You served two terms as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, what has the experience been like?….CONTINUE READING...CONTINUE READING
I want to thank God for that. The most important thing is that God has elevated my name and that of my family to a level that I never dreamt of when I was much younger. Getting into Lagos State House of Assembly was a challenge. It offered a platform that I prayed for to serve humanity. I will say that I did my best to serve humanity. It is actually my greatest joy. People got to meet me mad my family. It gave me an opportunity to express myself before my community. I will say that serving at the Lagos State House of Assembly was a stepping to my political career. I am grateful to God because the goodwill that I built is such that money cannot buy it. It is what I cherish most. I went to the State Assembly with good and came out with good health. There was no bad news throughout my stay there. I appreciate my leaders, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who is today the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I also thank the Speaker of the House Mudashiru Obasa and my colleagues who made my stay there worthwhile. I appreciate all my APC leaders in the state and constituency.
As an Igbo man what made it possible for you to have been able to achieve that feat?
First of all I will say God. Secondary humility. You shouldn’t allow any political position that you occupy to get into your head. You also remember that it is a privilege for you to serve in a foreign land. Out of the 40 legislators I was the only Igbo man. I’ll say that its God grace and his mercy. I Thank God that I didn’t disgrace the Igbo race. There was no misbehavior. It is kudos for the Igbo people, which is why I say that they should give us another opportunity because the person that they gave an opportunity to serve didn’t behave badly. I thank God, my supporters’ and all the criticisms both the positive and negative ones. Again I’ll say that humility is the key.
You played a critical role to ensure that Tinubu emerges the President, what was on your mind when you had somebody like Peter Obi who is your kinsman also contesting?
As a member of the APC I had an obligation to do that, but again inside me something tells me that Asiwaju would win the election. If you look at his antecedents, you will recall that Asiwaju has never put his hands in anything that failed. When he was still the national leader of APC, and there was political crisis in the country, whenever he speaks, everything will fall in place. He doesn’t talk anyhow. He would study the terrain, get all the information that he needs before he would utter a statement. He is a true democrat. The Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) for example, you will notice that before a decision is taken on any issue he will ask everybody their views. Everybody was free and you cannot avoid making contributions. After everybody must have contributed he would then summarize. He is a true democrat and sometimes people who don’t understand would think that he lords over people. It is not true. He carries everybody along. When I moved from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC and the APC leaders didn’t want to accept me. He told then that they had no choice than to accept me. He also told them that I wasn’t coming alone that I was coming with my team. Again when you look at his antecedents in terms of being a stable politician, not one who jumps from one party to another. He is always building his structures He will tell you that power is not served a la cate, that you must struggle to get it. Even when you fail, he would encourage you to keep trying, that there is always another day. He’ll ensure that you are comfortable. He is also a promise keeper. When he makes a promise to you any time he sees you he will remember it. He will ensure that he fulfils it. When I assessed the people that were contesting against him, my brother Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, you will realise that with his antecedent, he will never fail in whatever he sets out to do. He is also a generous person. It is his generosity that made it possible for him to have built those bridges for a long time. You will also discover that only 10 percent of these people are Lagosians, others are not Lagosians. The former Minister for Information, Lai Mohammed, for example. He started this journey over 20 years ago. Some of them just started but he has started a long time ago. When he met us after he collected his certificate of return, he told us that it was his 30 years political struggle. If you have watched the documentary of June 12, you see him in the picture behind MKO Abiola. You will also see Abacha there. It will tell you that he has come a long way. He has even been imprisoned for the struggle. When I looked at those of them contesting it comes to mind that Asiwaju has been on the journey for a long time. Even when he was Lagos State Governor, he was talking about true federalism. Where was Peter Obi during the June 12 struggle? Tinubu was National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) member, though he was not a forefront. You can agree with me that this man has invested in politics, leadership and enthronement of our democracy. He deserved to be supported. He is quite experienced.
You spent eight years as a legislator in Lagos State, how do you want to use that experience to impact on your home state, Imo now that the governorship election is around the corner in that state?
I have learnt so much politically in Lagos State, and one of it is loyalty to your party. Again the king makers are your constituents. You must learn to respect them. You may not satisfy them but learn to listen to them. If I have the opportunity to go to Imo State, I think I’ll like to impact the knowledge that I have gathered here on my people. The key is that as a leader, whether you are the Speaker of the House you must learn how to carry your colleagues along and be open to them. Learn to dialogue, it is not one man affair. As a leader, you must be people oriented.
What advice can you give Nigerians with respect to how to cope with the subsidy removal?
Subsidy removal is a good decision. I want to applaud President Bola Tinubu for taking that bold step. I’ll always tell people that Asiwaju has the political will to take decisions. Some leaders don’t have it. He has the political will to take difficult decisions in the interest of the people. More are coming, those things people don’t dare to do he’ll do them for the good of this nation. You should just give it to him. We should just keep praying for him for good health. We should support him. I know with a little sacrifice we’ll all rejoice at the end of day. I am also sure that there will be some sort of palliatives that will cushion the effect of the pain of the subsidy removal.
Now that you have just finished your second tenure as a lawmaker, and you seem to be resting, if you are offered any political appointment will you take it?
My happiness is to serve humanity and political appointment will give me a better platform to serve people. If an opportunity is given to me I’ll take it because I know that it is service to humanity and the nation. That is why I also want our leaders to imbibe the spirit of service. If you are in position of leadership, it doesn’t mean that you are better than others. It is just a privilege to serve the people, the community, the constituents, your state or Nigeria in general. You should just go there and render selfless service.
Do you think that we have made any progress so far with our democracy?
Yes, we are making progress. As we are moving we are making progress. The electoral law that was enacted have some loopholes, I know that before the next election the National Assembly and the President will look at those areas and effect necessary corrections. No law is perfect. If the UK which operates unwritten constitution can be doing what she is doing seamlessly. Those of us that have written constitutions are quarreling with it. It is a bad workman that quarrels with his tools. If we have the mind to serve our nation diligently I don’t think that we’ll be complaining about our constitution….CONTINUE READING
