PRESS STATEMENT
Stop The Mudslinging Against Hon. Abiodun Derin Adesida
Our association, Initiative For Akure Rebirth, has taken note of the attempt to smear the image of Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida, the lawmaker representing Akure North and Akure South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
A group known as Akure Youths Forum recently threatened to recall Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida from the National Assembly. The threat of this group was widely publicised in both the traditional and digital media.
This group of unknown quantities in Akure wrongly accused Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida of non-performance since his return to the lower chamber of the National Assembly in June, 2023.
The group shamelessly claimed that Prince Adesida has not brought dividends of democracy to the people of the federal constituency. They also claimed that he has not executed or embarked on any meaningful projects and empowered the youths and women in the constituency.
We would have ignored the group’s misinformation, outright lies and threat to recall Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida from the National Assembly. We know that their threat is empty and they cannot pull a strand of hair from Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida. But the unwary may take them serious and their lies may be taken as the truth.
If members of the misguided and uninformed Akure Youths Forum are true indigenes of Akure, they are expected to know or have been told the laudable contributions of Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida to the development of Akure Kingdom. There is no doubt that Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida loves Akure and is genuinely concerned about the development of the ancient city.
Youths have always been the major beneficiaries of his development efforts in both private and public sectors. Hundreds of young people, most of whom were from Akure, used to work in his companies in those days, especially Derin Computers and Ala Community Bank. He established these companies out of his quest to invest in the development of Akure and provide jobs.
When Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida represented the federal constituency between 2007 and 2011, he facilitated employment of no fewer that one hundred youths. Most of them were employed into the Nigeria Custom Service. In less than one year of his return to the National Assembly in 2023, he has helped no fewer than 30 Akure youths to secure employment. Some of them are currently working with the Federal Road Safety Corps.
He has on several occasions provided funds for other serious youths and women to do one trade or the other. Apart from the ongoing registration of men and women, young and old people in the constituency by Hon. Abiodun Derin Adesida to benefit from the distribution of N150,000 cash each, some members of the constituency have received N50,000 each per month from the federal government for over three months.
So, the claim of the Akure Youths Forum that Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida has not done anything to empower youths and women in the federal constituency has no basis in truth. What empowerment is more than securing gainful employment? The group should tell the whole world the kind of empowerment it is taking about.
During his first term in the National Assembly, Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida influenced the installation of the 330/132/33kV| 2x150MVA transmission substation in the federal constituency. As at then, the worth of the project was N6 billion. It remains the biggest project any federal lawmaker in the state has ever attracted to his constituency in the state.
The giant project is sited at Owode town, along Akure/Owo road. The substation was completed in 2017 but since then, it has not been energised. If energised, the people of Ondo and Ekiti states will no longer rely on Osogbo for the transmission of electricity to the two states. The expectation is that the 55MW supply from Osogbo would increase to over 200MW, a development expected to ensure electricity stability for Ondo and Ekiti states.
It is also on record that Prince Abiodun Derin Adesida was the one who influenced the installation of N150 million worth of 132/33 KV Power Distribution Sub-Station to boost power distribution in Akure South. The project is located Opposite Arcade Ground, Igbatoro road, Alagbaka, Akure. During that period, he also distributed 30 transformers within the federal constituency to boost power distribution in both Akure North and Akure South. He built blocks of classrooms for schools, embarked on water and road projects and had among his achievements bills and motions that sought to bring progress and development.
Since he returned to the National Assembly in 2023, he has facilitated installation of solar street lights in no fewer than 25 communities in both Akure South and Akure North.
He has also facilitated the building of blocks of classrooms in the federal constituency. One of the school project is ongoing at the School for the Deaf, Akure. On the floor of the House, he has moved motions and sponsored bills seeking development for the federal constituency. One of the bills is the one seeking the upgrading of the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, to a university.
We believe there is nothing wrong with people monitoring the performances of their representatives in public offices and putting them on their toes in order to have a better society. But it is highly immoral to tell outright lies or misinform the whole world about their performances. We consider this as evil. God is against it.
We know where members of Akure Youths Forum are dancing from and those beating the drum. Only God knows who will be alive to participate in the next general elections. Only God knows those He will crown then. Let us take it easy and always consider God’s factor in whatever we seek or do.
E-Signed:
Ayomide Akomolafe
President, IAR
Oluwagbemiga Kolawole
Publicity Secretary, IAR
August 20, 2024.
