What I Had To Do To Win My Re-Election

• LAGOS Lawmaker. DESMOND ELLIOT

Take it or leave it, Honourable Desmond Olusola Elliot is fast becoming one of the young emerging political voices in Lagos. That the Lawmaker representing Surulere constituency 1 is also enjoying tons of love and support from members of his constituent is also not in doubt. What might perhaps shock many is the fact, this young, vibrant and dynamic politician whose political exploits in the last few years have been nothing short of impressive, is already being penciled down by the top echelon of the APC in Lagos as one of the potential forces on whose shoulders the party would stand in the not too distant future. This surely may not come as a surprise to those who know this brilliant Lawmaker very closely. He has, within a short while in politics, proven that he’s got tremendous potentials to become one of the most accomplished politicians in the land. He has held his own as a young Lawmaker. He has moved motions on the floor of the House that have impacted positively on his people, aside doing his bit to bring the dividends of democracy to the doorsteps of his people. He has also had his own fair share of political topsy-turvy. Every politician has their good days and bad days. But give it to Hon. Desmond Elliot, he handled those bad days pretty well.

The recently held Lagos House of Assembly elecvtions was one of the tough and tricky moments that the young and vibrant Lawmaker had to overcome, using everything at his disposal to ensurew victory was his. Indeed, if there was one Lawmaker that heaved a huge sigh of relief immediately the election results were announced, it has to be the Lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency 1, Honourable Desmond Olusola Elliot. And the reason for his big relief is understandable. There were very serious doubts that he would win his re-election bid. And this had nothing to do with his performance as a Lawmaker. Without a shred of doubt, the man has done impressively well. But weeks leading to the election, stories began making the rounds that the friendly and intelligent Lawmaker has not been having the best of relationship and understanding with some of the various political groups in his constituency. Some accused him of not appreciating their contributions and showing them disrespect. Some others simply chose to draw the battleline with him because they felt he was not generous enough when it comes to splashing the cash as many politicians are expected to do with their various political support groups.

There was also the story that the youths were not happy with the Lawmaker. They claimed he has shown them nothing but utter disregard and has rarely reached out to them since he was elected into office. But the biggest threat came from the speculation that the entirety of Surulere youths were lined up behind the Labour Party candidate contesting for the Surulere Constituency 1 House of Assembly seat, actor Olumide Oworu. And considering the impact the Labour Party had on the presidential election in Lagos, beating the APC in its biggest stronghold, anyone would have a sleepless night with the Labour Party mob of Obidients breathing down it’s neck. Eventually, it turned out Olumide Oworu was not even on the ballot on election day, another candidate was on the ballot for the Labour Party. And in the end, Desmond Elliot won the race by a landlslide, beating the other contenders with well over 10,000 votes.

How did he feel when the election results were announced and he came out victorius, we asked. “I feel very grateful. I am humbled, and most importantly, I give thanks to God. He has been faithful. I also cannot fail to mention the support of my leader and mentor, Speaker of the Federal House of Reps, the Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, for his unwaivering support. And of course, my leader and Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, the Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, he has been extremely supportive. “

For those who do not know, the two men who have played perhaps the biggest roles in Hon. Desmond Elliot’s political career are the two gentlemen he just spoke about. He adores them to no end. Apart from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who remains the man who brought him into politics and has become his biggest inspiration ever since, the two other men who Hon. Desmond Elliot has understudied and learnt a great deal from are the two aforementioned Speakers. He is very close to these two distinguished politicians. He does not joke with them. He never shies away from the fact that, every passing day, he proudly drinks from their fountains of knowledge. He consciously watches every step they take and studies how they make great strides in their flourishing political careers. And these two political power houses have a soft spot for Hon. Desmond too. They are impressed with his tenacity and resilience. This is why they consistently support him and are ever willing to throw their weight behind anything he is doing because they trust Hon. Desmond and have seen in him impeccable integrity.

So,how was he able to emerge victorious despite all of the mounting obstacles that were placed in front of him before the elewctions were held? According to the Lawmaker, it took some concerted efforts to make the victory happen. A couple of weeks before the election, Desmond Elliot financially empowered several members of his constituent and handed out several transformers to some communities in Surulere that reaaly needed them. “Contrary to what many thought, we had already made arrangements for the transformers long before the elections came. It just so happened that they were delivered shortly before the election.”

He reveraled that there were lots of consultations and realignment of various political groups that were before then, not sharing in his political ideals and philosophies. What the Honourable didn’t mention though is that there were also lots of reconciliatory moves to bring together party chieftains and leaders in Surulere, groups and individuals who were, at first, not willing to throw their weight behind the Lawmaker. A lot of the conflicting issues within the fold had to be immediately resolved to ensure that Hon. Desmond Elliot was returned elected. And that was exactly what happened at the end of the day.

And now that he’s won re-election, what should his constituents expect from him at the 10th Assembly, we asked the good looking Lawmaker: “There’s going to be more legislative prowess. I’m thinking of bringing up the Lagos State Orientation Agency, I’m bringing up a motion to revive the vocational organizational youth societies such as the Boys Scout, Boys Brigade in our society so as to curb the menace of drug addiction and also promote oneness among the youths. I also want to talk about the use of drugs in our society as well, bring the motion up so as to have a more robust discussion so we can encourage the young people and take their minds off these things. I also want to encourage private Small Medium Entrepreneurships within our community so that the government will encourage these people. We must build this state from the ground up and by my little quota, in voicing out my own part that the people of Surulere have given me, I’m sure I will be able to make a lot of changes. And also I want to talk about beefing up our health care system in terms of our insurance policies. I don’t think that what the insurance policies are offering today is enough in terms of coverage. Covering just malaria, typhoid and few others is not enough for a good insurance coverage. We should have cheaper insurance coverage for a larger volume of coverage, that is also one narrative I will love to take up at the floor of the house. These are just some of the many things in my mind that I want to do going forward. I also plan to make available for my people, access to water, provision of power, the injector power station is a dream that I have been working on since the 8th Assembly, hopefully before the end of this year, we should have constant electricity in Surulere. I can beat my chest on that. I’m so thankful to Hon. Gbajabiamila for his support on this move we have been making for some time now and then to Eko disco as well for making sure this comes true to fruition. I am so glad that as a legislator, I have been able to harness these opportunities and make sure this happens in my constituency. There will be provision of more transformers, replacing the obsolete ones and making sure that everyone is fully given prepaid meters. These are things that people need to make life more meaningful for them.”

– WALE LAWAL

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