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Tag: Tunji Bello

  • UI Alumni Awards for Tunji Bello, LASU VC

    UI Alumni Awards for Tunji Bello, LASU VC

    Executive Vice Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Mr. Tunji Bello and his wife, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji Bello, are to be honoured with awards by the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA) Worldwide.

    The ceremony will hold today in Abuja.

    According to a statement, Professor Olatunji-Bello, the Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU), was nominated for the highly coveted “Worthy Ambassador” Award in recognition of her outstanding leadership, exceptional service, and significant contributions to academic excellence and institutional growth under her leadership.

    This award celebrates alumni who exemplify purposeful leadership and have made impactful contributions to both national development and higher education in Nigeria.

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    Her husband will be honoured with the “Meritorious Service” Award, acknowledging his exemplary leadership as a newspaper editor, philanthropy and dedication to public service. His impactful roles, being Commissioner with the Lagos State government at various times, Secretary to the Lagos State Government, and his current role with the Federal Government highlight his unwavering commitment to public accountability, institutional strengthening, and governance transparency.

    Mr. Bello is also an accomplished lawyer.

    The ceremony will be chaired by Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, with special honourees such as Vice President Kashim Shettima, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, among other distinguished leaders.

  • Tunji Bello: Giving back

    Tunji Bello: Giving back

    It was a striking story that justifiably grabbed the headlines: the donation of a new auditorium to Lagos State University (LASU), Epe Campus. The giver, Tunji Bello, a former journalist, lawyer and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), may well have pictured the public applause before the event because the gift was indeed applaudable.

     Officially named the Olatunji-Bello Auditorium, the multipurpose facility is reported to have a capacity of more than 500 seats. The story indirectly began in 2011 when Bello was serving as Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment in the Governor Babatunde Fashola administration. That was the year he turned 50, and “had committed to instituting an annual prize in five disciplines, namely Law, Mass Communications, Social Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,” he said in his speech during the official unveiling of the facility.

    Ten years later, he wanted to do more to mark his 60th birthday in July 2021. At the time, he was Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources in the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration. He said “the idea of throwing a big party to mark the occasion was completely off the table.” His wife, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, Vice Chancellor of LASU, had suggested “building something for LASU to mark my 60th birthday.” She had not become the VC then. She was appointed in September 2021.

    He eventually bought the idea, “after much reflection,” and imagined “an auditorium, truly befitting and fit for purpose.” However, the architect’s budget for the project “frightened” him and he was “filled with doubt as per the feasibility of going ahead.”

    Then he had a brainwave about how to actualise the project. He narrated: “After days of wrestling with the architect’s budget in my head, it suddenly occurred to me I could ask those going to buy me gifts for the 60th birthday to monetise such and hand me the cash to do something really dear to my heart.

    “It worked. A very wealthy friend and known businessman had wanted to surprise me with a brand- new Toyota Land-cruiser Jeep. I appealed to him to convert it to cash. With donations from other able friends and well-wishers, we got started in 2021.”

    Midway into the construction of the auditorium, unforeseen storms threatened to disrupt work. Bello said: “The toughest moment was late 2023 and early 2024 when the Naira went down, and inflation upset all previous calculations. It meant that the costs were almost tripled at the point of buying finishing materials.”

    The new challenges called for greater sacrifice. “To continue, I had to sell my property at Magodo estate to keep the workers on site in order that it may not become an abandoned project after three years of construction,” he revealed.  Selling his personal property, especially one in a high-value area like Magodo estate, elevated the donation to an investment in education

    This context about how an idea became a concrete reality reinforces the significance of Bello’s philanthropy. The journey from initial concept to a completed building, with all its challenges, highlights that Bello is not just a donor but a true project champion.

    The most remarkable detail is that he had to sell his personal property to ensure the project’s completion. This act transforms his philanthropy from an act of generosity to a profound personal sacrifice. It demonstrates a level of commitment that is rare and inspiring, and shows how far he was willing to go to prevent the project from becoming a failure.

    By seeing the project through all its phases, he ensured that the university received a fully functional, high-quality facility. This commitment guarantees that his contribution will serve students and the community for years to come, truly cementing his legacy. The completed auditorium will stand as a physical reminder of his dedication and serve as a venue for generations of learning and community events.

    In addition, he announced to the students that a communications company owned by one of his friends would provide “free Wi-Fi at the auditorium to enhance your learning experience”; and another’s management company would handle the maintenance of the auditorium and its facilities for a year before LASU authorities “assume full responsibilities.” 

    Interestingly, he mentioned three figures whom he regards as inspirational philanthropic models: his late father,  Alhaji Azeez Olatunji Bello, who, “in the early 1950s,”  donated a “vast tract of land” towards the building of Ansar Ud DeenCollege at Isolo in Lagos; his “late boss and mentor, Bashorun MKO Abiola, winner of June 12, Presidential Election, who, on a single day in the late 80s, announced an endowment for universities across Nigeria; and “our dear President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, on assumption of duties as governor in 1999, declared that all his salaries and allowances be donated to charities including orphanages. He had also about four years ago announced an endowment fund of one billion naira to this great university.” 

    Bello hoped the auditorium will inspire the students “to double your zeal to excel in your academic pursuit.” He declared that the donation was to express appreciation “to God Almighty for his grace and to my dear native Lagos State for the great opportunities given to me.”

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    He was “one of the beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government’s scholarship award as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan in the early 1980s,” he noted, adding that he later had the privilege “to serve in public office in various capacities.” He also served as a commissioner in the state under then governor Bola Tinubu, and was Secretary to the Lagos State Government in the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration.

    He argued that “Private individuals who really have the means should invest in public tertiary education to create more opportunities as prevalent in several developed countries.”

    What would Nigeria look like if its citizens, especially those who have financial power, appreciated the burden of blessing and the implications for social giving and social development? Socially purposeless wealth is a tragedy.

    It is popular to argue for speaking truth to power. What about speaking truth to the power of money? This should be built on the socially influenced and socially influential logic of giving back to society.  It suggests that demanding measurable social responsibility from the financially powerful is not necessarily inspired by a sense of entitlement; but there is a sense in which it is a social entitlement.  It does not need to be imposed because it is properly self-imposing. 

    The beauty of Tunji Bello’s giving is that it was driven more by a deep sense of social responsibility than the possible possession of surplus wealth. This is a compelling story of imagination, conviction, faith, determination and resilience.

  • Tunji Bello, the cheerful donor

    Tunji Bello, the cheerful donor

    • It is only selfless service that could have made TB gift a 550-seater ultra-modern auditorium to LASU

    I had thought I would need speeches delivered by some of the eminent personalities at the formal handover of the state-of-the-art auditorium presented to the Lagos State University (LASU) by the donor, Mr Olatunji Bello (known as TB among his colleagues), the vice chairman/chief executive officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), to write this piece. But, I changed my mind after reading Bello’s own speech and his wife’s address at the occasion. What they said met every criterion I was looking for to write this column; from the philosophical to the scriptural, the moral, the philanthropic and what have you. You would see evidence of Bello’s journalistic expertise and experience all rolled into one, and his wife’s erudite address just adequate to serve as raw materials for a piece like this. 

    Intentionally or unintentionally, Bello’s speech answered the questions of what we call the ‘Five Ws’ in news writing: What? Where? When? Who and Why! Sometimes we may add the How?  You begin to see evidence of this right from the title of the speech:  ‘Why I built auditorium for LASU’.

    I was at the ceremony, so I could still remember some of the interesting things said by some of the people present, if necessary.

    Permit me, therefore, to begin from the beginning. And that is going to be straight from the horse’s mouth: ” Let it be recognised that we are not just commissioning a chamber to impact knowledge, but also witness, firsthand, the force of faith, the prophetic power of the tongue and what is possible when we all commit to the pursuit of public good.” That was Bello speaking.

    But the auditorium is not his first philanthropic duty to education. When he clocked 50 in 2011, he instituted an annual prize in five disciplines dedicated exclusively to brilliant but indigent students of Lagos State origin in the university, at least so they would not drop out of their academic pursuit simply on account of their parents’ inability to sponsor them. As his wife, Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, who, incidentally is the vice-chancellor of the university noted in her speech at the ceremony, ”This donation compliments his annual N100,000 endowment for the best graduating students in the Faculty of Engineering, Social Sciences, Mass Communication, Law and MBBS Degree Examination at our Convocations.” This annual prize is running till date.

    It was in TB’s quest to do something bigger that the idea of the auditorium came into focus. When his amiable wife mooted the idea of the auditorium, little did she know she would be the vice-chancellor at the time it would be handed over to the university.  So, it is only fortuitous that she is not witnessing the handover as an observer or very important visitor, but as the donor’s spouse and vice-chancellor. 

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    But it is one thing to have an idea; it is another to bring it to fruition. Because nothing good comes easy, the cost implications initially scared Bello after it was presented to him by the architect. But, as they say, ‘where there is the will, there is a way’. But it is not all the time that even that will comes easy. In Bello’s case, it involved personal sacrifice, which was heavy, too. For TB, there was only one option if he was to reach his goal of delivering a befitting auditorium to LASU; that was to merely mark, (not celebrate) his 60th birthday the way a politician of his status would. Otherwise, he would have spent a fortune just as he would have reaped a fortune that he may decide to keep in his bank account, from the celebration, instead of investing it in humanity.   

    It was at this point that the Miracle Worker intervened and deposited the idea of what to do to raise money for the project in Bello’s mind. Again, listen to TB: ”But when God gives you a vision, God Almighty will also provide the means in miraculous ways. Of course, God’s miracle sometimes comes by having some brilliant ideas suddenly deposited in your mind. After days of wrestling with the architect’s budget in my head, it suddenly occurred to me I could ask those going to buy me gifts for the 60th birthday to monetise such and hand me the cash to do something really dear to my heart.”

    Bello is not done.

    ”It worked. A very wealthy friend and known businessman had wanted to surprise me with a brand new Toyota Land-cruiser Jeep. I appealed to him to convert it to cash. With donations from other able friends and well-wishers, we got started in 2021.”

    Things appeared to be going smoothly until late 2023 when fuel subsidy withdrawal and the merger of the foreign exchange markets inevitably led to price hikes. In government parlance, they would need to do cost variation. TB was faced with this problem as well. But he persevered, believing that God would never start a thing He cannot finish.

    ”The toughest moment being late 2023 and early 2024 when the Naira went down and inflation upset all previous calculations. It meant that the costs were almost tripled at the point of buying finishing materials. To continue, I had to sell my property at Magodo Estate to keep the workers on site in order that it may not become an abandoned project after three years of construction.”

    As he said, ” To God be the glory, the rest is history.”

    But the rest is not just history; the end-product is the N500 million 550-seater magnificent edifice that is sitting majestically beside the Faculty of Environmental Sciences on the Epe Campus of LASU: the Tunji Bello Auditorium: The reason for the gathering of dignitaries who had honoured Bello with their presence at the handover ceremony on August 20. These included Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his deputy, his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, the Minister of Education, Mr. Tunji Alausa, former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, among others. 

    This piece cannot be complete without some mention of TB’s wife, Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, for two reasons. One is the biblical injunction of ‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder’. Beyond that is the axiom that ‘beside every successful man is a successful woman’. This is true of Tunji Bello.

    An elated Prof Olatunji-Bello could not but show her gratitude to her husband: ”this facility represents more than architectural beauty; it is a strategic investment in academic excellence and institutional identity. It reinforces the fundamental truth that when we invest in education, we invest in tomorrow’s leaders. Hon. Tunji Bello has, through words and deed, inscribed his name in the permanent record of LASU’s growth story.” She added: ”For a campus housing the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, and School of Agriculture, this auditorium marks a significant milestone toward achieving Goal 3 of our administration: making infrastructural facilities available and accessible for seamless academic and administrative operations.”

    Expectedly, the vice-chancellor did a lot of advertisement for her university, among which is that today, it stands as Nigeria’s most preferred university, with a diverse student body of over 60,000, brilliant, and ambitious. Of course, she also seized the opportunity to mention some of the university’s needs, top of which is electricity supply. There cannot be a more auspicious occasion to mention all of those needs than when the governor, Sanwo-Olu, is physically around, the first of its kind to the university campus in his official capacity as Visitor.

    True, LASU has seen significant improvements all over since she came on board as vice-chancellor in September 2021. To go beyond these would attract passing a bill to the university to pay. But this is not the time for that.

    At this juncture, the question: who are TB’s models in philanthropy? Usually, people have role models that inspire them to go into the kind of philanthropy that Bello has done. These included his late father, Alhaji Azeez Olatunji Bello who donated a large parcel of land to accommodate what we now know as Ansar Ud Deen College at Isolo in Lagos, in the 1950s. Then, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, who, according to TB ”on a single day in the late 80s, announced an endowment for universities across Nigeria.”

    We also have incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who, when he was Governor of Lagos State, donated his salaries and allowances to the cause of charities, including orphanages. About four years ago, he also announced an endowment fund of one billion naira to LASU.

    We have all of these people to thank for their impactful lifestyle on TB. But Prof Olatunji-Bello seems the person to thank most. Most women in her position would have gone for vanity when a crucial decision like the one that led to the donation of the Olatunji Bello Auditorium arose. Many women would have gone for the ‘owanbe’ party that people would long have forgotten about, even if they had served guests with elephants and human flesh. Like my father would always say, the greeting is usually the same: ‘e ku inawo ana’ (congratulations on the success of yesterday’s event), irrespective of what you served the guests! 

    As a matter of fact, a colleague of mine and I saw at least two examples of the vanity that life or excessive material accumulation could become, especially when the original owner dies, when we were returning from the handover event on Wednesday. We could not but help bemoan the plight of the deceased owners of those edifices, seeing all they laboured for becoming desolate only a few years after their passage. I want to become this; I want to build an empire on four football fields; it’s all vanity when death comes. That person would be taken out of the mansion when he dies and sometimes people who did not know how he made it would start struggling with the children for the mansions.

    But Olatunji Bello Auditorium will continue to speak long after TB would have gone because many generations are going to sip from the well that would dispense knowledge in the place for the benefit of the country and humanity at large. What he has done for LASU and people that have had cause to cross his path would be the legacies that he would leave behind.  

    Bello has benefitted so much from Lagos and it is good he realised the importance of giving back to Lagos and even beyond, part of what he benefitted. Nigeria would be a better place if our wealthy people invest in education rather than frivolities.

  • Architecture of a sacrificial giver: Tunji Bello and the power of purposeful giving

    Architecture of a sacrificial giver: Tunji Bello and the power of purposeful giving

    • By Olabode Opeseitan

    In a country where wealth often masquerades as virtue and philanthropy is too frequently tethered to ego, Tunji Bello’s donation of a 550-seater auditorium to Lagos State University (LASU) is a quiet revolution. It is not the size of the gift that stuns—it is the source. By every reasonable measure—whether by asset declarations, Forbes rankings, or real estate holdings—Tunji Bello is not among Nigeria’s wealthiest citizens. Yet, he has done what perhaps fewer than 10 Nigerians have ever done: build a legacy structure for a public university—not with surplus, but with sacrifice.

    The story began in 2021, when Bello turned 60. While many would have marked the milestone with opulence, he chose introspection. He saw the infrastructural gap in LASU—not as a statistic, but as a wound in the national conscience. With no clear funding arc, he took a leap of faith. He made his intentions known to LASU authorities, rallied friends, converted birthday gifts into donations, and when inflation threatened the dream, he sold his house to build an auditorium for LASU. What emerged is not just an auditorium—it is a monument to moral courage, a structure built not on concrete alone, but on conviction.

    The man behind the mission

    Tunji Bello’s life is a study in purposeful evolution. A journalist, lawyer, environmentalist, and public servant, he has worn many hats—but always with the same thread of integrity. From his early days at Concord Press to his tenure as Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, and now as Executive Vice Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Bello has consistently stood on the side of the public interest.

    At FCCPC, he has taken on digital loan sharks, price gougers, and monopolistic cartels with the same fervor he brought to LASU. His mantra is clear: governance must protect the vulnerable, and leadership must be anchored in empathy. Under his watch, FCCPC has become a bulwark against economic feudalism, ensuring that consumers are not crushed under the weight of exploitative practices.

    Global echoes of modest giants

    Bello’s story is not without precedent. In India, Dashrath Manjhi—a poor laborer from Bihar—lost his wife, Falguni Devi, in 1959 after she fell from a mountain ridge and could not reach a hospital in time. The very mountain that blocked access became his adversary. Armed with only a hammer and chisel, Manjhi spent 22 years carving a path through it, reducing a 34-mile detour to just 9 miles. His grief became a gift to generations, and his resolve earned him the name “Mountain Man.”

    In the United States, Clara Barton, with no formal medical training or wealth, founded the American Red Cross, driven by a singular passion to serve wounded soldiers. And in Kenya, Wangari Maathai began the Green Belt Movement with a handful of women planting trees—an act that grew into a global environmental crusade.

    These individuals, like Bello, did not wait for billions. They acted with what they had: vision, grit, and a refusal to let tragedy or limitation define their legacy.

    Auditoriums as vessels of nationhood

    An auditorium is not just a building—it is a civic altar. It is where ideas are debated, futures are imagined, and communities are forged. In educational institutions, it becomes the heartbeat of intellectual life. Bello’s gift to LASU is therefore not ornamental—it is foundational. It affirms that learning deserves grandeur, that public universities should not be relegated to the margins of aspiration.

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    A call to the rest of us

    Tunji Bello’s gesture is a mirror. It asks each of us: what are you doing with your influence, your network, your modest means? It reminds us that charity is not the exclusive domain of billionaires—it is the province of the willing. In a society often paralyzed by cynicism, Bello’s story is a clarion call to rediscover our moral momentum—to be architects of good even when the moral scaffolding of society is collapsing.

    Let this be the story that shifts our national imagination—from wealth as status to giving as stature. Let it be the story that inspires a thousand more auditoriums, scholarships, clinics, and community centers. And let it be the story that reminds us that the most enduring legacies are not built on abundance, but on audacity.

    • Opeseitan, a journalist, business development and marketing communications expert, wrote in from Lagos.
  • Why I built auditorium for LASU

    Why I built auditorium for LASU

    • By Tunji Bello

    Let it be recognised that we are not just commissioning a chamber to impact knowledge, but also witness, firsthand, the force of faith, the prophetic power of the tongue and what is possible when we all commit to the pursuit of public good.

    By that I mean the audacity to envision what seems most impossible and then summoning a relentless push to make it happen. At my 50th birthday in 2011, I had committed to instituting an annual prize in five disciplines namely, Law, Mass Communications, Social Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

    I was very intentional about the criteria to qualify. Academic brilliance was one. Two, coming from a poor background. And three, the beneficiary must be an indigene of our dear state of Lagos. The whole idea is targeting those brilliant minds at the risk of dropping out of academic pursuit on account of poverty. To the glory of God Almighty, we have been able to sustain that scholarship programme till date.

    So, as my 60th birthday approached in 2021, the concern was how I could do more. For me, the idea of throwing a big party to mark the occasion was completely off the table. My darling wife, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, the very able Madam Vice Chancellor of this great university, is the one who initially mooted the idea of building something for LASU to mark my 60th birthday. She was not yet the Vice Chancellor then. I never gave much thought to her suggestion immediately until few days later.

    Eventually, after much reflection, I agreed it has to be an auditorium, truly befitting and fit for purpose. By the time we invited the architect, Mr. Kunmi Ayinla, to come up with a building plan and give us the cost implications, I was frightened when I saw the budget drawn by the architect and was immediately filled with doubt as per the feasibility of going ahead to build an auditorium for LASU.

    But when God gives you a vision, God Almighty will also provide the means in miraculous ways. Of course, God’s miracle sometimes comes by having some brilliant ideas suddenly deposited in your mind. After days of wrestling with the architect’s budget in my head, it suddenly occurred to me I could ask those going to buy me gifts for the 60th birthday to monetisesuch and hand me the cash to do something really dearto my heart.

    It worked. A very wealthy friend and known businessman had wanted to surprise me with a brand new Toyota Land-cruiser Jeep. I appealed to him to convert it to cash. With donations from other able friends and well-wishers, we got started in 2021.

    I am of the belief that God Would never abandon whatever He Starts. Help came from some other quarters one least expected. Still, there were moments of doubts and temptations we encountered. But our faith never wavered. The toughest moment being late 2023 and early 2024 when the Naira went down and inflation upset all previous calculations. It meant that the costs were almost tripled at the point of buying finishing materials. To continue, I had to sell my property at Magodo estate to keep the workers on site in order that it may not become an abandoned project after three years of construction.

    To God be the glory, the rest is history.

    Without wishing to sound sanctimonious or all-righteous, one point I like to seize this moment to make is the consequential choice between transient enjoyment and posterity. Thus, by choosing to invest the money through sowing the seed in the vineyard of knowledge, I believe we are invariably preserving my 60th birthday cake in a way that it will be shared and savoured by many generations to come.

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    Besides, this is my humble way of supporting the argument that public purpose is served better by helping public universities fill the infrastructural gap.

    Certainly, the government alone cannot do it. Private individuals who really have the means should invest in public tertiary education to create more opportunities as prevalent in several developed countries.

    To the students soon to start benefiting from this auditorium in the production of ideas, let me say a few words of advice. I hope you would draw inspiration from the words of the great American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, we engraved on the marble at the entrance. That, “Investment in education pays the best interest”. No truer words have ever been said or spoken.

    As you begin to take your seat and hear the voices of your lecturers echo through the Public Address System, I sincerely hope this auditorium will inspire you to double your zeal to excel in your academic pursuit and become the next Ayodele Awojobi, Wole Soyinka, Chike Obi, Isa Abubakar, Oluwasanmi, OlikoyeRansome-Kuti, Ojetunji Aboyade, among other academic giants in our history. As parents, our fervent prayer is that you will be greater than us. Technology has indeed made the world a global village. In our time, the idea of library was a space filled with books, requiring you to walk a distance from the hostel.

    Today, the library is on your palm, at the click of your phone, providing you vast information on anything under the sun. So, you have no excuse or reason not to excel.

    I have been similarly inspired by my late father, Alhaji Azeez Olatunji Bello. I drew inspiration daily from his legacy. One such was how Ansar Ud DeenCollege at Isolo in Lagos started. When the idea of the school was mooted in early 1950s by the Ansar UdDen Missionary Society, my dad didn’t hesitate before donating his vast tract of land as part of the process to build that school.

    To my dad, there was no better way to demonstrate a deep faith in the power of education to transform the society.

    Later in life, I was also inspired by the example of my late boss and mentor, Bashorun MKO Abiola, winner of June 12, Presidential Election, who, on a single day in the late 80s, announced an endowment for universities across Nigeria.

    Nor should we also forget the inspiring story of our dear President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, on assumption of duties as governor in 1999, declared that all his salaries and allowances be donated to charities including orphanages. He had also about four years ago announced an endowment fund of one billion naira to this great university.

    I have another good news for you the great students of LASU. Courtesy of VDT Communications, there will be free WiFi at the auditorium, to enhance your learning experience. On your behalf, I thank the Managing Director of VDT Communications, Mr. Biodun Omoniyi, who is a great friend of mine from childhood. As you can see, we are committed to your academic success. Let that inspire you to aim for academic excellence always.

    To the management of LASU, let me also announce an additional pledge right away. We recognise that maintenance remains a big challenge vis-a-vis managing public assets. Thanks to the thoughtful generosity of another friend of mine, the maintenance of this auditorium and its facilities will be handled by a private management company for another year. So that within a year, an appropriate and sustainable maintenance protocols would have been established for LASU authorities to assume full responsibilities thereafter.

    Before I conclude, let me put on record that this auditorium is my own token of appreciation to God Almighty for his grace and to my dear native Lagos State for the great opportunities given to me. First, I have also been one of the beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government’s scholarship award as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan in the early 1980s. And later the privilege to serve in public office in various capacities.

  • Tunji Bello salutes Amuka-Pemu at 90

    Tunji Bello salutes Amuka-Pemu at 90

    The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Mr. Tunji Bello has applauded the contributions of Publisher of Vanguard newspapers, Pa Sam Amuka-Pemu as a living legend of the nation’s journalism at 90 years.

    In a statement,  the EVC said Uncle Sam at individual level showcased his power of discernment and moral conscience through his popular column: ‘Sad Sam’ devoted to either pillorying power abuse or satirising the foibles of indulgent elite in the society.

    Bello said: “In post-colonial Nigeria, few, if any, can be said to come close to Pa Sam Amuka Pemu (fondly called Uncle Sam) in journalism practice in terms of ramifications. On account of his indelible footprints (from reportorial to editorship to punditry to managerial), he is undeniably a complete newspaperman.

    “From the outset, he honed his exquisite writing skills under the tutelage of iconic poet, John Pepper Clark, at the Sunday Express, where the latter was features editor. From where he joined the Daily Times, then the flagship of Nigeria’s media industry.

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    “At managerial level, Uncle Sam’s uncommon organisational acumen is perhaps best illustrated by the success stories of two of Nigeria’s oldest national dailies, the Punch and Vanguard. As a complete newspaperman, he was pivotal in the founding of the Punch with his accountant friend, Chief Olu Aboderin”.

    The statement added that, following a disagreement, he left to set up Vanguard. That the two newspapers are still standing 50 years later today is surely a testament to Uncle Sam’s Midas touch. Overall, perhaps Uncle Sam’s greatest strength is not just brilliant writing skills, but the moral integrity of his journalism.

    ‘He is a stickler for professional ethics and is reputed for his generosity of spirit to his workers. Just as he has never failed to lend his influential newspapers to the pursuit of worthy causes. Therefore, at 90, we cannot but celebrate Uncle Sam as a rare gift, not only to journalism as a profession but also Nigeria as a nation.

    ‘Here is wishing the inimitable Uncle Sam many more years in good health, in the service of the nation and humanity in general’, the statement added.

  • APC chieftain extols President, Tunji Bello

    APC chieftain extols President, Tunji Bello

    About 1,000 residents of Mainland/Yaba local government areas of Lagos State smiled home recently with food items and cash donated by a Mainland-based politician, Alhaji Ibrahim Alao Megida.

    The event, which took place with special prayers at Orepeju Social Club, Cemetery Street, Ebute-Metta, was organised in celebration of the 73rd birthday anniversary of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Prayers were rendered for the President and Tunji Bello, patron of MIG, for his philanthropic contribution in uplifting the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Mainland/Yaba and his regular empowerment drives, which have gone a long way in alleviating the plight of the needy.

    Megida’s philanthropic gesture generated quite a considerable stir of excitement, as the hall erupted with applause and a resonating chant of “Megida for Chairman Yaba LCDA’’ by beneficiaries and attendees, who swore to stand solidly behind the Yaba LCDA APC chieftain, in a bid to ensure he becomes the next chairman of Yaba LCDA.

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    “For many decades, Megida had stood in without wavering, in support of progressive cause. He had been a kingmaker, he had played crucial role in enthroning governors, senators, members of the House of Assembly and House of Representatives. In fact, if you take a roll call of local government chairmen in the Old Mainland Local Government and later Yaba LCDA, you will surely see the bold role and influence of Megida, visibly written as an indisputable kingmaker, whose support had been largely instrumental to their success in attaining the post,’’ says Oyedeji Tunji Oshelu, a frontline entertainment entrepreneur.

    He described Alhaji Megida as a seasoned politician, grassroots mobiliser and tactician whose mastery of grassroots leadership is not only prodigious, but also unsurpassable.

    ‘’He needs our support this time around, to become the next chairman, Yaba LCDA,’’ said the notable entertainment entrepreneur, who is also an influential community leader.

    Frontline educationist, Alhaja Folashade Morenikeji, described Megida as God’s gift to Mainlanders and Yaba LCDA in particular.

    ‘’It is unbelievable that one could serve a community selflessly as Megida had done, without looking back both in his personal capacity and through the aegis of MIG, which he had used in turning the lives of many people around, from different walks of life, while also contributing immensely to the political success of quite a lot of our prominent politicians in the Lagos State, and yet neglect his own personal interest. In fact, this is why we will all need to rally together to ensure Megida becomes the new chairman, Yaba LCDA Insha Allah”

    According to her, ‘’Megida has been loyal in his undiluted service to the high and the low, the rich and poor, the widows, orphans, artisans, market men and women. He has always supported the progressive tendencies and has never wavered, but has rather remained loyal at all times. This indeed should be a time to repay Megida, we must all ensure at all cost that we join hands together to vote him in with landslide victory as the next chairman, Yaba LCDA.

    Kehinde Rufai, Ward A Oto, Olanrewaju Kabir and Basirat Abdulkareem, who spoke on behalf of the teeming mass of beneficiaries, also each took time to extol the virtue of the veteran grassroots mobiliser whom they described as a bridge-builder, and a connecting link between the rich and, Christians and Muslims, and the young and old.

    “We may not have known or ever met Sanwo-Olu or any of the political bigwigs, but for sure, we know Megida. He is the connecting link between the voiceless lots like us one hand, and the government on the other hand. It is through him that we feel the pulse of the government. We consult him daily for employment, for financial assistance, among several other things. And he will never hesitate in using his connection in making due representation on our behalf.

    “Some other people in his shoes would have used their connections with people like Tunji Bello to maximise their own personal interest, but not so with Alhaji Megida, who as the co-ordinator of MIG has always brought his influence to bear in mid-wifing regular empowerment drive through the beneficial philanthropy of our leader and patron, Hon Tunji Bello. It is therefore high time we accorded him a maximum support.’’

    Also,  eminent Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ismael Idris, and Alhaja Odusote, wife of Chief Imam, Mainland Local Government Council, prayed for Tunji Bello, whose philanthropy had impacted considerably on people from various walks of lives in Mainland.

    They also lent their voices in support of Megida, saying “a man who has done so much in support of APC and President Tinubu, and has equally done so much for the people from diverse walks of life, if we support him to realise his political ambition as the next chairman, Yaba LCDA, he will surely achieve more.”

    Megida described Tinubu as one of the greatest leaders to have emerged from the African continent, urging Nigerians to appreciate and support him more than ever before, for his unparalleled devotion in the onerous drive to elevate Nigeria to greatness.

    Noting that Tinubu is a God-chosen leader, Megida said Tinubu would not only secure a second term, but also complete it and lead the nation to greatness.

    Megida, who is also a Special Assistant on Politics to the FCCPC boss, Mr. Tunji Bello, seized the opportunity of the occasion to thank the latter, who is also patron of the MIG, for the immense role he had been playing in Mainland Local government politics.

  • Tunji Bello lifts residents with palliatives

    Tunji Bello lifts residents with palliatives

    Residents of Yaba/Mainland Local government smiled home  at the weekend, as a Lagos Mainland All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain, Tunji Bello doled out palliatives to cushion the effects of the prevailing austere economy, just as he also empowered a substantial number of traders financially to boost their businesses.

     The Olonode-Street venue of the event was abuzz with cheers  and excitement as the beneficiaries danced  as songs of praises overwhelmed the entire space in commendation of the veteran lawyer-journalist, who is also Patron of the Mainland Independent Group. Torrent of prayers were spontaneously rendered for the kind-hearted philanthropist and his family for his consistency in identifying with the plight of the needy through his regular empowerment which has gone a long way, in alleviating their plight.

     At the occasion,Alhaji Ibrahim Alao Megida, Special Assistant on Political Matters to Tunji Bello and Co-ordinator of the M.I.G.which administered the disbursement to the various beneficiaries, described the ex Commissioner For Environment as a truly God-fearing man whom it has pleased God to bestow on the people of Mainland/Yaba and indeed the entire Lagos State as a whole.

     “Of all the politicians in Lagos State, particularly Mainland,Hon Tunji Bello is remarkably distinguished for his untiring consistency in addressing the welfare of the needy from time to time through his regular empowerment programmes. “

    He stated that apart from his regular empowerment drives,for a massive number of the needy,Hon Tunji Bello, our pillar and benefactor is often besieged on a daily basis with one request or the other, which he often finds difficult to turn down.”

     “ Day in day out, people approach him for employment, admission to higher institutions, payment of hospital bills,school fees, JAMB forms,NECO forms and capital to start or sustain businesses and so on and so forth,yet he tries everything possible to address their needs.He is never tired and will never shun or avoid any needy who approach him either directly or through his WhstsApp number,or through me as his Special Assistant .

    There is no way you could shield the people away from him, because he is always willing to attend to them. Such is his compassionate attitude to the needy” said Megida .

     Alhaja Folasade Morenikeji an educationist and ex Chairperson, Conference of Principals Lagos State,and also a prominent APC Women Leader,extolled the virtues of Tunji Bello,saying:”This is a man who is neither a law maker nor had he ever vied for an elective post. He is merely a political appointee, yet his care for the masses, especially, the widows, elderly and the needy as a whole is indeed remarkable.On behalf of all the progressive women in Mainland, I say a big thank you to our Worthy leader”,she prayed.

     In their remarks, Chairman Association of Lagos Indigenes, Alhaji Ganiyu Salako, prominent Women Leader,Alhaja Mojisola Adewale,and Youth Leader,Peeter Akiniyi,among several others, described Tunji Bello as a Pillar, whose presence in Mainland has made quite a lot of difference.

     Through his inspiring presence,and good name,MIG has become quite a highly influential institution not only in Mainland, but Lagos State,as a whole. “Not only that,our leader Hon Tunji Bello had added an immense value to our great party the APC. It is not a surprise that over the years, quite a lot of people from other political parties had decidedly crossed over to the APC,simply because of the humanitarian propensities of our highly esteemed leader, as a man with irresistible soft heart for the needy,who indeed cares for them and would never for any reason refuse them, despite the fact that he is neither a lawmaker nor had he ever vied for an elective post”they stated .

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     Idowu John,an Egun from Makoko,Peter Olayioye from Otto Mainland,Kudirat Abdullah from Iwaya, Alhaja Sikirat Abdullah from Oyingbo,among others who spoke on behalf of the over hundred numbers of beneficiaries each rendered torrents of prayers for their leader, Tunji Bello and his family, describing him as a God-sent to the under-privileged and the best thing to happen to Mainland APC.

    We are simply short of words to describe how good he has always been to us, and how consistent as well, even as we all approach him individually, despite his exalted placing and his busy schedule.His relevance to the needy, particularly at critical times such as this,is simply beyond words to describe .Only God can adequately pay him back for his kind-heartedness.”

     “ This is why our God in Heaven will continue to uplift him and his family,guide and protect them in good health and prosperity,”they prayed All the speakers also commended the MIG Women Leader Alhaja Morenikeji and Alhaji Megida for their able day-to-day administration of the MIG.

    They particularly gave hearty kudos to Megida’s magnanimous disposition in readily allowing needy ones an access to his boss Hon Tunji Bello.

  • How poultry, packaging cartels fix prices, by FCCPC boss

    How poultry, packaging cartels fix prices, by FCCPC boss

    The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Wednesday revealed how cartels in the poultry and packaging industries manipulate the market to keep prices high despite government’s sundry interventions.

    The Commission’s EVC/CEO, Mr Tunji Bello, stated this at a stakeholders meeting in Uyo in continuation of FCCPC’ nationwide advocacy against exploitative pricing in the market.

    FCCPC already hosted similar engagements in several states across the federation.

    Its pronouncement in Uyo was based on an investigation carried out nationwide.

    According to Bello, the poultry cartel consisting of big holders dictate the price for the smallholders to sell their products.

    Revealing the Commission’s finding in one of the major cities, the FCCPC boss said: “The small poultry owners used to sell a day-old chick for between N480 and N590 and they still made a profit. But not after the arrival of two big players in the market. I choose to withhold their names at this point.

    “They (big players) brought in big money and expanded the market and expectedly they were soon in a position to control 80 to 90 percent of the poultry market in the city.”

    Bello’s packed audience at the conference hall of Villa Hilton Hotel consisted of industry captains, MSMEs, market leaders, farmers, transporters, service providers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

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    The two big poultry players, he said, “used their clout and financial muscle to hijack the local poultry farmers association and now dictated that a day-old chick be sold at N1,350 in a curious reversal of the law of the economy of scale which otherwise stipulates that the more you produce, the less the unit price.”

    This, said Bello, explained why prices of products remained high despite government’s sundry supports to the poultry industry.

    In the last one year, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has supported poultry farmers with broilers, vitamins, feeds and cash through various interventions across the nation’s six geopolitical zones.

    Despite these, prices of poultry products have continued to skyrocket.

    For instance, starter mash which sold for N11,000 in October 2023 rose to N14,000 in January this year, N16,500 in March, N21,500 in July and N23,500 in October.

    Also, the FCCPC boss stated that the high prices of drinks in recyclable packs was substantially caused by “unfair pricing” dictated by a cartel in the packaging sector.

    “The cartel in the packaging sector consists of five big players who are in the business of importing and providing local manufacturers with packaging materials. They operate in a mafia-like fashion such that if you choose to leave one of them to check the price of the other, before you would reach the next factory, the first seller would have tipped off the second seller to quote the same price,” Bello lamented.

    On why those engaged in such sharp practices have not been sanctioned, Bello stated that FCCPC chose dialogue as the first option “in the spirit of democracy” instead of enforcing the FCCP act which prescribes stiff penalties ranging from heavy fine to jail terms.

    He called on the business community in Akwa Ibom to collaborate with FCCPC to curb exploitative pricing as well as sanitize the markets.

    To cushion the harsh effects of ongoing economic reforms, Bello said President Bola Tinubu has introduced a number relief measures like the removal of tariff on food imports, VAT on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, tax waivers for businesses and public transportation as well as providing easy credit for the conversion of vehicles from petrol to CNG.

    “It is only fair that our businessmen and businesswomen and traders share such gains with consumers in form of reduced prices,” the FCCPC boss added.

  • Tunji Bello’s new challenge

    Tunji Bello’s new challenge

    Four years after then governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first term as governor of Lagos State in 2003, the environment was not one of the strongest areas of achievement of his administration. His government was still the target of criticisms and attacks by the media and the political opposition as regards the menace of refuse and other elements of environmental degradation in the state even though some improvements had been recorded compared with the ruinous environment he inherited. For his second term, the then-governor appointed a seasoned journalist, editor, and columnist, Mr Olatunji Bello, as Commissioner for the Environment. The appointment was not just a challenge to TB as he is fondly called as a person, but to the media as a whole which had been at the forefront of hauling missiles at the administration with regard to the environment.

    Luckily for the media, TB put his hand to the plough immediately and set about the challenge of more effectively and efficaciously implementing the administration’s elaborate programme for environmental renewal and regeneration including an expansive network of drainage channels for flood control. So successful was TB in actualizing Tinubu’s vision of an environmentally elevated Lagos that he went on over the succeeding years to serve at various times as a two-time Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, and Secretary to the State Government.

    It is not surprising that President Bola Tinubu as he strives to reposition and redirect Nigeria in difficult times has tapped on the proven abilities of TB who he has appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice-Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), a key parastatal within the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, which is the highest federal competition regulator in Nigeria.

    The Senate readily cleared TB to assume office as is constitutionally required. There are high expectations that the experienced administrator and environmentalist who holds a B.Sc degree in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, an M.Sc in International Law and Diplomacy as well as a Bachelor of Laws degree both from the University of Lagos, will excel as he has in previous assignments and justify the confidence reposed in him by the President.

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    As the lawyer and progressive public intellectual, Gabriel Amalu, wrote in his column in this newspaper on Tuesday, “The FCCPC has a role to play in making life better for Nigerians if it pursues vigorous consumer protection policies. While taming inflation is principally the domain of finance and economic management ministries and agencies, fighting unbridled anti-competition practices, importation and distribution of fake products and artificial price manipulations, which also cause inflation, fall within the domain of the FCCPC. So, in the new Nigeria that PBAT promised Nigerians during his campaign, and reiterated to the disillusioned protesters, the FCCPC has a significant role to play”. It cannot be more appropriately articulated. This is wishing TB all the best in this new challenge.