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An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and a renowned Public Affairs Commentator, Otunba Yomi Adelowo, has said that with the newly elected Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Lasbat Meranda’s experience, education, family background, leadership skills and competence, he has no doubt that she possessed the requisites to effectively function as Speaker of the legislative arm of government in Lagos State.
Otunba Adelowo, who spoke during a chat with journalists at Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, noted that with Hon. Meranda’s rich political experience as a former Senior Special Assistant on Intervention and Inter-Governmental Relations in Apapa Local Government Area, former Supervisor for Health in same Apapa Local Government, former Chairman, House Committee on Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) in the 8th Lagos Assembly, former Chairman, House Committee on Establishment, Training, Pension and Public Service, former Chief Whip of the 9th Assembly and former Deputy Speaker, she won’t derail from the onerous task of giving the Assembly the much-needed right direction.
He vouched that the new Speaker’s other intimidating work experience would make her excel in her new role.
The APC chieftain, however, described Meranda as an innate and seasoned politician whose passion for creating change and touching lives from a political angle was evident in various ways as she has always been a progressive by being a member of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), a big challenge that she must ensure she upholds the core values and principles of the APC
Otunba Adelowo further added that one thing that the new Speaker had to her advantage was that she dedicated her life to acquiring knowledge and attaining excellence as evident in her educational journey, which began at St. Charles Nursery and Primary School and later Randle Primary School and then Anglican Girls’ Grammar School and Ansar-Ud-Deen Secondary School, both In Surulere for her secondary education prior to her acquisition of the West African School Certificate (WASC).
He portrayed Hon. Meranda, who held the posts of the Library Prefect and Secretary of the Press Club in her secondary school, as a voracious scholar on a quest for diverse knowledge, having attended the the NIIT for a Certificate in Software Development (Network Engineering ) programme, the Lagos State University (LASU) for her B.Sc in Public Administration degree, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) for her Master of Public and International Affairs (MPIA) programme and presently pursuing a double Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Public Sector Management at the University of York (UK) and a Master of Criminology programme at the University of Lagos
The renowned Public Affairs Commentator stressed that another interesting factor that won’t allow the new Speaker derail would be her determination to maintain the dignity of her family, being a princess of Lagos who was born to the immediate-past Ojora of Lagos, late Chief Taoreed Lawal-Akapo, with family ties that cut across the Ojora, Aromire, Onitana, Oloto, Abisogun-Oniru and Shokun royal families of Lagos State.
Otunba Adelowo further explained what distinguishes the new Speaker was that she had utilized her previous positions in the Assembly to advocate for the amendment of a number of obsolete policies and had also focused on youth and women empowerment, as well as ensuring that the underserved in her constituency had sources of income and a better chance at life.
The APC chieftain noted that in spite of Rt. Hon. Meranda’s academic, professional and political achievements, she had also ensured balance on the home front as she is happily married with children, praying that she achieves greater feats in office.
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