Tag: Sunny Ajose

Sunny Ajose happened twice upon this world. First, as a gamete, ruffling deep inside his mother’s womb. At his second dawning, he slipped through the birth canal into the beautiful lights of Sunday, February 10, 1946, thus unsettling the chaste universe of Hodonu Oluwafemi Ajose and his wife, Victoria Oladoyinbo (Nee Ojo).

Sunny was born when the grim bangle of life ornamented fallen cities, oceans and blades of grass. On his birthday, Marshall Islands Military Governor Commodore Ben Wyatt announced the forced relocation of Bikini Atoll’s 167 residents to allow atomic bomb testing on their homeland. He assured the unsuspecting villagers that their sacrifice was “for the good of mankind and to end all wars.” In reality, they were exiled into a harsh struggle for survival, scavenging for food across four islands.

A day earlier, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin had delivered his infamous Bolshoi Theatre speech, widely seen as the Cold War’s catalyst, where he subtly declared war on the United States. A month later, in March 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in a speech at Fulton, Missouri, introduced the term “iron curtain” while calling for a global alliance between Europe and the U.S.

Thus, it could be said that Ajose was birthed into a storm of intrigues. He was born at the dawn of the Cold War, and into a world politically divided by an ‘Iron Curtain.’

Against the backdrop of these disruptions, Ajose arrived as a bit of calm into his parents’ lives. Unlike the proverbial Ajantala whose impatient bulk pried his mother’s wearied uterus apart till he burst out carved like a demon in a cherub, Ajose invoked no tempest to rock his parents’ world. Rather he arrived to enrich his parents’ vestal lives.

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And so, it may be said that Ajose, who hailed from Wadon Compound of Boekoh Quarters in Badagry, Lagos, grew up to get his piece of the Nigerian dream by selective pitching of his social and intellectual roots in public service. A quintessential technocrat, Ajose believed that public service is far too precious and fundamental to be left to the whims of feckless characters, and preached constructive patriotism and altruism as a counteraction to the selfishness and greed that has overtime become the norm in some government circuits. Virtue, according to Ajose, should guide human conduct in governance, the economic, social and political circuits, rather than the exception. In and out of the public’s eye,  Ajose endeavoured to do good. But his deeds were neither done as an apology nor extenuation of his fortune and privileges in the world. Ajose did not propagate virtue as a penance for the perceived failings of the political class or the world’s privileged divide; he did not preach selective ethics or morality as a function of artifice, rather he propagated virtuousness as an intrinsic part of public service and humanity.

The true magic of this broken world, writes Michael Chabon, lies in the ability of the things it contains to vanish, to become so utterly lost that they might never have existed in the first place. It took the untimely death of  Ajose for his family, friends and political associates to discern the hidden essence of these words perhaps. By experiencing the loss of the elder statesman, our understanding of the transience of life deepens in real time.

There are no ordinary moments. Thus every moment spent with Ajose was pleasurable. You only have to ask any or all of his acquaintances. Talking about him in his biography penned by me, “The Sunny Side of Ajose,” Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, likened the experience of knowing him to opening a whole book of knowledge.

Governor Sanwo-Olu hailed Ajose as a perfect gentleman—hardworking, dedicated, and deeply passionate about Lagos. As a public servant, particularly as Head of Service, Ajose made invaluable contributions to the state’s development, earning well-deserved accolades. For former Lagos Governor and ex-Minister of Works Babatunde Raji Fashola, pinpointing Ajose’s most remarkable trait was no easy task.

Since their first meeting on August 16, 2002—the day Fashola assumed office as Chief of Staff to then-Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu—Ajose had profoundly shaped his understanding of the civil service. Fashola recalled his early days in office, overwhelmed by incoming files and correspondence, until Ajose meticulously guided him through ministry acronyms, department structures, and official procedures, marking the start of his civil service education.

In the foreword of Ajose’s biography, Fashola lauded his strong work ethic, calm demeanor, and exceptional leadership. He admired Ajose’s wisdom in both professional and personal matters, as well as his ability to manage people effectively. He fondly recalled how, late at night, the scent of suya from Ajose’s office served as a morale booster for his team, keeping them energized despite their fatigue.

Countless testimonials from former colleagues, subordinates, friends, associates, and mentees highlight Chief Sunny Ajose’s commendable work ethic and compassionate leadership. Olabisi Onala, an administrator in the Governor’s Office kitchen department, considers him a father figure, mentor, and guardian. She recalled how he had a way of turning tears into smiles and personally supported her education, funding her Master’s degree while emphasizing that financial constraints should never hinder one’s dreams.

If you could liken Ajose’s evolution to poetry, it would read like a lyric poem. It would be a stirring verse tacked within the notes of a radiant lyre. It would be a timeless lesson incised in the psyche, and replete with anecdotes worthy of sacred spaces in the bedroom, boardroom and classroom walls.

Think of it as a timeless tribute to an effervescent life force. Imagine it as a free verse brimming with history even as its stanzas beam with light and gradually evolve like a looking glass into the soul of the precocious child, that, grew into the triumphant man widely revered as Mr Circular.

Indeed, Ajose’s growth is circular. As his reflection evolves to attain completeness or fullness of form, each stanza of his life cradles different narratives. His  journey unfolds in rhythmic cycles, a story related in looping prosodies of growth. Each phase cradles a distinct essence, yet together they form a seamless whole. The prologue unveils his captivating persona, the foundation upon which he is remembered. Amidst intense lyricism, dazzling hues, and ornate lore gleams enthralling aspects of his southwestern heritage; ancient wisdom meets modern mores as the verse lines interchange morals and values, passed down from his great forbears.

The cadence deepens, pulsing with dialogues and discourses.

that excite and fulfil his hankering for knowledge and exceptional wisdom. Everything ranging from philosophy of education to public service and the strategic precepts of ancient and modern governance, crowd these chapters. The latter connotes the blooming of his rational mind, his perceptiveness and strong leadership skills.  Challenges trigger the proverbial moments of rupture—a jarring awakening that arrives, first with the loss of his father, sending shockwaves of grief through him. Yet, from this fracture, clarity is born.

Beneath his narrative are footnotes explaining the building plots of his masculinity and statesmanship; you would also find in this section his profound thesis on the ethics of public service as well as his superior logic on social re-engineering.

Though his journey may seem interrupted, it is far from incomplete. In his wake, his deeds continue to shape the world he left behind, etching his legacy in bold relief—his essence whole, his imprint indelible.

Some ballads bloom where they are birthed but only a handful thrive on the scenic coast of Badagry where Sunny Ajose spent part of his childhood. His narrative purrs like a ballad of the coastline; the boy who would grow up to become the most accomplished administrator of Lagos State public service was born on a speckled coast shadowed by the southern sun.

His family house stood rebelliously against nature’s elements; bordered by a restive beach, the steep rake of its tiled roof held courageously against the whipping of the sun and torrential rain. Watching the roof take a beating from the sun and the rain furnished his first imagery of perseverance against life’s punishing elements.

Years later, the lesson was reprised in his loss of a parent. That was his first brush with misery as a young adult. Ajose came to grips with the sad unpredictability of life: one minute you are busy, living, and the next, you are gone. That was a learning curve. Going forward, he rarely expected life to be magical. Unlike the frantic fantasist, he didn’t live for the illusionist’s promise that a garment shredded to bits may be mended without a seam, or that carnations consumed by fire may be tended to bloom atop the cinders.

Born February 10, 1946, his untimely demise on Thursday, January 16, 2025, served as a sorrowful punctuation in the annals of the Lagos State public service. Ultimately because his was a life plain-woven with purpose, one that embodied service, integrity, and unfaltering commitment to the ideals of humane governance.

To have known Hon. Dr. Akinsanya Sunny Ajose (OON) was to have walked through the passageway of wisdom; to have conversed with a man whose breadth of experience spanned decades of institutional reform and dedication to statecraft.

In 2023, during one of our numerous conversations, he justified his deep yearning to have his biography written—a testament to his legacy. His words were laced with a sense of urgency, not out of vanity but duty. He wanted younger generations of Lagos civil servants to drink from the wellspring of his wisdom, to understand that public service, when done right, is a sacred trust.

It was a sentiment reinforced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who constantly urged him to document his experiences for posterity. Tinubu, an architect of modern Lagos, understood that Ajose’s insights were invaluable blueprints for the future of governance in the state. And so, we embarked on this literary pilgrimage together—a journey that has now, painfully, outlived its subject.

Spending time with Pa Ajose was akin to stepping into a grand, unfolding maw of Lagos’s evolution. His words were never hurried; they were measured, deliberate, and laced with depth. He did not simply recount history, he animated it. Every recollection, every anecdote, was a lesson in resilience and public morality.

His ascension in the Lagos State Civil Service was not without its challenges. Appointed Head of Service in 2004 under Governor Tinubu’s administration, he inherited a civil service marred by fiscal constraints, infrastructural decay, and an entrenched culture of bureaucratic lethargy. Lagos was a colossus in motion, yet weighed down by inefficiencies that threatened its future.

The Lagos he spoke of was one grappling with a revenue intake of N600 million, a figure paltry in contrast to the metropolis’s ever-expanding needs. Slums sprawled across the cityscape, infrastructure was collapsing under the weight of neglect, and the civil service, the engine of governance, was in dire need of recalibration. Ajose did not flinch. He understood that reforming an institution as vast as Lagos’s civil service required both the scalpel and the sledgehammer—subtlety in some places, forceful restructuring in others. His leadership was marked by a meticulous dismantling of corrupt enclaves within the service. He spoke passionately of the motor vehicle registration department, a cesspool of fraud, which he determinedly sought to sanitize despite intense political pressure.

His commitment to due process wasn’t an abstract ideal, it was his guiding creed. Public service, he often said, was not a transactional endeavour but a transformational one. He preached selflessness, of the need to strip governance of selfish ambition and replace it with altruistic zeal. And Pa Ajose lived his theories. He was not merely a bureaucrat; he was a servant-leader, one who saw beyond the fleeting allure of power and embraced the enduring call of duty.

What struck me most during our sessions was the confluence of his brilliance and his humanity. Ajose was a man of many parts. He was a technocrat who understood the pulse of the people; an administrator who never lost sight of the human stories behind policy decisions. His interactions with junior colleagues, family, and political contemporaries bore the hallmark of a man who carried power with humility. He was a bridge between generations, a statesman whose counsel was sought after because it was rooted in sapience, not self-interest.

The lessons he imparted were clear: humility, passion, empathy, integrity, hope, and humaneness. These were not mere virtues to him; they were the scaffolding upon which he built his life. To Ajose, governance was an art, one that required a delicate balance of firmness and compassion. He was not merely interested in policies; he was invested in people. He understood that governance, at its core, was about elevating the human condition.

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His life’s work was to etch this philosophy into the soul of a flourishing civil service. Eventually, our numerous conversations and deep dives into his experiences, culminated in a biography: The Sunny Side of Ajose – Triumphs and Legacies of Hon. Dr. Akinsanya Sunny Ajose (OON). A title befitting a man whose life radiated warmth, wisdom, and inspiring devotion. It was meant to be unveiled on his 79th birthday, February 10, 2025. But the Almighty God, the Best of Planners, had a different plan. Though he did not live to witness its unveiling, the book remains a luminous guide, a parting gift to the civil servants of Lagos State, a lighthouse that will illuminate their paths long after Pa Ajose had taken his final bow.

Beyond his administrative acumen, Ajose was also a towering figure in Lagos politics. A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a member of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), he was the apex leader of the Badagry division. His political sagacity, tempered by years of public service, made him a unifying force within the Lagos APC. His dedication to the development of Badagry and Lagos at large earned him the respect of stakeholders across the state and beyond.

As we bid him farewell, my heart goes out to his venerable widow, Madam Arin Ajose, a woman of equivalent grace and fortitude. Theirs was a partnership marked by mutual respect and unswerving support, a bond that reflected the very essence and character of their wedlock. Her loss is profound, but so too is her legacy as the wife of a man whose impact will echo through generations.

Pa Ajose was no ordinary man; he was an institution. His life was a masterclass in leadership, a chronicle of service, and a reminder that the highest calling is not power, but purpose. His departure leaves a void, but his legacy fills his wake. And so, we mourn, but we also celebrate. For in the annals of Lagos State, in the ethos of its civil service, and the pages of literature, Ajose lives on.