 Alright, thanks for staying with us now in Nigeria. A House of Assembly is the state-level legislature. All houses of assembly are unicameral with elected members who are designated as members of the House of Assembly, Assemblymen or MHA and who serve four-year terms. Principally, the State House of Assembly is to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the state in respect of matters, not in the exclusive legislative list but in concurrent lists. It could also legislate on other matters with which it is empowered by the constitution to do so. So how much do you know about the House of Assembly and how it directly impacts you as a citizen, right? That's the conversation now, please. Let's hear what you have to say. Remember you can join us, send us an SMS or WhatsApp to us at 1-803-466-3. You can also tweet at us at Weissho after one with the hashtag Weissho. So I must confess that first of all, I am a very, very... How do I put it? I was not very interested in political issues until I was forced to... Have you known until I was fortunate to be part of a breakfast show where we had to review the papers every day and all of a sudden you are now really focused on issues around what is happening in governance and politics. And I think it has really transformed my life because again now I see a lot of things and I know where the problem is. You have a very critical and unique opportunity because again when voters go to the polls, all they are thinking of is governor and president and they forget that the people that make this people's job, whether good or bad, are the people that are the lawmakers. And in your instance is on the state level where you are running to the House of Assembly. So in case people do not know, let me reintroduce our guests. Honorable Ullumide O'uru is the Labour Party candidate for the Lagos State House of Assembly Surileric Constituency 1. He is a public figure and an actor. He believes in accessible leadership and youth inclusion and strives for betterment of the Surileric Constituency. He attended King's College and the University of Lagos and graduated from Babcock University. So let us officially welcome him again. Thank you so much for joining us. So I mean, as I said, it is a critical role that you are going into and I think one of the major routes that people had had was, where did this one just come from? Because all of a sudden it was like, OK, Labour Party 1 and Lagos and there is the wave of Peter Albee. Everybody is, all the youth are trying to support him and all of that and it is like you are trying to just ride on that wave. Maybe you should help us understand, first of all, why? Why you decided to run and what exactly is, if you say you have certain issues in Surileric that made you to come out? What would that problem be? That is why you are coming out. So the main reason why I decided to run is I recognise that we are in a very significant period in Nigerian history. This is the first time that the youth have had a mass awakening in terms of wanting to be politically aware and participate in the government process. Now, it is always something that I thought I would be doing but I just thought it would be more later on here. So my friends and I would joke around and say, maybe when we are 35, we will join a party, then around 40, we will be 42, we will contest and all of that. But the happenings in recent time have really just suggested that tomorrow is impromised. I have lost people really close to me. My best friend passed two years ago and the period before he passed, the week before he passed, this was towards the end of 2021 in November. We had just talked about our plans for 2022 and we had done a breakdown in January. I am going to do this up until December. He is a music producer so he had given me his rollout plan for the year and he passes the very next week. So I am like, if we want to make impact and we are planning for the next 10, 15 years, what is the guarantee that we are going to be here in the next 10 or 15 years? So we need to start now. That is one. Number two, I also recognise my influence as a young individual in Nigeria today and I understand that by just virtue of running for office, it will go a long way to inspire all of the young Nigerians to also aspire to be in these positions. So it is bigger than just me. This is really me trying to be the voice of young people, trying to encourage other young people that we cannot be passive anymore. The policies that are being put in place now are going to affect us directly. We no longer have the canopy or the covering of Mummy and Daddy helping out. I remember back in the day I would just go to my parents, I need XYZ. How they get the money, don't really care. I just need it by 4pm today and they don't give me by 4 problem. But now I am understanding as I am getting older that there is a lot that goes into getting money. Especially in Nigeria, it is not the easiest to make money. So whatever policies are in place now are affecting us. If the exchange rate goes up and Naira is $1 to $2,000 Naira, that is affecting my buying power. I want to buy something online. I am going to be spending way much more. So that is the reason why I really decided to change and to run because I feel actually I know that as young people we have innovative ideas. We have more modern ideas in terms of problem solving. And the reason why Nigeria has been going around in circles is we have been recycling the same leaders with the same ideas and the same ideologies. So why not balance their experience with our problem solving skills more in line with what is going on now in 2023. There is advances in technology. The tech space is doing amazing. We are more connected. There is social media. So our angle to politics cannot be the same as their angle. So we can definitely collaborate and make things better. As regards Suruliri, I grew up in Suruliri. I've spent all of my life so far in Suruliri and I know that I have turned out how I have turned out because of the things I've been exposed to in terms of people I've met, people I've worked with, schools that I've gone to and things like that. So I look around Suruliri and I see that there's so much potential because there's people that are even with the situation in Suruliri trying to make things for themselves. You talk to the average person in Suruliri and I think that Suruliri is very optimistic, very hopeful, but there's not that much of recent in terms of any aid or any active help for people in Suruliri. You look at the schools in Suruliri, you look at the students on their way to school and they don't really look excited to be going to school. They don't even look like they're going to school, even just their general approach to attending school and their general demeanor and conduct, how their uniforms are worn. That just shows that there's a lot that we need to do even mentally to really just change the mindsets of young people in Suruliri and because I'm young, a lot of what I'm trying to do is to try and nip the problem in the bud early because a lot of the things that we have wrong in Suruliri I believe are mental in terms of our outlook to life. You see some of the people on the road, I don't like to refer to them as dogs or Arab boys, I think they have victims of circumstance because that could easily have been me. I didn't pick my family, I didn't pick the circumstances I was born in and you talk to them and a lot of them are not very happy about what they have to do. Sometimes they even do these things reluctantly but they feel like they need to do it to survive because the system in place right now is built on them getting handouts to to live. So I'm looking at Suruliri from a more holistic point and seen if we work on building human capital development, if we work on making the amenities in Suruliri work, even things down to streetlights, if Suruliri is lit that could go along with even reducing the crime rates. You have better academic setups in school, better trainings, creating mentorship programs where young people can see people that have come from Suruliri and have gone on to make amazing things so we know it is possible regardless of the situation around you. These are some of the reasons why I'm running for office because there's so many times when you go to National Stadium there's people on their own time, on their own money, working out every day, training but they never really get scouted or that never really goes anywhere. So imagine all the jobs we could create, all the opportunities we could create with having a better structure to help people nurture their natural talents and also create a situation where things that are positive are made appealing. So even people that had no idea that they wanted to go into coding for example, you present it in a way that's interesting and eye-catching and young people want to hop on that as opposed to just say okay we're building schools and we're buying laptops and all these other things that that we're seeing but even with all these things that have happened if you really look at it you don't really see the impact. So we need to just have a change in government, also just access to leadership. You don't really have forums where you know state leader or local government chairman is actively trying to engage with the people. Government isn't attractive especially to young people. A lot of us just think it's very boring and whatever they want to do is what they will do and it's not for me and that's what really really needs to change especially if we're talking about where Nigeria is going in the future. We have to start now. Too little. You know okay I mean you said quite a whole lot and they all sound really pretty. I mean but I also think that you're speaking about this. What I hear you say is a lot of it's more geared towards empowerment. However the the position that you're going for is more about policies. Of course of course. You understand. So it's not the empowerment is I mean every day people come even private sector. People are always doing things. That's that's the truth. But is this sustainable? I would feel that where we should get to is where there are laws. You know there are policies that make these things binding. It's not so much as. So whether you are there. Exactly or not. It becomes the standard. It becomes the law. It becomes the law. So it's not about handouts. You're not waiting for some private public partnership or it is a standard. So you know that okay if you come into this constituency this is how it goes. And then of course again there is government in continuum. So another person who comes because it is it is it is not sentimental. It is not it is not what there's a word. It's not sensational. It becomes easy you know to be sustainable and everybody would now agree to say oh no no no you can't do anything outside of this is the standard. Anything else you do. So I'm hoping that's today you know being here you're able to say that okay when you get into that position as a policymaker I mean this is what drives you concerning education concerning else concerning MSNEs you know concerning general If I had actually pointed and noted that I was going to ask that you know if you had prepared you know policies that you I mean what's it called you have policies that you you intend to propose in the house you know that would help with all the things that Diola has listed into their constituency. I mean if you don't mind to share those with us. Okay of course. So I fully do understand at the end it is a legislative position but just because again I'm not sure how long some of these policies will take in terms of implementation because again it also depends on you know the numbers in the house majority minority and all of that so in the more immediate there are things that you know we can do as constituency projects to at least kick starts the change that we want and because I am fully youth centered as well I feel like there's some things that we need to start doing immediately especially if we're trying to catch them young but also in terms of policies I'm very particular about education I am I'd be direct recipients of a good education and I even spend time just going around you know on this campaign train just really trying to understand what the people actually want and need as opposed to preferring solutions that I think are the way forward for example when we're talking about small businesses I went to a couple market places and I had certain conversations with some of the market women and they really did speak on as you when you mentioned the double taxation that they are paying a lot of you know taxes and levies and they don't really see where these monies are going and even to the point where some tribes feel like they are even being you know extorted basically just because you know their counterparts from other parts of the country don't really have to pay you know setting amounts and things like that so there definitely will be a focus on you know education on small businesses we also need to make the amenities work I remember there was a time where the street lights were up and running you know I would be driving home and I would be happy against Suleyman now um you you get it Suleyman is dark Sorry what part of Suley do you mean? I don't know if I can say that right now Okay let me just take a very short break I like to open our phone lines right I like to open our phone lines and I will come to you and then you have to stay with us All right thanks for staying with us now if you're just tuned in we are discussing the race to the house of assembly and we have with us only video and please let's hear what you have stay remember you can join the conversation send us an SMS or WhatsApp to the red one is your 34663 you can also tweet at us at weisha after one of the hashtag we show now our phone line is now open is already ringing number to call is please do it so that I guest you I beg you 0702507749 that's the number to call be very civil with your contribution and let's um have a great conversation please turn off the volume of your whatever you're watching us the device so we don't have a feedback nj quickly um well I have several questions please make it short I'm going to just make it short and maybe while you're answering you just um you know summarize um one thing I want to know why you moved why why you got into politics you were an actor you are an actor um so what what um what encourages you to go into politics as sides because um on a daily we all have different things that we do and we see the country we leave the the situations but not all of us even members of the okay so hold that question our first caller from Bombay open now you're live hello good evening hi good evening good evening yes go ahead you're live my greetings to all of you in the studio hi good evening especially to the obedient in the house good evening thank you so much I'm lucky to be the first winner the first person to call you this evening my question is to the guest please the slogan of leg ball party is take back your country and the new Nigeria and I've carefully listened to you about what and some certain things you want to do for your consistent story but I want to ask you please because if you do not know where things go wrong you will not know where to correct it have you sit down and get some loopholes areas where legal state is getting it wrong especially in the education system of legal states now coming down to your constituency my question is the legal state government have any social intervention on students of legal states and how are you going to fully involve your constituency in that program number two I'm going to ask you please before you go there do you have any plan or do you have already bills in your mind that can address drainage system or failures in legal state as it is today these are my questions thank you and I know you thank you so much right bills you know do you have you identified the problem and when do you think legal state is getting it wrong uh at the end of the day that is the reason why there is the house of assembly and that is why we're all representing different constituencies the entire point is for people who know these constituencies and have experienced with these constituencies to come together table what the issues are and figure out the best way to solve these issues I also know that different areas will require some different type of techniques in some situations depending on what it is that we're trying to achieve so it is very important that as as house members we all work together for those who are opportune and you know mandated by the people to represent them at that level with that being said something on waste management that is one of the issues that you know is faced in Lagos generally which you can relate to drains being blocked and you know people sand filling certain areas where should be the natural path for water to flow through so what we need to do is find a way to have and this is one of the things that GRV has has on his on his agenda as well is have wetland protection so there's certain areas where you know you cannot be constructing to interfere with you know the flow of water another thing we need to do is incorporate the private sector into waste disposal because there's certain areas good evening but I want to ask you one question well see the type of quantity the executives are bringing out what policies that we put this democracy are now being determined the masses are in pain now what will you do as a legislator because in here if I am talking in on assistant station I tell them that what is happening now is a spirit of anti-crime and one story where leaders allow the spirit of anti-crime to enter them they bring in policies that affect the market they themselves are feeling as a legislator what would you call the excessive when the green policy that will affect market look at what is happening in the vaccine sector I tell people this is actually what I call anti-crime that has entered some leaders that make them to bring up policies that affect the market and they are not feeling it the price of the market what will you do so everybody's asking for you and me it is nice to have freshness like I said on the ballot but again I don't want us to see like we've seen that because we want to support our own with our young people who are supporting mediocrity or supporting people that are not prepared for the job right you have and there's a historical candidate that's you know first of all he was in your industry that is not the everybody's not particularly happy because I think they feel like he wasn't prepared for that job he didn't know the job it's different from going on camera like camera action no these are real life issues these are like you you're bringing up laws that would protect us you know especially your constituency in Surileri right so I mean we would like to hear because I mean before you if you say you're running you're going to the house of assembly you should have said okay I have proposed like 15 bills these are those 15 bills I can just tell you maybe two or three say okay these are the ones that I know that are pressing in Surileri constituency those are the kind of level of preparedness that we are looking forward to having of course right you know so I mean when you hear the callers asking asking asking it's almost like they're repeating the same question what exactly are your you know your policies that you have pinned down to say these are the policies I intend to propose when or if elected in the house for me one of the things as well I is is also the execution of of policies that are already in place which is why for me it is the transparency and the style of government that we need to first address if you are more on ground in your constituency and your constituents have access to you then there's more conversation there's more dialogue and you at that point are more in touch with what they need so that also does help in formulating policies gearing up into the house also there have been certain policies that should have brought about some sorts of change but the problem is how these policies are then executed and the fact that nobody is being held accountable in terms of delivery so you say for example okay we're going to pass this bill and this bill it took us say six months to pass but expected period of execution is eight months and after a year and a half you know whatever projects that were supposed to be put in place or whatever partnerships were supposed to be built or roads supposed to be constructed and contracts are supposed to be giving out either have been given out and haven't been supervised or monitored or we just don't hear about these things anymore so it's not necessarily about formulating a whole new set of laws there are existing there are existing there are existing policies that have not been properly implemented the ones that have not been properly there are some that have not been implemented after all they're the ones that have been implemented right or yes they've been on the incremented so I get you I mean it's a valid point so I mean it would be it's nice to hear the sincerity yeah because again sometimes people feel like oh if I come I bring seven four you have to take me seriously but what you said is actually deep because truly we do have some very nice policies on paper where are the signs that these policies have been translated into reality yeah engine you wanted to go oh yeah um well I was initially just asking about your background just going a bit back um and asking why you decided to transition into you know politics and what I guess one of my questions was was your immediate plan for you know the constituency one so the transition again came from realizing the opportunity that has presented itself if we're being honest before and now regardless of the number of registered parties Nigeria has been practicing a two-party system and none of the parties have really appealed to me personally because we are in the situation where we are in where we have tried out both parties with their manifestos and with their ideologies and we still spiral to this point so I personally did not believe in what any of these two parties stand for but then with Peter be switching to the labor party he's somebody who just from a natural standpoint is very relatable and there is a sincerity in in his tone when he speaks he he doesn't try to present any grand ideas or sell this is my opinion anyway sell any major dreams of oh yeah elect me and you know in two years time everything is going to be sorted there'll be flying cars and and whatnot basically what he said that appealed to me the most is there's a problem we cannot fix this problem overnight but we need to get on the path towards the problem being fixed and that is what appealed to me the most and that really is the entire reason why I did join the labor party and upon joining the labor party there was an environment conducive enough to encourage participation to run so I'm okay this is a good opportunity let's let's see how this goes and the fact that the party even trusted somebody like me with my background to even be given the ticket to represent the party at this level is is an amazing honor that I feel very blessed to have and also very optimistic that the youth can do something towards national development because you look back at Nigerian history and the people that were making decisions that have affected the entire country were close to my age late 20s elite to mid 30s again again you know we're human and you know it's okay to make mistakes as long as you don't make the same mistakes multiple times and you do own up when you make these mistakes there have been a lot of mistakes in the nigeria political scene that people have not owned up to or apologized for and attempted to learn and move on I think that is the problem so it's just changing the what it means to be a politician really uh demystifying all the bravado around the office and all that just yeah I was boy so do you think that you you have done your part in being visible enough to the people in your constituency that um you know they they would they recognize you and will be willing to vote for you to a certain extent uh also because I did announce candidacy a little late because of you know some some back-end things that just needed to be sorted out yeah it was yeah there was yeah there was some cases with you know candidacy and we're in court for a while um and just because of what I had going on I honestly wanted to be sure that everybody was on the same page before announcing and then having to go back and forth and explain what was going on so that process took a lot longer than I was hoping for um but that being said uh I do believe that I have done enough to put myself out there in terms of what I'm made up of and where my head is at and you know the the plans that I have the hopes and dreams that I have so if the people buy into that idea um and they think that I am fit to be their representatives at the House of Assembly I'd be more than honored to do my best to make sure nobody's let down I will not know the last of this one if I don't ask and this was from one of our audience when she heard I mean sorry one of our co-uncles when she heard that you were the guest this is this is going to ask him let me ask you so she's I mean she looked at she looked through your social media because we're in the age of impressions and she looked through your social media and she felt like for somebody that is running for this kind of delicate position where you're going to be reviewing policies the issues around you people your social media handle doesn't tell that okay this is what this person stands for yes so for instance you go on mr macaroni's page you see that he stands for this you go on falses yeah so that it would be easier of course if mr macaroni or false came out to say they want time for this yeah who is a lumide of course what is he passionate about of course who has he like what kind of impact of course has he left you know what kind of some prince has he left in the you know his local community yeah the kind of impact that he's done that is giving him you know the credibility to say okay yes he can actually handle the pressure because that's it is hot of course you know there's a lot of things that will happen in that a lot I mean I mean if you were speaking to Jennifer now what would you say to her right because again it's social media of course we have to see you and see you of course of course of course so the thing is my my approach to social media has been very passive up until this period I never really paid attention to my social media I didn't really care for I just used to use it to promote my work but what I've been more concerned about is personal growth and personal development in terms of engaging with people in real time so for people that know me personally or in spaces where I've been opportunity to meet more experienced people I'm always asking questions always trying to learn most times I sit in the room and I don't say much I'm just taking things in I'm absorbing things really trying to understand how systems are made up how does this work even when I'm on set I'm asking why is this lights here what lens is that why is this working just so I really understand how that is set up another thing is I believe that we all have different roles to play in terms of in terms of development now we already have people like you know files and macaroni who are my good friends who we do discuss um you know things relating to politics on in times when we do see and they already have the social media fronts covered I mean if files are macaroni are talking about politics on their lives people are engaging people are commenting and we have other people even on Twitter as well who are already driving conversations on social media so we have that on lock so we need to do this simultaneously so we have people on social media we have people who are setting up NGOs you know people who are really trying to help people set up small businesses we have people who are trying to make an impact through different avenues so we need to all be doing these things at the same time we all can't be on social media we all can't be in politics so as long as the goal is understood we can work in unison if I make it into the house I'm still going to have conversations with files and macaroni if something is going sideways they can reach me and be like bro when you are going in this is what you say this is what you say they can hold me accountable and that's what we do as young people we are a lot more honest with each other and we check each other a lot if any of your boys are going live you call yeah so we do that so as long as we're all in agreement to what the end goal is and we have as many people in different areas really trying to implement that goal I think that really is what we need okay so we just want to plead that we put in small small things yes yes yes so this is um good evening my dear beautiful sisters of what are you saying hashtag ways rest in the Lagos house of assembly not too much talk I believe wholeheartedly that Labour Party is determined to do well and will do well I pray that my dear brother Olumi de Owaru will be voted for and also win because I can really see his zeal and determination to deliver I pray this time there is no regain I'm so glad and excited to see this handsome gentleman in the studio I happen to be his fan I like the role he plays in the johnson's tarry johnson I want to ask him that how can he cope with politics and acting my name is Daniel quickly um good evening my beautiful sisters of ways it's great to see your guest dressed as a leg ocean his dedication in his johnson's role gives me the light that he would deliver in the capacity of his so quickly how do you want to manage will something suffer for it um the priority right now is political office that that is the immediate thing I'm going to immerse myself in so as as we go on if I am elected into office you know we'll figure it out but right now okay so this is um me having my eyes on you as a surulere constituent yes you do not get to move out of surulere yes I will personally check that you are still in surulere I love it that's the whole point I need to be on the floor because if I can't do it in lecture I will put it on social media we'll win thank you so much thank you so much thank you ladies and sure you follow us across all our social media handles that waste your Africa you can interact with us for the drop a comment or more importantly follow all our engagements and social media like share invite your families and friends to watch and follow the conversation I've you missed our very important quote here it is again we cannot be mere consumers of good governance we must be participants we must be co-creators you have to be part of the process okay there are great people stepping up to the plate so join I will see you guys tomorrow at 8 p.m. it's International Women's Day tomorrow so bring another great conversation to your screen have another interesting guest so we'll see you tomorrow