Okada is not empowerment, empower constituents with skills, lawmaker tells colleagues

The lawmaker representing Ibadan North Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Science Research Institutes, Hon. Musliudeen Olaide Akinremi has stated that while politicians must find ways to assist their constituents in order to bring them out of poverty, giving motorcycles, clippers and grinding machines as empowerment is not the way to go about it.

Akinremi, who made this disclosure after a town hall meeting with his constituents where over 250 people from his constituency who were beneficiaries of his free vocational skills graduated, insisted that the best way to allow constituents feel the impact of their representatives is to equip them with vocational training and skills which will make them financially independent beyond the tenure of the representative.

He urged politicians to stop empowering their constituents with motorcycles, clippers, grinding machines and other materials, adding that these do not reflect the reality of this period. He admonished them to be more committed to the cause of developing women and youths as t this will go a long way in addressing growing insecurity and unemployment in the country.

“Giving people motorcycles, clippers and grinding machines is not enough to empower constituents. Give them scholarships and give them training; empowerment is about assisting people and equipping them with what they do not have in order to make them financially independent and lead them out of poverty. That is why I said that our people should change their mentality.

“People are used to giving out motorcycles, clippers and grinding machines. If I give 1,000 motorcycles today, it is not everybody that will see it, if I give them clippers, how much is the clipper? If you give people money, they may not use it for the purpose for which you are giving them, but if you give people training, nobody will collect it from them. Since I became Ibadan North Federal Constituency representatives in 2019, I have purchased JAMB forms for 1, 045 students.

“Training of people on how to make money is one of the best ways, it is better than giving people money. I am more interested in developing women and youth capacity, as we know our women have a lot of jobs to do, you find them in the markets, what I know is that most of our women help their husbands at home, so because of this when you empower women, it is like you empower the whole family. I will tell you that what we are giving to these women today if you give it to men, the children and the wife at home may not even benefit from them.

“But, these people, we have trained them we also given them money to start the business. Definitely, the children and the husband and the entire family will benefit from them,” he said.

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