Traders in the 9 local government of Oyo South senatorial district were all smiles as the lawmaker representing them in The Senate, Sen. Adesoji Akanbi, assisted 780 of them with money worth N39 million.
At the event which took place at Alesinloye area of Ibadan, the state capital, speakers who took turn to speak one after the other heaped praises on the legislator.
Each of the 780 beneficiaries, who were drawn from all the artisan and trade groups, went home with a non-repayable amount of N50, 000.
Deputy speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Wasiu Musah, who led other members to the event commended Akanbi, who was Reps member in the aborted Third Republic, urging the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money. He said the feat is rare, especially in the state.
Senatorial chairman of the party in the district, Prince Adefisoye Adekanye was full of praise for the initiator, urging others to emulate the gesture.
Speaking earlier, Akanbi, who was a member of late former governor Lamidi Adesina administration said that for long, even before he became a lawmaker, he has been giving back to the society. He added that the assistance was not a loan but like a succour to the traders whose businesses have faced lots of challenges due to the downturn in the economy of the nation.
Saying that he has sponsored and moved more than 10 bills and motions respectively, he boasted the present crop of lawmakers representing the state in the national assembly are the best ever. He commended the efforts of Honourables Adedapo Lam-Adesina of Ibadan North East /South East, Saheed Akinade-Fijabi of Ibadan North West /South West, Prince Akeem Adeyemi of Oyo federal contituencies and others for putting smiles on the faces of their contituents.
According to him, “anybody that seeks to govern the people must have human face. This is not the first time; only last year, I empowered thousands of people with job tools after they had undergone the skill acquisition programme; we have assisted students in the areas of bursary and scholarship. We make bold to say that we have performed excellently in our close to two years.
“All I can say for now is for them to use the money for what it is meant for. We would have loved to do more but we incapacitated. We will not relent. We know we are there to alleviate the sufferings of our people and not to elevate it. Only recently, works started on the Lagos-Ibadan rail project. I can gladly say I am partly instrumental to the project. This is because we believe that if the railways are given facelift, the roads would heave sigh of relief.
“You should all continue to support us with prayers and advises. We cannot afford to fail for posterity sake. I also want to urge you to continuously support the administration of Governor Abiola Ajimobi,” he added.
