Sir: It was like a part of the sky above the city of Lagos had collapsed when on the evening of Sunday, March 31, it was announced that like all mortals, Hassan Adisa Babatunde Fasinro, (HAB) had answered the supreme call in deference to his Creator. Senator Fasinro was one of the few men this nation has produced who are giants, men who stand tall and magnificent, above pettiness, self-centeredness and bigotry of the elite in today’s Nigeria.
The late Fasinro attended Methodist Boys High School Lagos before proceeding to study Law in London in 1942. He was called to the Bar and admitted into the Lincoln Inn in 1951. He returned to Nigeria and became a Crown Counsel in the old Western Region where he became a Queens Counsel (equivalent of the present day Senior Advocate of Nigeria) from where he was appointed as the town clerk of the then Lagos City Council, succeeding late Barrister Mayaki.
His tenure as town clerk was very remarkable and eventful. With him as Town Clerk under the chairmanship of late Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu and other notable Lagosians including late Raufu Williams, Taorid Lawal-Akapo, T.B.Lawal, Ojekunle Pereira, Prince Tajudeen Olusi as councillors, he ensured the laying of the foundation Stone of the Lagos City Hall in 1965 and interestingly, HAB supervised its completion and commissioning in 1968.
It is worthy of note that Alhaji Fasinro received the new administration of then Major Mobolaji Johnson following the creation of Lagos State in 1967. His nine year tenure as the Lagos town clerk of the then Lagos City Council not only raised the bar of local government administration in the country, but also elevated the status of Lagos to an enviable level.
He was elected as the Second Assistant General Secretary of the Action Group in 1953 under the leadership of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Fasinro contested the 1954 bye-election to the Lagos City Council.
He contested for the Senate in 1983 under the banner of the UPN under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and defeated the late Dr. Wahab Dosunmu of the NPN. He was in the Senate with other prominent Nigerians such as the late Dr. Olushola Saraki, Senators Jonathan Odebiyi, Abraham Adesanya and a host of others.
While Pa Fasinro lived a life of humility, commitment and unparalleled public service example for the generation behind to emulate, unfortunately death pulled him out of the race among those Nigerians that are currently edging towards 100 years. HAB paid his dues and has left his footprints on the sands of time. He received several national and international awards including the National Award of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR) in 2001. Lagos will always remember and honour him for all he did for the state.
- Rasak Musbau, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
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