My interest is to create enabling environment for our youths to thrive- Hon. Akinremi

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Hon. Prince Olaide Akinremi is a member, House of Representatives; he represents Ibadan North Federal Constituency. An amiable politician with special interest in matters of youths and human capacity development,  Akinremi told MUTIAT ALLI in this interview why he is passionate about creating an enabling environment for the youths. He also expressed his thoughts on Oyo State tourism potential and his achievement in the last one year amongst others.

***********As the representative of Ibadan North Federal Constituency, what are your agenda?

One of my key agenda is to represent my Ibadan North constituents to the best of my ability and also the good people of Oyo State. I want to make laws, sponsor bills and move motions that will improve the lives of the average Nigerian and also make life a better place to live, in Nigeria.

My major focus is human capital development, ensuing financial independence and individual sustainability of my people, especially the young people.

***********What decision led you into politics?

I joined politics because of my passion and desire to make my immediate environment a better place. As an entrepreneur, I do what I can to improve my environment and people’s lives, but I felt that going into politics I will be able to do a lot more.

***********You seem to be quite focused on the cause of the youths, why is that so?

Oyo State and Nigeria as an extension have a huge youth population. Despite that, a lot of them are unemployed and this bothers me. As a young man growing up in Ibadan, I had great hopes and aspirations, but at a point, I had to seek greener pastures to achieve this because the environment wasn’t quite favorable for this. My passion for the youths is to do all I can to create an enabling environment for each and every hardworking young person to thrive and maximise their potential without having to seek greener pastures outside. Nigeria is blessed with a lot of brilliant and talented people that only need a little push and they will excel at their chosen endeavors.

**********In recent times, you have been quite vocal about tourism and its potential, especially in states like Oyo. What challenges have you identified and what solutions can you proffer?

Oyo State has huge tourism potentials, from Bowers Tower to UI Zoo, Agodi Gardens, Old Oyo National Park, suspended lake in Ado Awaye and the numerous festivals. I think the challenge is that we haven’t sold ourselves enough and investment needs to be channeled to the sector from both government and private sector. I will do the best I can to see if we can develop a tourist map for Oyo State with the support of the relevant ministries and agencies. I am also working on getting a few individuals and corporate organisations to invest in the sector.

************Entertainment is one of the largest employers of labour in Nigeria and in the world. How do you intend to use your good office to bring more light to this fact in government?

It is true entertainment provides a lot of jobs and as someone passionate about developing human capacity, I intent to support the entertainment sector in any way I can. I will have regular meetings with stakeholders and we shall together see how we can form better support each other. As a legislator I will look at bills that will protect intellectual property and also help promote the industry. I will also support value adding initiatives and events in any way I can. I think Oyo State has abundant talented people who just need a little push to get a break through and this is another area I will do my best to focus on in the coming years.

***********Your constituency is home to most of the higher institutions in Ibadan. Should we expect capacity development for our undergraduates too?

I am currently the Science and Technology Committee Vice Chairman; I want to use the position to see how we can partner with these institutions to promote STEM – Science Technology Engineer and Math among young people. The idea is to develop their skills beyond what they are taught in classrooms so that when they graduate they can actually create employment for themselves and/or become very employable. In those days a lot of graduates of polytechnics were so good they ended up in oil and telecoms companies so how about we bring back that old glory. University of Ibadan, UCH and College of Medicine are all first and produced outstanding graduates for so many years, so why shouldn’t they be able to compete favorably globally?  Outside of STEM we will have other trainings and empowerment programmes targeted specifically at the undergraduates to help prepare them for the real world. Of course we will not neglect sports and entertainment.

***********Police brutality and rape are the main topics of the day, what is your take on this and based on that, how do you intend to approach this using your esteemed office?

Let’s first of all condemn in strong terms rape and police brutality. The series of these terrible acts have led to the loss of a lot of innocent young people and especially women. It has left a lot of survivors in emotional and psychological trauma. As a lawmaker, I will strongly advocate for the amendment of existing rape and sexual offences law for stricter punishment at the National Assembly. My foundation will also collaborate with NGOs and other relevant organisations in advocacy and campaign against rape, sexual assault, and drug abuse and police brutality.

I will also work with relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are brought to book and also ensure they discharge their duties without harassing or putting lives of our young men and women at risk.

***********What will you say are some of your major achievements in the last one year as a representative?

In the one year that I began representing the interest of my people at the National Assembly, I have contributed to lawmaking as well as facilitated several benefits for my constituents.  My focus has majorly been on human capital development, ensuring financial independence and individual sustainability of my people in the process has been key for me.

I have co-sponsored bills like the Out of School Children bill. I also contributed to bills like Infectious Diseases bill, and the Local Content bill. For the COVID-19 pandemic, I co-sponsored a motion for the provision of Coronavirus Emergency Fund for Nigerian universities and Tertiary institutions.

I have also been working assiduously alongside other members of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness in the management and distribution of relief items. My foundation, the Prince Akinremi Foundation (PAF) also organised tutorials for over 6,000 WASSCE and UTME students and distributed over 1000 JAMB and over 200 NECO forms to indigent students in the constituency.

I also championed Lassa fever and coronavirus sensitisation with the distribution of relief materials to constituents with over 5,000 families reached with food reliefs and over 15,000 Nose Masks distributed. In addition, we took care of over N100 million in medical bills on behalf of financially stranded constituents at various hospitals.  I also facilitated employment for 125 constituents in the telecommunications sector, and Federal Government jobs for over 60 graduates in the constituency. These are just a few of my recorded achievements.

************ Despite being a lawmaker, you seems to have a good fashion sense, tell us about it?

As a typical Yoruba man, I try to infuse my culture and tradition in my dressing without losing the essence of being a youthful person, so I decided to adopt wearing the ‘Abeti Aja cap’. You will usually find me wearing complete Yoruba attire with my ‘Abeti Aja cap’. Sometime the young person in me goes casual, but most importantly, I dress for comfort.

********** What would you have become if not a politician?

Being a politician for me is to help a lot more people than I do as an entrepreneur. I don’t think politics would have stopped me from being an entrepreneur. It also wouldn’t have slowed or stopped my interest in agriculture.

Despite your tedious work as a lawmaker, how do you relax?

I have very little time in 24 hours to myself, so when I do have that free time I try to get as much rest as I can so that I can stay refreshed. I spend part of my relaxation time to research on new ideas and how to better improve myself as a person, I also engage in some sports when I can (table tennis and some board games)