In barely two years in office as a lawmaker, Honourable AkandeVictor Olusegun, member representing Ojo I Constituency at the Lagos State House of Assembly, has distinguished himself as a prototypical representative of his people, setting a new height of standards for other politicians and winning numerous accolade for his pragmatism and people centered representation.
In a chat with Pleasures Magazine in recent time, Hon. Akande had this to say:
‘Democratic governance is about effective representation. By effective representation I mean people centered representation, and that can only be evidence in what you give back to your people and what you are able to attract to them from the government as their representative. To achieve this, an elected political office holder, especially a lawmaker, should know that he holds the office on behalf of his people. He is not in the office for himself but for the people. He must bear in mind that he is the voice, the eyes and the ears of his people in government since everybody cannot be there (in government) at the same time. He is the people’s messenger, not their lord. He hears from them and speaks for them to the government and ensures that he gets the share of the dividends of governance due to his people and bring back to them selflessly. He must not alienate himself from his people. It is the consciousness of those facts that guides me in every step that I make; in everything that I do or say in the House to make sure that I represent my people effectively and I’m pleased to observe that my people are pleased and satisfied with the representation I am giving them in government,’ he said.
Honourable Akande Olusegun Victor is a Legal Luminary and a seasoned educationist, the proprietor of Busy Brain Academy, which he established some two decades ago, a school that has since become a house hold name in Ojo and beyond. He is an icon in the education industry in Lagos State. Though a lawyer and an academic, Hon. Akande Olusegun Victor has been active in politics for a period spanning over three decades. He had previously made several efforts to be elected to represent his people in government on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) but couldn’t get the chance for some reasons, the more obvious being that he was in the Opposition Party to the ruling parties in Lagos State. But being a politician with rare integrity, a politician who is driven by the ideology and manifesto of his party rather than the quest to get to power, he remained firmly in his party and continued to try, and when, according to him, it was God’s time for him to be elected, he got the mandate of his people against all odds, and today he represents the people of Ojo I Constituency at the Lagos State House of Assembly. Thanks to God and the good people of Ojo 1 constituency for entrusting their confidence in him.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN OFFICE:
In less than two years in Office as a law maker representing the people of Ojo I Constituency, Honourable Akande, a simple, easy going man, an epitome of gentlemen and a prototype selfless Politician who is poised to give his people the best representation in governance and set a new height of standards for other politicians to trail in that regards, has recorded numerous tremendous achievements that are shocking to put it mildly.
Prominent among his numerous achievements in office so far include: The payment of monthly stipends of N5,000 to over 75 widows in his constituency, the organization and sponsorship of sporting events like boxing bouts, football competition, draft competition among others, each of which he single-handedly financed and donated trophies with various handsome sums of money for the first time, second and third category winners as well as generous consolation prizes for other participants in the various competitions. This gesture, which has become annual events, is to get the youths of his constituency actively involved in sports from which they can rise to the peak of the career of their various chosen sporting activities. But even more importantly, the gesture’s immediate effect is that it helps to keep the youths away from the streets gangsterism and other related crime, thereby making the communities of his constituency peaceful and secured. His other achievements are the organization and sponsorship of information and communication training exercise aimed at equipping the youths in his Constituency with the requisite knowledge of ITC as well as skills for entrepreneurship with a broader view to creating employments for the youths and make them self-reliance. His achievements as earlier mentioned, are numerous, but the last I will mention here, which is the giant of all the hither to mentioned, is the approval of a General Hospital which shall be built and established in Ojo I Constituency in a short while from now as a result of his consistent and persistent request and lobbying at the floor of the House for a General Hospital to be established in Ojo, considering the ordeals his people have to go through to be able to access either the General Hospital at Badagry or the one at Alimosho. On many occasions, patients will die on the way before getting to either of these hospitals. This, Hon. Akande is poised to put to a final stop.
HOW HE FARES IN THE HOUSE AS AN OPPOSITION:
Hon. Akande says he fares fairly well in the House even though he is of the opposition party. He lauds the fair leadership style of Hon. Obasa, speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, which makes the House a level plain ground for all irrespective of party affiliation. Hon. Akande also praised the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, who he describes as a listening Governor that pays attention to everybody regardless of whether you are in opposition party or not.