BY Ebunoluwa Olafusi
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, a 35-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate, has clinched the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos west senatorial district.
Addressing residents of the senatorial district at a rally, he promised to liberate them from bad leadership if voted into power.
He reminisced about his childhood in Ikeja, the state capital, saying he had also experienced his own share of the effects of incompetent governance that residents of the state go through.
He urged the people of the state to vote for him in the 2019 elections, promising to dedicate his life to pursuing their interests and making sure they get the democracy they deserve.
“Although education has taken me across the globe, Ikeja has and will always be my home. Not only have I spent much of my childhood in Ikeja, it is where my people are,” he said.
“I will always cherish memories of my childhood here – I used these same roads, dealt with the same power situation, and had very similar experiences to those who live in the constituency today primarily because of wasteful leadership and incompetent governance.
“All my life, I have carried a burden, a deep desire to see us liberated from leadership that does not put the people first. What I offer is a freedom from leaders that are not empathetic to our basic needs. A freedom from ineffective representation.
“On the 16th of February 2019, you will all have an opportunity to exercise your power to choose. To choose between freedom and captivity, voices that speak for you and voices that neglect, change or more of the same. By voting for me, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, you will have the power to breathe a new life into your representation at the federal level.
“I want you to lend me your ears and hearts in the months leading up to that date, to hear and understand why you should, with the power of your vote, make me your representative. I promise that my voice will be your voice. Four years with me as your senator will not be spent with me running after my own personal ambitions, adding no value to you. Vote for me and for the next four years I will dedicate my life to you, pursuing your interests and making sure you get the democracy you deserve.”
He listed some of the projects he intends to facilitate if elected, adding that the dreams of the electorate can only be achieved if they all work together for a common goal.
“At the national assembly, I will fight for an infrastructural development bill that will fund the repairing of federal roads in Lagos, most of which cause undue hardship especially to the people of the Lagos west constituency,” he said.
“The reckless abandon of the Badagry expressway, Oshodi-Isolo expressway, Ojo road, Apapa and several others are grinding business activities in those areas to a halt and are inconveniencing commuters daily.
“We must decongest Lagos and reduce the number of trucks on our roads; as your senator I will engage my distinguished colleagues from other senatorial regions to push for the appropriation for the extension of port facilities in other coastal states.
“Lagos is the business capital of the country, and power is cardinal to its productivity. Therefore, by means of a legislative bill, I will fight tirelessly to see that the abandoned Independent Power Project of Lagos state becomes a reality.
“Also worthy of attention is the need for a special tax status for Lagos state to ensure that Lagos gets a better deal from the federal purse.
“Our dreams can never be achieved in isolation. Only by working as a community can we create a Lagos that we all hope for. I am proud to be the flag-bearer for the PDP on this senatorial ticket, a party which has encouraged and actualized youth engagement in politics at the highest level. Let us take our hands and lead ourselves out of the chains of incompetent leadership that has bound us for so long. Our path to freedom starts here.”
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