Jude Idimogu represented Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly between 2015 and 2023. In this interview, he speaks on the state of the nation and governance in Lagos State, FELIX NWANERI reports

It is a year that you left office as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly; how has life been so far?

We give thanks to God Almighty. At least, He has given us the opportunity to see the other side of life outside government, to live as a normal citizen, feel the purse of the constituency and feel the what the masses are going through, I am part of the masses now and also I have ability without bias to also assess the performance of our government led by President Bola Tinubu.

How would you assess the President on the delivery of his campaign promises?

As far as I am concerned, he has done well although one year is not enough to judge a man who has by principle eight years in office. Most Nigerians seem to have lost hope in the system but he has come to renew our hope.

Without hope, you can’t go anywhere as an individual, so I am happy that he came on board with his Renewed Hope Agenda and you can see that he is making progress everyday even in terms of infrastructure development. Look at the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road that he initiated; look at the students loan that we are having for the first time.

Nobody will give excuse for not going to school because of money except those that are lazy and do not want to go to school. The money will not be given directly to students rather it would be paid directly to the institutions and you go ahead and study. It is a great achievement.

Don’t you see the students’ loan scheme as another opportunity for people to loot the treasury?

President Tinubu is a man with experience. You can see the person he has pointed to be the chairman of the board, Mr. Jim Ovia, the chairman of Zenith Bank.

Can anyone toy with him? He will bring his experience to bear, so I don’t have any fear that funds meant for the scheme would be mismanaged.

What do you make of the country return to its old National Anthe

It is a fantastic move even though I initially felt that our problem is not National Anthem but sometimes you discover that what you say, the message you passed will stick with you. Those words ‘Nigeria we hail thee.

Nigeria our great native mother land even though tribes and tongue differs in brotherhood we stand’ are soul lifting. Reflect on the message; even though our tongue and tribe differ, but in brotherhood we stand because Nigeria is a family that brought us together.

Though I initially said that is not our problem but the wisdom of the President and members of the National Assembly cannot be faulted. Who am I to object to that when the President has signed the bill into law? It is left for all Nigerians to support the idea.

Should reverting to the old anthem be the priority of the government at a time most Nigerians are struggling to survive due to high cost of living?

Initially, I said it is not our problem because we have insecurity, hunger, inflation and others but these things cannot be addressed overnight. However, the National anthem is not meant for those in government alone.

It is also meant for the masses. It means that if all of us, including the leaders key in into it, we will see reasons to work for the interest of this nation. The truth is that it will make majority of us to focus on national interest.

When you talk about the President, he has better information than you and I. He knew what the situation was when he came on board.

From what he told us; if he didn’t remove fuel subsidy, it would have caused much problem economically, but that was a challenge and I want to commend him. He was bold enough to take that decision. Yes, we didn’t like it, but let’s see it also as part of the sacrifice we must make to rebuild our nation.

You will recall that before now, funds meant for the so-called fuel subsidy were being embezzled by few privileged people. The impact of the removal was even felt in neighbouring countries. I believe you saw what happened in Cameroon.

We are going to benefit from the removal because the smugglers can do anything; they make triple profit but somebody may ask: Why can’t government control the smugglers? You cannot because corruption has eaten dip in the life of most Nigerians and the President alone cannot fight it alone.

How would assess the Lagos State House of Assembly, looking at most of the bills that has passed in the last one year?

There is a principle that drives the Lagos State House of Assembly, which whoever that comes in as speaker will follow. But one thing I must give to the Speaker Mudashiru Obasa and other members, no matter how you look at it, is that they always stand firm.

That is the only state House of Assembly in Nigeria that no one can stampede. We have members, who have spent up to 20 years in the House. Some have even spent 24years, so it is difficult for anyone to influence them because they know the rules.

The legislators consider citizens of Lagos before anything and you can see that Lagos is progressing. Go round the state, you will see infrastructural development.

So, I commend Hon. Obasa and other members of the House on the harmonious working relationship, which is responsible the development in Lagos.