LG autonomy will foster transparency – APC chieftain

A chairmanship aspirant for Ikoyi/Obalende Local Government Area of Lagos State, on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, Omotola Soares, has said the local government autonomy will foster transparency at the grassroots level.

Soares said this during the Ikoyi/Obalende youths buffet and interactive session held at Victoria Island, at the weekend.

While declaring his ambition to vie for the chairmanship of the LG in the forthcoming election in the state, he said the development would make the council more accountable.

“LG autonomy means that you can stand on your own. It means money comes straight to the local government and its council. This signifies that there’s no bureaucracy and nothing comes between you and the money as a chairman, making you accountable.

“If I emerge as the chairman, I promise to be transparent with what I have done with the money. There are lots of programmes that can be set up with the money to better the community, such as empowerment and skills acquisition programmes.

“Empowerment is imperative. A leader must have the ability to hear when the people are not saying anything and to pay attention to important details.

“We care about the people, the community and what is going on around us. We believe certain issues need to be addressed,” he said.

The aspirant pleaded with the youth to shun violence and protests, while promising to tackle unemployment if elected.

“Tackling unemployment of the youth and the issues of security are my priorities. We also need to tend to the welfare of the youth and older generations within the community.

“To implement my vision for my area, we have engaged the youth to find out their stance on how things were being done, and what more needed to be done to help them and the community.

“One of the initiatives I’m taking is internship programmes on skills for the youth. This would introduce them to the labour market and they would gather more skills such as IT and good communication. We’re going to support them,” Soares said.

A member of the campaign team, Adeshina Arawole, speaking at the event, harped on the need for parents and guardians to monitor their wards, set examples and create awareness to help curb drug abuse and cultism.