I Joined Politics To Be Part of The Nation’s Development -Lagos Lawmaker, Kasunmu Adedamola

Adedamola Kasunmu

As a young man, he is determined to be part of the development of his fatherland.
Kasunmu Adedamola, who is representing Ikeja Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, revealed that he came from a family of politicians, and he is passionate about making life better for the people.

In this interview he granted us recently, the seasoned politician speaks on his plan for the people of Ikeja Constituency 2, and how the nation can handle the issue of rape cases that has become rampant in the country in recent years.

How and why did you decide to join politics?

I was born into politics, I grew up in a family of politicians. But are we not all politicians generally, you have preferences in your family. Amongst your children, you have the one you identified with more than the other. Every single person is a politician, having said that, politics is a very interesting role to play, it is not a game, it is a role to redefine your nation. Why would you not identify with redefining your socio-political situation so that you can be part of the people that would contribute to the development of your nation and this would come to your credit and to the glory of God. This is why I identified with politics and joining the legislature shouldn’t be a surprise because I have always had interest in lawmaking, which is crucial to a nation. I believe that if I am able to be part of it, I would contribute my own quota to the development of the country. There are some parts of it that are negative that I might be able to change and sort out with my contribution. Whether you want to see yourself as a politician or not, you are a politician in your own right because we deserve to be a part of the political interest of the nation.

So, what are your plans for the people of Ikeja Constituency 2 that you represent in the Assembly?

The only thing I want to do is to affect them positively, but in all honesty, I would want to serve them and make future leaders out of them so that they too can be great in life. If you want to judge by past experiences, you would see that much impacts been made on them in that area. I would make sure that I make fishers out of them, it is not about giving then fish, but teaching them how to fish so that by the time they stand on their own, they can do this for their people. It is something that has to be revolving and I believe that we can only do that with enough commitment and hardwork. We have to be passionate about what we do, this is not just about me, it is about making the life of the people of Ikeja better. It is about making Ikeja suitable enough for them, and even all the corporate people and organisations in the area should benefit from this gesture. If you take a look at Ikeja, you will find out that a lot of business-oriented people are there, it houses a Central Business District (CBD) of the state and it is the seat of power as the state capital. Ikeja is still a part of the history of this state, which was once the federal capital of Nigeria. For that reason alone, it must maintain its vibrancy, quality and everything that has to do with its status. I would make sure that I leave an indelible footprints on the sand of time because this is a worthy position to be.

Rape seems to have become rampant in Nigeria now and there was a recent report that a lecturer in the University of Lagos raped an aspiring student of the school. What would be your view on these and how do you think we can eradicate rape in the country?

The reason for the spread of rape is because there are some principles that are guiding the prosecution of the offenders. Sometimes, you cannot proof rape cases, but that doesn’t make it a non-punishable offence. It is a damage to the psychology of a woman that would affect her and her offspring. One should call on the federal and state governments to deal with it accordingly. It is very severe. If I am to comment on the one in the University of Lagos, the lecturer in question should not be allowed to go unpunished because it is a stain on the university. UNILAG is a prestigious university and it is quite damaging for someone, who is supposed to be imbibing knowledge on the youth to be engaging in such an act. It is going to have an effect on the institution and the nation as a whole. At end of the day, people would have a different perception about UNILAG. I know how much the products of the institution value it. Let us go back to when they wanted to change the name of the school from UNILAG to Moshood Abiola University (MAU), you could see the kind of rage from people such as the current students and the alumni of the school, this shows that the great Akokites value their school to the highest level. On no account should we allow whoever that wants to stain the school go scot free, but you must have precise information and a true situation must be identified if not, there is no case. The case must be properly investigated so that the innocent would not be punished.

That has been the case over the years as people always say that there should be a thorough investigation and this has been a problem as the investigations are never done properly. Are we going to continue to investigate rape cases and allow the culprits to go scot free?

That is the funny thing about the law, as strict and punishable as the offence is, the law put itself in a position that it must be fair and just and to proof a person guilty, you must give enough circumstantial evidence to be able to identify that this person is guilty of this particular offence or not. If you don’t have enough evidence, you have no choice than to pronounce the person innocent as he has not been found guilty. You must have evidence to proof him guilty. A thorough investigation does not happen in a day.

What would you advise the management of the university to do to avoid a repeat of the incident?

It is all about administration, on no account should the university allow lecturers or people, who are not competent enough to handle admission seekers. They should make sure that the students go through the right medium to seek for admission. If you look at the western world, most of the admissions are done through the internet and they must have been concluded by 60% before you go further, but because we are still developing, even in the area of information technology, that is why we are still on this level. It is an area, where the government should start considering to have effective administration process to reduce the risk our young girls face in seeking admission so that their destiny would not be cut short.

Would you say dressing culture is part of the problem as we have some students that dress well, while others don’t dress well?

It is a good thing that you said we have some students that dress well, while others don’t dress well. It is a matter of upbringing, this goes back to the homes, where the ladies come from, charity begins at home. If I see a woman, I would know the kind of home she comes from by her dressing. There are so many ladies with non-challant parents, who do not have time for them as they are busy gallivanting from one place to another. Also, there are other children, who pretend. If you teach a child not to do something and you tell him or her the reason, he has more tendency to listen to you as you have told him the reason he should not do that thing. If you tell a child this is what I would do to you if you do this, every child has exuberance, he or she would do it because you have not told him or her the consequence of what you don’t want he or she to do. It all goes back to the home, it is the way we train our children that they would behave.