Nollywood star actor and Member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, has finally opened up on the Shitta-Oke-Odo wooden bridge he constructed in 2020.
Desmond who has been highly criticised and berated for the project by his constituents and Lagosians, has now revealed the truth behind the Shitta-Oke Odo Link Bridge.
He said; “I have read quite a number of commentaries on the social media space concerning the Shitta-Oke-Odo bridge construction. The picture of the said ‘bridge’ has elicited comments especially from those outside of the Surulere Constituency 1, and I feel the need to correct the erroneous misconception behind the raft passage way.”
“In mid 2020, I attended the burial of the young lady in Surulere who fell into the same canal and died. I was reliably informed that the lady drowned around Obele-Odan and her body was found at Oke-Odo canal.”
“After the burial rites, I was prevailed upon by some concerned citizens within the community to help on the bridge construction. At the meeting, I was told that artisans within the community will handle the bridge work. A cost estimate was sent to my office and I obliged by providing funds for the foot bridge to avoid recording more casualties, especially at night.”
“It should be noted that this is not a constituency project – and at no point did I publicise this as a project or take credit for it as widely claimed in some quarters.”
“I remembered the confusion I was thrown into when a constituent member called me to intimate me that a signpost was erected in my name as the sponsor of the bridge.”
“Few hours later, only to find out that the signpost was erected by a concerned stakeholder who told those present at the meeting between the Principal Officers of Alhaji Masha CDA (Surulere) that he was responsible for the signpost and it was done in good faith to appreciate the effort.”
“I can understand how people feel about this, but as they say – “All politics is local”. While the bridge construction may look rudimentary and unappreciated by those who have expressed their views and opinions, the targeted people who demanded for the raft for their immediate need, were appreciative of this and have urged me even further to seek for intervention in the budget for the construction of a more permanent raft.”
“Finally, as a lawmaker, I am not oblivious of my duty to my constituency, I have initiated and attracted several projects to my constituency without running any publicity for such. In this clime, news capable of generating negative commentaries travels faster than those that generates positive ones. And unfortunately, this is the price I have to pay for being a politician.”
