sponsored a bill, moved several motions and supported others, for the benefit of my people. Take for instance, I moved a motion on how to save industrial housing from total collapse, with a reference to Ilupeju Industrial Housing in Lagos. Thankfully enough, the power supply in that area has increased to about 23 hours per day.

I have equally moved a motion in favor of the artisans, to make them one body in Nigeria. I have moved a motion on how to tackle the issue of ‘one-chance’ in Nigeria, especially in the cities of Lagos, Abuja and Kano.

At present, I am working on a bill that will take care of the elderly people in Nigeria. These are the things I have done.

MMC: Those are your primary assignments. What are the programmes you have executed within your constituency?

Hon Alli: First and foremost, my last birthday celebration wasn’t as usual. I deliberately didn’t celebrate it with the elite. I decided that with the massive support I got from people, I needed to identify with them. Therefore, we gathered more than 500 elderly people within my constituency, with the traders and political members to celebrate with them.

On that day, each of them was given food items: 10 kilogram of rice,beans, gari and monetary support. About 1,000 traders were supported with cash from 10,000 to 50,000.

During this Covid-19 pandemic, we have reached out to the people. I want to commend the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and all the council chairmen, my own chairman in particular for all the palliative measures. We also synergise with them to cushion the economic effects of the pandemic. So, on two occasions, I had carried out social intervention programs that provided food items to residents.

Also, in this holy month of Ramadan, not less than 1000 Muslim Muslims are being treated to delicious meals as iftar. And the mother of all interventions will be launched this week Wednesday.

Not less than 5000 residents will be given packages. Each package contains five different food items. We are doing all these to make sure that our people are appreciated and to reiterate our commitment to their welfare. We don’t want them to suffer. It is essential we reciprocate their support.

MMC: Sir, we are particularly interested in these 5,000 packages. We can vouch for your capability to carry the program. But it will interest us to know the modalities that will be adopted to share these packages.

Hon Alli: The last one we did was not as pronounced as this. We were able to reach out to about 4,000 people. This time around the method we plan to adopt will ensure that all the items will get to the needy. We are giving it out directly to every family.

MMC: When we look the current situation we face in this country, most talks of the town center on Covid-19. What are you doing to ensure that people in your constituency comply with the government directives?

Hon Alli: We synergise with governments at all levels: federal, state and local. I must commend the efforts of the Federal Government and most especially, Lagos State Government with all the measures put in place to curtail the spread of the virus. Talking about Mushin Constituency 1, the Chairman of this local council, Hon Rasaq Ajala, has been doing wonderfully well regarding the control of the pandemic.

Lots of sensitisation programs have been carried out by him, and on my own part, you know people are difficult to manage. But our target is that our people should comply with the directives.

Since our major concern is to improve the health of all the good people of Mushin Constituency 1, we have been able to support Hon Ajala to ensure that our people comply with the orders.

One of the measures taken is enforcement of social distancing and we sensitise people to the importance of wearing face masks. You can see people wearing different ones around.

MMC: Thank you very much sir for this opportunity. Before we round it off, what message do you have for the good people of your constituency?

Hon Alli: My message goes to all Nigerians, not only people within my constituency. And my message is that every one should stay safe to stay alive. We should all strive to comply with all directives and adhere strictly to preventive measures.

Thank you.