On a brand new episode of YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AND YOU, the topic that was brought up for discussion was Physical Planning and Politics.
To speak on the topic the guest speaker Honorable Demola Ijabiyi was introduced; he is a public affairs analyst, a member of the Presidential Campaign Council of Tinubu Campaign organization and also a member of the Independent Campaign Council of the Tinubu campaign organization, He is the secretary General of the Tinubu independent campaign Ondo chapter.
When asked what the chances of his party was to win the presidential and have majority in the National assembly?
He stated that there are two major well established political parties in the system, and also a third party which is Labour Party which according to the speaker doesn’t have as much presence in the Ondo state. He added that APC and PDP are the main rivals in Ondo state. He mentioned that his party is now very strong and united in Ondo State. Adding that there is No divisions, No dissatisfaction, No grumbling or grievances.
He added that they have a formidable presidential candidate in the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, He added that Tinubu is also well accepted across the country, and that in an election it is very important to have basic structure he stated that as at that moment out of the 36 states in Nigeria APC controls 22 states. He added that APC has formidable candidates all over the country and he didn’t see any reason why they wouldn’t win. He stated that their chances of winning the election was very high and that he expects a victory for Tinubu, and through that, all the other candidates of the party.
The programs sponsor TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele stated that he had gone through the manifesto of APC, PDP and Labor party, stating that none of these parties spoke about climate change, He stated that asides APC who spoke about renewable energy based on a Nigerian commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050, he didn’t see other political parties talking about it.
He went on to ask Honorable Demola Ijabiyi, how his political party APC will implement a national portable water supply within urban areas and most especially in the rural areas as is in their manifesto?
The speaker replied that one of the challenges that people face in the environment today is that there is no more free accessible government public provided water. He added that pipe borne water has now become a rare commodity in the country. He went on to say there were many who have to travel long distances to get water in many parts of the country, particularly in the north.
He stated that his party is focused on that as they will be making use of various sources of water, i.e: surface, underground and even renewable water. He added that his party’s manifesto is very clear that they do not want people traveling beyond five minutes to get water. He mentioned that apart from bringing water to the people through the pipes in the homes, on their streets, they also want to provide water from various locations through irrigation and tap it for drinking. He said these are some of the strategies of his party, he added that many people are already supplying water to themselves through boreholes and wells, he went on to say that whatever was the best option was for the people his party will use that.
When asked about housing deficits and APC’s proposal to merge some federal agencies to have more competent and well capitalized agencies, stating that it seemed similar to previous policies which nothing positive came out from, The host asked what the Honorable’s candidate/party was going to do differently this time around if they won the election.
The speaker responded by saying that it has been implemented before in the past he stated that every government wants to build more houses. He stated that what APC has planned to do is to review the Land Use Act, so as to make land easily accessible to people. Also, they would acquire more lands and sell them at subsidized rates to the common people. He said that they want to partner with the private sector so as to build subsidized houses for people, that is, houses that the common people can afford. He added that they plan to provide mortgage as Tinubu has always been big on credits, adding that people would be able to buy houses and pay in installments.
He went on to say that the federal government has one housing authority so therefore there was nothing to merge, because the Federal Housing Authority is totally owned by the federal government, the Federal Housing Authority’s job is not only to build houses directly to the people, but also to create the environment for private people to build their own houses. He stated that Tinubu would cause the housing authority to acquire a lot of land and then allocate them to people at a very cheap rate and also make credit available to them through the Federal mortgage system. So that one they can have the land, two, they can have the credit with which to build it. He said that many people now can’t build houses because the first thing they look for is how to get land. He concluded by saying the second strategy of the Tinubu government is, to build and sell houses that the common man can afford.
When asked if the program would be inclusive to the general public or if it would only be available to a particular set of people, I.e. the educated ones, or those working in the civil servants field or if it would be available to even petty traders as long as you’re a Nigerian or a citizen of Ondo State.
The speaker responded that there are categories, stating that those who are in the public sector, have their own housing programs and that there’s going to be a housing program for them because they have a regular source of income. He pointed out that even right now, many civil servants, and public officers have access to housing loans, mortgage guaranteed by their institutions. He said that the housing program Tinubu is going to do would be for the general public and that everybody will have access to it. He said that people from all walks of life would be able to acquire land irrespective of what they do and that they will also have access to mortgages and building houses. He added that the lands that was acquired, and the house being built on it would serve as security for the loan that the federal Mortgage Bank will grant the individuals according to the APC manifesto and that Bola Tinubu would reorganize the federal mortgage bank so as to make money available for people who desire it so that everybody desiring to have a house will not have any difficulty.
The host TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele stated that the party currently ruling in both the presidential and Ondo state level were both APC members he asked why some houses built by the government in Ondo state were so expensive to purchase stating that despite the availability it was almost impossible for the common man to purchase them and how would he, Honorable Demola Ijabiyi, reassure the public that if his party won again those houses wouldn’t double in price.
Honorable Demola Ijabiyi responded that hope is the personality of Tinubu leadership, he went on to say Tinubu Is a genius, a creator and an innovator. He mentioned that what some leaders find difficult to do, another leader will do it effortlessly. He added that Tinubu would be completely different. He stated that every leader can’t be the same, referring to what Tinubu had done it before with Lagos State, stating that revenues other people couldn’t generate, He generated it effortlessly. Even Programs that other states couldn’t execute. He added that when the problem of ghost workers was brought up He Bola Tinubu set up the Oracle computer program and eliminated all those things.
He added that Tinubu is going to liberalize the Land Use Act stating that according to their manifesto, Tinubu, if elected , is going to work with the National Assembly to review the Land Use Act. He stated that the cause of the high prices of houses was due to the land being very expensive to acquire. He assured that once the Federal Housing Authority through the Tinubu government acquires the lands, the cost of housing will go down considerably.
He continued by saying Tinubu is a reliable leader that can be counted on because he has done it before, he has done a lot of innovative things in Lagos State and that for someone who could run a state for two years without federal allocation and ran it successfully, efficiently and profitably to the benefit of the people, even without money, must be an innovator. He concluded his statement by saying Tinubu is a creator and that he will create money where there is none.
When asked what his party’s take was on “to develop any nation you need to develop a national physical development plan”.
The honorable stated that Tinubu has a master plan for Lagos and that the general public can count on Tinubu because he is specialized in the area of planning. He said If Tinubu can do it for Lagos and Lagos has been building on it and making progress over it, then he can most certainly do it at a national level, He added that this master plan, will include physical planning.
The host briefly explains that Rural urban migration has now become a global problem, as it reduces potential energy in rural areas, and shortage of food production in the country, on the other hand, it increases population in urban areas, which then leads to an increase in urban crime because when a greener pastures hoped for in urban area is not available, slum overpopulation would kill infrastructure the host asked if there was any plan from his party to curb rural urban migration?
To which the speaker said the first plan of the Tinubu government, is to explore the resources based in urban areas, both the agricultural and industrial resources, mentioning that there’s no part of the country that’s not endowed with mineral resources, to provide several amenities for these rural areas do that they do not have to move to urban areas in search of greener pastures, he went on to say the Tinubu government would make jobs available in the rural areas as well, so that people can stay in rural areas and still get jobs. In his concluding remarks he stated that the youths should be encouraged to be creative and make use of the resources available in their local communities, as this would curb rural urban migration.