By Cyriacus Nnaji
Honourable (Sir) Jude Chukwuemeka Idimogu, the lawmaker representing Oshodi/Isolo Constituency 02
at the Lagos State House of Assembly, has urged Lagosians to seek for ways to be self-employed rather
than looking for non-existing white collar jobs.
Idimogu advocated what he called Blue color job which according to him referred to learning skills and
engaging in Small and Medium Scale Businesses for self-employment.
The lawmaker made the recommendation at the 7th Annual Constituency Stakeholders Meeting of the
Lagos State House of Assembly which he hosted at Isolo Local Council Development Area on Thursday,
August, 29, 2021.
Idimogu while stressing the importance of self-employment urged his constituents to apply for the loan
facility provided by the Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund,
(LSETF). He said “Let’s note that the time when government provides job for everybody has gone. White
collar job is no longer reigning and it is not there. If not why would a graduate be taking N30,000 a
month, a graduate? Let us think of what is called Blue Color Job. I define Blue collar job as “Be on your
own business.”
That is the essence of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, (LSETF) that is the
purpose of government establishing that agency so that you can start small scale business. We should be
thinking of self-employment.”
LSETF enables job creation for residents and businesses located in Lagos State.
On how the people would access the fund he said “Go to the LSETF office, make inquiries, provide what
they said you should provide and those you cannot provide reach me, I will assist, I will go and address
them on your behalf. It is your duty to approach them for loan before you can be given the loan. If you
don’t have your tax, I can volunteer to pay tax for anybody that is interested; I am not talking of
companies, but individuals that are interested in taking the loan from the Lagos State Employment Trust
Fund”
Also speaking on the theme of this year’s stakeholders meeting which was ‘Increasing Wave of Drug
Abuse: A Threat to Nation Building’, Idimogu stated that there are laws and motions that the Lagos
State House of Assembly has passed to support or encourage the executive to ensure the needful is
done in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
He admitted that the fight against Illicit drugs is quite a challenging one and saying it is not something
government alone could do “I know government has challenges in terms of human resources and
financial resources, however, for me, I believe it is our collective responsibility because drug menace,
government alone cannot fight it, yes there are laws and there are penalties, even cultism is part of it,
you can see there is a new law in Lagos state, there are stringent measures against cultism in the state.
He also appealed to the media and all levels of government to join hand in the fight against drug abuse.
“So I always believe, the media has a role to play by disseminating this information to the public, then
the issue of going to schools to preach the gospel against illicit drugs. Remember at the local
government level, at state level, at federal level, we must work together to achieve this, even the CDCs
and all the community leaders, it is not a one man job, it is not just government.
“When you say government, government is all of us, and the issue again is unemployment, it is a
challenge, it is said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, you can see the government is concerned,
and that is why today they chose Drug Abuse as the main topic of today, so that even people that are
less concerned about drug activities will today know that in the whole Lagos that is what we are talking
about, the after effect, that it is not helpful for all of us, Idimogu stated.
Adeosun Fumilola, Deputy Commander (Narcotics), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA)
Lagos State, who spoke on the topic of the meeting, enumerated some of the consequences of drug
abuse to include health challenges; fetal and child development, adding that abuse of drugs during
pregnancies can result to mal-development. It also result in violence and crime; Public safety.
She added
that many road accidents happen due to drug abuse by drivers; loss of human capital, drug abuse can
have devastating impact on individual’s potential, e.g. school delinquency, dropping out of school,
involvement in illicit drugs selling, thereby reducing future educational and job opportunities.
She said in the work place employee’s drug use, particularly heavy use or abuse has been found to be
associated with increase absenteeism, accidents, counter-productive behaviour and job dissatisfaction.
In the family, drug abuse brings about lack of economic support, care giving, emotional commitment,
inability to provide a reliable role model for other family members especially children. She said the
impact on the family affect children development, learning and social relations.
Fumilola called on parents and teachers to monitor the children under their care in order to rescue the
young and tomorrow’s leaders from destruction.
According to the Lagos State House of Assembly, the choice of Drug Abuse as topic of the Stakeholders
Meeting was aimed at sensitising residents, parents, teachers, students, religious organisations,
professional bodies, community leaders and individuals on the disturbing trend of drug abuse in the
society and the danger it portends for the youth and collective existence.
Such drugs it said include cannabis and prescription opioids, such as tramadol and codeine, tranquilizers,
while various dangerous mixtures are being experimented leading to novel psychotropic substances
such as ‘Monkey Tail’, ‘Skoochies’, ‘Revlon’, ‘Colorado’, ‘Sinol’, ‘542’, ‘Loud’, ‘Rush’, ‘Paw-paw A’,
‘Banku’, amongst others.
The House also averred that experts have established a Nexus between the menace of drug abuse and
rising incidences of violent crimes in the country such as kidnapping and banditry.
The house called on all Stakeholders, residents, parents, teachers, students, religious organizations,
celebrities, social media influencers, professional bodies, the academia, civil society organisations,
community leaders and individuals to work in concert with the government for the common good of the
society by saying no to drug abuse and drug trafficking.
