“I’ll build on Abike Dabiri’s legacies” ...Hon Jimi Benson

                               Hon. Jimi Benson who presently represents Ikorodu Constituency at the House of Representatives, the good name of his family particularly that of his uncle, Late TOS Benson played a good role for him coupled with his strong determination to serve the people of Ikorodu Constituency

He believes the 8th Assembly has what it takes to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria to a greater height especially with the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari. He shared his views in this interview
Tell us about your experiences as regard your election, how true that the margin that gave you victory was slim.
Thank you very much for the question, the election was quite interesting. Some people thought it was close but the margin was about 25,000 difference, the number that can fill up Onikan Stadium. Ikorodu delivered even more than we thought which means, Ikorodu people believe in President Buhari, they also believe in the leadership style of Lion of Bourdillon, former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Were you at any point felt jittery before and during the election?

I believe in God, the author of our fate, I knew what He had in stock for me, my intention for the election was clear. I wanted to serve my people and didn’t have any iota of doubt of what the Lord can do about my ambition. We invested a lot in human capital, I had a very good team, we ran an issue-based campaign with a lot of technology. As we speak, I have a database of all the voters in Ikorodu, I have a volunteer scheme also that has 25,000 members. We prepared well

and God did it for us. The only issue that I had was that the election was militarised because our election took place the same day with the Presidential election. The PDP, in their desperation for power used a lot of soldiers to harass innocent voters to rig the election in their favour but it did not affect us.

Do you agree that the name of Late TOS Benson also worked for you in this election?

A good name will always pave way, I thank God that I had a great uncle who contributed a lot to Ikorodu and beyond. I also pray to leave a legacy for my own children; I am hardworking, I follow instruction of my uncle and it all worked for me in the election.

Some outskirts of Ikorodu used to be for the PDP in the past elections, how were you able to break into that stronghold?

In this election, it was issue based, we toured all the 30 wards in Ikorodu. We sat and ate with them, by virtue of my work, I have known all nooks and crannies of Lagos State particularly Ikorodu before the election, so it was easy for me. I felt their pulse even before the election and knew their challenges and needs. I was able to do some palliatives for them because they believe in me and my promises and I pray to God to help me fulfill them. We shall be relying on Governor Ambode’s promise who would grant one billion naira wealth creation policy. Ikorodu indigenes who are unemployed would start up their businesses. The governor would also provide 20 roads in each local government in a year, so if all these are implemented; Ikorodu will never be the same again after four years.

Your predecessor, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa to some people did very well while some felt she did not perform well, do you think her scorecard affected you positively or negatively?

Hon. Abike Dabiri did very well, like I always say she laid the foundation which I will build on. She’s very popular at the floor of the Lower Chambers. When I tell colleagues at the Assembly that I am from Ikorodu, her name comes up, she has been a worthy ambassador of Ikorodu. Back home, she could have done better as some thought, people mistake the function of legislature with that of executive. I will say Abike Dabiri came, saw and conquered.

Where are you starting from in terms of promises you made to your people?

We promised to be good ambassadors by influencing development projects to our constituents, in my community. There are lots of roads that are bad, I will put pressure on Federal Government to repair bad roads in Ikorodu. There is a federal hospital at Igbogbo area which has been abandoned for a while, I am going to use my influence to make sure it is fixed. There

are also constitutional issues, some local government areas have not been recognized and I am so passionate about it; Lagos State needs to be given special attention. Apart from federal government, Lagos State has the highest number of employees, we need federal government’s support for the Light Rail project currently going on. There is no reason why we can’t have a free Trade Zone in Ikorodu. Many of our youths are unemployed here, I hope to influence projects that will create jobs for our youths.

Share the experiences you have gained so far on the floor of the assembly.

It’s a big departure from the 7th Assembly, I learnt that in the last Assembly they had only 30% of people who have degrees but in this 8th Assembly, 75% of candidates in the House have degrees, so the level of intelligence may be higher.