By Abolaji Adebayo
The Member of the Lagos House of Assembly representing Oshodi-Isolo Constituency II, Hon. (Sir) Dr Jude Idimogu, has stated that the reason for forming Abundance Movement is to promote and entrench the best leadership in 2023.
Idimogu maintained that the group is made up of apostles of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He made the declaration while speaking to Journalists at the annual New Yam Festival of Eze Ndigbo Lagos State, His Highness, Eze (Dr) Christian Uchechukwu Nwachukwu at Igbo Community Centre in Okota Lagos.
Speaking on the interest of Abundance Movement, an organization he heads, Idimogu said: “By now you should know my interest. Abundance Group as a whole, our interest is to promote the best leadership in 2023. And for me and the group, we are apostles of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, for the Lagos West Senatorial Zone. Don’t forget, Obasa politically is my direct Boss, Asiwaju is our Boss, for me he is qualified and he has the capacity
“Among the governors during his time, how many of them are you hearing their names, all of them have disappeared, but Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a builder of builders, he has built a lot of people, from the north, from the south, from the west, and that is why everybody is clamouring for him. More so, he has the experience, he has the capacity. When Obasanjo seized the local government allocation for years, he survived it, how did he do it? He just called his team and they sat down together and they came up with effective internally generated revenue formula and today you can never beat Lagos State in the history of internally generated revenue. In fact, as it is Lagos can do without getting money from Abuja. So that is the initiative of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
The lawmaker maintained that with his professional experience in Accountancy and having worked in a multinational organization as Mobil, Tinubu is the best man for the 2023 Presidency.
“If you have a man who can think like that, then I tell you if you put him at the helm of affairs of this country, he will do more. Remember, Asiwaju is an accountant by profession and somebody who worked in Mobil, a multi-national company, for you to be there, you must be brilliant, you must be sound. So for me today, he is the best person I think that can lead our country today.”
On his political future by 2023, Idimogu answered, “My party will decide where I am going by the grace of God.”
Speaking on the significance of new yam festival, Idimogu said: “Today is what we call iri ji, the new yam festival; it is a custom and tradition event by the Igbos, especially in our respective villages, you don’t eat yam until this kind of festival has been done, not just in the villages but in other towns or in the Diaspora, once you are outside the east.
“The reason we do it is to follow suit what our forefathers were doing in the villages. Every Igbo man, every Igbo woman does it and we look forward to passing it over to our children and grandchildren, it is an annual event, mostly title holders and well to do men mark the eating of the new yam with fanfare.”
He said it is also a time to welcome visitors from other climes.
“We also use this festival to welcome other people into our midst, you can see some Northerners among us; it helps to bring everybody together so that we can continue to live in peace and harmony. But the message is this; the new yam festival is a custom and tradition that we must always do once annually.”
He said government can tap into the festival by organizing it in a big way, inviting other people who are not Igbos to come and witness the event.
“Even when we talk of the entertainment industry we can package this event where people can even pay to come and watch. I know with time somebody will do it and package it for the betterment of the people,” he said.
