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  • Fashola, others disagree on election petitions

    Fashola, others disagree on election petitions

    Section 285 (6) of the 1999 Constitution was a bone of contention between Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and other Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) yesterday.

    They debated the need to delete or retain the sub-section in the constitution.

    The question of whether or not it violates fair hearing and denies petitioners justice became the subject of a passionate debate at a programme organised by the Section on Legal Practice (SLP) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at its ongoing 53rd Annual General Conference in Calabar, the Cross River State.

    The session had the theme: Rethinking the Provisions of Section 285 (6) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended on Election Petitions for a Stable Constitutional Democracy.

    Fashola urged the National Assembly to remove the section from the constitution because not only does it unjustly limit the time for adjudicating cases but also creates the rush to their conclusion, often without the benefit of a full trial.

    He relied on the experiences shared by former Lagos Attorney-General, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN); Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN;, former Edo State Attorney-General, Charles Edosomwan (SAN) and Mr Ebun Sofunde (SAN). They all held the view that Section 285 (6) violated the principles of fair hearing enshrined in the same constitution.

    But other SANs, including Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, Chief Emeka Ngige, Dr Alex Iziyon, Dr Onyekachi Ikpeazu, Ndukwu Nnawushi and Lanke Odogiyon said the section should be retained with further modifications to it.

    Section 265 (6) provides that election petitions must be heard and determined within 180 days (six months), including appeals arising from it.

    Fashola said the provision has made election riggers to believe that they can steal mandates, get into office and frustrate trial from being started and concluded within 180 days.

    “What message are we sending out about peace and security when people are driven from justice?” Fashola asked.

    According to him, while the delays in the determination of election petitions were inordinate and increased cost of judicial time, the question is whether the section is the right remedy.

    He wondered whether it could have been that the party in the majority simply “bulldozed” its way through parliament in order to preserve further ‘losses’, or might have sought to prevent a retrieval of mandates that it had stolen at the polls.

    Fashola said more fundamental questions should have been asked, such as what roles parties, lawyers and judges played in the delays, and whether the professionals involved in the trial were sufficiently prepared by training and experience for the tasks assigned them.

    “Was there any assessment process within the institution of the Nigerian Bar and the judiciary to examine performances of lawyers and judges involved in the undertaking of this national project of monumental and life-changing impact?”

     

     

     

    “How many adjournments were granted in those periods of delay as a result of lack of preparation by lawyers and judges or as a result of brinkmanship or indeed collusion to frustrate trial?

    “Are we truly helpless in the face of such conduct or are we prepared to change what we do not accept, or are we going to pursue quick fixes like Section 285 (6) which compounds the problem?

    “We have not heard the unspoken statement of those who have been at the receiving end of such unjust treatment in the run up to the 2015 elections.

    “I can only hazard a guess that it may not sound good unless we get our legislators to re-think and remove Section 285 (6), because if the hunter has learnt to shoot without missing, the bird that seeks to survive must learn to fly without perching.”

    NBA President Okay Wali (SAN) agreed with Fashola, saying the problem is what happens inside the court and not with amending the laws.

    He said quick dispensation of cases largely depends on how well judges conduct proceedings, adding that if a judge is firmly in charge of their courts, no lawyer will appear before them unprepared or ask for frivolous adjournment.

    But Gazama said the section should be retained because it makes petitions less expensive to prosecute; petitions are now more precise, and election winners or losers can be determined in a short time.

    He, however, admitted that the section could be subject to abuse, as a respondent with a bad case can put a hurdle on the way, especially in high profile cases.

    As a way out, Gadzama said the section should be further amended so there can be an extension of the 180 days if circumstances call for it.

    Iziyon, who is Editor-in-Chief of Election Petition Reports and known as a leading election petition lawyer, said there is the need to fine-tune how to make the six months workable and practicable rather than deleting it.

    He said lawyers handling such cases can engage more hands and not corner the briefs to themselves alone; briefs should be frontloaded so the judge does not need to write everything, and credible people should be employed to man the registry.

    “If we want to add more months to the six months, we’ll go back to where we were before. It is like a pot of soup; so many things go into it. So we need to work out how it will succeed,” Iziyon said.

    Nnawuchi suggested having more panels of an election tribunal; adoption of alternative dispute resolution for non-contentious petitions to pave way for only troublesome ones to go to trial.

    Ngige said the sub-section is unjust, that there is need for an amendment, and that the provision should be amended to stop the 180 days from counting even when a case goes on appeal.

    “Let it be amended in a way that if you go on appeal, you press the stop clock. When you go on appeal and come back, the clock continues,” he said.

    Odogiyan said the sub-section should be amended so that in a situation of force majore (unexpected natural event), the time should not count.

     

     

     

  • Fashola seeks Nigeria-Russia cooperation in railways

    Fashola seeks Nigeria-Russia cooperation in railways

    Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola(SAN), yesterday canvassed mutual collaboration between Nigeria and Russia in the development of rail transportation, saying it was the only way to safeguard and guarantee long life span for roads and highways across the country.

    Fashola, who spoke in Lagos House, Alausa, while hosting the Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Nickolay Udovichenko, said Nigeria, needs to take a lot of cargo off her highways in order to extend their lifespan.

    Noting that Russia has already developed such a technology, he said it was necessary that government, showed interest and begin talks with Russia to imbibe and adapt the technology in order to take more goods and heavy duty cargo off her highways.

    “One thing that has interested me is the success of the Russian Railway and the expanse of development it has achieved over the years and, if I am not mistaken, the trucking by rail of several millions of cargo over about 9, 000 kilometres yearly. These are areas where, even as a country, Nigeria urgently needs to develop”, the Governor.

    He told the Ambassador, “We need to take a lot of cargo off the roads, and if that technology already exists in a place like Russia, I think that our Government, not only at the state level but also at the national level, should also be showing interest and talking to you because that is the only way that I know that we can prolong the life of our roads and major highways across the country; if we can get more goods, more heavy duty cargo trucked by rail”.

    “So these are some of the areas that I think in terms of economic cooperation between our two countries and the states that are consisting of those two federations and also that a lot can be done. I think your visit sets the ball in motion and I am anxious, to put it mildly, to explore possibilities”, he said.

    Noting the desire of the Ambassador for collaboration in cultural and business exchanges between Lagos and Russia, Governor Fashola declared, “I am sure you will be hearing a lot more from our agencies in the next few weeks and in the next few months”, .

    tion to him to visit Saint Petersburg, Governor Fashola, who said he had known much about the history and rich tradition of the city as a student of European History hinted that his team would visit the city in due course.

    “St. Petersburg is a city that I am familiar with as a student of European History so I have some knowledge of its history and its very rich tradition even in the old Soviet Union and I have kept some track of its development in the advent of what one may call a more democratic Russia today. I certainly look forward ultimately in meeting the Governor”, he said.

    Thanking the Ambassador for the courtesy of his visit, Governor Fashola pledged, “I will only commit that our Government here will give you that support that you need to discharge your responsibilities efficiently. I thank you for the courtesy of this visit and for your condolence message and you have my assurances for a very successful tenure and the support of all our team”.

    Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Russian Ambassador, who condoled with the Governor over the passage of his father, also expressed the desire to discuss bilateral and business relations with Lagos saying he had heard a lot of reports about the Governor which, according to him, “are very positive”.

    “I arrived here three months ago and I have heard a lot from people who tell me your activities in Lagos and I salute your efforts to improve the life in Lagos”, the Ambassador said adding that in terms of bilateral relations with Nigeria he intends to be a facilitator and not a mediator.

    Expressing the strong desire to boost the political and economic relations already existing between the two countries, especially in the areas of Education, the Ambassador pledged to do his best to realize and deepen the relationship during his tenure.

    He said the desire of the Governor and his team to visit Saint Petersburg was welcome and the government was eagerly waiting to receive the team from Lagos and to start a possible cooperation between the City and Lagos.

    “Saint Petersburg is a city of only, I can say, about five million people. It is not very much like Lagos, but it is a very historical city”, the ambassador said adding that he had no doubt that the Governor and his team would admire it.

    Noting that he had been in discussion with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the Ambassador also promised to invite a business delegation not only to Nigeria but to Lagos adding, “I consider that Lagos is a very big city, the centre of business of this country”.

    According to the Ambassador, who said he would also try to invite the Russian cultural group to come and perform in Lagos, “I am ready to work hard in order to improve our bilateral relationship”.

    Also present, were the Commissioners for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat and Tourism and Inter-Governmental Relations, Mr. Disun Holloway, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Segun Oniru, the Acting Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Chief Henry Oladele Ajomale and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Foreign Relations, Ms Toyin Caxton-Martins, while the Ambassador was accompanied by the Senior Counselor, Economic Affairs of the Embassy, and Counselor, Head of Lagos Office.

     

  • Ekiti deputy governor condoles with Fashola

    Ekiti deputy governor condoles with Fashola

    Ekiti State Deputy Governor Prof. Modupe Adelabu has commiserated with Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola on the death of his father, Pa Ibrahim Ademola Fashola.

    During her visit to the governor at the Lagos State Government House in Marina, Lagos Island, at the weekend, Prof. Adelabu described the deceased as a legend, whose death should be celebrated, rather than mourned.

    She said he lived a fulfilled life and left indelible imprints in the society.

    Prof. Adelabu hailed Fashola for making Lagos a model state and urged him to keep up the tempo.

    She said: “Pa Fashola lived a fulfilled life and immortalised himself, not only by giving birth to, but by donating Governor Fashola, who is one of the best governors in the country, to sustain his legacies.”

    Prof. Adelabu, who noted that her principal, Governor Kayode Fayemi, had earlier visited Fashola, said her visit was to further demonstrate the love of Ekiti people for Fashola.

    She prayed God to grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss.

    Fashola thanked Prof. Adelabu and Ekiti people for sharing his grief.

    He said although his father lived a fulfilled life, the family misses him and his memories would linger for life.

    Fashola lauded the cordial relationship between Lagos and Ekiti states.

     

     

     

  • Fashola and the hypocrisy of Ndigbo

    The Abia State government last year came up with an ingenious policy. All non-indigenous employees in the state public service, including teachers, were to be relieved of their duties because the government’s resources were meant for the indigenes.

    Over 80% of the people affected are from Imo, Ebonyi, Anambra and Enugu states.

    Most leaders maintained a conspiracy of silence on this policy which for long will remain one of the greatest impediments to Igbo unity.

    Abia was actually treading the path of the Enugu State government which had in the late 1990s decided to sack all non-indigenes in the state’s public service in order to “save resources”. Almost every casualty is Igbo.

    But a number of Igbo social activists have now suddenly found their voice.

    The overnight activists have created an unmistakable mass hysteria in both the social media and the traditional media over the bogey that Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has been “deporting” Igbo people from the state.

    Some politicians who are determined to make political capital out of the so-called repatriations have been busy simulating the hysteria. But perhaps, unbeknownst to these people, they are hurting in a most profound manner, strategic Igbo interests.

    No people can survive—let alone—progress on a diet of lies and emotions, or by allowing politicians to create and sustain a culture of paranoia or siege mentality, otherwise called persecution complex.

    The Lagos State government launched a few years ago, an ambitious project to turn Lagos, Nigeria’s economic nerve centre with a population of some 16 million, into a true mega-city. This entailed, among other things, the enthronement of a new social order and a different aesthetic regime.

    Consequently, the state began to clear thousands of homeless people, beggars and urchins from the streets.

    Thus, a large number of “area boys” who are mostly Lagos Island indigenes, like the governor, are to this day still arrested and hounded into “Black Maria” trucks by Kick Against Indiscipline (KIA) officials. Borrowing a leaf from such places as New York and Hawaii, Lagos initiated a programme of returning many destitute individuals to their home states. Over 3,000 of such people have been relocated back to northern states where they have now been reintegrated with their families. When about 80 were sent to Oyo State in November, 2009, the governor screamed to the high heavens that “they were dumped on Molete “Bridge” in Ibadan.

    About 14 destitute people from Anambra State were sent to Onitsha last week because of the failure of the state’s Ministry of Social Welfare to arrange for the arrival of these people , unlike those of Akwa Ibom and Katsina states which made proper logistic arrangements for their own people. A section of the media has since gone to town with the extremely dangerous propaganda that the Lagos State governor is driving Igbo people out of Lagos through “brazen deportations and repatriations”.

    Even professionals and scholars expected to be more thoughtful and strategic in their actions have capitulated so easily to the mind poisoning reports and have been responding exuberantly.

    A man who introduced himself as a professor from Nnewi called me on the phone on Thursday morning to assert with so much authority that “only Anambra indigenes are being targeted for expulsion from Lagos because all Nigerians know that Anambra is the leader of the Igbo nation”.

    A lawyer in Maryland, United States, wrote that Fashola dare not relocate beggars of northern extraction, alleging that the Igbo are the whipping boy of Nigerian politics.

    He is blissfully ignorant of the thousands of northern beggars taken away from Borno Street in Ebute Metta and environs.

    How did the industrious, highly republican and intelligent Igbo people embrace, all of a sudden, this level of groupthink that has made us look like a people with unimaginable amnesia?

    In June, a very big plaza in Olodi, Apapa, belonging to Igbo entrepreneurs and housing hundreds of Igbo traders was burnt at night. The next day Fashola was at the site and promised to rebuild it at the Lagos State expense. No Igbo governor has visited the place up to this moment, and none has promised to assist the victims. Last December, Ngozi Nwosu, an actress, was reported to be down with a serious liver ailment, so an appeal fund was launched. No South-east government, including her home state of Imo State, responded, just as no wealthy Igbo men and women did.

    Only N1.5million out of 6m needed for treatment in the United kingdom, could be raised. Fashola provided the remaining N4.5m. And now some so-called Igbo activists are accusing him of anti-Igbo sentiments.

    Two months ago, Fashola completed the biggest housing estate he has built and named it after Emeka Anyaoku, an erstwhile Commonwealth secretary general from Anambra State. At a time some Igbo people cannot be hired as teachers or civil servants in south-eastern states other those of those of their origin, Fashola recruits them in large numbers, with some becoming judges and magistrates. His Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ben Akabueze, is from the Southeast. The chief executive of the state Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency, Joe Igbokwe, is an engineer and publisher from Nnewi. Mac Duruigbo, from Imo State, is Fashola’s Personal Assistant on the Media.

    Fashola gave Ikemba Nnewi practically a state burial last year in Lagos, the only non-South-east governor to accord the famous Biafran leader this high honour.

    He was the only governor who attended last March the Chinua Achebe colloquium at Brown University in Rhode Island, United States, where he praised Achebe for his monumental achievements at a time the great writer was the butt of criticism by the Yoruba political establishment following Achebe’s unflattering remarks about Obafemi Awolowo in his new book, There Was A Country, a personal account of the Nigerian civil war. So, how did some of us come about the brainwave that the dynamic and cosmopolitan Lagos State governor is anti-Igbo? Simply because his government relocated some Igbo elements to their home state, some of whom came to Lagos to do business but instead took to hard drug consumption and became urchin, better known as “area boys”! Interestingly when Fashola began to crack down on “area boys”, most of whom are from his state, Igbo traders were over the moon, rejoicing that the governor had saved them from the miscreants of “area boys” who had for decades been tormenting the traders daily, extorting huge sums from them and viciously assailing those who refused with dangerous weapons.

    There are more Igbo people in Lagos than any other state.

    There are so many investments in Lagos because Lagos has for long welcomed the Igbo people, enabling Ndigbo to prosper in Lagos more than any other state. And no governor in Nigeria’s history has demonstrated as much affection to our people as Fashola.

    Commonsense dictates we protect in a strategic manner the interests of our people and reciprocate the friendship of well meaning individuals and groups. It will be a colossal tragedy if we savour the dishes of salacious lies and terrible propaganda which we are being served by opportunistic politicians and garnished by hysterical Igbo social activists. We must be guided at all times by truth and reason.

    • Adinuba is Head of Discovery Public Affairs Consulting.

  • Adefuye, Diya condole with Fashola

    SENATOR Anthony Adefuye and former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen Oladipo Diya (rtd), have sent messages of condolence to Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, over the death of his father, Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Fashola.

    They both prayed for God to grant him eternal rest. They described the late Alhaji Fashola who died at 80 as a disciplined father worthy of emulation and an exemplary role model.

     

  • Fashola upgrades maternity to mini-hospital

    As part of his administration’s efforts to make life better for the people, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) of Lagos has upgraded the Ajara Maternity Centre to mini-hospital.

    While inaugurating the mini-hospital, Governor Fashola said that Badagry is the third beneficiary among the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas. He promised to always give support to the mini-hospital.

    He said: “With this upgrade, there is no need for people to go to the Badagry General Hospital because almost all the facilities needed are here. It will also help in reducing the number of patients who patronise the general hospital.

    The chairman, Badagry Local Government Area, Hon. Husitode Moses Dosu said that his administration was committed to the provision of dividends of democracy to the people. These, he said, were in the areas of infrastructural, educational, health and economic developments.

    Dosu further revealed that the Ajara Maternity which is being upgraded to mini-hospital started in the early 50s as a dispensary and later dispensary maternity.

    He, therefore, thanked the governor for upgrading the maternity, even as he appealed for the provision of other necessary equipment for the facility to operate optimally.

    Among the dignitaries that attended the official inauguration were the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Aderemi Kuye, Commissioner for Rural Development, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi, Special Adviser to the governor on Rural Development, Hon. Tunde Hunpe, Special Adviser to the governor on Health, Dr. Olusola Adesina Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, and Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon. Olushola Senapon Oworu, among others.

  • No short cut to success, says Fashola

    No short cut to success, says Fashola

    The truth to white collar jobs with suits and ties are going out fashion because our economy is changing”.

    With these words, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola urged his audience comprising graduates and pupils to be prepared create their own jobs.

    It was at the First Lagos State Enterprise Day. The day is set aside to address entrepreneurship development among technical college pupils.

    It brings them in contact with entrepreneurs in order to inculcate in them the experiences of building sustainable businesses after graduation.

    Over 1,000 students and ex-students of technical colleges, several entrepreneurs, captains of industry and government officials were in attendance.

    Fashola said the nation’s future was in building a productive economy where more Nigerians would do things with their hands instead of depending wholly on importation. The days of white-collar jobs with suits and ties, he said, were gone, adding that the alternative rests in building a productive economy.

    He said: “Nigeria was essentially a trading economy.  The companies were not owned by Nigerians. Nigerians were merely employed in those companies who needed a large army of workers, storekeepers, accountants, gatekeepers, book-keepers, clerks, secretaries and so on; all that have changed now,” he said.

    Counselling the young on how to run a successful business, the governor, said the only way was to be hardworking and honest.

    “Of course, there are issues of good and bad business models. You can choose to run your business by cutting corners to make quick money. Such business does not last. Or you can choose to run it prudently and honestly, paying your tax and fulfilling all the obligations required of such business; and you can be sure to build a lasting and successful business,” he stated.

    He said the ethics required in building a successful and sustainable business were embedded in the students’ business enterprise training, stressing that “there are no short cuts in this journey to success. There will be quick stops when you reassess and re-energise, but there will be no short cuts. The road to success is hard and winding and only those with the right attitude, with the right mental framework succeed.”

    Fashola advised the youths to be innovative and embrace change in the running of their businesses, pointing out that without introducing new ways of doing things in their businesses, changing methods and continually learning new techniques and new tools of trade, the business stood in danger of being wiped out by competition

    “At the time our ancestors were doing business, they kept all their records or ledgers, there were no computers, there were no air conditioners, they used fans. You are the generation that has almost everything, speed, efficiency, i-phones, data, you now have a global search engine, and you can find anything in the world. So you will have no reason to let the past generations defeat you,” he said.

    Fashola said government was positioning the economy to respond to the needs of technical school graduates, saying that the government would also issue them contracts for the renovation and maintenance of public building in the state, including schools, hospitals, maternal and childcare centres, stadia and others under the office of the State’s Facility Management.

    Mrs. Helen Jemirigbe, a director at the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, who represented the Director-General of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (N.E.C.A), said the association decided to partner with the Lagos State Government “because the state stands out with several firsts, which it has scored, especially in what it has been doing in education.”

    NECA, she said, would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding to work with the state at the Technical College, Ikorodu.

    Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) Mr. Olawumi Gasper, said the government placed emphasis on curriculum re-alignment in the technical colleges and vocational centres, thereby highlighting the importance of entrepreneurship, capacity building, involvement of industries and public private partnerships in technical and vocational education for meeting emerging needs of a global economy.

    He said the government main-streamed entrepreneurship education into its technical and vocational education, noting that one of the achievements of the government “is achieving social inclusion through the infusion of entrepreneurship education in the technical colleges, thus enabling the marginalised groups, especially girls and the poor, to engage actively in productive economic activities.

    “This effort has seen the commencement of the creation of a critical mass of competent and skilled youths with strong entrepreneurial spirit, managerial and technical knowledge that will start, grow micro-enterprises into small and medium enterprises, all towards enhancing the growth of the private sector. The aim is to enable young people to own their businesses and grow these businesses through mentorship.”

    “Technical colleges have already imbibed the entrepreneurial culture as embedded in their curriculum. Today in the technical colleges, vocational skill trades are sufficiently infused with entrepreneurial elements that have harnessed the power of entrepreneurial competences including innovation and creativity among students of the colleges, thus preparing them to become self-reliant and competitive in the new dynamic and globalised world,” he said.

  • My dad, by Fashola

    My dad, by Fashola

    •Dignitaries bid governors dad farewell

    •We lost our best friend, says governor

    •Amosun, Fayemi, Amaechi, others attend funeral

    It was an exciting final farewell that spoke so much about the stature of the man who had passed on.

    Many dignitaries converged on Lagos to see off the late Alhaji Ademola Ibrahim Fashola, father of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    The late Alhaji Fashola died on Monday. He was 80.

    His final journey began at his 31, Ladipo Labinjo Street, Surulere, Lagos home where personalities gathered for the lying-in-state.

    The body arrived from the mortuary in a black Mercedes Benz Sport Utility Vehicle about 11:55am. The lying-in-state was held at the Surulere Senior Secondary School, opposite the late Fashola’s home.

    At the ceremony were Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Chief Rasak Okoya, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Alhaji Lateef Okunnu, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Surulere Council boss, Tajudeen Ajide, Kayode Opeifa, Joe Igbokwe, Onigbongbo LCDA boss, Babatunde Oke, representatives of Arewa and Ndigbo, Service Chiefs and members of the State Executive Council, among others.

    Members of the Eko Club described the late Fashola as a jolly good fellow and prayed that Almighty Allah grant him aljannat firdaus.

    The entourage then moved to the Central Mosque in Obalende where prayers were offered.

    A Mercedez Benz M350 4matic car belonging to MIC Funerals with the inscription, “Alhaji Demola Fashola”, conveyed the body to the mosque.

    Governor Fashola was accompanied by his siblings and relations.

    At the Vaults and Garden, Ikoyi, the body was interred in a newly-built marble-carved tomb, near where the late Iyaloja General and mother of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Dr. Abibat Mogaji, was buried.

    Members of the Fashola family wore white lace and orange stripped caps.

    Imams from the Lagos Central Mosque, led by the Chief Imam of Lagos, Alhaji Akinola Garuba, prayed for the repose of the soul of the departed.

    Speaking to reporters after the interment, Governor Fashola thanked Lagosians for the love shown his family.

    He said: “I thank everybody, who has rallied round the family from yesterday morning before I returned from Saudi Arabia. The heart-pouring of love from all Nigerians; from Mr. President, who called persistently until he got through to me. He sent his representative today, the Honourable Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, and my brother governors, the imams, the ordinary men and women and everybody. Thank you very much.

    “This was a painful way for us and for you to show how much you love us, but we really appreciate you. Our gratitude is deep and immense and we can never fully express it.”

    Recalling the virtues of his late father, the governor said he was an all encompassing gentleman who lived a simple life and loved his children.

    He said: “I think that for all of us his children, he was first and foremost our friend, he was our best friend. So, this is what we will really miss. Our father was a very loving friend, who allowed us to be the best that we could; he allowed us to be what we want to be, guiding and nudging, but never discriminated and that’s why he had children that were Christians, Muslims, children who are Europeans, children who are married across all Nigeria.

    “I think these have fully captured his life. I doubt if there was any person who did not have enemies, it must be my father because he just got on with life. He didn’t discriminate in any position he found himself; good, comfortable, painful, he just got on. I learnt so many things from him and most of these things is who I am today and who I try to be and I hope that I can be as rounded in integrity, humble in his attitude to life and fully committed in all situations as he was.”

    To the governor, his father death was significant as “he died in the month of Ramadan”.

    “He died on the night of majesty. We had just finished Lailatu Quadri prayers in Mecca and, for me, God is great because if God gave him the opportunity to choose how he would go, and when, he couldn’t have chosen the day he went. It was such a great time. We thank God.”

    With the governor were his counterparts from Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Ekiti, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Rivers, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi.

    Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Hon Bolaji Abdullahi, represented President Goodluck Jonathan. Former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji and Chief Ayo Akande were there.

    Also in attendance were Mr. Akin Kekere-Ekun, Otunba Alabi Mc-Coy, Alhaji Lateef Salako, Alhaji Moshood Ojikutu, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Senators Gbenga Ashafa and Femi Ojodu, Chairman of Eleganza Group, Chief Rasak Okoya and renowned lawyer, Alhaji Femi Okunnu. Ogun State Deputy Governor Mr. Segun Adesegun, members of the State Executive Council, members of the House of Assembly, members of the House of Representatives, Nollywood stars, clerics and members of the Diplomatic Corps, among others, were also there.

  • Afenifere commiserates with Fashola

    Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) has said it was shocked to receive the news of the passing away of Pa Ademola Fashola, the father of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    Its Media/Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, said: “We commiserate with our governor and his family on the transition of their patriarch. We urge them to seek solace in the comfort that the Holy Month of Ramadan brings. We pray Almighty Allah to grant him eternal rest.

    “Pa Fashola’s legacies could be seen in the diligent and productive approach his son has brought to governance in the state. We in ARG celebrate his noble character.”

  • Imoke mourns Fashola

    Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State has expressed shock and sadness on the death of Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Fashola, father of Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.

    He lamented that the octogenarian passed away at such a critical period when his wise and invaluable counsel was needed.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Ita, Imoke described the late Fashola as a worthy community leader, who lived a fulfilled life serving his people, Lagos State in particular and Nigeria in general.

    The governor, who said the demise of Pa Fashola has left a vacuum that would be difficult to fill, prayed Allah to grant Governor Fashola, his family and the people of Lagos State the fortitude to bear the loss.