Tosin Clegg writes that Hon. Sherifat Mojisolaoluwa Alli-Macaulay, member, Lagos State House of Assembly representing Amuwo Odofin 1 Constituency who was accussed of using COVID-19 palliatives meant for constituents as part of her birthday gift pack has a history of charitable deeds which deepens in the last days of Ramadan
Hon. Sherifat Kehinde Mojisolaoluwa Alli-Macaulay who is the lawmaker representing Amuwo Odofin Constituency I and Chairman, Lagos State House Committee on Women Affairs, Poverty Alleviation and Job Creation has continuously and effortlessly proven to be for her people and works tirelessly to support, empower and use all the resources available to her to do her utmost best. She has an unquenchable passion for social justice, making a tangible difference in the community, resolving people’s problems and also sharing in the weight of their historical, political and socio economic burden. Alli – Macaulay began her political career in 2010, with prior experience in handling leadership positions.
Amidst her good will and efforts towards governance the controversy of an alleged use of palliatives for her personal use drew negative attention her way late last year. Going further to a push for her recall which was driven with full force. She has however maintained transparency since the situation developed and in an honest effort to dispel the rumor that she used the palliative items meant for her constituents for her birthday celebration last year stating, “I didn’t use palliatives for my birthday. The ceremony was for my birthday and women empowerment and was a coincidence that 90 boxes of indomie off the palliatives came at the time and had to be shared anyway to the rightful owners. I’m a woman of compassion. I cannot take what’s meant for my people! Even before I became a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly in 2019, I have always touched people’s lives.”
Mama Amuwo as she is fondly called said, “On my part, my office has reached out to over 3000 people through our empowerment programmes and this holy month of Ramadan is not any different as we will be reaching out to over 1000 women.” According to her, this is the time to remain faithful to God and to forgive one another. It is also a time to ask for forgiveness especially in these last 10 days of this glorious month to worship and get close to Allah. Alli-Macaulay also prayed for the peace and unity of Lagos State and that of the country generally.
She will also be giving out free meals to her constituents in her office in Amuwo-Odofin to break their fast.
In the spirit of Ramadan, she will be giving out food items to several people in the next few days, apart from others that will be fed before the end of the holy month. For her, Ramadan period is a time for everybody to show love to neighbors, especially those that are in need, Ramadan is also a good time to pray for Nigeria and the rest of the world against insecurity, poverty and the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic. The lawmaker said that food items that were available for distribution to the people include milk, milo, sugar, spaghetti, garri, semovita, noodles, just to mention a few. She noted that the gesture was not from the assembly but that she was doing it personally. Mojisolaluwa has inspired and empowered thousands of women, children and youths and also pointing them in the direction of positive change in their immediate environment, society and towards nation building. And that’s why she uses every avenue and opportunity to give effortlessly and cheerfully.
She admonished the people to develop a heart of giving and help the people around them, especially those who are in need. Alli-Macaulay said that the essence of Ramadan was for Muslims to put themselves in the position of those that were hungry so that they could know how it feels to be in need.
Stating that, “Just like Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said that anytime we are in the Ramadan period, we should always remember that there are some people somewhere who do not have food to eat. So whatever you have and no matter how little it is; we should try to share it with the people around us.”
For Alli Macauley her act of benevolence is not about politics, religion, gender and that there should be no sentiment in doing things to worship Allah. Alli-Macaulay noted that last year, she gave out pepper grinding machines, sewing machines, hairdryer sets, popcorn machines to empower several women. Concluding she mentioned, “It is not about sentiment, I am just passionate about helping people and putting smiles on their faces. Like I will always say, adding growth to humanity Is greater through political participation, good conscience, diligence and women empowerment” –Alli – Macaulay, so it is important to give women 35 percent chance when considering people for positions of authority especially at all levels of government, according to the accord reached at the Beijing Conference in China, while making reference to the forthcoming local government elections in Lagos State, Alli – Macaulay said that more women should also be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity of the forth coming local government elections, adding that discrimination against women should be eliminated in our society.”
