Repositioning Surulere Local Government - Dotun Olaribigbe 'Lobito'

Dotun Olaribigbe ‘ Lobito’, a foremost boxing promoter is vying for the chairmanship position of Surulere Local Government in the forthcoming local government election in Lagos State. In an interview with News Herald reporter, he spoke on his vision for the local government if elected.

Excerpts:

You have indicated interest in vying for the position of local government chairman for Surulere Local Government in the forthcoming election. What informed your decision to throw your hat into the ring?

My decision is based on the fact that over the years, people actually take the local government to be a joke; like an appendage of the state government, whereas, it is supposed to be an autonomous establishment. I believe local government is the most important arm of government because it is closest to the grassroots. But here in Surulere, after the tenure of Hakeem Dickson, Surulere, as a case in point has been deteriorating, almost to the status of a slum. Every charlatan and opportunists have been coming to govern because the real people with good intentions have stayed away. The good ones keep saying things like ‘Politics is dirty’, ‘ I don’t want to associate with Area boys’ and so on. The more we continue to stay away from politics; we will be giving opportunities for these miscreants to continue to rule over us. So, I think it is about time for us to take charge in order to turn things around for good. Also, some of us are not very happy with the way Surulere is. I am a total Surulere man and I know how it used to be compared to what we have now. That is basically what informed my decision to come out and vie for the chairmanship position this time around.

What political party do you belong to and under what platform are contesting in the election?

I am a member of the APC. But for now, the state NEC has not flagged off the electioneering campaign process. So, you will be contravening the law if you start putting party logo on your posters. What I am just doing now is just to create awareness and tell the good people of Surulere that I will be contesting the forthcoming local government election. And I can tell you that the response I have received so far has been fantastic.

Why are you being referred to as ‘ African Don King’ by your supporters, and what will you do in the area of Sports development since Surulere is generally referred to as the Sports City?

I have been one of the foremost boxing promoters in Nigeria. That is where that appellation ‘African Don King’ came from. I have made a lot of champion boxers in Nigeria. People like Jeremiah Okorodudu, Charles Nwokolo, Christopher Ossai, Nojeem Maiyegun, Hunter Clay and many others. I was the one that gave Hunter Clay the WBC international Super Middleweight title in 1992. I am a complete sportsman and Surulere is also known as the Sports City so one can factor that in. but like I said in the beginning of this interview, Surulere has been progressively deteriorating. That is the basic motivation for trying to go in there and do it right. We need to take it away from these charlatans. We are saying there should be no more recycling. Some people just sit down somewhere and feel they can do what they like because nobody wants to get involved. We are not taking that anymore. We are in the era of change and this is the beginning of that change.

There is a general impression that Local government administrators don’t perform. Do you also believe this?

Local governments don’t perform like it is expected of them because we are not practicing democracy in Nigeria. Some people just sit down somewhere, bring somebody and impose it on the people. So, that person owes his allegiance to his godfather and not to the masses. He owes them no obligations as long as he pays homage to the man who installs him. In that case, there is a disconnect between that local government chairman and the voters. Nobody will hold him accountable for his deeds and misdeeds. Those are the things that I consider before deciding to throw my hat in the ring. I am contesting because I want to perform, because I want to make life better for the people of Surulere and to contribute my quota in uplifting this local government to its rightful position.

What do you intend doing in the area of youth empowerment and care for the aged in the society?

When we talk of empowerment, within the purview of the local government, we are going to see what we can do to create an enabling environment. In the real context of empowerment, it is a larger than life thing for the local government due to limited resources but one can successfully create a conducive environment. Look at all our inner streets, we are congested. People park their cars anyhow. We will work towards decongesting these inner streets so that people can move freely. We will also engage our youths through meaningful activities so they won’t busy themselves with negative things. As for the aged, we will tap into the state system. It is going to be a symbiotic relationship but I want to assure the aged and elderly ones that they have a stake in our government.

What is your message to the people of Surulere as the election inches close?

My message to the people of Surulere is that we must do it right now. We have a golden opportunity to take our destinies into our hands and elect a visionary leader for our local government in the person of Dotun Olaribigbe. We have all seen the level of deterioration in this local government and every right thinking person will know that this is time for us to do it right. Let us put square peg in a square hole. People should participate actively in the electoral process. They must register to vote. They should also shun financial inducements because by so doing, they are trading away their future. No amount of money is worth the power in your hands to cause a true change through vote. It is our collective responsibility to reposition our local government and as such, we believe we should get involved this time around. It is about time for real impactful governance at the grassroots.

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