Lagos State Works Commissioner Dr. Obafemi Hamzat is 50 years today. The governorship aspirant spoke with reporters in Lagos on his ambition, agenda for the state, the proposed All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries, his chances and other partisan issues. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.
Why do you want to be the governor of Lagos State?
You have asked a very serious question. About nine months ago, I asked myself this same question. All of us learn through various means. I was reading the speech of President JF Kennedy in 1961. I could not believe that somebody could write something like that as far back as 1961. The popular one is, “ask not what your America can do for you, but what you can do for America.” That is a nation that has done so much for its citizens. But, he went further to say that as a nation, whether you wish us ill or you wish us well, we will at any point in time go through all hardships and rigours to make sure that we defend freedom of human beings across the world. For me, I see that the challenge of the black man generally, is lack of sustaining development. Of course, there are different reasons why we don’t sustain development, but one of them is that we deal a lot with things we cannot measure. And people say, if you cannot measure something, you cannot manage it. As a nation, for example, we don’t know our population. That is the truth. That is why in 2006, I was privileged to coordinate the census collation for Lagos State. The NPC says we are 9.5 million, we said we are 17.1 million; the disparity is too much. We went to the tribunal set up the federal government and we challenged 19 local governments. We did not challenge Ibeju-Lekki. It was 20 local governments then. The tribunal upheld 15 of those 19. So, let us assume that the other four is wrong, but out of 19, we had 14. So, we deal with things that we can’t really measure. For example, we deal with my faith. How do you measure my faith when even the Bible says we cannot judge? You said you are a Christian or Muslim. I don’t know what you did this morning before leaving your house, only God knows.
Since I cannot manage it, it’s not my business. That is why the nations that have done well don’t consider religion. Even Dubai, the person managing Emirate is not a Muslim; he is a white man from Britain; they are looking for the best to do the job. Looking at all these, you must now say how do we make sure that what we started as a people is not reversed because the truth of the matter is ,whatever human being does, you can actually destroy it. The world is littered with examples of such. I keep saying the story of Robert Mugabe. When I was in England after I finished my PhD and I still have some funds to travel, I said I am going to Zimbabwe. From Harare, the Airport to Lake Victoria, the road is excellent, but today, the same road is bad. The same leader is still there. So, our history is littered with such. So, to assume that because you started something well, we should take it for granted is ludicrous. We must take governance the way it is, it is a serious business. So, what exactly is our expectation? The reality is that we can afford not to move forward, but we can agree as a people that we must not reverse. I went to the US and I finished my PhD at the age of 26, and I have seen that Nigerians are probably one of the best people; there is no single hospital from New York to California that you won’t see Nigerians. We are people that can pull our weight anywhere. So, what is the problem?
The issue is that we deal with the wrong things at home. We talk about Igbo, Yoruba and Southsouth, does it matter? The currency we spend has no coloration. The road that you drive on does not know or ask where you come from. When a plane crashes, it doesn’t know, if you are from the South or North.
Why do we focus on the wrong things?
That is one of the reasons I said we must look at the right approach to solve our problems. We must have somebody that possesses the experience, humility, integrity and what it takes to do the job. I believe I represent those values. That is one of the reasons I am presenting myself as a candidate for the office. Our party, the APC, is lucky because we have enormous amount of people who are qualified to do the job. We don’t need to go and hire people from outside, borrow someone or be begging. Within that number as well, there will also be ratings, based on various factors that, as a people we must determine, in terms of experience, background, education and the rest. But, I believe that at the end of the day, I will carry the day.
What are the challenges that will confront the next governor of Lagos?
The biggest challenge is not just Lagos State, but the continent of Africa. If you read Thomas ?Friedman’s book, a brilliant Nobel Economist that teaches at Yale University, he asked can’t we ascertain that the African nation will actually sustainably climb out of poverty? His answer: It is a time that we are able to reduce the energy deficit in Africa. What does that mean? Nigeria has a population of 167m and they said we generate 6000Mw, but we can only use 4000Mw. So, if you divide 4000Mw by 167m people, we will have about 10w, which you cannot even read with. If as a person, all I could get is 10w and a typical South African will get about 200w, then, the difference is clear. We will remain a poor nation because the data is there.
The challenge for Lagos is resources. Many people have the notion that Lagos is a rich state, but it is not. The budget of Lagos is about $2b, population over 17m, as at now, if you go about the increase of 2006 we will be clocking 22m because, as we speak about 600,000 that enter Lagos every day, they are coming in, they are not going out; it is legitimate. Therefore, the resource to manage all these people is the challenge because they said that, by 2050 we will be 40m people in Lagos. How do you build the infrastructure to sustain all these people are the challenge and the way to move our economy to knowledge base is technology. The challenge would be how can you raise the profile of the state to make it friendly to investors. How do you raise the revenue of the state in such a way that you don’t paralyse economic activities again that is not increasing the tax burden but making it easy for people to pay? People say Lagos generates 20 billion, but, they don’t say how much you use to generate it. If the cost of recovery is high, then, the net does not make sense. Our challenge is how we would convince people on voluntary taxation without pursueing people. The challenge is, given the enormity of the infrastructure deficit, population increase, how do you match your resources and I think one of the ways to confront it is sustainable technology.
How would your party handle the issue of religion as the party prepares to choose the candidate?
I don’t know where that is coming from. Every time I remember Chief Obafemi Awolowo or Azikwe, I don’t even remember their religion. What I remember Awolowo for is the building of the OAU, Ife, setting up the first television station. I don’t know what religion Nelson Mandela practised, but there are many Christians and Muslims in South Africa who took money from the white government and betrayed their people.
I think Bishop Kukah said it well that why do we expect our governors to be nice because, if you want a nice man, go to the Mosque or the Church. He said what we want our governor to be is efficient. The job of a leader is to deliver, irrespective of anybody’s religion, ethnicity or class. So, let us look at the job description. Then, we can fit in who can do the job. In my view, it has absolutely nothing to do with religion and I think we are getting it wrong as a people, especially when we start that in Lagos. It is absolutely ridiculous and I think, as a people, we must not allow those types of nonsense to happen. What is important is how to move Lagos forward.
How would you assess your chances? What is your take on the indigeneship issue?
First of all, in answering your question, I take myself serious. If I don’t believe in something, I don’t do it. I take myself very serious and I have been lucky in life. I finished my Ph.D in two and a half years, the first anybody had done. Whatever I want to do, I face it. So, if I don’t believe in my chances, I would not waste my time. In November, I am going to win that primary. You know what is interesting; Kabiyesi the Olowo-Eko of Lagos, tells me more about my grandfather than my mum does. My mum and Kabiyesi, they are like family. My mother is from Ija Egbe in Lagos Island. My maternal grandfather is Pa Collins, he (Kabiyesi) tells me more about him than my mum. I learnt more about him from Kabiyesi.
But, you see, I brought this book (he displayed a book), this is my dad and this is the book he wrote: Reflection of A Public Man. He wrote it in 2004 apparently, he would not have expected that his son would run for governorship. I was not even a commissioner then. Now, this is what he wrote, he was talking about his father. He said, “my father, Chief Oyeyinbo Ajiborisa.” So, my name is actually Ajiborisa. So, Hamzat is a middle name. You know with religion, Faleke becomes Olaleke and those things. So, in their own case, they dropped Ajiborisa altogether, that we would not be Ajiborisa, but today, there is Ajiborisa in Epe. General Leo Ajiborisa, the first Military Administrator of Osun State is from the family. We are the same family, they are in Epe. So, it is the same tree and at the right time, we will talk in the public about it. It is the same root, you understand and they are there in Epe today. So, it is very interesting how everybody just forget the dynamism of Yoruba race, very interesting how we all forget. So, the reality is that my tree, my foot, my leg is in Lagos.
You know when tragedy happens, a lot of thing, happen, his (my father) own father died when he was nine years old, the grandfather died when my father was nine. So, what do you expect? He related more with hismother side because his father died. Now, that is why he lived in Epe. All his life. He went to primary school in Epe, with the current Olu of Epe. But, like I said, he will, of course, relate to them because these are the people that were there so we notice that even when he became a king in Ewekoro you are talking about, his title was Ajiborisa 1, you understand, the same tree. Like I said, people move around, but it is the same root in Epe.
If my father had said he is from Epe, nobody can dispute it because your integrity is key. This is a man who in 1962 was the secretary of the party in a ward that is now Mushin and Odi Olowo put together.
This is a man that was a councilor in Mushin, this is a man that was a member of House of Assembly in Lagos State, he was a man that was a commissioner in Lagos State. Common, give me a break.
What is your agenda for Lagos?
It is very interesting as you can see, it is a document I keep reading and writing. It is called, Building A State That Lasts. This will be the manifesto. There are four major pillars, okay. The first one is building a knowledge based economy.
