Odi Olowo Ojuwoye LCDA is a work in progress. The community is blessed with a large population of fantastic minds, intellectuals, learned individuals, as well as respected persons who have made a mark in their individual professions.
This class of Odi Olowo Ojuwoye residents due to their exposure and sophistication do not expect anything less other than what is available in well developed and organized climes for their own neighborhood.
There are however, high expectations from residents, and it is a herculean task for a council administrator in the area to address all the issues facing the area in a short period.
With the support of all Odi Olowo Ojuwoye residents, the Council is prepared to witness wholesale transformation and massive development in the next four years. The council is on the move to greater heights.
5-point agenda: Areas of development
While campaigning for election into this office, one of the promises Hon Ajala made to residents of Odi Olowo was to advance the cause of development in the area council. To actualize this developmental plan, he designed a workable framework tagged “Giant Deals”. This pact is designed to effectively tackle problems facing critical sectors of the Area Council. These five areas include infrastructure, education, social intervention/youth development, health/environment, as well as security. Through this five-point social transformation agenda, Hon. Ajala’s administartation has mapped out steps required to ensure Odi Olowo Ojuwoye becomes a model council area.
The council recently embarked on the rehabilitation of some roads and drainage channels in the area because infrastructural development is a major area Hon. Ajala is focusing on. Considering the importance of a good road network to the enhancement of social and economic activities in the council, there are efforts geared towards rehabilitating strategic roads and infrastructure in the council area.
For Hon. Ajala, his first major task was to tour the entire council area to assess the actual condition of roads and other critical infrastructure in various communities of the LCDA. In fulfilling of electoral promises to council residents, the administration identified roads that are of greater economic importance to the council that were in bad shape, then decided that, irrespective of the fact that some of these roads identified fall under the purview of the state or federal government, as long as it is critical to the economy of the council the new administration will rehabilitate them. Council residents are the ones at the receiving end when such roads are not fixed. Rather than wait until when the state or federal government is ready to repair these important roads in state of disrepair, the council has offered to intervene by fixing them.
Thus, urgent need to fix strategic roads in Odi Olowo LCDA influenced Hon. Ajala’s administration’s decision to commence rehabilitation work on Fafolu, Kumuyi, and Abiodun Street which all amount to a total of 1901m2. It is expected that upgrade on all major roads in the 34 Community Development Areas(CDA’s) that make up Odi Olowo Ojuwoye LCDA will definitely take place. All these effort is aimed at allowing every section of the council feel the impact of this administration.
This present administration also completed road construction work on Ogunji, Ibukunolu and Araba which all amount to 3269 m2 stretch of roads covered so far.
To complement council roads fixed, this administration is also focusing on repair and upgrade of drainage channels in the municipal area. Following the inability of the last council administration to complete construction work on some drainage channels due to time constraint, the present council recommenced work on water channels situated at Opeloyeru, Ago Owu, Anuoluwapo and Alhaji Otta area of Odi Olowo Ojuwoye.
Provision of Potable Water
In the area of provision of clean portable water the present council rehabilitated 135 boreholes. This step was taken to address the issue of water scarcity in the LCDA within the first 100 days of Hon. Ajala in office.
A council wide research conducted revealed that an average household in the area spends not less than N200 daily to purchase potable water. In a month these families spend a total of N6000 on water. This discovery informed the council’s decision to repair all the existing boreholes that are in a deplorable state across the LCDA. The implication of this intervention scheme is that government will be offsetting the N6000 monthly expenditure on water by these area residents. In addition to rehabilitating these boreholes, there is also a move to procure electricity generators to power them.
To ensure these facilities are properly maintained, this administration has constituted a five-man committee that will be a product of each of the CDA’s to manage boreholes in their domain. This initiative will ensure that each of the communities where these boreholes are situated take ownership of this facility for effective and adequate maintenance.
“The Giant Deals”
During the electioneering period, the administration unveiled a detailed blueprint on how it intended to change the course of Odi Olowo Ojuwoye LCDA for good if voted into power.
This blueprint seeks to create an enabling environment for capacity building of residents, institutionalize bursary awards for deserving students, provide social intervention for women and youths, provide innovative wealth creation mechanisms, upgrade primary health centers in the area into well equipped 24-hour healthcare facility, and ensure peace is maintained in the area through regular security meetings with stakeholders.
These objectives which are all embedded in our social pact tagged “The Giant Deals” is geared towards moving this municipal area to an enviable height.
Health Centres
For now, it is only a quarter of the entire building housing this primary health center that is currently been utilized by the council. Along with the health center, the council also has its area office domiciled within that building. Aside from this two, a large section of the building is unutilized.
The bane of the problem facing the health center is low patronage. By virtue of the fact that the Center is located in the highbrow-estate-area of the council where majority of the resident can afford to pay for their health care, it has been underutilized.
An average Ilupeju Estate resident when in need of basic health care service would rather visit a private facility such as May Hospital on Sura Mogaji or even go all the way to Reddington Hospital in far away Ikeja instead of making use of the government owned primary health center on Coker Road that is closer and affordable. There are also some estate residents, who do not need to use the facility because they are already on one health insurance scheme or another.
When compared to council owned community health centers in neighborhoods such as Kajola, Ayantuga, and Anikulapo where a large population of residents regularly utilize these medical facility , the Coker Road Center has not lived up to expectation.
In addressing this issue, the council is considering relocating the Center from Coker Road to the Odi Olowo Council secretariat on Town Planning Way. It is strongly believed that the relocation of the Center to the heart of the council can help change the fortune of the facility. With that, more people would be able to access the Center after the relocation.
Nevertheless, it is not all gloomy in the Ilupeju area. Plans are now underway to establish an additional primary health center in the township area of Ilupeju. The new center when completed will take care of communities that make up Ward C1 and C3 of Ilupeju. Kajola Primary Health Center will now cater for people residing in Fadeyi and Jibowu axis, while Ayantuga Health Center will serve residents of Olorunsogo and Idi Oro area.
Presently the only Center in the council operating for 24 hours is the one at Ayantuga. To enhance health care services in the council, machinery is been put in place to ensure all other primary health centers in the council operate on a 24-hour basis. The new health plan will commence at the Kajola Center in no distance time while others will follow suit later on.
Keeping Odi Olowo Clean, A Must
the Lagos State government is to be praised for introducing the Cleaner Lagos Initiative. This new environmental policy introduced by the state will help provide effective solutions to sanitation issues facing the Lagos metropolis. The “keeping Odi Olowo Clean, A Must” sanitation program has been created by this administration to complement the effort of the statewide inclined Cleaner Lagos Initiative. This environmental program is geared towards transforming Odi Olowo LCDA into a clean, safe, disease free and beautiful area.
The program also seeks to eliminate illegal dumpsites as well as invest in the environment. In a nutshell, this initiative is a local version of the Cleaner Lagos Initiative which amongst other benefits aims to provide a more efficient and effective waste management and environmental sanitation regime. This is one of the ways in which the Council is helping to compliment the effort of the state government in its drive to achieve a mega city status.
Furthermore, it is good to know that a healthy Odi Olowo is a wealthy Odi Olowo. To that end, the council is ready to make this LCDA a choice destination for tourists across the world. To achieve this ambition, all must take the issue of having a clean and healthy environment serious.
Since the state government is presently working towards making the state cleaner and tourist friendly, Odi Olowo Ojuwoye LCDA need to also replicate the same initiative at their own level in other for the scheme to have a far reaching effect.
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