-
Federal Lawmaker, Hon. MOSHOOD OSHUN
Hon. Moshood Olanrewaju Oshun, is a who reputable politician transitioned from state to federal politics as a member of the House of Representatives, where he represents Lagos Mainland Constituency at the national level. In this role, he addresses broader legislative matters that impact not only Lagos State but also Nigeria as a whole. His work focuses on national policies, federal budgets, and laws that affect various sectors, including education, infrastructure, and economic development.
At the federal level, he continues to champion issues relevant to his constituents, leveraging his experience from the Lagos State House of Assembly. His role includes contributing to debates, proposing bills, and participating in committees that address nationwide issues, which allows him to advocate for Lagos Mainland while also considering the broader needs of Nigeria.
A few weeks ago, Hon. Oshun sponsored the MSME’s Fair held by SMEDAN at the CMD centre, Magodo Shangisha, Lagos, where members of his constituency benefited from. During the 5 days training programme and exhibition fair, he addressed participants urging them to be creative enough to seek more knowledge on how to a build their business to standard level. Below are extracts from his speech:
I’m happy to be here and I’m happy with what I met on ground. I know Nigeria is going through a curve. But there’s a saying that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If you believe there’s light at the end of the tunnel, we’ll get there. That’s the truth. We’ll get there. All the great countries of the world, they’ve gone through what we are going through today. And the truth of the matter is either you like it or not, Nigeria is not an exception.
People living in the UK, US and Canada are complaining and moaning. There’s inflation all over the world. Yes, Nigeria is tough. I agree with that.
Nigeria is tough, but I have every belief that we’ll cut the corners, we’ll get there. As long as we believe in it. I read something on the net a few days ago. All the people shouting Japa, Japa, Japa, 90% of them are regretting it today. Many people have sold houses, sold cars, sold everything to Japa. On getting there, they realize there’s nothing there. Many of them want to come back. Some are dead, some are regretting, but they can’t come back because of shame. This is the time for us to capitalize on where we are. This is the time to create something, this is the time to engage yourselves and be involved in something.
We have something going for us. Unfortunately, we are not using it. Nigeria has a very good youth population. And for any country to grow, you need a sizeable youth population. You need people who are strong, who are vibrant, who can still walk. We have that. Number two, we have the population. Nigeria is worth over 200 million. So many countries we are comparing ourselves to, what is the population of the UK? About 60 million. The Netherlands is about 10 million. Germany is about 60 million. And we want to compare ourselves to these populations. If we want to compare ourselves to anybody, maybe the US, which is about 300 million. But most of the European countries are under 100 million. Most of the European countries don’t have the tribal breakdown we have. In Nigeria today, we speak over 500 languages.How many countries in the world does that? I don’t think there’s any. So we have what can work for us. And I’m begging, honestly. I know it’s easy for you to look at us and say, the politicians have come again, I’m not here to campaign. Many of you cannot even vote for me. Your cards are not in my constituency. But one thing we share is the fact that we are all Nigerians. It’s the fact that we all live in Lagos. If we agree on that, then it’s something we share.
I’m not here to campaign. I’m not here to convince you about anything. All I’m here to say to you this morning is, be positive. Look inward. What can I do? I did a program in my constituency about three or four weeks ago, where we trained some people on wigs making, development planning and so on. A lady came up to me after about two weeks to tell me that she now supplies wigs to people in the UK. And that the first one she did, she sold it in the Nigerian market at 25,000. But somebody told her, no, no, no, it’s about 30, 40 pounds in London. So she did another two, sold it for 40 pounds. But because that was the first time in her life she would be touching pounds, somebody told her to build it and they exchanged it for her at 1700, instead of over 2,000. So I told her a Mallam that will change it for her. Today, she has started making pounds without leaving her house. And that was a training she did about a month ago. But yesterday she called me and said, I want to send you something. I said, which kind of thing? I don’t want anything. What is important to me is that your life has changed.
So employ one or two people, build them for you, and that way, everybody keeps talking about dollars. Dollars is expensive, dollars is 1,700. It’s because you don’t produce anything. But for that lady that is now supplying someone in the UK, US, wigs, she has started making pounds in the comfort of her room. So as long as we believe, the sky is the limit. As long as we believe, we can do it. As long as we believe.
But you have some people that want you to just give them money. I want to pay my rent. I want to pay school fees. I want to pay house rent. Many people are not ready to come here because they are too big to be trained. That’s the truth. We are all the same.
I want to say a big thank you for your dedication, This will be the beginning of so many other ones to come. I’m still going to sit down with my oga, Mr. Badmos, and see what other things we can do to assist our youth population.
