Senator Gbenga Bareehu Ashafa, the Golden boy of Lagos politics, represents Lagos East in the Senate, covering five local government areas (Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ikorodu, Kosofe and Somolu) and eleven local council development areas (Agboyi-Ketu, Bariga, Eredo, Igbogbo- Baiyeku, Ijede, Imota, Ikorodu North, Ikorodu West, Ikosi-Isheri, Ikosi- Ejinrin, and Lekki). Going by his trajectory and the wish of his mother, whom he saw as his confidant, he is a fulfilled man at 60, having served at all the three tiers of government in flying colours. But he has one strong wish that must be achieved in his lifetime, and that is to see his political leader and mentor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu become institutionalized with “Bola-Tinubuism” becoming a course of study in the universities across Africa. This and more he puts across in this interview:
I grew up on the Lagos Island with my maternal grandmother. We had the Upper-middle class in the area. Although born a Muslim, I attended a Christian missionary school, CMS Grammer School. I was the only boy in the house. I lived with my maternal grandmother, who had a great influence in my upbringing would not allow me to go to a Muslim school because she was a beneficiary of the Christian education, and knew the value of education, not by going to school but by relationship with the likes of Ven. Adelaja. My maternal grandfather, Elemoro, went to King’s College. So they valued Christian education. When it was time to go to Secondary school, my grandmother showed her preference for CMS. And despite my gaining admission to Ahmadiyya and was still awaiting the CMS Grammer School result, being a Common Entrance at the time, she had already bought the things I would be taking to Ahmadiyya, but when the CMS result came, and two of us passed: Durojaiye Taiwo, very brilliant boy. He was the monitor of “A” and I, the monitor of “B.” But Taiwo was also admitted to King’s College. So, my grandmother now decided that I would not go to Ahmadiyya but CMS. In our set, 1968 set, I was the only won that went to CMS Grammer School. While at CMS, I was a member of the school choir, a chorister because we were being tutored right from the Christ Church Cathedral where I did my primary School. There was no discrimination among Muslims and Christians then. It was fun. We entered the chorister group by ourselves without being coerced. And I was very good, with the likes of Rasheed Benson and co. we were all supposed to be confirmed. Confirmation at CMS Grammar School was always a great party. We had an outing on Saturday and I came home with the confirmation letter. My grandma did not allow me to go back to school that day and personally took me back on Sunday. She went straight to the principal to plead that I be excused from the confirmation, being the only boy child of Lape. The Principal assented to her wish. She even went further to take permission that I would be going for the holy pilgrimage in Mecca and the principal equally granted it. Two weeks later, my passport and everything were ready and I became the first Muslim while in school to go on Holy Pilgrimage in Mecca with my mother and returned to school to continue my education. When I came back, deliberately I had the golden tooth. That was how they started calling me Alhaji at CMS Grammer School from Form 2 till I finished. But after my own experience, year a couple Muslim students followed suit from the following. I opened the floodgate. I came back with my head cleanly shaved, whereas I used to wear Afro prior to the trip, the senior students started giving me knocks. But I had a lot of seniors who were Muslims and they were protective, like Ade Oshodi. They were always hailing, calling me “Omo Alhaja.” My grandmother, a finicky personality with poise, was driving a Chevrolet car and was bringing me to school in it, the sound of the car was intimidating enough and that earned me some respect.
It was only after the death of my grandmother that I shifted to my real mother and she was also a great influence in my life and equally showered so much attention on me. She infused me with a lot of wisdom, She taught me Godliness, that everything is of God, and it is Him that designs and defines everything, but you must be up and doing. You must be able to know opportunity, grab it and use it maximally yet remaining humble and living within one’s means. She also taught me loyalty and sincerity and spirit of camaraderie. It is from her that my penchant for loyalty came. I don’t shift for ordinary courses.
We knew ourselves so well then, from Ita Tinubu to Olowogbowo, to Isale Eko, to Idumota, Idumagbo back to Adeniji Adele to Freeman. My family compound was at Freeman, Elemoro Compound at Cow Lane. We have our own Eyo Masqurade, Iga Elemoro. You will see me talking more of my maternal home because my father died very early when I was seven years. He was a very prominent merchant. My mother was the 7th wife. But the good thing was that my mother was from a very prominent family. From all intents and purposes, whenever I look at my life, I always see a roadmap that was designed and that God will use some people to let me know which way to go. I had my own down periods too.
Down period:
Sometime when I was in the Local Government, I had it up to the brim and became bored. I had spent about 8 years and felt like leaving. Some friends of my convinced me that I was too much for the LG even though I was enjoying all I was doing up to that point. I was the secretary of the tenders’ board, I was the secretary of the Council Meeting (Exco), Secretary of the Finance and General Purposes Committee of the Council where I was, that was the Lagos Mainland Local Government under Alhaji Babatunde Rotinwa, who later became head of service. Prior to that time, I had the opportunity of working directly with the boss of any council that I worked. My first boss was Alhaji M. A. Kotun at Surulere LG. He was a renowned lawyer. When he left, I worked with Chief Rasheed Olu Ajayi. They discovered something in me and I was enjoying my job though most of my friends with whom I studied abroad were working in the banking sector. Most of them were at BCCI, which was then the real bank to work. The Dehinde Brownes, Gbolahan Bakares, Tokosis, Akin Kekere Ekun, Fola Adeola, Tayo Aderionkun, etc. They were making the money, we were having enormous influence. No one does anything without recourse to the LG for letters.
My mum, who was my confidant, then asked me why I wanted to leave, and I told her that I just wanted to go and work in a company and she gave me her blessing. I was happy that I got an appointment with a Commodity Company dealing in Cocoa, Ile Oluji, Lagos etc. My boss then, Chief Olu Ajayi refused to let me go, held my resignation letter for one year thinking I would come back. He asked me what I actually wanted from live that I was not getting, He felt I was just one of the Lagosians that they were training to succeed them and should not leave at such an early stage. But I was just ready to go. I told my boss that I would only feel fulfilled if after working at the Local Government level, work at the corporate level and God-willing come back to work at the state and then federal government levels. My boss wondered how that would be possible.
I was lucky at the company that took me. My friend, a young guy, was the overall executive vice chairman and gave me an inroad as the procurement officer. And then I had the opportunity of going abroad, ED&F Man, doing commodities, doing other things on the side until the commodity business crashed in 1996. Then we started thinking of coming back to Lagos. By that time the military had started thinking of opening up the frontiers for politicians to come in.
Politics:
I had known Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu while we were in the United States. I was in Lagos, but he, through the NADECO wahala, had gone away. The only politician we were looking at in Lagos then was Funsho Williams. Everybody was saying that he would be the next Governor. But when Bola Ahmed came back, I started shifting my allegiance to him. I told my other friend, Chief Babatunde Daramola, an ardent supporter about my interest in Tinubu. As a matter of fact, Chief Daramola encouraged me to come into politics. I told him that wherever Bola Tinubu is in politics whenever he comes back, that is where I am going to be. So when it was decided that Tinubu was going to run, I told Mola that he, Tinubu, would emerge as the next governor of Lagos State, but my friend disagreed saying it was Funsho Williams. That was how we parted ways politically, though we are still friends up till tomorrow.
Tinubu came in; I had played my major role at that time. When he became Governor-elect, he assigned me, along with some others, to give him a blueprint on the reformation of the Local Government. I delivered the paper way back then. He never promised to make me a Commissioner but I was hoping seriously that he would make me one, since he knew me, knew my background and I knew him, we shared common friends and common “Egbons.” When the list was to come out, he told me, and I am quoting him here: “Ashafa, you know what? I know you that you will accept what I am going to tell you. It might be painful, but you will not make the list of commissioner. You are going back to the system, where you are most prominent. You are coming with me at the state level. So he advised me as the governor-elect to apply directly to the state on the basis of my colleagues still in active service, he promised to bring me in on whatever level my colleagues were. His idea was that I was to convert the civil service to his side. Anyone conversant with the civil service then would realize that the civil service belonged to Funsho Williams. The civil service was hostile to Tinubu when he first came in. They didn’t really know him. I was put in charge of the Local Government and I was managing the relationship. I was put in charge of the Local Government Councils meeting with him every week. Particularly when the Deputy Governor then was hostile to him, the work of the Deputy Governor was on my table as the Director of operations, Governor’s Office. Alhaji Lai Mohammed was the Chief of Staff. Late Erogbogbo was the Permanent secretary. I was taken in as a director on Grade Level 16, yet I didn’t have an office. Eventually, it was Baba Odujoko, who was the DFA then, remembered that I had assisted him at the LG council when I was at Ikeja LG that volunteered to share his office with me. This same Baba Ojo, who is now Chief of Staff to Governor Ambode, was a Director. He carved out a 12 by 12 space for me out of the room belonging to the accounts department at the prodding of Baba Odujoko I was in the Admin. Ambode and I were together in the Local Government. He was already in the system and I met him there. He was delighted to have me around. I sat with Baba Odujoko for about 2 months studying files. I was learning, because this is now the state and I was determined to do everything possible for me to excel. I looked forward to becoming a commissioner but here I am and I took it with equanimity, since I was now in the state where I prayed to be. Some of my friends were making fun of me and my office. If you saw my office while at the LG, my office at the private sector, then you would understand why they were making fun of me. I came home to take my furniture and TV to my office just to make it look comfortable. The room then was Room 29 and that room became the most popular room after the round house (Governor’s office) in that enclave. It was very popular. And when the opportunity opened to put somebody in the most important agency, Lands and Allocation Committee office, the governor saw me as the most trusted person to be put there. I was now in charge of Lands in Lagos, and issuing letters of allocations. To me, my mother’s prediction was coming to pass.
As Perm Sec:
I spent 5 years in charge of Lands as executive secretary and then the governor made me Perm Secretary. This is the first time someone will be moving from Executive Secretary to Permanent Secretary in Lands back to back. Others may have transmuted from Executive Secretary to Permanent Secretary but not immediately afterwards. I will attribute this to a combination of loyalty, performance, merit and, again, divined intervention. It was one of my down periods, when people started to beef me for being executive secretary in Lands and Permanent Secretary in Lands!
When I assumed office in 2001 as the executive Secretary, our IGR was N600,000. As an accountant and Forensic Auditor, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu called a meeting of all revenue agencies and gave us targets and told us that he had done his own homework and discovered the leakages in the system. Each agency was given a time lag to go and block the leakages failing which you will be moved. So individual initiatives now came in. On my part, I discovered that there were touts all over with fake letters because to get letters of allocation was a problem. So I had to liberalise letters of allocation. I restructured them. Instead of Letters of Allocation, you now have Letters of Offer and you don’t have plot and block numbers on those letters until you have accepted and paid, you now bring your letters back and get Letters of Confirmation, which is now you Letter of Allocation with the plot and block number on it. I must say that I had good hands in the civil servants I met there. I was holding meeting every Monday morning with my staff. Everybody was taken along. It was through them we broke the syndicate of those touts selling our letters of allocation. We were able to distinguish the authentic documents from the fake ones. When that was done, the IGR doubled the following year. By the time I left, the IGR had risen to N18 billion within a period of 9 years. I owe the success to Ashiwaju Tinubu who gave me the latitude to display the initiatives.
Innovations:
We introduced the Electronic Documentation Management System (EDMS). That was while Mrs Nike Animashaun was Director Lands Services. She is now a Permanent Secretary. We also introduced the 30-days’ consent. Before my time you can spend 3-5 years to secure the consent. That is, changing the title. Along the line files could be lost. We introduced a tracking system and we were able to put it in the public purview. And there was a complaint room, for genuine ones. If for one reason or the other a file had spent more than one week on a table, don’t put your name but the file number and the name of the officer. Things worked. Lands was seen as the model agency that other agencies were copying. Of course we had from outside Lagos coming to study what we doing in Lagos, especially the EDMS and the 30-days Governor’s consent. And of course, it was the initiative behind the jump in revenue. While I was there, aside from tax, the Lagos Inland Revenue Service, Lands was Number 2. I think my successor, Akim Muri Okunola, who took over from me and I think he is going to break my record. Babatunde Raji Fashola who succeeded Ashiwaju Tunubu did well too.
During my 50th birthday, Ashiwaju Tinubu wrote a good commendation letter about me. Reading it, you can almost guess what happened while I was in the Lands
On Tinubu:
I thank God almighty for giving me the opportunity of working with Ashiwaju Tinubu. I won’t say “for” because he doesn’t people saying they work for him. Some of us copied a lot from him. In the 30 years that I can remember vividly what politics is, that would be half my age, I have not seen a Nigerian that has expended so much energy, so much resources, so much intellectual capability and capacity to free his people. I am not talking about Southwest alone. Whoever is saying Ashiwaju Tinubu is a regional leader is just being mischievous. He has demonstrated statesmanship, leadership at the highest level such that can be compared to any leader that has fought to free his people and give them freedom in any part of the world. There should be a course of study that should be called Bola-Tinuism, just like Awoism, Zikism, Ahmadau Belloism, not only in Nigeria but in Africa.
For those who think the star of Ashiwaju Tinubu can be dimmed at this period, they are killing themselves. The reason is that his political prowess has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria a long time ago. Go all over and you will know what he has done politically. They are studying him and they are developing their own countries. So, why are we not doing the same here? It is pure envy and the earliest they come to terms with what God gas given the world in Bola Ahmed Tinubu who happens to be a Nigerian and who happens to be a Yorubaman, the better. I am lucky to have worked with him and know him this much. I never thought I would sit down and talk about him like this. A lot of people will be shocked that Ashafa has opened up on Tinubu. I have never seen a man so generous. I have been hearing about MKO Abiola. I am talking from what I have seen, known, felt, suffered and enjoyed him. I have seen him down, crying, not for something of his own but for a disappointment that should not have been. Even Jesus Christ said you would see my disciples denying me at a point. Ashiwaju is human. He has his shortcoming. Once or twice I have seen him apologized. For those who are now backstabbing him over something that we did together. You thought it could not happen and he was the first to think it out, take it out and walk the talk. All of a sudden you want to demean and bring him down. It won’t happen. All they are asking him to do is to give them space to destroy him. Even his deadliest enemy will give it to him,, but they will turn around and say, but he should give us our own space. Bola Tinubu did not get to where he is overnight.
Tinubu is so blessed that if you look at the wife Senator Oluremi Tinubu, you will see the spirituality that is backing Bola Ahmed Tinubu in her. She is not just an epitome of beauty outside, she is spiritually. And whatever credit you give to Ashiwaju Tinubu, it should be shared with her.
Homefront:
My wife plays a great role in my affairs. I will be 36 years old in marriage on November 27 this year. My first child is 36 years old. The second one is 34. Then there is a long gap, seven years befoe the last one came. I also have an adopted daughter who is 37 years. Altogether, they have produced 5 beautifu grand children. Four girls, one boy.
At the Senate
On the bicameral legislative system vis a viz the nation’s economy. Yes people have criticized it on the ground of expenses. But, looking at my background, you will see that I am a man of the system. In whatever we do, I will always look for the guidelines. What did we, as a country, opt for constitutionally? It we opted constitutionally to go democratic through the presidential system, why can’t we put in all it takes to make sure it works. We done the parliamentary and it still didn’t work. As a member of the ad hoc committee on Finance, the major role is to see how we at the national assembly can take a cue from the president and the vice president and cut down on our expenses. On our own part, the 109 senators, we are going ahead to do it. And I am sure whatever the senators do, other parliamentarians, both at the national and states level.
Crisis at the National Assembly:
I am a member of the Senate Unity Forum, meaning that I supported the candidacy of Senator Lawan and George Akume as President and Deputy President of the Senate respectively. And of course I believe very much in the party supremacy and the rule of law. Otherwise if I don’t, what am I doing in the Upper Chamber as lawmaker if I DON’T BELIEVE IN THE LAW THAT I WOULD BE MAKING in the first place? As much as I respect the views and choices of my other colleagues, politics is fluid. By tomorrow, some of them may be part of us and some of can be part of them. When we started, it was healthy to have brothers to compete for a post. Someone would emerge. The issue of zoning came up but it wasn’t resolved/ Up until now, it remains a speculation that some governors recommended that senate presidency position must go to a particular zone, but it was neither mentioned nor confirmed up till now. So it was still healthy to have two people from different zones competing for a post. Someone will emerge. At a point, both zones agreed that there must be a mock election. Before the mock election, everyone was strategizing to see that their group emerge winner. There we about 4 of them competing for the position. In order for the Senate Unity Forum to have the cutting edge, we entered into coalition and agreements that took us extensive meetings. Eventually, we came up out the duo of Lawan and Akume, as president and Senate Deputy President respectively. And we were ready for the mock election, which in the real sense of it was being touted by the other group, the Like minds. Day of the mock election came, party leadership and those who were to conduct the elections were there. We were there as the Senate Unity Forum, but the other group refused to show face. And the election went as scheduled because there were 59 of us APC Senators in the first place. 36 were seated. All the 36 that were there were for the Lawan Group. If the others were present, there would still have been a clear winner. The election was carried out and it was unopposed at the mock level for Lawan. Couple of hours’ after, that same night, the other group issued a press release that they would rather wait till the day of proclamation. What our party was trying to do was to come out with one single candidate because of the close chase of the minority PDP with 48 senators. That margin was not too comfortable. If we come out with two candidates against their one candidate, they will emerge the winner in a senate where we happen to be in the majority. All entreaties to make them see reasons that we should come together, accept moving forward and see what can be done in terms of principal officers and committee failed and they decided to go the whole hog. In order to mitigate that stance from both sides, the Vice President opted to intervene and a meeting was called for the following day and it was relayed to everybody, The Unity Forum all were at the hall for the meeting but they failed to turn up. All in the bif of trying to see I there can be reconciliation before the day of proclamation, five members were selected from each group to form the reconciliatory committee. I happen to be one of those in our group. We had meetings till the following day. At a point there was stalemate, not knowing that they had had an alliance with the PDP and were merely using delay tactics. Before 7 am in the morning, another alert came out that the president had arrived and would want to meet with all of us before we go the election and we all went to ICC to meet with president. All our party leaders and principal officers were there, only for somebody to rush in to tell us that the senate had started the election without other members. The rest is history. I am on the side of due diligence, due process, supremacy of the party and discipline. Now, it didn’t stop at that. When we conveyed, the party leadership, in trying not to let the problem explode said, ok, we would come back to that, but in order to ensure that the other groups are carried along, we have decided in line with the relevant provisions of the senate rules, that this is how you should share the principal offices. The Chairman signed the letter to the Senate President, which he was supposed to read. On the day, that was 24th of June, when the Senate President announced, as a ranking Senator, I knew the process of the day’s order. Immediately I saw that he didn’t read that letter from the party chairman, I raised up my hand and I called his attention to a point of order, Order 15 under Privileges and he called me. And I explained it. I put him on notice about Order 15 first and foremost and that I will be joining 28(1) 29(1) 30(1) 31(4). I asked if I should read and he gave me the go ahead. And I read through everything. And I said, God may have put you there, but you need to do the right thing and this is the time and the right thing to do right now is for you to announce the content of the letter written by out party leadership and signed by the party chairman in order to solve the leadership crisis in this senate. He overruled Senator Gbenga Ashafa on that day and the vibration of that overrule went round the whole world. Nobody expected it. That would have solved the problem that we have right now, because he would have told the PDP group trying to put Nigeria in an uncomfortable situation that he happened to be a true democrat, a statesman and a man that would stand for discipline and supremacy of the party that put him there. He failed to do so. Senator Kabir Marafa stood up and called his attention to the fraud in the senate rules. And called his attention to the rule on ranking and the various changes that the made that was not to the knowledge of the serving senators who were in the 7th session. Again he overruled him. Of course there are procedures and processes in our country. We have not come this long to be called a banana republic
We need to thank God however that what we have witnessing reared its head at this early stage so we have enough time to quench the fire. Right now, everybody is waiting for the resumption. The Senate President, Senator Bola Saraki, said that by the time we would resume, everything would have been resolved, that this is a political family. Do you see any implication that anything has been resolved? Well, let us hope this will come to pass. Then there was another issue raised based on this same fraudulent amendment that all committees would be shared equally among zones. There was no time this was discussed in the 7th session. It’s like trying to destroy the system. We are talking about democracy, about politics. There must be spoils of war. Why didn’t they do this when PDP was in the majority? I am feeling that this time around, the PDP agitating for this have gone beyond their bounds, even the Senate President. It is all in the name of trying not to make the system work, because it didn’t work for them. And they will fail. The indication that they will fail is the action taken by President Muhammadu Buhari in the sacking of the sacking of the Service Chiefs and the immediate appointment of new ones in acting capacity. What is common to the new ones is intelligence, intelligence, intelligence…All the five of them including the NSA have intelligence training, which is the pivot of fighting the kind of terrorism that we have. I am sure that when the ministerial list finally comes out, Nigerians will be proud of making PMB their president.
Nigeria in 2020:
The problem that would have consumed Nigeria mid-way has reared its head early enough. Once we are able to take care of all these, I am telling you that by the end of the first term of PMB, Nigerians would start asking themselves why they didn’t take Ashiwaju Tinubu serious when 10 years ago he gave us the blueprint on how to move Nigeria forward and become great among comity of nations. That blueprint is already on ground and has produced PMB. That blueprint will bring economic rejuvenation in a manner that the economy of Nigeria will be restructured. Not a situation like we witnessed in the Jonathan regime when they could not even tell us how much Nigeria was worth. That blueprint will create jobs for Nigerians, particularly the youths that are crying out in their thousands. The same blueprint will put agriculture in the forefront, not the paper agriculture we witnessed. It will give us infrastructural development in a manner that FDI will be flowing in. Now tell me, when Nigerians can tell you in a couple months from this time that there is significant improvement in electricity generation, how would the industries, artisans and the rest of them, the vocational institutes in which I have a very deep passion feel. I want to be able to establish a vocational centre in my name in the next four years to celebrate my 60s. So, in the next 5 years and given the foundation PMB is laying now by not jumping the gun and just bringing in all sorts of people with no clue about problems of Nigeria, then I am happy to be a Senator in the 8th session and I would do my own bit and would rub irt off on some of my colleagues to let us sacrifice whatever we can for Nigeria to witness a great leap. This is the best country any Nigerian can be. Even those doing all these destructions cannot afford to live outside Nigeria.
I am a lawmaker and a law abiding citizen. Whatever the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria prescribes, so be it. If it allows you to move to 10 parties within 10 months, so be it. If the statement by the Acting INEC chairman is constitutional, so be it. Like Prof Bolaji Akinyemi rightly said, we must now be looking for Nigerian-coloured democracy. The one that will fit us perfectly well.
Words for coming generations:
I will want our emerging youths to have the fear of God in whatever they do. That is very, very important. Even in the United States, as much as a lot of people don’t see them as worshipping God, their motto says: In God we trust. The emerging youths must realize that they a not Nigerians by accident. They are Nigerians by divine arrangement. And they must do everything possible to ensure that this country remains the best place for any Nigerian to live in. An average Nigerian must put Nigeria first after God.
