Friday, April 12, 2019
Autism is Not A Tragedy Says Lagos Lawmaker
As the world celebrate autism day, A Member of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu representing Eti-Osa constituency 02 has disabused the minds of Nigerians against children with autism, saying, it is not a tragedy but understanding and acceptance is what is required.
He disclosed this in a statement made available on Tuesday. In celebration with children that live with autism, the lawmaker said there is need to increase awareness and educate.
The twelfth annual World Autism Awareness Day is April 2, 2019.
Hon. Yishawu joined the international community, hundreds of thousands of landmarks, and communities around the world, light blue in recognition of people living with autism.
He opined that essence of celebrating children with autism is to increase understanding and acceptance of people living with autism in order to foster worldwide support for them.
Hon. Yishawu appealed to Nigerians not to discriminate but rather appreciate the children living with autism.
"There is need for full inclusion of these people with autism and supporting them to achieve their full potential is a vital part of our efforts to uphold the core promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal that urges us to leave no one behind," he said.
The lawmaker therefore celebrate with children living with people with autism, just as he wishes them well in all their endeavours.
Why do we hate Tinubu?
Tolerance Becoming Crime ****************************
By Dr Chinedu Akabuike
1. Why do we hate Tinubu? What for?
2. Tinubu never worked with federal or Eastern Nigeria let alone stealing money from Ndi Igbo.
He never worked as Minister or taken any Federal Appointment!
3. He never joined APGA let alone sabotaging our Party's interest?
4. Tinubu didn't meddle in Igbo internal affairs either!
5. Why do we call him thief? What did he steal?
6. We call Yoruba "slaves". We never reflect on what it means to be slaves in the true sense of the word.
7. We are putting mouth in Lagos politics without caution, yet we have a proverb that says it is the foolish housefly that follows the corpse into the grave.
8. Can Yoruba man become an Association or Local Government Chairman in the East? Let us be sincere with ourselves. Yet we enjoy all these privileges here including Assembly Membership!
9. Why asking for what we can't give?
10. We are here helping the "slaves" to develop their land. Who then is a slave?
10b. You call their city a no man's land so that we can further be enslaved slaving to develop it, and our generations are wasted gloating over mere privileges. Who is a slave. Do we actually think?
11. Can Yoruba tell Okorocha "o to gee" in Owerri? He doesn't even need it. He is too intelligent to die for a pot of ofe manu or nothing.
12. After the civil war, for many of us who were old enough to have witnessed it, the Yoruba were the first to open their arms to receive and accept us as we were, crude savages in search for means of survival. It was regardless of what we equally did to them before and during the civil war. No party to the civil war was innocent! I also remember not paying any rent among Yoruba guys without a penny for my first 3years in Lagos and another 2 years in Ibadan.
13. Can we survive Yoruba attack in Yoruba land if they actually mean to? Will an Mbaise man cooperate with the Nsukka or Afikpo, or the Imo with Anambara?
14. If we all decide to relocate at once, Babangida send me home phenomena is still in the memory of some of us who survived the incessant and uncontrollable spate of robbery across the Onitsha bridge. How many people will want to go in spide of our empty pride?
15. If Yoruba people are as foolish as we foolishly think, why agitating? How will agitating be to our benefit?
16. Why not "O to gee" in Abia, Enugu or Owerri?
17. Can a man from Aba become a Commissioner or P.S. in Enugu State Civil Service? Yet it happened here! Why not be careful.
18. We adopted APGA and but "wisely" voted PDP. How was Tinubu our headache. Was he the cause of our downfall? Why always blame others for our inabilities and want to take glory for any small thing we think we have done well and even overblow it?
19. We claim we were so creative during the civil war. Now history. We also claim every made in Nigeria is from Aba. But go to Oyo and Oshogbo to see what "lazy" mechanics are doing quietly in the automobile industry, yet we make noise that other ethnics are either mumu or lazy except we (alagbara ma mero baba ole; the most hardworking humans who cannot develop their own land unfortunately).
20. Why looking for avoidable problem? Why?
21. It was you in the North being attacked, in Malaysia being killed, in Gabon and Ghana being molested. 99.9% of Nigerians killed in South Africa are of Igbo extraction, and sometimes by fellow 'hardworking' Igbo. Why?
22. We choose Kanu and he dictates to us without consultation with any one of us. They choose Tinubu who becomes a hero among them by bowing to or adopting the choice of their majority. Why are we angry?
We choose Azikwe and they choose Awolowo. How are they more mumuish followers than ourselves?
Zik became a president and we gained from it, Awo was only a premier, but we are only struggling to beat their records in all ramifications including education till today. How are they mumus?
We choose APGA and they choose APC, why agitating?
➡ Yoruba are yet to say Tinubu is their problem why do we want to die for nothing?
Why working in APGA but planning to collect salaries in APC?
I pray for the success of Biafra, but do we still remember that as Igbo we will automatically become foreigners on the streets of the Lagos we call a no Man's land?
How many of us will actually want to relocate home, should Biafra actualises or if if citizenship is on the condition that you relinquish all other citizenship in Africa? I leave that answer to the individual.
Nwayo nwayo biko unu.
By Dr Chinedu Akabuike
1. Why do we hate Tinubu? What for?
2. Tinubu never worked with federal or Eastern Nigeria let alone stealing money from Ndi Igbo.
He never worked as Minister or taken any Federal Appointment!
3. He never joined APGA let alone sabotaging our Party's interest?
4. Tinubu didn't meddle in Igbo internal affairs either!
5. Why do we call him thief? What did he steal?
6. We call Yoruba "slaves". We never reflect on what it means to be slaves in the true sense of the word.
7. We are putting mouth in Lagos politics without caution, yet we have a proverb that says it is the foolish housefly that follows the corpse into the grave.
8. Can Yoruba man become an Association or Local Government Chairman in the East? Let us be sincere with ourselves. Yet we enjoy all these privileges here including Assembly Membership!
9. Why asking for what we can't give?
10. We are here helping the "slaves" to develop their land. Who then is a slave?
10b. You call their city a no man's land so that we can further be enslaved slaving to develop it, and our generations are wasted gloating over mere privileges. Who is a slave. Do we actually think?
11. Can Yoruba tell Okorocha "o to gee" in Owerri? He doesn't even need it. He is too intelligent to die for a pot of ofe manu or nothing.
12. After the civil war, for many of us who were old enough to have witnessed it, the Yoruba were the first to open their arms to receive and accept us as we were, crude savages in search for means of survival. It was regardless of what we equally did to them before and during the civil war. No party to the civil war was innocent! I also remember not paying any rent among Yoruba guys without a penny for my first 3years in Lagos and another 2 years in Ibadan.
13. Can we survive Yoruba attack in Yoruba land if they actually mean to? Will an Mbaise man cooperate with the Nsukka or Afikpo, or the Imo with Anambara?
14. If we all decide to relocate at once, Babangida send me home phenomena is still in the memory of some of us who survived the incessant and uncontrollable spate of robbery across the Onitsha bridge. How many people will want to go in spide of our empty pride?
15. If Yoruba people are as foolish as we foolishly think, why agitating? How will agitating be to our benefit?
16. Why not "O to gee" in Abia, Enugu or Owerri?
17. Can a man from Aba become a Commissioner or P.S. in Enugu State Civil Service? Yet it happened here! Why not be careful.
18. We adopted APGA and but "wisely" voted PDP. How was Tinubu our headache. Was he the cause of our downfall? Why always blame others for our inabilities and want to take glory for any small thing we think we have done well and even overblow it?
19. We claim we were so creative during the civil war. Now history. We also claim every made in Nigeria is from Aba. But go to Oyo and Oshogbo to see what "lazy" mechanics are doing quietly in the automobile industry, yet we make noise that other ethnics are either mumu or lazy except we (alagbara ma mero baba ole; the most hardworking humans who cannot develop their own land unfortunately).
20. Why looking for avoidable problem? Why?
21. It was you in the North being attacked, in Malaysia being killed, in Gabon and Ghana being molested. 99.9% of Nigerians killed in South Africa are of Igbo extraction, and sometimes by fellow 'hardworking' Igbo. Why?
22. We choose Kanu and he dictates to us without consultation with any one of us. They choose Tinubu who becomes a hero among them by bowing to or adopting the choice of their majority. Why are we angry?
We choose Azikwe and they choose Awolowo. How are they more mumuish followers than ourselves?
Zik became a president and we gained from it, Awo was only a premier, but we are only struggling to beat their records in all ramifications including education till today. How are they mumus?
We choose APGA and they choose APC, why agitating?
➡ Yoruba are yet to say Tinubu is their problem why do we want to die for nothing?
Why working in APGA but planning to collect salaries in APC?
I pray for the success of Biafra, but do we still remember that as Igbo we will automatically become foreigners on the streets of the Lagos we call a no Man's land?
How many of us will actually want to relocate home, should Biafra actualises or if if citizenship is on the condition that you relinquish all other citizenship in Africa? I leave that answer to the individual.
Nwayo nwayo biko unu.
ENOUGH OF POLITICS, LAGOS IS DYING.
Veteran Journalist, Richard Akinnola Tackles Lagos Assembly Over Delay In Passage Of Y2019 Budget
Many residents of Lagos should have noticed that governance has literally halted. Hospitals can't procure drugs or embark on any capital projects, most street lights are off at night because no money to procure diesel, many civil servants can't work or are mostly out of offices because no electricity and no money for diesel. I can go on and on.
And guess what? The problem is not about Ambode but the House of Assembly. The House of Assembly which initially claimed that Governor Ambode refused to present the budget and wanted to use that as an excuse to impeach him, when in actual fact, the Commissioner for Budget laid the budget before the House in December.
After the impeachment face-off, the governor personally presented the budget on February 1. The House left the budget in the cooler and went for electioneering campaigns. The House made it look that it urgently wanted to pass the budget when they made it an impeachment issue. It resumed from the election recess on April 4. This is going to mid-April and the House doesn't seem to be in a hurry to pass the budget, apparently to deny Ambode any major expenditure before his exit. But in practical terms, it's Lagosians that are victims of this collateral damage of political fued. This is no time for pro or anti Ambode sentiments because Ambode is not personally affected but we Lagosians are reeling under this seeming stopage of practical governance in Lagos. Deep craters on the roads everywhere, many highway streetlights off at night, subventions to the security agents is threatened. Things cannot continue like this. This is politics taken too far. The House of Assembly must pass the budget immediately.
Many residents of Lagos should have noticed that governance has literally halted. Hospitals can't procure drugs or embark on any capital projects, most street lights are off at night because no money to procure diesel, many civil servants can't work or are mostly out of offices because no electricity and no money for diesel. I can go on and on.
And guess what? The problem is not about Ambode but the House of Assembly. The House of Assembly which initially claimed that Governor Ambode refused to present the budget and wanted to use that as an excuse to impeach him, when in actual fact, the Commissioner for Budget laid the budget before the House in December.
After the impeachment face-off, the governor personally presented the budget on February 1. The House left the budget in the cooler and went for electioneering campaigns. The House made it look that it urgently wanted to pass the budget when they made it an impeachment issue. It resumed from the election recess on April 4. This is going to mid-April and the House doesn't seem to be in a hurry to pass the budget, apparently to deny Ambode any major expenditure before his exit. But in practical terms, it's Lagosians that are victims of this collateral damage of political fued. This is no time for pro or anti Ambode sentiments because Ambode is not personally affected but we Lagosians are reeling under this seeming stopage of practical governance in Lagos. Deep craters on the roads everywhere, many highway streetlights off at night, subventions to the security agents is threatened. Things cannot continue like this. This is politics taken too far. The House of Assembly must pass the budget immediately.
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Sanwoolu’s Cabinet: Demola Seriki’s Ambtion Tears APC Apart
Says ‘ I Want To Be Chief of Staff’
Right now a crisis is brewing in All Progressives Congress in Lagos state over the ambition of some of its chieftains.
A reliable source within the ruling All Progressives Congress in Lagos tolD Lagos Reporters that even the governor-elect, Babajide Sanwoolu and his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat are in dilemma that even before they are sworn-in , some of the APC chieftains have taken position already.
Prominent among them according to our source is former minister of defense, Mr. Demola Seriki. Demola, who left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, immediately he was sacked to join the APC has told the national leader of the party, Mr. Bola Tinubu in clear term that he deserves the position of the chief of staff having waited all this while without any juicy appointment apart from ad hoc.
Fondly called ‘ American Kukuye’ by his friends, Demola , we are told has regaled Tinubu with the story of how he(Tinubu) prevailed on him (Demola) to step down for his wife , Oluremi In 2015 when he wanted to contest for the Lagos central senatorial district.
The party dilemma stems from the fact that Demola is very close to Tinubu and that makes it difficult to say no to the him.
According to the source, “ Asiwaju deliberately told the former governor of Osun state , Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to be in charge of the appointment in order to ease pressure from some of his close confidants who want to serve in Sanwoolu’s cabinet.
“ Take for instance, Kaoli Olusanya who wants to serve in the cabinet. Even Musiliu Obanikoro whose son Babajide just won the national assembly election to represent Ibeju Lekki too also want to be in the cabinet.
“ Tayo Ayinde the director general of Sanwoolu campaign organization has been penciled down as the chief of staff before the Demola Seriki lobbying started.”
Asked what will happen now that there is so much pressure for appointment, the source said: “ Apart from the appointment of the SSG , Chief of staff and CPS to the governor that will be announced shortly after the swearing-in on May 29, other appointment may have to wait till July or August. The national leader will want to know what will happen at the national level before making other appointment in Lagos.
For now it is not certain what will be the fate of Demola who said all what he wants in Sanwoolu’s cabinet is chief of staff.
Right now a crisis is brewing in All Progressives Congress in Lagos state over the ambition of some of its chieftains.
A reliable source within the ruling All Progressives Congress in Lagos tolD Lagos Reporters that even the governor-elect, Babajide Sanwoolu and his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat are in dilemma that even before they are sworn-in , some of the APC chieftains have taken position already.
Prominent among them according to our source is former minister of defense, Mr. Demola Seriki. Demola, who left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, immediately he was sacked to join the APC has told the national leader of the party, Mr. Bola Tinubu in clear term that he deserves the position of the chief of staff having waited all this while without any juicy appointment apart from ad hoc.
Fondly called ‘ American Kukuye’ by his friends, Demola , we are told has regaled Tinubu with the story of how he(Tinubu) prevailed on him (Demola) to step down for his wife , Oluremi In 2015 when he wanted to contest for the Lagos central senatorial district.
The party dilemma stems from the fact that Demola is very close to Tinubu and that makes it difficult to say no to the him.
According to the source, “ Asiwaju deliberately told the former governor of Osun state , Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to be in charge of the appointment in order to ease pressure from some of his close confidants who want to serve in Sanwoolu’s cabinet.
“ Take for instance, Kaoli Olusanya who wants to serve in the cabinet. Even Musiliu Obanikoro whose son Babajide just won the national assembly election to represent Ibeju Lekki too also want to be in the cabinet.
“ Tayo Ayinde the director general of Sanwoolu campaign organization has been penciled down as the chief of staff before the Demola Seriki lobbying started.”
Asked what will happen now that there is so much pressure for appointment, the source said: “ Apart from the appointment of the SSG , Chief of staff and CPS to the governor that will be announced shortly after the swearing-in on May 29, other appointment may have to wait till July or August. The national leader will want to know what will happen at the national level before making other appointment in Lagos.
For now it is not certain what will be the fate of Demola who said all what he wants in Sanwoolu’s cabinet is chief of staff.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
AMBODE INAUGURATES 20-MAN TRANSITION COMMITTEE
PRESS RELEASE
AMBODE INAUGURATES 20-MAN TRANSITION COMMITTEE
…Tasks Members To Ensure Smooth Take Off For Next Administration
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday inaugurated a 20-member Transition Committee that would be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring a seamless transition to the next administration on May 29, 2019.
Inaugurating the Committee, Governor Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, said a smooth transition to the next administration was imperative to ensure that the machinery of government continues to run smoothly without any hitch, considering the economic importance of Lagos to Nigeria.
“In about seven weeks from now, the tenure of this administration will come to an end and a new administration will commence under the leadership of His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“A smooth transition to the next administration is imperative to ensure that the machinery of government continues to run smoothly. Our State is a delicate one with very significant importance in the economic and social stability to our nation.
“To maintain this stability, build on the solid status of our State and give the next administration a smooth take-off, it is imperative to quickly put in place a transition committee whose major responsibility will be to ensure a seamless transition to the next administration come May 29, 2019,” Governor Ambode said.
He commended Lagosians for keeping faith with the progressive ideals of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last two decades and also his administration, expressing optimism that the incoming administration would build on the achievements recorded so far.
‘Let me use this opportunity to once again express my profound appreciation to all Lagosians for keeping faith with this administration and the rare privilege to serve. Government is not a sprint or a short distance race. It is an unending race.
“For us in Lagos State, it has been a progressive race in which every successive administration builds upon the achievement of the past administration.
He charged the Committee, which would be co-chaired by the Deputy Governor-elect, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello to accord the assignment the diligence and commitment it deserves.
Members of the Committee include the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola; Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem; Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade; Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ade Akinsanya, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh and Special Adviser on Urban Development, Mrs. Yetunde Onabule.
Other members include Permanent Secretary, Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Jimi Hotonu; Accountant General and Permanent Secretary Treasury Office, Mr. Abimbola Umar; Permanent Secretary, Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Abayomi Kadiri, Ayo Gbeleyi; Sam Ngube; Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin; Engr. Tayo Bamgbose-Martins; Mr. Bayo Sotade; Solape Hammond; Mrs. Bunmi Fabanwo; Mrs. Bukola Odoe and Mrs. Toke Benson Awoyinka.
In his vote of charge, the Deputy Governor-elect assured that the Committee would immediately commence its work and ensure that everything done is in the interest of the State, adding that it would be a transition of the same government as the incoming administration would build on the existing template to move the State forward.
“Lagos State has always been a pace setter in everything and that’s exactly what we would do here. Everyone on this table is a prominent Lagosian and everything would be in the interest of the State; it’s the same government and it should be pretty straightforward,” he said.
SIGNED
HABIB ARUNA
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
APRIL 9, 2019
AMBODE INAUGURATES 20-MAN TRANSITION COMMITTEE
…Tasks Members To Ensure Smooth Take Off For Next Administration
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday inaugurated a 20-member Transition Committee that would be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring a seamless transition to the next administration on May 29, 2019.
Inaugurating the Committee, Governor Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, said a smooth transition to the next administration was imperative to ensure that the machinery of government continues to run smoothly without any hitch, considering the economic importance of Lagos to Nigeria.
“In about seven weeks from now, the tenure of this administration will come to an end and a new administration will commence under the leadership of His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“A smooth transition to the next administration is imperative to ensure that the machinery of government continues to run smoothly. Our State is a delicate one with very significant importance in the economic and social stability to our nation.
“To maintain this stability, build on the solid status of our State and give the next administration a smooth take-off, it is imperative to quickly put in place a transition committee whose major responsibility will be to ensure a seamless transition to the next administration come May 29, 2019,” Governor Ambode said.
He commended Lagosians for keeping faith with the progressive ideals of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last two decades and also his administration, expressing optimism that the incoming administration would build on the achievements recorded so far.
‘Let me use this opportunity to once again express my profound appreciation to all Lagosians for keeping faith with this administration and the rare privilege to serve. Government is not a sprint or a short distance race. It is an unending race.
“For us in Lagos State, it has been a progressive race in which every successive administration builds upon the achievement of the past administration.
He charged the Committee, which would be co-chaired by the Deputy Governor-elect, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello to accord the assignment the diligence and commitment it deserves.
Members of the Committee include the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola; Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem; Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade; Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ade Akinsanya, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh and Special Adviser on Urban Development, Mrs. Yetunde Onabule.
Other members include Permanent Secretary, Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Jimi Hotonu; Accountant General and Permanent Secretary Treasury Office, Mr. Abimbola Umar; Permanent Secretary, Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Abayomi Kadiri, Ayo Gbeleyi; Sam Ngube; Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin; Engr. Tayo Bamgbose-Martins; Mr. Bayo Sotade; Solape Hammond; Mrs. Bunmi Fabanwo; Mrs. Bukola Odoe and Mrs. Toke Benson Awoyinka.
In his vote of charge, the Deputy Governor-elect assured that the Committee would immediately commence its work and ensure that everything done is in the interest of the State, adding that it would be a transition of the same government as the incoming administration would build on the existing template to move the State forward.
“Lagos State has always been a pace setter in everything and that’s exactly what we would do here. Everyone on this table is a prominent Lagosian and everything would be in the interest of the State; it’s the same government and it should be pretty straightforward,” he said.
SIGNED
HABIB ARUNA
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
APRIL 9, 2019
Monday, April 8, 2019
Sanwoolu’s Cabinet: Demola Seriki’s Ambtion Tears APC Apart
Sanwoolu’s Cabinet: Demola Seriki’s Ambtion Tears APC Apart
_…Says ‘ I Want To Be Chief of Staff’_
Right now a crisis is brewing in All Progressives Congress in Lagos state over the ambition of some of its chieftains.
A reliable source within the ruling All Progressives Congress in Lagos tolD Lagos Reporters that even the governor-elect, Babajide Sanwoolu and his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat are in dilemma that even before they are sworn-in , some of the APC chieftains have taken position already.
Prominent among them according to our source is former minister of defense, Mr. Demola Seriki. Demola, who left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, immediately he was sacked to join the APC has told the national leader of the party, Mr. Bola Tinubu in clear term that he deserves the position of the chief of staff having waited all this while without any juicy appointment apart from ad hoc.
Fondly called ‘ American Kukuye’ by his friends, Demola , we are told has regaled Tinubu with the story of how he(Tinubu) prevailed on him (Demola) to step down for his wife , Oluremi In 2015 when he wanted to contest for the Lagos central senatorial district.
The party dilemma stems from the fact that Demola is very close to Tinubu and that makes it difficult to say no to the him.
According to the source, “ Asiwaju deliberately told the former governor of Osun state , Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to be in charge of the appointment in order to ease pressure from some of his close confidants who want to serve in Sanwoolu’s cabinet.
“ Take for instance, Kaoli Olusanya who wants to serve in the cabinet. Even Musiliu Obanikoro whose son Babajide just won the national assembly election to represent Ibeju Lekki too also want to be in the cabinet.
“ Tayo Ayinde the director general of Sanwoolu campaign organization has been penciled down as the chief of staff before the Demola Seriki lobbying started.”
Asked what will happen now that there is so much pressure for appointment, the source said: “ Apart from the appointment of the SSG , Chief of staff and CPS to the governor that will be announced shortly after the swearing-in on May 29, other appointment may have to wait till July or August. The national leader will want to know what will happen at the national level before making other appointment in Lagos.
For now it is not certain what will be the fate of Demola who said all what he wants in Sanwoolu’s cabinet is chief of staff.
_…Says ‘ I Want To Be Chief of Staff’_
Right now a crisis is brewing in All Progressives Congress in Lagos state over the ambition of some of its chieftains.
A reliable source within the ruling All Progressives Congress in Lagos tolD Lagos Reporters that even the governor-elect, Babajide Sanwoolu and his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat are in dilemma that even before they are sworn-in , some of the APC chieftains have taken position already.
Prominent among them according to our source is former minister of defense, Mr. Demola Seriki. Demola, who left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, immediately he was sacked to join the APC has told the national leader of the party, Mr. Bola Tinubu in clear term that he deserves the position of the chief of staff having waited all this while without any juicy appointment apart from ad hoc.
Fondly called ‘ American Kukuye’ by his friends, Demola , we are told has regaled Tinubu with the story of how he(Tinubu) prevailed on him (Demola) to step down for his wife , Oluremi In 2015 when he wanted to contest for the Lagos central senatorial district.
The party dilemma stems from the fact that Demola is very close to Tinubu and that makes it difficult to say no to the him.
According to the source, “ Asiwaju deliberately told the former governor of Osun state , Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to be in charge of the appointment in order to ease pressure from some of his close confidants who want to serve in Sanwoolu’s cabinet.
“ Take for instance, Kaoli Olusanya who wants to serve in the cabinet. Even Musiliu Obanikoro whose son Babajide just won the national assembly election to represent Ibeju Lekki too also want to be in the cabinet.
“ Tayo Ayinde the director general of Sanwoolu campaign organization has been penciled down as the chief of staff before the Demola Seriki lobbying started.”
Asked what will happen now that there is so much pressure for appointment, the source said: “ Apart from the appointment of the SSG , Chief of staff and CPS to the governor that will be announced shortly after the swearing-in on May 29, other appointment may have to wait till July or August. The national leader will want to know what will happen at the national level before making other appointment in Lagos.
For now it is not certain what will be the fate of Demola who said all what he wants in Sanwoolu’s cabinet is chief of staff.
BOLA AHMED TINUBU POLITICAL CAREER
Bola Ahmed Tinubu:
"My struggles through life"
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:52 pm
Q:How did you join politics?
A: We decide to support Sarumi Gradually, I moved from raising funds to getting involved. I brought some money to Nigeria out of my dividends. I was comfortable because my investments in America and London were already yielding dividends. Then came the crisis leading to the ban of Professor Femi Agbalajobi and Chief Dapo Sarumi. I threw my weight behind Yomi Edu.
He lost the election and our group was devastated. I went to Ahmadu Abubakar and IBB. I wrote a report and I was strongly against the Structural Adjustment Programme introduced by the military government. The idea of the new generation banks came from those reports. Abubakar, from being a permanent secretary, became Minister of Finance.
IBB saw the significance of the advice as well as the short, medium and long term vision that were in the report. That man was great. He was a good listener. You could think with him. He is still alive. This probe of NNPC dates back to those periods. You can give the NNPC a bank draft for 120 days and you will still be using that money!
They started touting the idea that intelligent, brilliant and dynamic people like me should be in the Senate and must change Nigeria. The idea gradually started coming into my head. People like Kola Oseni, Alhaji Hamzat, Busurat Alebiosu, Demola Adeniji-Adele, Prince Olusi, who were members of the Primrose Group at that time, started persuading me to go to the Senate.
The Primrose Group was piling so much pressure on Alhaji Kola Oseni to persuade me.
The MD of Mobil, Bob Parker, thought I was crazy when I told him I wanted to join politics. I also told the Finance Director, Akinyelure, that I wanted to join politics and use my brain for my country and that I couldn’t continue to be an armchair critic.
The two of them could not believe what I said. They said, given my career path in Mobil, if there was any chance of anybody becoming something there, then I would be the one. I stood my ground and said I would give it a try.
I told them that people do it in America and Bob Parker agreed. They said they would give me a leave of absence for four years, during which they would not fill my position. They later said that they would not stop me because it would rub off positively on them if I became successful in politics.
They told me to come back and take my position if I found it uninteresting and unchallenging. So I contested the Lagos West Senatorial district election.
Q: Why not Lagos Central?
A: Lagos West was where our weakness was apparent. The political leaders in the Social Democratic Party just assigned Lagos West, which was the most challenging district, to me and said I had the money, personality and the wherewithal. Lagos Central was preparing for me and they wanted me.
In our group, we wanted to help Wahab Dosunmu to stay in Central, so I went to the West. It was a big battle, but I won the
nomination for Lagos West.
Wahab Dosunmu got nomination for Lagos Central, but they got him disqualified. The battle was then left to Shitta-Bey, Towry-Coker and Bucknor-Akerele. Whatever happened in the primaries is history. It was a crude primary election, but a most transparent one. That was how I got into politics, which nonetheless was an adventure for me.
Q: What role did you play in the emergence of Michael Otedola of NRC?
A: I didn’t play any role. I was politically naïve, though a strategist in my own right. Those at the forefront weren’t paying attention and there were a lot of intrigues, which I had never seen before. We could have been flexible and compromised when Sarumi and the late Femi Agbalajobi were disqualified, leaving Yomi Edu. There were two groups then. Baba Kekere (Alhaji Lateef Jakande) would call them “ase”. I recommended that we should have given them the deputy governorship slot.
Democracy is about conflict and conflict resolution. Otedola would not have emerged if each side had yielded. We found out later that some people who didn’t mean well didn’t want Yomi Edu to get there. If they wanted, they would have allowed flexibility and compromise.
The late Prince Adeniyi tried so hard to resolve the impasse up till the night before the election. The impasse was unresolved and the party ended up giving Otedola a chance. I learnt a lot from that experience.
Q: What role did you play in the presidential election of MKO Abiola?
A: We worked hard for Yar’Adua. The SDP platform and the Yar’Adua machine were a phenomenon at that particular time. We had won the majority in the National Assembly. I wanted to become the Senate President because we secured all the seats in the West and we had 15 senators and Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim, a brilliant politician, mobilised some of the senators in the North; Chuba Okadigbo in the East and Albert Legogie in the so-called South-South. Iyorchia Ayu of the Middle-Belt was very active at that particular time. We had good leaders. Olu Falae was in contention, Biyi Durojaiye also.
We had Olusegun Osoba and the rest of them as governors then. We didn’t pay attention to Lagos and didn’t miss anything. We were not looking at any governor to be politically involved. I was just running my vision. I put my talents into being a strategist and I had got the endorsement of 38 out of the 56 senators belonging to the SDP to become the Senate President. So when the leadership caucus of the party met, the problem of the late Yar’Adua and others had crystallised.
It was then believed that Falae or anyone else among the presidential contenders would be the party’s flag bearer after the disqualification of Yar’Adua. They banned the old politicians and asked that the new breed should come forward. Falae, Olabiyi Durojaiye and others were clamouring that the opportunity should be given to the West. Yar’Adua was very consistent about the South-West and the North-West working together. I was confronted in Abuja, because I was already prepared to be the Senate President. I had 15 senators with me and had gotten the endorsement of the majority of other senators. Senators Kanti Bello (he was my partner in the struggle), Kazaure, Kashim Ibrahim, Lawan Buba, Mogaji Abdullahi and a host of others had already formed a caucus that would work for my emergence as the Senate President.
When we met at the leadership level, the late M.S Buhari asked us if we could honestly say that we must take the senate presidency? Okadigbo might be interested and would rather have the East produce the Senate President; the North, the Vice-President; and the presidency in the South-West because they had blocked Yar’Adua.
My position was that a bird in hand cannot fly away; you have to tie it properly. As if it was a prediction that I had seen, that thing was a banner headline on The Punch’s front page at that time. I was adamant. Falae, Durojaiye and the rest of them came to me and said that the leadership of South-West would want the presidency and we could not take the two positions. We had to make a sacrifice. My position was then that if your child would go to the class and come first among 30 students, to whom do you give the best prize in the house?
At the stage, I said I wanted to become Senate President, they said I should review my ambition. I made them realise that out of our 15 senators, the North-Central contributed 12 senators, so I said there must be a reward system for the support and loyalty. I told them that if I were to give up the ambition, the position must go to the zone that contributed the highest number of senators to my support base.
Ayu was among the 38. Meanwhile, A.T Ahmed was on the other side. We had internal caucuses and out of 56, 38 of us bonded together. A.T Ahmed and Okadigbo wanted to be senate president. But it was being rumoured in the newspapers that Babangida wanted to remain in power and that Bola Tinubu – because of IBB’s closeness to our family – would be one of those that would be used for IBB to stay. They didn’t know what I stood for. I was laughing.
We were saying the military must exit and we were angry because Yar’Adua had been disqualified. We didn’t even want IBB to stay.
While that was on, Abiola came onto the scene and showed interest in the presidency. Suddenly, I found him in my hotel room with Jubril Martins-Kuye. I realised he was an accountant like myself and I told him he had been severally abused for being anti-Awolowo. He said no, and that he would go to Ikenne. I told him that he should forget it if he was anti-Awolowo. When you talked to MKO about the country, you saw his vision and everything. If you were well educated and serious about the country, you would be convinced that he meant well. If you were to do an analysis about who was likely to be less corrupt and whose vision would be consistent for the nation, then you would agree with MKO.
We made Ayu the Senate President. Yar’Adua and Atiku got along with us on the choice of Ayu, while Kingibe was very flexible on it. We warned them that we would concede it to the NRC if they refused to let us choose our candidate since they would not be there with us. That was how Ayu won and I became one of the most powerful and influential senators. I was the chairman of the Appropriation, Finance, Banking and two other committees in the Senate.
We started working for MKO to emerge the candidate and we worked hard for him. My corporate experience and the strategic planning I had was brought to bear on what I was doing at the time.
Q: Babangida wanted to use the Senate to stay. How did the Senate respond to that?
A: Ayu, myself and some others knew what the military was up to. The military is politically smart. Don’t underestimate any military officer when it comes to gathering information on any activity. We got wind of their plan and we took a very strong position that the military had to hand over. Equally, the pressure from the media against the continued stay of the military in power was strong. The wind of change was blowing in the direction of a civilian government.
Bagangida made several promises and even declared in a broadcast that the military would disengage from politics in August 1993 and would hand over to a democratically elected president.
So, we strategised and organised a successful joint session of the National Assembly to reach a resolution against military stay. It was very auspicious at the time, because no president had emerged. The NRC and the SDP agreed that they wanted the military to go and, with no apparent successor, the political situation was fluid. In a motion moved by a House of Representatives member and supported by a senator, at the joint session of the National Assembly, it was resolved that the military must hand over to a democratically elected civilian president by August.
The Senate President allowed robust contributions from members at the session, which was devoid of party sentiments and affiliations, and we all jointly agreed to the resolution. That was in 1992, before the presidential election in 1993. Both SDP and NRC were expecting victory. We just wanted a civilian government in place. The resolution was seriously binding because the Babangida administration would have no moral authority to stay, though there were talks about diarchy. It just had to go. So when eventually they brought no-go areas and restricted legislators from discussing certain issues, we went to court. We were determined that democracy must be instituted in the country and that it could not be headed by any military man.
To be honest with you, Ayu was a good leader. I believe I was the only person with computer literacy and I had a big Toshiba laptop and I was churning out all sort of media releases against the continuation of military administration. It was a challenging period for this country and the international community held on to that resolution.
Q: Babangida came to address a joint session of the National Assembly. Was that resolution passed before or after that?
A: Babangida addressed us during the inauguration, where I spoke on behalf of the SDP. I frontally told him that he should not miss the opportunity to leave the legacy of handing over to a democratically elected government. My speech resonated with Babangida and after we finished the inauguration, he walked up to me and gave me a firm handshake. He said I exhibited courage; we had a chat and he left. I did not know what he said after that o! After that incident, I became a persona non grata to the military administration.
We worked hard for the emergence of Abiola. Though there were lot of intrigues, we succeeded in seeing that he emerged as the candidate. I went to 22 states to campaign and the campaigns were very interesting. The election came and we were all celebrating because the election was free and fair. The electoral system was amended and the chairman of the electoral commission, Humphrey Nwosu, was very careful and sincere because of the method employed.
The Option A4 was effective. So was the Open Secret Ballot System. It was well monitored. Voters were accredited, allowed to vote and votes counted right on the spot. There was no room for manipulation and the number of ballot papers could not be greater than the number of registered voters and vice versa. It could be lower because some people could get accredited and not vote. Everybody would vote at the same time. It was the Open Secret ballot system. The two-party system would have been the greatest legacy left behind by IBB. We had that election and Abiola won.
Q: Where were you when it was announced that the election had been annulled?
A.I was with Chief MKO Abiola. A few nights before then, we, including Professor Borisade, were collating the results of the election across the country. Suddenly the crisis started and they stopped the collation. We were waiting for result from Taraba State to make the final run. We had gotten figures from all states, but they banned the announcement until they got to Abuja. Suddenly they stopped. Crisis started. We all did what we were to do. Abiola was using his connections. Then we started hearing that there might be a possibility of a cancellation of the election. The political parties had been divided, with the NRC fearing its loss in the election and starting to talk from both sides of its mouth.
Suddenly, General Yar’Adua’s father passed on. I was in Abuja when MKO called in the dead of the night to say that he was sending an aircraft to Abuja and that he had made moves to ensure that the Abuja and Katsina airports operated at that late hour for the purpose of conveying people. He directed that I went with Shehu Yar’Adua to Katsina to represent him and that he would join us the following morning.
He said he needed to talk to the governors and wanted them to accompany him to Katsina for the burial. We spent the night before the burial in Katsina because Shehu wanted to be with his mother.
We were in Shehu Yar’Adua’s compound when General Babangida arrived; he was still the president. Immediately he came, they had to bury the dead. Abiola had not arrived. He was blocked because the airspace had been closed for Babangida’s flight to Katsina. All I knew was that Shehu and Babangida went inside the house for some time. We thought what was going on inside was the military president condoling with the family, that all of them were praying for the mum.
They emerged eventually and IBB immediately left for Abuja. After he arrived Abuja, the air space was opened and Abiola could fly in a chartered Okada Airlines aircraft, alongside other people who came with him to Katsina. We were full of anxiety. Abiola met us in Katsina and after the visit to the family, the emirs and other key indigenes of the place, we all returned to Lagos. Then we heard the announcement annulling the election.
I was in the panel van of National Concord newspapers because my car was in Abuja. I did not know I was returning to Lagos. Some of my vehicles were in Lagos, but nobody knew that I was in town. We went straight to Abiola’s house and we were locked out because there was chaos in front his gate. What followed was the biggest crisis I have ever been confronted with in my life.
Q: Did IBB explain to you personally, given your closeness to him?
A: No. In fact, at that time, the military had declared me persona non grata! Everybody, except me, got up when he arrived at Yar’Adua’s compound. He touched my head and said ‘you’! I know Mogaji Abdullai walked after him and said: ‘Senator Tinubu, will you not see off the President?’ I did not stand up. I said he was not my president! I did not know about the annulment then. That was how the crisis started.
Q: You spoke about the greatest crisis after the annulment…
A: After the annulment, everything became hot. The crisis began to offer the possibility of an interim administration coming into place. Prior to that, they started the idea that should there be a constitutional crisis, it would be Ayu that would head the interim government. I wasn’t sure if Ayu would start a debate on that or reject it outright.
But I told him: ‘Don’t ever think it would be you.’ Eventually, he agreed. There was suspicion in the public space that he and Shehu Yar’Adua had consented to the annulment. The suspicion pervaded the party. The public was fed all sorts of information. I knew that I approached Ayu that there was no way they would have made him the interim head of government. We knew for sure that Yar’Adua was angry because Atiku Abubakar was not made Abiola’s running mate. It became clear to Ayu that there was deception.
Shonekan was eventually announced as the Head of the Interim National Government. We also learnt that the military had promised Shehu Yar’Adua that they would unban the old politicians and that he would have the opportunity to run six months after Shonekan. They were also touting Obasanjo’s name, but suddenly Shonekan’s name was announced. I remember that I went to Ayu and he said he had been invited and I said: ‘Didn’t I tell you that they would not make you the interim head of government?’ I advised him that the best thing was to challenge them. We were in his house playing and I told Yar’Adua that there was no way the military would make him anything. I advised him that he would have built a great structure to succeed Abiola after his four-year term, and that he would only be 54 years then. I pleaded with Yar’Adua not to abandon the ship. I took my mother, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, to Abuja to appeal to IBB and there is a picture where she removed her head-tie, using her grey hair to plead with IBB to restore Abiola’s mandate.
It was on the front cover of Newswatch. I mobilised them to go and appeal to IBB. On the day Shonekan was to be sworn in, I was in Ayu’s house to pin him down, so as to prevent him from attending the ceremony. They left the chair reserved for him for a while, before inviting Joseph Wayas to sit. They claimed he was Senate President, whether past or present.
There was a disagreement within our group. They offered me a ministerial position, which I rejected. They offered Sarumi a ministerial position and he said he would accept. We were in the hotel room on the day he said so. He is still alive to confirm or deny what I have said. I begged him and told him point-blank that it would be the end of our relationship because we should not betray the cause we started. I told him I gave up the senate presidency for Abiola to contest as president.
I told him that was not acceptable and I begged Yar’Adua, too. I fell out with Shehu on the matter and I told them that none of us could predict the end of the game. I pleaded with him to be consistent and stand firm. He said I had no guns and tanks and that I was incapable of facing the military.
The floor of the Senate was very hot. There was a sharp division in the National Assembly. Thereafter, Ayu was removed as Senate President; I was almost killed. There was a plan to assassinate me, but luckily, Akintola Benson and my late driver, Mustapha, walked into a discussion where the plot was being hatched to terminate my life. That was unknown to the people planning the assassination. I was to be taken out of the hotel. The assistant head of security at the hotel brought a chef uniform to dress me up as a chef, while he asked a driver to wait for me. I escaped and headed for Lagos in the chef uniform.
Abiola travelled to the United Kingdom to start the campaign for the de-annulment of the election and restoration of his mandate and Kingibe was there as deputy to continue to coordinate the rest of us at home. I had a choice to go back to my job, because I was on a leave of absence. People advised me to abandon the struggle because of the risk involved. They advised me to go back to my work.
Q: When were you arrested?
A: I said we would continue to struggle until we had democracy. We had a group of 30 senators called the G-30. The G-30 was determined to actualise the mandate on the floor of the Senate. Suddenly, Abacha came and General Oladipupo Diya and Babagana Kingibe were also running around. Diya was one of the most respected and credible military officers then, and he later approached us that there might be change in government. Abiola was around. General Chris Alli met us and said there would be a change of government, which would be in favour of June 12, because they were tired of the shenanigans of the ING. That night, Abacha changed the government. He outsmarted everybody. They met with me, Dele Alake, Segun Babatope and Doyin Abiola. We were asked to write the terms and conditions, which they would broadcast after a change of government. We wrote it and gave it to Diya. They are all alive.
On the night the government was to be changed, Abacha outsmarted everyone and installed himself. These people I mentioned are all alive to testify to what I have said. I can say categorically that I was even called to leave my office because, as they claimed, that night was a dangerous night for them and that everyone’s life might be in danger. Abiola was told not sleep at home until the broadcast had been made. We were all fooled! Big time deception.
When we heard the broadcast the next day, there was no mention of June 12 and no proclamation of Abiola. I was mad, but was still determined. I rushed to Diya and he was still saying that there was no problem and that they were planning to announce the cabinet containing eminent June 12 people. Abiola said what? I said no, announce Abiola’s victory.
Diya told me that I didn’t know the military and that things were not done like that in the military. But I insisted that it was deception. I said I know the military.
I called Okadigbo to my office in Lagos and I put the plan before him that we had to confront the military and we had to declare Abacha himself illegal. I got members of our group together; we wrote the script declaring Abacha’s government illegal. Since we could not get to the National Assembly, we opted to hold our session at the Tafawa Balewa Square. We had gotten Dele Alake to be the media coordinator. We told him to get the CNN and other foreign media ready. I put the coat of arms on a rod! That was the mace. We created our own mace.
We reconvened the Senate here in Lagos and declared Abacha illegal before the international media and others. My colleagues had scattered. After we assembled, and having drafted the resolution, they still didn’t know where we would hold the session. I told them to relax, this is Lagos. After the broadcast, everybody took off, because the SSS and other security agents were combing everywhere for us. I went underground, using the 090 mobile phone. I was still granting press interviews to foreign media. The military people were mad. I became a thorn in their flesh and they arrested some of my colleagues, including Abu Ibrahim, the late Polycarp Nwite, Ameh Ebute and Okoroafor. I was still underground, holding press conferences. The military declared me wanted.
Suddenly they granted bail to the arrested senators. I thought I would be a beneficiary, but I was not.
Then, there was a manhunt for me by the police and the SSS. Meanwhile, my late uncle, K.O Tinubu and the present Oba of Lagos, Oba Akiolu, who was then a police officer, were pressuring me to disclose where I was. My uncle called to ask where exactly I was. I did not disclose my whereabouts. I told Akiolu that even though he is my relative, I would still not tell him where I was since he was a police officer! He said: ‘Ha!’
My uncle advised that the military would kill me if they found me underground and no one would be able to locate my whereabouts. He said it was better I surrendered myself because he wanted me to be alive. I told him that I would call him back, that I was to hold a press conference at the time. And he shouted in amazement: ‘You are holding press conference when your life is in danger.’ I told him I would surrender, but would not tell him when.
I disguised perfectly, dressed like a malam, and went to the police at Alagbon. The officers didn’t even know me when they saw me. I went in, deposited my phone and my charger. Senator Abu Ibrahim was with us. The officers were wondering why I, a Mallam, could not speak Hausa! I removed my turban, showed up at the front desk and declared that I had come to surrender.
And there was pandemonium among the officers, as to how I got there.
The AIG then was very nice and they put me in the cell. They poured water into the cell room and said, ‘sleep there’. That was the nastiest experience I had within first 48 hours that I was there. It was on a weekend. I told them I would embark on a hunger strike.
The late Anthony Enahoro was on the stairway and Beko Ransome-Kuti was at another angle on the stairway. They brought me out repeatedly for interrogation. They asked me to renounce but I said no, I would not recognise Abacha. They took me and my colleagues to court. People who were supposed to meet their bail conditions were stopped from doing so immediately they saw me. They cancelled everybody’s bail because they could not isolate me.
They gave an order that we should be taken out of court, but kept in the police custody at Alagbon. They kept about eight of us in a photocopying room, an eight-by-eight room. We were sleeping across one another. It was a matter of the first to sleep would maintain the position. If your head was this way, your leg would be there and so on. It was a nasty experience.
There were a lot of interrogations, with a lot of carrot and stick. I can never forget the role and determination and sincerity of a compatriot at that particular time. They made an exception to uphold the earlier bail granted to Senator Abu Ibrahim. He was asked to go. He was the only Hausa-Fulani man with us. The late Hassan Katsina had intervened. But Senator Ibrahim said he would rather stay, except every one of us was granted the same bail conditions. He said he would not leave his colleagues behind.
He is a courageous and a detribalised Nigerian, who had a vision of what Nigeria should be. He refused to accept an isolated bail. They started sending emissaries to us in detention, offering us all sorts of appointments and opportunities to renounce our positions, but we refused. The judiciary was still very courageous then. We went to the Court of Appeal. An incident occurred at the lower court. Market women turned out hugely to support us when we were brought to the court. The day they refused my bail, some of the market women appeared naked and so they stopped taking us to the court. The court sessions were usually interesting for us because of the scenes. At Alagbon, we bathed in the open between 4 and 5 a.m.
The condition started improving when they began to bring officials of the failed banks. Those ones contributed money to repair the generating set at Alagbon and we started enjoying electricity a little longer than we used to. It was during the time that the protest became intense. Nigeria was playing at the World Cup then. Italy defeated Nigeria and the security people lied to us that it was otherwise. Eventually, the Court of Appeal courageously granted us bail in enforcement of our fundamental human rights. Our passports were confiscated and deposited with the court.
Later, the High Court ruled that our passports be released to us. That night, they finally announced our bail and conditions attached to it. The presiding judge then is today the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari. We heard that they put so much pressure on him (Clement Akpamgbo was the Attorney-General) not to release us, but he ordered our release. They were going to re-arrest me and I suddenly went underground to continue my protest.
They would throw bombs and say it was us. Mobil called me to come back to my job, but I refused. They bombed my house, but luckily, my wife and children had been evacuated. I would not want to reveal how they were evacuated because there was a diplomatic involvement. They told me that my life and those of my family were in clear danger.
Suddenly, they announced that I was wanted again. They alleged that I was going to bomb the NNPC depot at Ejigbo. Ah! I was still being tried for treason, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment, and I was again accused of trying to bomb an NNPC depot. I couldn’t go back because my photograph was all over the place that I was wanted. A diplomatic source advised me that I should leave the country if I wanted to continue the struggle. Dan Suleiman, Alani Akinrinade were in danger. We asked Bolaji Akinyemi to leave the country and promote the struggle at the international level.
Q: That was the National Democratic Coalition then…
Q: Yes. I was at the forefront of the struggle at that level. When I went to see my uncle, K.O Tinubu, at home, he shed tears that night. He said he didn’t want to lose me and that I was about to be killed. He begged me to leave Nigeria and affirmed that, being a former police officer, he was sure I would be killed.
He said that I couldn’t return to my house since they had bombed it. I went to a friend’s house. Before then, there was an incident that made them believe that I was at Ore Falomo’s hospital. They went to the hospital to look for me. Eventually, I left Nigeria for Benin Republic by NADECO route.
Q: How did you make it across the border?
A: I disguised with a huge turban and babanriga and escaped into Benin Republic on a motorbike. My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact, when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that I was the one! I gave her some information and some briefing. I left at 1 a.m. While in Benin Republic, I was still coming to Badagry to ferry people, organise and coordinate the struggle with others on ground. We put a group together, ferrying NADECO people across. It was a very challenging time. I can’t forget people like Segun Maiyegun and other young guys in the struggle. I would come from Benin to hold meetings with them and sneak back.
The military created a whole lot of momentum around me. They took over my house, guest house and carted away all my vehicles and property to Alagbon. That is why today, I don’t have old photographs. They took eight of my cars away.
My wife and my two toddlers were dropped in a bush; nowhere to go. Beko and the diplomatic missions came to our aid and ferried my wife and kids to the United States. I was still in Benin Republic. Besides, I didn’t have a passport and couldn’t have been able to travel. At a stage, they discovered our routes, because they had spies all over, including Benin Republic. Twice I was caught and I fortuitously escaped. They traced me to one dingy hotel I was hiding.
The day they came for me at the hotel, I had gone out on an Okada to buy amala at a market, where Yorubas are dominant. I was also to meet Akinrinade and the rest of them. The spies went to the hotel and as I was approaching, I saw two people wearing tajia (skull caps) at the front desk, asking questions. The man attending to them at the reception (I had been very nice to the receptionist) winked to me and I turned back.
I contacted a friend in Benin Republic, who was an architect, and had very strong sympathy for us. Professor Wole Soyinka and Alani Akinrinade, who lodged in a better hotel, were fortunate to have escaped that night, too. The people on their trail pursued them to the hotel, but fortunately missed them.
Then the British High Commission got proper information through the Consular-General that my life was in danger. He stamped a visa on a sheet of paper and did a letter, authorising the airline to pick me from Benin Republic to any port of entry in Britain.
I didn’t know how they got to me. A lady just walked up to me and handed me an envelope. She said I had been granted an entry into the United Kingdom. She said I could be killed if I failed to leave in the next 48 hours. It was Air Afrique that took me from Benin Republic to London.
Meanwhile, my wife was still in the United States. I landed in Britain and worked my way back to Benin Republic. I picked up my passport from somewhere. I went to an African country and through their connections, they gave me a diplomatic passport as a cultural ambassador.
Q: What country was that?
A: No, please! The African country that helped us with the diplomatic passport was showing gratitude for the help Abiola had done to its president before. So, you can make your deduction. Then, I was shuffling and coordinating our activities in the UK, Benin Republic and Cote d’Ivoire. I used the passport to travel to Cote d’Ivoire to hold meetings at the Hotel Continental, because we were planning to make another broadcast that would be aired in Nigeria. By the time I returned to the hotel, the military assailants had broken into my hotel room and taken away my briefcase and diplomatic passport. They dropped a note, saying: ‘You cannot be twice lucky.’ I was taken over by panic. Fortunately, in my back pocket, I had the photocopy of the sheet of paper on which the British had stamped a visa for me to travel out of Benin previously. I took that to the British High Commission in Abidjan. They listened to my story and asked me to come back at night. They did all their verification and found my story to be true. I returned to them and they gave me another sheet of paper and wrote the number of the flight that would take me out of that country.
But I had no money. Somebody suddenly drove in. The person is a well-known name I don’t want to mention. I met him and explained my condition. He had a traveller’s cheque, but the money was not enough. I went back to the British High Commission and the woman said she could assist me with her own personal money to bridge the shortfall in cash.
We founded and coordinated Radio Kudirat and Radio Freedom and we continued to organise. I didn’t see my family for two good years. They were in America. Bayo Onanuga, who also was part of the struggle, joined us there in December 1997. The law of political asylum stipulates that your first country of landing and acceptance is the safe haven, so it’s not transferable. That was how Cornelius Adebayo was stuck in a United Nations camp. My wife had to invoke a family clause that exists in America to fight for her husband to join her before they granted me a special privilege to leave UK to join my family in the United States.
Q: Where were you on 8 June 1998 when Abacha died?
A: I was shuttling between the United States and UK. We were working really hard as NADECO. We went to our NADECO meeting in the UK to finalise the second leg of the strategy to make a broadcast and enforce certain actions. Before then I was reading Jubril Aminu’s interview in The Punch, where he said Nigerians should not worry about Abacha’s transmutation into a civilian president; but they should be worried about what followed.
We were persuaded during a brainstorming session that we should get nearer to Nigeria to do something about it. It was agreed that we should stop him, even if we would have to start guerrilla warfare to achieve that.
Tunde Olowu had been with me in my flat for a couple of weeks and on the night Abacha died, we were just eating when a phone call came through that Abacha had died. We could not believe it until we saw on TV his body being taken out in a van.
And that changed the texture of the struggle. Suddenly, there was this news, announcing General Abdulsalami Abubakar as the head of state. We started analysing General Abubakar.
I wish to state that out of all the military generals I met through Abiola while he was lobbying for the restoration of his mandate, Abubakar was the most sincere and straightforward. He pointedly told Abiola that no military officer would want to help him to realise his mandate, unless the military general wanted to get himself into trouble. While other generals we had met lied, Abdusalami was different. He simply said: ‘Look, I am a professional soldier and I want to retire a general. I don’t want to be involved in politics. I cannot help you. I don’t want to be involved.’
When we heard that he was the head of state, I challenged the rest of us to interrogate Abubakar’s sincerity. Good enough, he was straight-forward. When we met him, he told us that he wasn’t going to spend more than nine months because he was not interested. He promised he was going to pardon us and urged us to return to the country. That was the situation of things before the death of Abiola.
So, we were coordinating with Abraham Adesanya and the rest of them, who were on ground here. They sought and we granted them our permission to meet with and size up Abubakar. So, they honoured his invitation. He sent people to us and there was a strong debate, which nearly divided the group, whether or not we should return. The suspicion around Abubakar arose because of the manner of people they saw around him, including Major Hamza al-Mustapha. Some people within our group felt that we should evaluate the situation carefully and not look at isolated occurrences. A big debate ensued after his announcement that he had granted pardon to those of us who had been declared wanted. There were a lot of intervening incidents that I cannot publicly discuss.
Q: When you returned from exile, how did the idea of Lagos governorship arise?
A: Myself, Beko, Fasehun and others met. The death of Abiola was quite devastating for us and we debated whether or not to return. We also examined whether or not there was a conspiracy surrounding Abiola’s death. There were so many questions being asked at the same time. The previous elections contested by Abacha’s five political parties got me seriously worried. After giving it serious thought, we decided that we were not going to declare war against our people, but that we should believe Abubukar by returning home to participate. At a meeting presided over by Enahoro, I told them that I would want to return to my mother because I missed her badly. He said no one could stop me if that was the case. The military, in my absence, broke her soak-away, believing that I kept guns there; carted away the generating set and cut our land (telephone) line.
I came home with three pairs of trousers and three jackets. But because I gave her notice and some other people noticed that I was arriving, unknown to me, they had mobilised people to welcome me. I was shocked at the huge crowd when I got to the airport. I was carried shoulder-high. That was the day I was totally convinced that Nigerians could be very honest, if they care about you. Because as they carried me, my ticket, passport and 2,000 pounds sterling fell from my inner jacket. I didn’t know they had fallen off because I was carried away by the euphoria of the crowd. I didn’t know how they got to Sunday Adigun. At night, they told me someone was looking for me, but because the people around me didn’t believe that danger had finally cleared, they prevented the person. But he insisted that he would not give it to anybody and showed them my passport. So they allowed him and he handed everything to me.
Meanwhile, I had no Victoria Island home to return to. It had been taken over by Abacha. They dispossessed me of the house, as well as my office on Saka Tinubu Street. My vehicles and everything else I owned. They claimed they found bombs in it and dispossessed me of it. I was totally cleaned out. I had only five shirts, the 2000 pounds and the jackets. Before then, Akinyelure came to America, looking for me, with one briefcase. He was detained for four hours by the immigration because they were wondering how someone could come to America with one briefcase. They didn’t let him off until they contacted Mobil and Mobil confirmed him as an ex-employee.
He didn’t get to my house till about 3 O’clock. He told me I had to come to Nigeria even if I wouldn’t participate. But he said I should participate. I got back home and each time I moved out, people would shout ‘Governor’.
The day I went to our group’s meeting, they were to decide who to endorse among Wahab Dosunmu, Shitta-Bey and others. They asked me if I was interested and I asked them to give me two weeks to go round since I was just returning.
Alhaji Hamzat was there. The chairman at our group’s meeting on that day said they would grant me the two weeks. So I started moving round. My late sister got me some clothes to wear, whether they fitted me or not. I went to Mushin, Agege and other places and people were hailing me as ‘Governor’ and urging me to run. On my first tour of my senatorial district, people were saying governor. Even people who had gone to another party started coming back into the Alliance for Democracy, AD, and that was how I decided I would run. People in Lagos West, East and Central said: ‘You must run for governorship.’
Q: You spent eight years in government, what will you consider your best legacy?
A: My best legacy is the financial engineering of Lagos State, especially to bring financial autonomy to Lagos State and eliminate wastage and mismanagement. That was just one aspect of it. My greatest legacy is Governor Babatunde Fashola. I identified and endorsed him. That was when my corporate background as a recruiter and talent seeker for Deloitte came to play. Part of the training when you go on operational audit is that the first thing you evaluate are the personnel and the questionnaire given to them and how they answer it. You look at the ability of individuals to really take and develop others. There is nothing unique about any leadership. Everybody can come up with different ideas. You can take different routes and arrive at the same answer. No matter how much steel and metal you put together, the greatest achievement and legacy is the ability to develop other leaders who can succeed you, otherwise your legacy will be in shambles. It was a very difficult and challenging period for me. I thank
God I stuck to my guns.
Q: You waged several battles against Obasanjo on issues like fiscal federalism, seizure of local council funds etc. Which of these wars did you consider the hottest?
A: If I have to rank them, I think the creation of the local governments was my favourite because the processes are clearly stated and well articulated in the constitution. And if you do all of that and comply with the constitutional requirements, then you should not be denied. I believe in true federalism. I believe in local government administration, which I think is a service centre for the state. The constitution is clear. It is a misnomer to even think that there are three tiers of government in a federal system of government.
There are only two – the state and the federal. It is because the constitution was put together by a group of military people, who believe in command and control that we have this kind of anomaly.
They tinkered with it and they tailored it in a way that would suit a unitary system and I believe that was the problem. We still don’t have a constitution of ‘we the people’. The battle was not personally directed at Obasanjo.
Q: Let’s move to matters personal. How did you meet your wife?
A.Through a dating agency! On a serious note, it was through a family connection.
Q: How many hearts did you break?
A: I don’t know, because I don’t look back and I am not a psychologist or medical expert to test for broken hearts and emotional instability. You pray for luck. Sincerely, you don’t know whether my own heart was broken, too. I am a very lucky person and it was through family connection that I met my wife. It is true that I had many dates. Until I met her, I didn’t even want to be married because I loved my freedom.
I had also been disappointed along the line, my expectations dashed. I was going to be totally free before I met Remi. She was innocent, homely and very quiet. I was surprised by her manners and I was hooked.
I was a DJ to my friends. I love music and my house was a boys’ rendezvous. Remi used to cook for all of us. She is the best woman I ever met and fully endorsed by all my friends. They were very close. My friends said: ‘Bola, you now have a woman and you have to settle down.’
I was a successful corporate person. She is totally urbane and seriously committed to my professionalism and career. I met somebody who enhanced the value of my life.
Q: Who was your favourite musician then, and now?
A: I was interested in music. I enjoy music, from the days of James Brown. I told you I followed Roy Chicago to Ado-Ekiti, without knowing. I was just lucky. God just made me a professional because I could have ended up with the late Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister! We used to follow him about for were during the Ramadan, to the extent that I would be locked out.
Whenever there was competition around Lagos Island or anywhere, we were always there. There was always the possibility of violence because of the competition.
But when I was an in-house DJ, not commercial DJ. Teddy Pendergrass was my favourite and I kept myself updated on the music scene in America. You don’t have music now. You now have O foka sibe, O gbona feli feli. I love listening to jazz a lot.
Q: What is your favourite food?
A: Amala and ewedu. But to be honest with you, I love rice. Rice first, amala second. I don’t like eba that much. In any form at all, I can eat rice three times a day.
Q: People say Asiwaju is the richest Yoruba man. How rich are you?
A.If you are talking in monetary terms, it is a lie. But I want them to continue to believe that I am rich. The fact is that I cannot prepare for my death. I want to live long and I believe in people and I believe in sharing. So, whatever you ascribe to me in terms of wealth is your own imagination. I will not do two cheques – one to the Central Bank of Heaven and the other one to the Central Bank of Hell – cashable when I am dead. The money will remain here.
I don’t want to be greedy, but frugal with the little I have and be contented. There are certain things they can’t dispute and one of these is that I wasn’t a poor man when I joined politics. I financed the struggle during the NADECO days. Before the NADECO days, I financed political goals and aspirations. I financed political groups and individuals.
No matter how you dream, it is empty without financial success. If you have no concrete financial progress for a state or an entity, it will not endure. I have not taken Lagos to bankruptcy. It was bankrupt before I took over, I turned it into a success within my two-terms as governor. It had existed for so long before I became governor.
During my tenure, former President Olusegun Obasanjo described Lagos as an urban jungle and uninhabitable.
But he chose to celebrate his 75th birthday in Lagos! There was a dispute on the Bar Beach during my tenure, but if I didn’t rigidly follow my vision and my belief in Lagos State, Victoria Island would have been submerged.
Adapted from an interview published in Asiwaju: Untold Story of "The Leader," a special publication of TheNEWS
"My struggles through life"
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:52 pm
Q:How did you join politics?
A: We decide to support Sarumi Gradually, I moved from raising funds to getting involved. I brought some money to Nigeria out of my dividends. I was comfortable because my investments in America and London were already yielding dividends. Then came the crisis leading to the ban of Professor Femi Agbalajobi and Chief Dapo Sarumi. I threw my weight behind Yomi Edu.
He lost the election and our group was devastated. I went to Ahmadu Abubakar and IBB. I wrote a report and I was strongly against the Structural Adjustment Programme introduced by the military government. The idea of the new generation banks came from those reports. Abubakar, from being a permanent secretary, became Minister of Finance.
IBB saw the significance of the advice as well as the short, medium and long term vision that were in the report. That man was great. He was a good listener. You could think with him. He is still alive. This probe of NNPC dates back to those periods. You can give the NNPC a bank draft for 120 days and you will still be using that money!
They started touting the idea that intelligent, brilliant and dynamic people like me should be in the Senate and must change Nigeria. The idea gradually started coming into my head. People like Kola Oseni, Alhaji Hamzat, Busurat Alebiosu, Demola Adeniji-Adele, Prince Olusi, who were members of the Primrose Group at that time, started persuading me to go to the Senate.
The Primrose Group was piling so much pressure on Alhaji Kola Oseni to persuade me.
The MD of Mobil, Bob Parker, thought I was crazy when I told him I wanted to join politics. I also told the Finance Director, Akinyelure, that I wanted to join politics and use my brain for my country and that I couldn’t continue to be an armchair critic.
The two of them could not believe what I said. They said, given my career path in Mobil, if there was any chance of anybody becoming something there, then I would be the one. I stood my ground and said I would give it a try.
I told them that people do it in America and Bob Parker agreed. They said they would give me a leave of absence for four years, during which they would not fill my position. They later said that they would not stop me because it would rub off positively on them if I became successful in politics.
They told me to come back and take my position if I found it uninteresting and unchallenging. So I contested the Lagos West Senatorial district election.
Q: Why not Lagos Central?
A: Lagos West was where our weakness was apparent. The political leaders in the Social Democratic Party just assigned Lagos West, which was the most challenging district, to me and said I had the money, personality and the wherewithal. Lagos Central was preparing for me and they wanted me.
In our group, we wanted to help Wahab Dosunmu to stay in Central, so I went to the West. It was a big battle, but I won the
nomination for Lagos West.
Wahab Dosunmu got nomination for Lagos Central, but they got him disqualified. The battle was then left to Shitta-Bey, Towry-Coker and Bucknor-Akerele. Whatever happened in the primaries is history. It was a crude primary election, but a most transparent one. That was how I got into politics, which nonetheless was an adventure for me.
Q: What role did you play in the emergence of Michael Otedola of NRC?
A: I didn’t play any role. I was politically naïve, though a strategist in my own right. Those at the forefront weren’t paying attention and there were a lot of intrigues, which I had never seen before. We could have been flexible and compromised when Sarumi and the late Femi Agbalajobi were disqualified, leaving Yomi Edu. There were two groups then. Baba Kekere (Alhaji Lateef Jakande) would call them “ase”. I recommended that we should have given them the deputy governorship slot.
Democracy is about conflict and conflict resolution. Otedola would not have emerged if each side had yielded. We found out later that some people who didn’t mean well didn’t want Yomi Edu to get there. If they wanted, they would have allowed flexibility and compromise.
The late Prince Adeniyi tried so hard to resolve the impasse up till the night before the election. The impasse was unresolved and the party ended up giving Otedola a chance. I learnt a lot from that experience.
Q: What role did you play in the presidential election of MKO Abiola?
A: We worked hard for Yar’Adua. The SDP platform and the Yar’Adua machine were a phenomenon at that particular time. We had won the majority in the National Assembly. I wanted to become the Senate President because we secured all the seats in the West and we had 15 senators and Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim, a brilliant politician, mobilised some of the senators in the North; Chuba Okadigbo in the East and Albert Legogie in the so-called South-South. Iyorchia Ayu of the Middle-Belt was very active at that particular time. We had good leaders. Olu Falae was in contention, Biyi Durojaiye also.
We had Olusegun Osoba and the rest of them as governors then. We didn’t pay attention to Lagos and didn’t miss anything. We were not looking at any governor to be politically involved. I was just running my vision. I put my talents into being a strategist and I had got the endorsement of 38 out of the 56 senators belonging to the SDP to become the Senate President. So when the leadership caucus of the party met, the problem of the late Yar’Adua and others had crystallised.
It was then believed that Falae or anyone else among the presidential contenders would be the party’s flag bearer after the disqualification of Yar’Adua. They banned the old politicians and asked that the new breed should come forward. Falae, Olabiyi Durojaiye and others were clamouring that the opportunity should be given to the West. Yar’Adua was very consistent about the South-West and the North-West working together. I was confronted in Abuja, because I was already prepared to be the Senate President. I had 15 senators with me and had gotten the endorsement of the majority of other senators. Senators Kanti Bello (he was my partner in the struggle), Kazaure, Kashim Ibrahim, Lawan Buba, Mogaji Abdullahi and a host of others had already formed a caucus that would work for my emergence as the Senate President.
When we met at the leadership level, the late M.S Buhari asked us if we could honestly say that we must take the senate presidency? Okadigbo might be interested and would rather have the East produce the Senate President; the North, the Vice-President; and the presidency in the South-West because they had blocked Yar’Adua.
My position was that a bird in hand cannot fly away; you have to tie it properly. As if it was a prediction that I had seen, that thing was a banner headline on The Punch’s front page at that time. I was adamant. Falae, Durojaiye and the rest of them came to me and said that the leadership of South-West would want the presidency and we could not take the two positions. We had to make a sacrifice. My position was then that if your child would go to the class and come first among 30 students, to whom do you give the best prize in the house?
At the stage, I said I wanted to become Senate President, they said I should review my ambition. I made them realise that out of our 15 senators, the North-Central contributed 12 senators, so I said there must be a reward system for the support and loyalty. I told them that if I were to give up the ambition, the position must go to the zone that contributed the highest number of senators to my support base.
Ayu was among the 38. Meanwhile, A.T Ahmed was on the other side. We had internal caucuses and out of 56, 38 of us bonded together. A.T Ahmed and Okadigbo wanted to be senate president. But it was being rumoured in the newspapers that Babangida wanted to remain in power and that Bola Tinubu – because of IBB’s closeness to our family – would be one of those that would be used for IBB to stay. They didn’t know what I stood for. I was laughing.
We were saying the military must exit and we were angry because Yar’Adua had been disqualified. We didn’t even want IBB to stay.
While that was on, Abiola came onto the scene and showed interest in the presidency. Suddenly, I found him in my hotel room with Jubril Martins-Kuye. I realised he was an accountant like myself and I told him he had been severally abused for being anti-Awolowo. He said no, and that he would go to Ikenne. I told him that he should forget it if he was anti-Awolowo. When you talked to MKO about the country, you saw his vision and everything. If you were well educated and serious about the country, you would be convinced that he meant well. If you were to do an analysis about who was likely to be less corrupt and whose vision would be consistent for the nation, then you would agree with MKO.
We made Ayu the Senate President. Yar’Adua and Atiku got along with us on the choice of Ayu, while Kingibe was very flexible on it. We warned them that we would concede it to the NRC if they refused to let us choose our candidate since they would not be there with us. That was how Ayu won and I became one of the most powerful and influential senators. I was the chairman of the Appropriation, Finance, Banking and two other committees in the Senate.
We started working for MKO to emerge the candidate and we worked hard for him. My corporate experience and the strategic planning I had was brought to bear on what I was doing at the time.
Q: Babangida wanted to use the Senate to stay. How did the Senate respond to that?
A: Ayu, myself and some others knew what the military was up to. The military is politically smart. Don’t underestimate any military officer when it comes to gathering information on any activity. We got wind of their plan and we took a very strong position that the military had to hand over. Equally, the pressure from the media against the continued stay of the military in power was strong. The wind of change was blowing in the direction of a civilian government.
Bagangida made several promises and even declared in a broadcast that the military would disengage from politics in August 1993 and would hand over to a democratically elected president.
So, we strategised and organised a successful joint session of the National Assembly to reach a resolution against military stay. It was very auspicious at the time, because no president had emerged. The NRC and the SDP agreed that they wanted the military to go and, with no apparent successor, the political situation was fluid. In a motion moved by a House of Representatives member and supported by a senator, at the joint session of the National Assembly, it was resolved that the military must hand over to a democratically elected civilian president by August.
The Senate President allowed robust contributions from members at the session, which was devoid of party sentiments and affiliations, and we all jointly agreed to the resolution. That was in 1992, before the presidential election in 1993. Both SDP and NRC were expecting victory. We just wanted a civilian government in place. The resolution was seriously binding because the Babangida administration would have no moral authority to stay, though there were talks about diarchy. It just had to go. So when eventually they brought no-go areas and restricted legislators from discussing certain issues, we went to court. We were determined that democracy must be instituted in the country and that it could not be headed by any military man.
To be honest with you, Ayu was a good leader. I believe I was the only person with computer literacy and I had a big Toshiba laptop and I was churning out all sort of media releases against the continuation of military administration. It was a challenging period for this country and the international community held on to that resolution.
Q: Babangida came to address a joint session of the National Assembly. Was that resolution passed before or after that?
A: Babangida addressed us during the inauguration, where I spoke on behalf of the SDP. I frontally told him that he should not miss the opportunity to leave the legacy of handing over to a democratically elected government. My speech resonated with Babangida and after we finished the inauguration, he walked up to me and gave me a firm handshake. He said I exhibited courage; we had a chat and he left. I did not know what he said after that o! After that incident, I became a persona non grata to the military administration.
We worked hard for the emergence of Abiola. Though there were lot of intrigues, we succeeded in seeing that he emerged as the candidate. I went to 22 states to campaign and the campaigns were very interesting. The election came and we were all celebrating because the election was free and fair. The electoral system was amended and the chairman of the electoral commission, Humphrey Nwosu, was very careful and sincere because of the method employed.
The Option A4 was effective. So was the Open Secret Ballot System. It was well monitored. Voters were accredited, allowed to vote and votes counted right on the spot. There was no room for manipulation and the number of ballot papers could not be greater than the number of registered voters and vice versa. It could be lower because some people could get accredited and not vote. Everybody would vote at the same time. It was the Open Secret ballot system. The two-party system would have been the greatest legacy left behind by IBB. We had that election and Abiola won.
Q: Where were you when it was announced that the election had been annulled?
A.I was with Chief MKO Abiola. A few nights before then, we, including Professor Borisade, were collating the results of the election across the country. Suddenly the crisis started and they stopped the collation. We were waiting for result from Taraba State to make the final run. We had gotten figures from all states, but they banned the announcement until they got to Abuja. Suddenly they stopped. Crisis started. We all did what we were to do. Abiola was using his connections. Then we started hearing that there might be a possibility of a cancellation of the election. The political parties had been divided, with the NRC fearing its loss in the election and starting to talk from both sides of its mouth.
Suddenly, General Yar’Adua’s father passed on. I was in Abuja when MKO called in the dead of the night to say that he was sending an aircraft to Abuja and that he had made moves to ensure that the Abuja and Katsina airports operated at that late hour for the purpose of conveying people. He directed that I went with Shehu Yar’Adua to Katsina to represent him and that he would join us the following morning.
He said he needed to talk to the governors and wanted them to accompany him to Katsina for the burial. We spent the night before the burial in Katsina because Shehu wanted to be with his mother.
We were in Shehu Yar’Adua’s compound when General Babangida arrived; he was still the president. Immediately he came, they had to bury the dead. Abiola had not arrived. He was blocked because the airspace had been closed for Babangida’s flight to Katsina. All I knew was that Shehu and Babangida went inside the house for some time. We thought what was going on inside was the military president condoling with the family, that all of them were praying for the mum.
They emerged eventually and IBB immediately left for Abuja. After he arrived Abuja, the air space was opened and Abiola could fly in a chartered Okada Airlines aircraft, alongside other people who came with him to Katsina. We were full of anxiety. Abiola met us in Katsina and after the visit to the family, the emirs and other key indigenes of the place, we all returned to Lagos. Then we heard the announcement annulling the election.
I was in the panel van of National Concord newspapers because my car was in Abuja. I did not know I was returning to Lagos. Some of my vehicles were in Lagos, but nobody knew that I was in town. We went straight to Abiola’s house and we were locked out because there was chaos in front his gate. What followed was the biggest crisis I have ever been confronted with in my life.
Q: Did IBB explain to you personally, given your closeness to him?
A: No. In fact, at that time, the military had declared me persona non grata! Everybody, except me, got up when he arrived at Yar’Adua’s compound. He touched my head and said ‘you’! I know Mogaji Abdullai walked after him and said: ‘Senator Tinubu, will you not see off the President?’ I did not stand up. I said he was not my president! I did not know about the annulment then. That was how the crisis started.
Q: You spoke about the greatest crisis after the annulment…
A: After the annulment, everything became hot. The crisis began to offer the possibility of an interim administration coming into place. Prior to that, they started the idea that should there be a constitutional crisis, it would be Ayu that would head the interim government. I wasn’t sure if Ayu would start a debate on that or reject it outright.
But I told him: ‘Don’t ever think it would be you.’ Eventually, he agreed. There was suspicion in the public space that he and Shehu Yar’Adua had consented to the annulment. The suspicion pervaded the party. The public was fed all sorts of information. I knew that I approached Ayu that there was no way they would have made him the interim head of government. We knew for sure that Yar’Adua was angry because Atiku Abubakar was not made Abiola’s running mate. It became clear to Ayu that there was deception.
Shonekan was eventually announced as the Head of the Interim National Government. We also learnt that the military had promised Shehu Yar’Adua that they would unban the old politicians and that he would have the opportunity to run six months after Shonekan. They were also touting Obasanjo’s name, but suddenly Shonekan’s name was announced. I remember that I went to Ayu and he said he had been invited and I said: ‘Didn’t I tell you that they would not make you the interim head of government?’ I advised him that the best thing was to challenge them. We were in his house playing and I told Yar’Adua that there was no way the military would make him anything. I advised him that he would have built a great structure to succeed Abiola after his four-year term, and that he would only be 54 years then. I pleaded with Yar’Adua not to abandon the ship. I took my mother, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, to Abuja to appeal to IBB and there is a picture where she removed her head-tie, using her grey hair to plead with IBB to restore Abiola’s mandate.
It was on the front cover of Newswatch. I mobilised them to go and appeal to IBB. On the day Shonekan was to be sworn in, I was in Ayu’s house to pin him down, so as to prevent him from attending the ceremony. They left the chair reserved for him for a while, before inviting Joseph Wayas to sit. They claimed he was Senate President, whether past or present.
There was a disagreement within our group. They offered me a ministerial position, which I rejected. They offered Sarumi a ministerial position and he said he would accept. We were in the hotel room on the day he said so. He is still alive to confirm or deny what I have said. I begged him and told him point-blank that it would be the end of our relationship because we should not betray the cause we started. I told him I gave up the senate presidency for Abiola to contest as president.
I told him that was not acceptable and I begged Yar’Adua, too. I fell out with Shehu on the matter and I told them that none of us could predict the end of the game. I pleaded with him to be consistent and stand firm. He said I had no guns and tanks and that I was incapable of facing the military.
The floor of the Senate was very hot. There was a sharp division in the National Assembly. Thereafter, Ayu was removed as Senate President; I was almost killed. There was a plan to assassinate me, but luckily, Akintola Benson and my late driver, Mustapha, walked into a discussion where the plot was being hatched to terminate my life. That was unknown to the people planning the assassination. I was to be taken out of the hotel. The assistant head of security at the hotel brought a chef uniform to dress me up as a chef, while he asked a driver to wait for me. I escaped and headed for Lagos in the chef uniform.
Abiola travelled to the United Kingdom to start the campaign for the de-annulment of the election and restoration of his mandate and Kingibe was there as deputy to continue to coordinate the rest of us at home. I had a choice to go back to my job, because I was on a leave of absence. People advised me to abandon the struggle because of the risk involved. They advised me to go back to my work.
Q: When were you arrested?
A: I said we would continue to struggle until we had democracy. We had a group of 30 senators called the G-30. The G-30 was determined to actualise the mandate on the floor of the Senate. Suddenly, Abacha came and General Oladipupo Diya and Babagana Kingibe were also running around. Diya was one of the most respected and credible military officers then, and he later approached us that there might be change in government. Abiola was around. General Chris Alli met us and said there would be a change of government, which would be in favour of June 12, because they were tired of the shenanigans of the ING. That night, Abacha changed the government. He outsmarted everybody. They met with me, Dele Alake, Segun Babatope and Doyin Abiola. We were asked to write the terms and conditions, which they would broadcast after a change of government. We wrote it and gave it to Diya. They are all alive.
On the night the government was to be changed, Abacha outsmarted everyone and installed himself. These people I mentioned are all alive to testify to what I have said. I can say categorically that I was even called to leave my office because, as they claimed, that night was a dangerous night for them and that everyone’s life might be in danger. Abiola was told not sleep at home until the broadcast had been made. We were all fooled! Big time deception.
When we heard the broadcast the next day, there was no mention of June 12 and no proclamation of Abiola. I was mad, but was still determined. I rushed to Diya and he was still saying that there was no problem and that they were planning to announce the cabinet containing eminent June 12 people. Abiola said what? I said no, announce Abiola’s victory.
Diya told me that I didn’t know the military and that things were not done like that in the military. But I insisted that it was deception. I said I know the military.
I called Okadigbo to my office in Lagos and I put the plan before him that we had to confront the military and we had to declare Abacha himself illegal. I got members of our group together; we wrote the script declaring Abacha’s government illegal. Since we could not get to the National Assembly, we opted to hold our session at the Tafawa Balewa Square. We had gotten Dele Alake to be the media coordinator. We told him to get the CNN and other foreign media ready. I put the coat of arms on a rod! That was the mace. We created our own mace.
We reconvened the Senate here in Lagos and declared Abacha illegal before the international media and others. My colleagues had scattered. After we assembled, and having drafted the resolution, they still didn’t know where we would hold the session. I told them to relax, this is Lagos. After the broadcast, everybody took off, because the SSS and other security agents were combing everywhere for us. I went underground, using the 090 mobile phone. I was still granting press interviews to foreign media. The military people were mad. I became a thorn in their flesh and they arrested some of my colleagues, including Abu Ibrahim, the late Polycarp Nwite, Ameh Ebute and Okoroafor. I was still underground, holding press conferences. The military declared me wanted.
Suddenly they granted bail to the arrested senators. I thought I would be a beneficiary, but I was not.
Then, there was a manhunt for me by the police and the SSS. Meanwhile, my late uncle, K.O Tinubu and the present Oba of Lagos, Oba Akiolu, who was then a police officer, were pressuring me to disclose where I was. My uncle called to ask where exactly I was. I did not disclose my whereabouts. I told Akiolu that even though he is my relative, I would still not tell him where I was since he was a police officer! He said: ‘Ha!’
My uncle advised that the military would kill me if they found me underground and no one would be able to locate my whereabouts. He said it was better I surrendered myself because he wanted me to be alive. I told him that I would call him back, that I was to hold a press conference at the time. And he shouted in amazement: ‘You are holding press conference when your life is in danger.’ I told him I would surrender, but would not tell him when.
I disguised perfectly, dressed like a malam, and went to the police at Alagbon. The officers didn’t even know me when they saw me. I went in, deposited my phone and my charger. Senator Abu Ibrahim was with us. The officers were wondering why I, a Mallam, could not speak Hausa! I removed my turban, showed up at the front desk and declared that I had come to surrender.
And there was pandemonium among the officers, as to how I got there.
The AIG then was very nice and they put me in the cell. They poured water into the cell room and said, ‘sleep there’. That was the nastiest experience I had within first 48 hours that I was there. It was on a weekend. I told them I would embark on a hunger strike.
The late Anthony Enahoro was on the stairway and Beko Ransome-Kuti was at another angle on the stairway. They brought me out repeatedly for interrogation. They asked me to renounce but I said no, I would not recognise Abacha. They took me and my colleagues to court. People who were supposed to meet their bail conditions were stopped from doing so immediately they saw me. They cancelled everybody’s bail because they could not isolate me.
They gave an order that we should be taken out of court, but kept in the police custody at Alagbon. They kept about eight of us in a photocopying room, an eight-by-eight room. We were sleeping across one another. It was a matter of the first to sleep would maintain the position. If your head was this way, your leg would be there and so on. It was a nasty experience.
There were a lot of interrogations, with a lot of carrot and stick. I can never forget the role and determination and sincerity of a compatriot at that particular time. They made an exception to uphold the earlier bail granted to Senator Abu Ibrahim. He was asked to go. He was the only Hausa-Fulani man with us. The late Hassan Katsina had intervened. But Senator Ibrahim said he would rather stay, except every one of us was granted the same bail conditions. He said he would not leave his colleagues behind.
He is a courageous and a detribalised Nigerian, who had a vision of what Nigeria should be. He refused to accept an isolated bail. They started sending emissaries to us in detention, offering us all sorts of appointments and opportunities to renounce our positions, but we refused. The judiciary was still very courageous then. We went to the Court of Appeal. An incident occurred at the lower court. Market women turned out hugely to support us when we were brought to the court. The day they refused my bail, some of the market women appeared naked and so they stopped taking us to the court. The court sessions were usually interesting for us because of the scenes. At Alagbon, we bathed in the open between 4 and 5 a.m.
The condition started improving when they began to bring officials of the failed banks. Those ones contributed money to repair the generating set at Alagbon and we started enjoying electricity a little longer than we used to. It was during the time that the protest became intense. Nigeria was playing at the World Cup then. Italy defeated Nigeria and the security people lied to us that it was otherwise. Eventually, the Court of Appeal courageously granted us bail in enforcement of our fundamental human rights. Our passports were confiscated and deposited with the court.
Later, the High Court ruled that our passports be released to us. That night, they finally announced our bail and conditions attached to it. The presiding judge then is today the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari. We heard that they put so much pressure on him (Clement Akpamgbo was the Attorney-General) not to release us, but he ordered our release. They were going to re-arrest me and I suddenly went underground to continue my protest.
They would throw bombs and say it was us. Mobil called me to come back to my job, but I refused. They bombed my house, but luckily, my wife and children had been evacuated. I would not want to reveal how they were evacuated because there was a diplomatic involvement. They told me that my life and those of my family were in clear danger.
Suddenly, they announced that I was wanted again. They alleged that I was going to bomb the NNPC depot at Ejigbo. Ah! I was still being tried for treason, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment, and I was again accused of trying to bomb an NNPC depot. I couldn’t go back because my photograph was all over the place that I was wanted. A diplomatic source advised me that I should leave the country if I wanted to continue the struggle. Dan Suleiman, Alani Akinrinade were in danger. We asked Bolaji Akinyemi to leave the country and promote the struggle at the international level.
Q: That was the National Democratic Coalition then…
Q: Yes. I was at the forefront of the struggle at that level. When I went to see my uncle, K.O Tinubu, at home, he shed tears that night. He said he didn’t want to lose me and that I was about to be killed. He begged me to leave Nigeria and affirmed that, being a former police officer, he was sure I would be killed.
He said that I couldn’t return to my house since they had bombed it. I went to a friend’s house. Before then, there was an incident that made them believe that I was at Ore Falomo’s hospital. They went to the hospital to look for me. Eventually, I left Nigeria for Benin Republic by NADECO route.
Q: How did you make it across the border?
A: I disguised with a huge turban and babanriga and escaped into Benin Republic on a motorbike. My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact, when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that I was the one! I gave her some information and some briefing. I left at 1 a.m. While in Benin Republic, I was still coming to Badagry to ferry people, organise and coordinate the struggle with others on ground. We put a group together, ferrying NADECO people across. It was a very challenging time. I can’t forget people like Segun Maiyegun and other young guys in the struggle. I would come from Benin to hold meetings with them and sneak back.
The military created a whole lot of momentum around me. They took over my house, guest house and carted away all my vehicles and property to Alagbon. That is why today, I don’t have old photographs. They took eight of my cars away.
My wife and my two toddlers were dropped in a bush; nowhere to go. Beko and the diplomatic missions came to our aid and ferried my wife and kids to the United States. I was still in Benin Republic. Besides, I didn’t have a passport and couldn’t have been able to travel. At a stage, they discovered our routes, because they had spies all over, including Benin Republic. Twice I was caught and I fortuitously escaped. They traced me to one dingy hotel I was hiding.
The day they came for me at the hotel, I had gone out on an Okada to buy amala at a market, where Yorubas are dominant. I was also to meet Akinrinade and the rest of them. The spies went to the hotel and as I was approaching, I saw two people wearing tajia (skull caps) at the front desk, asking questions. The man attending to them at the reception (I had been very nice to the receptionist) winked to me and I turned back.
I contacted a friend in Benin Republic, who was an architect, and had very strong sympathy for us. Professor Wole Soyinka and Alani Akinrinade, who lodged in a better hotel, were fortunate to have escaped that night, too. The people on their trail pursued them to the hotel, but fortunately missed them.
Then the British High Commission got proper information through the Consular-General that my life was in danger. He stamped a visa on a sheet of paper and did a letter, authorising the airline to pick me from Benin Republic to any port of entry in Britain.
I didn’t know how they got to me. A lady just walked up to me and handed me an envelope. She said I had been granted an entry into the United Kingdom. She said I could be killed if I failed to leave in the next 48 hours. It was Air Afrique that took me from Benin Republic to London.
Meanwhile, my wife was still in the United States. I landed in Britain and worked my way back to Benin Republic. I picked up my passport from somewhere. I went to an African country and through their connections, they gave me a diplomatic passport as a cultural ambassador.
Q: What country was that?
A: No, please! The African country that helped us with the diplomatic passport was showing gratitude for the help Abiola had done to its president before. So, you can make your deduction. Then, I was shuffling and coordinating our activities in the UK, Benin Republic and Cote d’Ivoire. I used the passport to travel to Cote d’Ivoire to hold meetings at the Hotel Continental, because we were planning to make another broadcast that would be aired in Nigeria. By the time I returned to the hotel, the military assailants had broken into my hotel room and taken away my briefcase and diplomatic passport. They dropped a note, saying: ‘You cannot be twice lucky.’ I was taken over by panic. Fortunately, in my back pocket, I had the photocopy of the sheet of paper on which the British had stamped a visa for me to travel out of Benin previously. I took that to the British High Commission in Abidjan. They listened to my story and asked me to come back at night. They did all their verification and found my story to be true. I returned to them and they gave me another sheet of paper and wrote the number of the flight that would take me out of that country.
But I had no money. Somebody suddenly drove in. The person is a well-known name I don’t want to mention. I met him and explained my condition. He had a traveller’s cheque, but the money was not enough. I went back to the British High Commission and the woman said she could assist me with her own personal money to bridge the shortfall in cash.
We founded and coordinated Radio Kudirat and Radio Freedom and we continued to organise. I didn’t see my family for two good years. They were in America. Bayo Onanuga, who also was part of the struggle, joined us there in December 1997. The law of political asylum stipulates that your first country of landing and acceptance is the safe haven, so it’s not transferable. That was how Cornelius Adebayo was stuck in a United Nations camp. My wife had to invoke a family clause that exists in America to fight for her husband to join her before they granted me a special privilege to leave UK to join my family in the United States.
Q: Where were you on 8 June 1998 when Abacha died?
A: I was shuttling between the United States and UK. We were working really hard as NADECO. We went to our NADECO meeting in the UK to finalise the second leg of the strategy to make a broadcast and enforce certain actions. Before then I was reading Jubril Aminu’s interview in The Punch, where he said Nigerians should not worry about Abacha’s transmutation into a civilian president; but they should be worried about what followed.
We were persuaded during a brainstorming session that we should get nearer to Nigeria to do something about it. It was agreed that we should stop him, even if we would have to start guerrilla warfare to achieve that.
Tunde Olowu had been with me in my flat for a couple of weeks and on the night Abacha died, we were just eating when a phone call came through that Abacha had died. We could not believe it until we saw on TV his body being taken out in a van.
And that changed the texture of the struggle. Suddenly, there was this news, announcing General Abdulsalami Abubakar as the head of state. We started analysing General Abubakar.
I wish to state that out of all the military generals I met through Abiola while he was lobbying for the restoration of his mandate, Abubakar was the most sincere and straightforward. He pointedly told Abiola that no military officer would want to help him to realise his mandate, unless the military general wanted to get himself into trouble. While other generals we had met lied, Abdusalami was different. He simply said: ‘Look, I am a professional soldier and I want to retire a general. I don’t want to be involved in politics. I cannot help you. I don’t want to be involved.’
When we heard that he was the head of state, I challenged the rest of us to interrogate Abubakar’s sincerity. Good enough, he was straight-forward. When we met him, he told us that he wasn’t going to spend more than nine months because he was not interested. He promised he was going to pardon us and urged us to return to the country. That was the situation of things before the death of Abiola.
So, we were coordinating with Abraham Adesanya and the rest of them, who were on ground here. They sought and we granted them our permission to meet with and size up Abubakar. So, they honoured his invitation. He sent people to us and there was a strong debate, which nearly divided the group, whether or not we should return. The suspicion around Abubakar arose because of the manner of people they saw around him, including Major Hamza al-Mustapha. Some people within our group felt that we should evaluate the situation carefully and not look at isolated occurrences. A big debate ensued after his announcement that he had granted pardon to those of us who had been declared wanted. There were a lot of intervening incidents that I cannot publicly discuss.
Q: When you returned from exile, how did the idea of Lagos governorship arise?
A: Myself, Beko, Fasehun and others met. The death of Abiola was quite devastating for us and we debated whether or not to return. We also examined whether or not there was a conspiracy surrounding Abiola’s death. There were so many questions being asked at the same time. The previous elections contested by Abacha’s five political parties got me seriously worried. After giving it serious thought, we decided that we were not going to declare war against our people, but that we should believe Abubukar by returning home to participate. At a meeting presided over by Enahoro, I told them that I would want to return to my mother because I missed her badly. He said no one could stop me if that was the case. The military, in my absence, broke her soak-away, believing that I kept guns there; carted away the generating set and cut our land (telephone) line.
I came home with three pairs of trousers and three jackets. But because I gave her notice and some other people noticed that I was arriving, unknown to me, they had mobilised people to welcome me. I was shocked at the huge crowd when I got to the airport. I was carried shoulder-high. That was the day I was totally convinced that Nigerians could be very honest, if they care about you. Because as they carried me, my ticket, passport and 2,000 pounds sterling fell from my inner jacket. I didn’t know they had fallen off because I was carried away by the euphoria of the crowd. I didn’t know how they got to Sunday Adigun. At night, they told me someone was looking for me, but because the people around me didn’t believe that danger had finally cleared, they prevented the person. But he insisted that he would not give it to anybody and showed them my passport. So they allowed him and he handed everything to me.
Meanwhile, I had no Victoria Island home to return to. It had been taken over by Abacha. They dispossessed me of the house, as well as my office on Saka Tinubu Street. My vehicles and everything else I owned. They claimed they found bombs in it and dispossessed me of it. I was totally cleaned out. I had only five shirts, the 2000 pounds and the jackets. Before then, Akinyelure came to America, looking for me, with one briefcase. He was detained for four hours by the immigration because they were wondering how someone could come to America with one briefcase. They didn’t let him off until they contacted Mobil and Mobil confirmed him as an ex-employee.
He didn’t get to my house till about 3 O’clock. He told me I had to come to Nigeria even if I wouldn’t participate. But he said I should participate. I got back home and each time I moved out, people would shout ‘Governor’.
The day I went to our group’s meeting, they were to decide who to endorse among Wahab Dosunmu, Shitta-Bey and others. They asked me if I was interested and I asked them to give me two weeks to go round since I was just returning.
Alhaji Hamzat was there. The chairman at our group’s meeting on that day said they would grant me the two weeks. So I started moving round. My late sister got me some clothes to wear, whether they fitted me or not. I went to Mushin, Agege and other places and people were hailing me as ‘Governor’ and urging me to run. On my first tour of my senatorial district, people were saying governor. Even people who had gone to another party started coming back into the Alliance for Democracy, AD, and that was how I decided I would run. People in Lagos West, East and Central said: ‘You must run for governorship.’
Q: You spent eight years in government, what will you consider your best legacy?
A: My best legacy is the financial engineering of Lagos State, especially to bring financial autonomy to Lagos State and eliminate wastage and mismanagement. That was just one aspect of it. My greatest legacy is Governor Babatunde Fashola. I identified and endorsed him. That was when my corporate background as a recruiter and talent seeker for Deloitte came to play. Part of the training when you go on operational audit is that the first thing you evaluate are the personnel and the questionnaire given to them and how they answer it. You look at the ability of individuals to really take and develop others. There is nothing unique about any leadership. Everybody can come up with different ideas. You can take different routes and arrive at the same answer. No matter how much steel and metal you put together, the greatest achievement and legacy is the ability to develop other leaders who can succeed you, otherwise your legacy will be in shambles. It was a very difficult and challenging period for me. I thank
God I stuck to my guns.
Q: You waged several battles against Obasanjo on issues like fiscal federalism, seizure of local council funds etc. Which of these wars did you consider the hottest?
A: If I have to rank them, I think the creation of the local governments was my favourite because the processes are clearly stated and well articulated in the constitution. And if you do all of that and comply with the constitutional requirements, then you should not be denied. I believe in true federalism. I believe in local government administration, which I think is a service centre for the state. The constitution is clear. It is a misnomer to even think that there are three tiers of government in a federal system of government.
There are only two – the state and the federal. It is because the constitution was put together by a group of military people, who believe in command and control that we have this kind of anomaly.
They tinkered with it and they tailored it in a way that would suit a unitary system and I believe that was the problem. We still don’t have a constitution of ‘we the people’. The battle was not personally directed at Obasanjo.
Q: Let’s move to matters personal. How did you meet your wife?
A.Through a dating agency! On a serious note, it was through a family connection.
Q: How many hearts did you break?
A: I don’t know, because I don’t look back and I am not a psychologist or medical expert to test for broken hearts and emotional instability. You pray for luck. Sincerely, you don’t know whether my own heart was broken, too. I am a very lucky person and it was through family connection that I met my wife. It is true that I had many dates. Until I met her, I didn’t even want to be married because I loved my freedom.
I had also been disappointed along the line, my expectations dashed. I was going to be totally free before I met Remi. She was innocent, homely and very quiet. I was surprised by her manners and I was hooked.
I was a DJ to my friends. I love music and my house was a boys’ rendezvous. Remi used to cook for all of us. She is the best woman I ever met and fully endorsed by all my friends. They were very close. My friends said: ‘Bola, you now have a woman and you have to settle down.’
I was a successful corporate person. She is totally urbane and seriously committed to my professionalism and career. I met somebody who enhanced the value of my life.
Q: Who was your favourite musician then, and now?
A: I was interested in music. I enjoy music, from the days of James Brown. I told you I followed Roy Chicago to Ado-Ekiti, without knowing. I was just lucky. God just made me a professional because I could have ended up with the late Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister! We used to follow him about for were during the Ramadan, to the extent that I would be locked out.
Whenever there was competition around Lagos Island or anywhere, we were always there. There was always the possibility of violence because of the competition.
But when I was an in-house DJ, not commercial DJ. Teddy Pendergrass was my favourite and I kept myself updated on the music scene in America. You don’t have music now. You now have O foka sibe, O gbona feli feli. I love listening to jazz a lot.
Q: What is your favourite food?
A: Amala and ewedu. But to be honest with you, I love rice. Rice first, amala second. I don’t like eba that much. In any form at all, I can eat rice three times a day.
Q: People say Asiwaju is the richest Yoruba man. How rich are you?
A.If you are talking in monetary terms, it is a lie. But I want them to continue to believe that I am rich. The fact is that I cannot prepare for my death. I want to live long and I believe in people and I believe in sharing. So, whatever you ascribe to me in terms of wealth is your own imagination. I will not do two cheques – one to the Central Bank of Heaven and the other one to the Central Bank of Hell – cashable when I am dead. The money will remain here.
I don’t want to be greedy, but frugal with the little I have and be contented. There are certain things they can’t dispute and one of these is that I wasn’t a poor man when I joined politics. I financed the struggle during the NADECO days. Before the NADECO days, I financed political goals and aspirations. I financed political groups and individuals.
No matter how you dream, it is empty without financial success. If you have no concrete financial progress for a state or an entity, it will not endure. I have not taken Lagos to bankruptcy. It was bankrupt before I took over, I turned it into a success within my two-terms as governor. It had existed for so long before I became governor.
During my tenure, former President Olusegun Obasanjo described Lagos as an urban jungle and uninhabitable.
But he chose to celebrate his 75th birthday in Lagos! There was a dispute on the Bar Beach during my tenure, but if I didn’t rigidly follow my vision and my belief in Lagos State, Victoria Island would have been submerged.
Adapted from an interview published in Asiwaju: Untold Story of "The Leader," a special publication of TheNEWS
BabaJide Sanwoolu's 5 Point Agenda
BabaJide Sanwoolu's 5 point agenda for Lagos State. Acronym (THEME:)
T- Traffic Management and Transportation
H- Health and Environment
E- Education and Technology
M- Making Lagos State a 21st century economy
E- Entertainment and Tourism
Oral interview Expo....
T- Traffic Management and Transportation
H- Health and Environment
E- Education and Technology
M- Making Lagos State a 21st century economy
E- Entertainment and Tourism
Oral interview Expo....
CONFERENCE 57 LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHAIRMEN/ VICE CHAIRMEN WITH PHONE NUMBERS
1. AGEGE LGA
EGUNJOBI GANIU KOLA 08033959845
VICE:OGUNJI ABIODUN D. 08038447440 ogunjiabiodun@gmail.com
2. ORILE-AGEGE LCDA
JOHNSON S. BABATUNDE 08023074104
VICE:AKANNI OLUWATOYIN PEDRO 08033241634 gafytoyin@gmail.com
3. AJEROMI LG
AYOOLA FATAI ADEKUNLE 08057094183
VICE:NKEM APPOMA IGWE 08069060451
4. IFELODUN LCDA
AJIDAGBA FATAI 08023566489
VICE:KOLEOSHO NURUDEEN 08183426673 olaifinitoye2000@gmail.com
5. ALIMOSHO LGA
SULAIMON JELILI 08038384798
VICE:ADEBISI FRANCIS A. 08033244336 faithmarvellous@yahoo.com
6. AGBADO/OKE-ODO LCDA.
AROGUN AUGUSTINE A. 08037215603
VICE:FAMUYIWA OLADAPO DAVID 08033226223 davidfamuyiwa@icloud.com
7. AYOBO-IPAJA LCDA
YUSUF SIKIRU ADISA 08033218271
VICE:CHIEF (MRS.) SHOBOWALE BOLA A. 08033234395
8. EGBE-IDIMU LCDA
KUNLE SANYAOLU 07010009090
VICE :ADEBIYI MUTIU A. 08033278569 mutiuadebiyi@gmail.com
9. IGANDO-IKOTUN LCDA
MORENIKE A. ADESINA-WILLIAMS 08027855547
VICE:DADA ADEWUNMI 08023036756
10. MOSAN-OKUNOLA LCDA
ADEBAJO OLABISI D. 08028894737
VICE :OSINOWO ADEDAYO 08062697900 fimibolu@yahoo.com
11. AMUWO-ODOFIN LGA
BURAIMOH VALENTINE 08023594083 08177774628
VICE :IDRIS OLUSEGUN A. 08023011225 idrissegun@yahoo.co.uk
12. ORIADE LCDA
AKINLOLA-HASSAN RAMOTALAI (MRS.) 08033503999
VICE :BADMUS MOSHOOD OLANREWAJU 08034105848 lovebadmus35@yoo.com
13 APAPA LGA
ADELE ELIJAH OWOLABI 08051150225 08182624242
VICE :KELVIN OLUWASEUN G. 07069244444 kelvinluseano@yahoo.com
14. APAPA-IGANMU LCDA
FUNMILAYO AKANDE MUHAMMED 08081778083
VICE :BALOGUN HAKEEM A. 08037273883 hakeemson007@gmail.com
15. BADAGRY LGA
ONILUDE OLUSEGUN ADENIRAN 08034703471 07026768824
VICE :AKOTOMEH GBETOGO ANDREW 08022018018
16. BADAGRY WEST LCDA
GBENU HENNUGBE JOSEPH 08033571396 08092242235
VICE :IBRAHEEM RAUF KAYODE 08060879947 rikay4real@gmail.com
17. OLORUNDA LCDA
SAMSON FOLORUNSO OLATUNDE 08023322180
VICE :BAMGBOSE OLUFEMI S. 08034019762 bamgbose247@i.com
18. EPE LGA
DOYIN ADESANYA 08034294756
VICE :AGBADANLA IBRAHIM A. 08038568733 adibag23@gmail.com
19. EREDO LCDA
SALIU ADENIYI RASAQ 08033052835
VICE :MURITALA WASIU T. 08037271541
20. IKOSI-EJINRIN LCDA ONANUGA ADENIYI SAMSON 07030371773
VICE :ODUNLAMI DARE D. 08064838506
m.taiwo2609@gmail.com
21. ETI-OSA LGA
BANKOLE ADESEGUN SAHEED 08026652079
VICE :ADEOLA ADETORO 08071830436 adeolaadetoro75@icloud.com
22. ETI-OSA EAST LCDA
OLUFUNMI RAFIU OLUTUNJI 08033051677
VICE :BILIAMINU SAMSON 08033353177
23. IRU-VICTORIA ISLAND LGA
PRINCESS RASHEEDAT ABIODUN ADU 08029070616
VICE :OGUNBIYI OLUSEGUN 08066501116 itunuogunbiyi@gmail.com
24. IKOYI OBALENDE LCDA
FUAD ATANDA-LAWAL 08037263137
VICE :ENGR. OGUNDIMU KABIRU 08170315306 kbjyde@gmail.com
25. IBEJU-LEKKI LGA
SURAKAT SEFIU OLORUNKEMI 08083472704
VICE :ODOFIN JELILI 08023026548 alajasa@ymail.com
26. LEKKI LCDA
OGIDAN MUKANDASI OLAITAN 08033889912
VICE :SAHEED BAKARE 07030686897 saheedbakre@yahoo.com
27. IFAKO-IJAIYE LGA
APOSTLE OLORUNTOBA OKE 08034710016
VICE :HAMZAT USMAR A. 08034154037 uhamzat@yahoo..com
28. OJOKORO LCDA HAMMED I. TIJANI (HID) 08064765471
VICE :SOBANDE SESAN 08023835530
29 IKEJA LGA
ENGR. MOJEED ALABI BALOGUN 08022381414
VICE :MAYUNGBE YOMI 08093082296
30. OJODU LCDA
ENGR. JULIUS OLORO 08023208892
VICE :OLUBUNMI OLUYADI 08033084439
31. ONIGBONGBO LCDA
BABATUNDE OKE 08023190670
VICE :OLADOTUN OLAKUNLE 08057201487
32. IKORODU LGA
ADESINA WASIU 08074489360
VICE :OLABANJI-OBA FOLASHADE 08022098332
33. IKORODU NORTH LCDA
BANJO ADEOLA A. 08079155510
VICE :AMEEN OLAWALE IBRAHIM 08122593090
34. IKORODU WEST LCDA
PRINCESS JUMOKE ADEMEHIN 08023735776
VICE :DADA GABRIEL OLUSESAN 08093083886
35. IMOTA LCDA
PRINCE AGORO KUNLE WASIU 08033031798
VICE :BENSON SUNDAY AYO 08028166829
36. IJEDE LCDA
SALISU FATIU JIMOH 08033950849
VICE :GBADEBO MOTUNRAYO 08135741353
37. IGBOGBO-BAIYEKU LCDA
DAINI OLUSESAN MAYOKUN 08187270111
VICE :ADEGBOYEGA OLADIMEJI 08023556142
38. KOSOFE LGA
AFOLABI B. SOFOLA 08036883663
VICE :AWOSOLA EMMANUEL 08039535234
39. IKOSI-ISHERI LCDA
OYESANYA ABDULFATAI AYODELE 08023427744
VICE :ONIKOSI BADA ABOLANLE 07083902774
40. AGBOYI-KETU LCDA
MAYOR DELE OSHINOWO 08164514506
VICE :MUFALILU OLATUNJI O. 08055767343
41. LAG ISLAND LGA
ADETOYESE OLUSI 08086946376
VICE :BASHORUN BABATUNDE 08023330948
42. LAGOS -ISLAND EAST LCDA
COMRADE KAMAL O. SALAU-BASHUA 08023027474
VICE :OGBOYE MONSURU A. 08023469428
43. LAG. MAINLAND LGA
ESSIEN OMOLOLA RASHIDAT 08058362323
VICE :EMILAGBA JOHN I.K. 08033129770
44. YABA LGA
OMIYALE KAYODE 08033562448
VICE :AILERU BOLANLE NURUDEEN 07031387148
45. MUSHIN LGA
EMMANUEL BAMIGBOYE 08033162163
VICE :ARUWE TUNBOSUN H. 08024574177
46. ODI-OLOWO LCDA
AJALA RASAQ 08068048268
VICE :OLUSEYI JAKANDE 0803336082
47. OJO LGA
IDOWU RASULU OLUSOLA 08033325817
VICE :UCHE UBOCHI EDNA 08066772210
48. OTO-AWORI LCDA
PRINCE MUSIBAU ADEKUNLE ASAFA 08033249815
VICE :KAREEM ALASAN 08027525912
49. IBA LCDA
ADEDAYO RAMAT OSENI 08033043273
VICE :ISIAKA ADESHOLA YAYA 08023389069
50. SOMOLU LGA
ABDUL HAMED SALAWU 08024444411
VICE :SOSIMI OLUBOWALE 08023077052
51. BARIGA LCDA
ALABI KOLADE DAVID 08088822225
VICE :KUPONIYI ADEBOYE A. 08020888548
52. OSHODI-ISOLO LGA
BOLAJI ARIYOH 08053786048 07027854857
VICE :OSO OLUDAISI T.
53. ISOLO LCDA
OLALEYE SHAMSIDEEN ABIODUN 07088547273
VICE :OLASOJI ADEBAYO 08023132994
54. EJIGBO LCDA
BELLO MONSURU OLOYEDE 08023093516
VICE :OLUSUNMADE OLATUNDE ADEKUNLE 08033033889
55. SURULERE LGA
TAJUDEEN AJIDE YUSSUFF 08135011972
VICE :YUSUF BAMIDELE
56. COKER-AGUDA LCDA
AKINYEMI-OBE OMOBOLANLE MEDINAT 08023026926
VICE :KALEJAIYE KUNLE M. 07088551569
57. ITIRE-IKATE LCDA
AHMED OLANREWAJU APATIRA 08020571184
VICE :OLUGBENGA AREMU 08023029938
HISTORY OF LAGOS
History 103: HISTORY OF LAGOS
Ogunfunminire, the hunter from Ilé-Ifẹ̀, who founded Èkó-Àkéte that the Portuguese later surnamed Lagos, over a thousand years ago will be turning in his grave to hear the obscenities being spewed around regarding his settlement by the sea.
The same Ogunfunminire that the Ilé-Ifẹ̀ prince Ọwá, called upon to help fetch the sea water to cure Oduduwa's Blindness...
Ọwá later became the King of the Ìjẹ̀sà and Ogunfunminire the first Eleko, the primogenitor of the Aworis....
The Osuntokuns of Òkè-Ìmẹ̀sí Ekiti, have been bearing the name since Dada Osuntokun of Àjàsẹ̀-ipò dipped his chalice into the sea as Ifá commanded, over 300 years, to scoop the water for purification of the land. Osuntokun means, the Ọ̀sun river measures in importance as would the Sea.
Òkun the sea, Olókùn the goddess, occur in nearly all chapters of Ifá...
And Ifá of primordial years, thousands of years in existence, long before Oranmiyan of ilé-ìfẹ́, started the Bini Dynasty, has through the eons being known as Ifá Olókùn aṣóró dayọ̀.
Why then would anyone refer to Èkó-Àkéte as a no man's land!??
I have the Video of High Chief Olùwá's victory over the Eleko in concert with the British in the determination of the ownership of Apapa and its environs, as the Privy Court in London, gave judgement to his family as the rightful owners of Apapa.
Apart from The British court's assertion, that the Eleko, {the term, Ọba of Lagos, was only instituted in 1931} had no rights whatsoever beyond Apongbon, the court also in the same judgement, pledged to give the family back the whole of Apapa, after a period of a hundred years, which in effect means the land should revert to the original owners in 2021.
I have no interest whatsoever in the senseless psychopathic hysteria of a Yoruba/Igbo hydrophobia. No...!
I am only always particular about setting the records straight.
And only The Truth can set You Free!
Insert is Ahmodu Tijani, a direct descendant of the founder of Lagos and Oluwa of Lagos in the 1920's.... He took the British to court in the early 1900's to protest the 1861 treaty of the British with Dosumu, arguing the the representative of the Oba of Benin at no time had rights to the Lands of Lagos and it was not his to give away..... A case he won based on historical evidence showing that the Idejo chiefs of Yoruba descent had always been the landowners of Lagos.....
There is one reason why Yoruba people don't gloat over lands they held historical stakes in but not their ancestral lands..... This is because we are blessed with expanse of lands that are very fertile and a large sea coast.... Even when some of our lands were taken and annexed into other regions, we were still ok with it..... but if we were to talk historically as is being said about Lagos, then Benin and Onitsha both belong to Yoruba people.....
The prince that founded Benin was called Eweka, he was the son of Oranmiyan who once ruled the people of the region. he founded this city because the most important nobility at Igodomigodo was hostile to the new alien dynasty from Ife and refused for him to rule from the main capital. He had to pay them for the right to lease the territory he ruled from. from this new capital, he built a kingdom designed along Yoruba spirituality like Tegbessou of Dahomey did. for many centuries, Benin paid homage to Ife as its source of leadership and spirituality untilt he arrival of the Birtish. This is is known fact of history before the many interesting revisionist stories natives of Benin engage in today to hide a terrible complex that have about how much they owe the Yoruba people for the advancement as a nation starting from the second dynasty.....
Very much like the complex Igbos have at the mention of Ajayi Crowther as the man who brought christainity and exposure to Igbo land.... hsitorically, in Ajayi Crowther's journal, he expressed that before his arrival, Igbos lived in hunger and his expedition had the credit of teaching them how to farm and providing them with seeds. It was also Ajayi Crowther who built the first school in Igbo land as well as the first church, having brought Christianity to Igbo land... same Ajayi Crwother as a lingustics wrote the first Igbo alphabets and gave them the gift of putting Igbo language into words..... his grandson (Hubert Macaulay) was also the man that would groom Namdi Azikiwe from an activist into a politician and hand over the NCNC party to him.....
The strong complex of the people of the East make them struggle so much with Yoruba benevolence to both Benin and Igbo people that they have given many recent revisionist stories about true ancestry of heroes from the Yoruba nation that played important roles in their emergence from a nation of backward people to one of a people with exposure and knowledge,
Onitsha did not exist until the mid 1500's, The people who call Lagos no man's land and estate of Benin also try to hide the true history of one of the most important Eastern cities. The foundation of Onitsha was laid by Benin nobles and the existence of the city was as a remote satelite extension of Benin, every new Obi must seek legitimacy by recivign a sword of authority from the Oba of Benin and it paid annual tributes to Benin... the most important Igbo figure of all times...
Nnamdi Azikiwe confirmed in his book that Onitcha was founded by Benin and he was a direct descendant of his migrant founder from Benin.... This means Benin has rights to Onithsa and by extension, Yoruba has rights to Onitsha, since its nobility and spirituality foudned Benin..... Irrespective, Yoruba people do not care for their stake in these lands.... We are blessed with all we need in our ancestral lands.....
We don't need stakes in your land and we don't argue for rights to it. Don't argue for rights to ours. buying lands and building homes in the Southwest does not automatically give you ancestral rights. They are two different issues. Lagos was founded by Yoruba nobility from Ife. the 12 Idejo chiefs that originally owned the lands of Lagos since its founding are Yoruba and sons of one father.
The OBA that launched a campaign to the western coastline was Oba Orogbhua....... he was not interested in the lands of Lagos, what he wanted was rights to the coast to monopolize trades by sea..... this was why negotiations was easy between the Idejo chiefs and the Oba, the treaty they signed gave the 12 chiefs rights to their lands while the king appointed by the Oba from Benin, was to regulate commerce and receive royalties..... this was why the Idejo chiefs took the British to court when Dosumu ceded Lagos to the British crown in 1861, claiming that the Oba of Lagos does not have such rights to the lands and could not sign it away..... the appellate court ruled in favor fo the Idejo chiefs and told the colonial government that they must always compensate the real owners of the land which is the Idejo chiefs anytime they needed land for colonial use in Lagos.
Lagos is the land of Aworis and the land owners are the Idejo chiefs. to continue to insult these people by calling their lands no man's land is a direct insult on their ancestral heritage. If You can't call Benin and Onitsha a no man's land, respect Lagos and its ancestral owners. even among us Yoruba people, we respect the right of the ancestral owners of Lagos. How much more migrants that did not know a place called Lagos existed before the amalgamation.
Credit: Gbonga Ebiri
Ogunfunminire, the hunter from Ilé-Ifẹ̀, who founded Èkó-Àkéte that the Portuguese later surnamed Lagos, over a thousand years ago will be turning in his grave to hear the obscenities being spewed around regarding his settlement by the sea.
The same Ogunfunminire that the Ilé-Ifẹ̀ prince Ọwá, called upon to help fetch the sea water to cure Oduduwa's Blindness...
Ọwá later became the King of the Ìjẹ̀sà and Ogunfunminire the first Eleko, the primogenitor of the Aworis....
The Osuntokuns of Òkè-Ìmẹ̀sí Ekiti, have been bearing the name since Dada Osuntokun of Àjàsẹ̀-ipò dipped his chalice into the sea as Ifá commanded, over 300 years, to scoop the water for purification of the land. Osuntokun means, the Ọ̀sun river measures in importance as would the Sea.
Òkun the sea, Olókùn the goddess, occur in nearly all chapters of Ifá...
And Ifá of primordial years, thousands of years in existence, long before Oranmiyan of ilé-ìfẹ́, started the Bini Dynasty, has through the eons being known as Ifá Olókùn aṣóró dayọ̀.
Why then would anyone refer to Èkó-Àkéte as a no man's land!??
I have the Video of High Chief Olùwá's victory over the Eleko in concert with the British in the determination of the ownership of Apapa and its environs, as the Privy Court in London, gave judgement to his family as the rightful owners of Apapa.
Apart from The British court's assertion, that the Eleko, {the term, Ọba of Lagos, was only instituted in 1931} had no rights whatsoever beyond Apongbon, the court also in the same judgement, pledged to give the family back the whole of Apapa, after a period of a hundred years, which in effect means the land should revert to the original owners in 2021.
I have no interest whatsoever in the senseless psychopathic hysteria of a Yoruba/Igbo hydrophobia. No...!
I am only always particular about setting the records straight.
And only The Truth can set You Free!
Insert is Ahmodu Tijani, a direct descendant of the founder of Lagos and Oluwa of Lagos in the 1920's.... He took the British to court in the early 1900's to protest the 1861 treaty of the British with Dosumu, arguing the the representative of the Oba of Benin at no time had rights to the Lands of Lagos and it was not his to give away..... A case he won based on historical evidence showing that the Idejo chiefs of Yoruba descent had always been the landowners of Lagos.....
There is one reason why Yoruba people don't gloat over lands they held historical stakes in but not their ancestral lands..... This is because we are blessed with expanse of lands that are very fertile and a large sea coast.... Even when some of our lands were taken and annexed into other regions, we were still ok with it..... but if we were to talk historically as is being said about Lagos, then Benin and Onitsha both belong to Yoruba people.....
The prince that founded Benin was called Eweka, he was the son of Oranmiyan who once ruled the people of the region. he founded this city because the most important nobility at Igodomigodo was hostile to the new alien dynasty from Ife and refused for him to rule from the main capital. He had to pay them for the right to lease the territory he ruled from. from this new capital, he built a kingdom designed along Yoruba spirituality like Tegbessou of Dahomey did. for many centuries, Benin paid homage to Ife as its source of leadership and spirituality untilt he arrival of the Birtish. This is is known fact of history before the many interesting revisionist stories natives of Benin engage in today to hide a terrible complex that have about how much they owe the Yoruba people for the advancement as a nation starting from the second dynasty.....
Very much like the complex Igbos have at the mention of Ajayi Crowther as the man who brought christainity and exposure to Igbo land.... hsitorically, in Ajayi Crowther's journal, he expressed that before his arrival, Igbos lived in hunger and his expedition had the credit of teaching them how to farm and providing them with seeds. It was also Ajayi Crowther who built the first school in Igbo land as well as the first church, having brought Christianity to Igbo land... same Ajayi Crwother as a lingustics wrote the first Igbo alphabets and gave them the gift of putting Igbo language into words..... his grandson (Hubert Macaulay) was also the man that would groom Namdi Azikiwe from an activist into a politician and hand over the NCNC party to him.....
The strong complex of the people of the East make them struggle so much with Yoruba benevolence to both Benin and Igbo people that they have given many recent revisionist stories about true ancestry of heroes from the Yoruba nation that played important roles in their emergence from a nation of backward people to one of a people with exposure and knowledge,
Onitsha did not exist until the mid 1500's, The people who call Lagos no man's land and estate of Benin also try to hide the true history of one of the most important Eastern cities. The foundation of Onitsha was laid by Benin nobles and the existence of the city was as a remote satelite extension of Benin, every new Obi must seek legitimacy by recivign a sword of authority from the Oba of Benin and it paid annual tributes to Benin... the most important Igbo figure of all times...
Nnamdi Azikiwe confirmed in his book that Onitcha was founded by Benin and he was a direct descendant of his migrant founder from Benin.... This means Benin has rights to Onithsa and by extension, Yoruba has rights to Onitsha, since its nobility and spirituality foudned Benin..... Irrespective, Yoruba people do not care for their stake in these lands.... We are blessed with all we need in our ancestral lands.....
We don't need stakes in your land and we don't argue for rights to it. Don't argue for rights to ours. buying lands and building homes in the Southwest does not automatically give you ancestral rights. They are two different issues. Lagos was founded by Yoruba nobility from Ife. the 12 Idejo chiefs that originally owned the lands of Lagos since its founding are Yoruba and sons of one father.
The OBA that launched a campaign to the western coastline was Oba Orogbhua....... he was not interested in the lands of Lagos, what he wanted was rights to the coast to monopolize trades by sea..... this was why negotiations was easy between the Idejo chiefs and the Oba, the treaty they signed gave the 12 chiefs rights to their lands while the king appointed by the Oba from Benin, was to regulate commerce and receive royalties..... this was why the Idejo chiefs took the British to court when Dosumu ceded Lagos to the British crown in 1861, claiming that the Oba of Lagos does not have such rights to the lands and could not sign it away..... the appellate court ruled in favor fo the Idejo chiefs and told the colonial government that they must always compensate the real owners of the land which is the Idejo chiefs anytime they needed land for colonial use in Lagos.
Lagos is the land of Aworis and the land owners are the Idejo chiefs. to continue to insult these people by calling their lands no man's land is a direct insult on their ancestral heritage. If You can't call Benin and Onitsha a no man's land, respect Lagos and its ancestral owners. even among us Yoruba people, we respect the right of the ancestral owners of Lagos. How much more migrants that did not know a place called Lagos existed before the amalgamation.
Credit: Gbonga Ebiri
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