One common refrain among some unsuccessful graduates these days is that they were forced by their parents to study a course that they were really not in love with. Consequently, they end up jettisoning their academic qualifications to pursue different goals in life.
This is, however, contrary to the story of Hon. Tunde Braimoh, a member of Lagos State House of Assembly and Chairman, House Committee on Information.
Braimoh, a former Executive Chairman of Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State, opted to study Philosophy and indeed spent two years studying the course at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) when he gave in to his father’s insistence that he study Law.
The elderly Braimoh had wished to study Law himself, but could not achieve the dream. As a result of his inability to become a lawyer, the old man insisted that his son help to bring his wish to reality by studying Law.
But, unlike the graduates who abandoned their certificates because the courses were ‘imposed’ on them by their parents, Braimoh gladly gave up Philosophy and embraced the study of Law.
Decades after that decision, the amiable lawmaker is happy that he took his father’s advice. He was full of thanks to his father, whose pieces of advice, according to him, helped to shape his life and brought him to the height he has attained today.
“My dad wanted me to be a lawyer. He wanted to be a lawyer himself, but he couldn’t. My father couldn’t pursue his ambition because he was limited by funds. So, he wanted me to be one. I wasted so much time trying to be a lawyer. When I left secondary school, I had to do HSC. After completing my HSC, I went to the University of Ife to start a degree in Philosophy. I was satisfied with studying Philosophy, but my dad wasn’t. I spent two years studying Philosophy before I sat for JAMB to go to Ogun State University to study Law.”
Young Tunde began to reap from his decision to heed his father’s advice soon after he finished his Law degree.
“I would have probably forgotten that I was a student when I went to study Law. I thought he was forcing me then, but by the time I finished my study, I became happy because I started practising Law from my youth service days; I started appearing in court. I started earning salary when most of my colleagues spent between one and two years searching for jobs.”
Aside from the advice that shaped his academic career and indeed his future, Braimoh, with the benefit of hindsight, recalled how his adherence to his father’s pieces of advice encouraged him to be diligent and work towards having a happy home.
“My father’s advice cut across every area of my life. It was from him that I first heard the adage that says make hay while sun shines. Another was a stitch in time saves nine, but my dad will say saves plenty. One that is funny is that I should never chase a woman in the night and that I should never chase a woman sitting down because most of the time, the beauty of a woman transcends the face. If a woman is sitting down, you will not know her true posture.”
As a devout Muslim and handsome young man, Tunde Braimoh is a vintage lady’s man. But he confessed that he resolved not to have anything to do with polygamy.
He said: “Why I resolved to have just one wife is because I don’t like to stay too long with women. As a matter of fact, I was afraid when I was younger and had to confide in my grandmother that I used to get tired of women after dating them for some time. She then told me that the moment I see my choice, I will not get tired of her. And true to her words, when I saw my wife, I was never tired of her and up till now, I am not tired of her.
“One of my political mentors once told me that for me to succeed in life, I must not do two things with Lagos women. One is that I should not buy things on credit. That has remained my way of life till today. If you bring something for me to buy, I will not say let me take it and come back to give you the money. That is not me. What I have, I pay for.
“What I cannot fully pay for immediately, I will give some money as deposit and would not allow you to drop the goods with me. You can sell it if I don’t pay and return my money to me. If eventually you take something on credit and you are unable to pay, the people that begged you to take the goods on credit will disgrace you. Whatever you cannot pay for, you don’t buy. The second thing is that most people go out for what they can get from you.”
As a lawyer, Braimoh sees the profession as an opportunity to realise his ambition of helping people and leaving a legacy for his name and that of his children.
“As a lawyer, I have been able to help many people, especially in the kind of area I live in Ketu. So many people in the area don’t know their rights. That was what pushed me into politics. The people that I helped as a lawyer became a shield around me and said I should go and represent them, because I had assisted them a great deal.
“Back then, the police will go to a hotel and arrest a man for going to sleep with a woman early on Monday morning. They would say because he wasn’t going to work on Monday morning, then he must be a thief. Well, you may say morally it is wrong, but legally the man can sleep with a woman at any time he likes. What if the man in question worked night shift and is free in the morning?
“So, it is not enough to conclude that because a man was caught in a hotel on a Monday morning, he must be a thief. Immediately I heard about the case, I went there and facilitated his release. I made the police to realise that the man had the fundamental rights to be anywhere to enjoy his money. The Divisional Police Officer was apologetic and asked the man to go. The people didn’t know that it was their right and thought that I had performed a magic by coming to release the man. You can enjoy the wealth anytime, anyhow as long as you don’t have any skeleton in your cupboard.”
He added: “At times, the police would just come to the area and raid the people, levelling all manners of laughable allegations against them. They will pack all of them and dump them in the cell. The DPO would always release all the arrested people each time I went to the station on behalf of my people.
“I was just doing all those things out of my desire to assist the people and make them happy and not for pecuniary gains. I never collected a dime from them for rendering all those services. This prompted the people to say that I should be the local government chairman. It was not about having money, because I had no money. It was about what the people felt about me.”
Known for his good public speaking skills, Braimoh noted that oratory skills have nothing to do with making good laws. “The business of lawmaking is different from oratory. In law making, you just have to make your points that have substance. If you make oratory, people will laugh but at the end of the day, they may have to dish out your opinion.
“The points you make must be concrete and must be substantial. What is germane here is the point you want to establish because you are talking about law. Legislation is very powerful to make good or bad laws that can affect the entire life of the people. As a legislator, no matter how good you are at oratory, you should know what you should do and what you should not do.”
Relishing the benefits that the study of Law has brought to bear on his position as a lawmaker, he said: “Of course, from my election, it has come to bear. It played a major role in my election. You will remember that I was out of public office between 2002 and 2015. When I indicated my interest to contest, many people measured and endorsed me based on what they could remember that I was able to do when I was opportune to be a local government chairman. In politics, it is always cumulative. No exposure, no activity is wasted. You can reap it tomorrow. I thank God that people were able to reckon with what I did back then and endorsed me based on that. This is why I am trying my best to justify the confidence reposed in me by the people.
“The reward has always been there for me. Even when I was outside the government, the reward was there. People even know me much more as a local government chairman than a lawmaker. Many describe me first and foremost as a local government chairman, while many are not even aware yet that I’m an honourable member. The reward has always been there, even for my children in their various schools. Once they hear the name, Tunde Braimoh, the local government chairman, it opens door for them. “
Another thing that has helped him in life, he said, is his good conscience. According to him, “One thing about me is that I hate to cheat anybody. It is not because I am proud but it is because of my conscience. God has given me a conscience, that when I feel that I have cheated you out in a deal, I don’t sleep. And if out of a deal you have cheated me, I may be hurt but I will not retaliate. I will always sleep because I believe you are the one carrying the burden and not me. My take in all I do is to have happiness of mind. I believe it is only through prayer and by divine intervention that you can conquer in life. You cannot by thinking that you are smart conquer.
“The people that you assist are always the first to turn their back at you. A friend wanted to relocate to America and asked me for financial assistance. Although, I wasn’t buoyant, but I struggled to give him the money. The moment he got there, he severed relationship with me.
“Now, he is trying to find his way back to me when he heard that I am now in the House of Assembly. These are fair weather friends. There are friends and there are friends. In life, you will always need somebody no matter how powerful you are.”
In spite of the enormous demands of his office, Braimoh said he does not engage in anything extraordinary to get power to do his work. “I work and play together. I don’t rely on anything to give me extra-energy to do my work. Sometimes, we are in the office till midnight and even 1am working. When I have an opportunity to attend social functions, I take my time to relax there. So, work and play are interwoven for me.
“Nothing good comes easy. Since Adam ate the forbidden fruit, it has been said that from the sweat of a man he shall eat. If you don’t make efforts, you cannot make things work. It is part of our existence to make things work. God has been on our side in Lagos State House of Assembly, as we have never had any negative image since we came on board.
“The leadership of the House has been fantastic. The Honourable Speaker has more than a decade of legislative years from 1999 till date. If somebody has spent that number of years on a job, I am sure that if he is a university lecturer, he would have become a professor by now. We have so many other high-ranking officers that have accomplished a lot before they got to the House. I am also not a pushover in politics. We cannot manufacture events. Events happening are positive for the House. The House’s image is not mechanically made, it is being naturally made.”
