•What He Told City People
On Monday 14th September 2020, City People Magazine Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE visited His Royal Majesty, Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, the 15th Oniru of Iru kingdom. It was a courtesy visit that lasted about an hour. We found the new Oniru who has spent the last 90 days working, relaxed. He was in all-white dasiki, with a white cap to match.
He told City People his plans for the stool and revealed his first few steps of progress. “Immediately I came in, I held a robust stakeholders’ engagement exercise to find out the expectations, challenges and needs of our people”, he explained. “This is to establish an all-inclusive decision-making process, beginning with those living in Oniru Estate. We have also had a comprehensive enumeration exercise. I wrote personally to each of the 3,182 residents of Oniru Estate to solicit feedback and kickstart, a relationship based on Trust & Transparency”.
“We have received many suggestions highlighting the challenges of and needs of our people, one of which was the challenge of sustainable livelihood for many women and young people. We’ve hosted here at the palace, an opportunity facilitation training for female micro-entrepreneurs through the Iru Empowerment Hub”.
“I have also hosted a 4-day Town Hall Meeting with residents to discuss plans for a better administration of the estates”.
“All I am out to do is to give pragmatic solutions to the challenges facing Iruland. This has led to the ingenious conception of the Let’s Grow Iru Together (#Legit)”.
Already, the new Oniru has begun work on 5 key activities like Media parley, tree-planting ceremony, beach clean-up exercise and thought leadership event on Sustainable cities dialogue, scheduled to discuss the new realities of socio-economic sustainability in a post-pandemic economy through the theme, Building Sustainable & Resilient Communities in the New Normal.
It’s been commendation galore for Oba Lawal since he came on the throne. This is because of how he promptly hit the ground running. What many don’t know is that he is an expert in the development of cities.
Many don’t know that the new Oniru, Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, of Iruland prepared himself for Leadership very many years ago. City People can authoritatively reveal. He was was born on July 24, 1970, to Chief Taoreed Lawal-Akapo, who was the Ojora of Lagos from 1977-1993, and Alhaja Muninat Olabisi Abeni Ajasa Lawal-Akapo of Abisogun Oniru,
The search for a greater alternative that could meet cognitive criteria led him to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, from Sept 2007-Sep 2008, where he bagged an M.Sc. in Violence and Development. The advancement of his enterprise also led him to the London School of Economics and Political Science from Sept 2018 to Feb. 2020 where he obtained executive M.Sc. in Cities (LSE Cities).
Leadership for Oba Lawal is both Divine and designed, both working in a purpose-built architecture to serve Destiny and Desire. A closer look at the background of Oba Lawal shows that he had prepared himself for leadership quite early in life as he delved so deeply into understanding human conflicts and how to manage them. For instance, at SOAS, his dissertation topic was: “Is Greed or Grievance the Driver of Niger-Delta Conflict?” and while on the course, he took modules such as The Political Economy of Violence, Conflict and Development; Political Economy of Development;
Problems of Development in the Middle East & North African (MENA) Countries and Security, all of which enhanced his understanding of the interrelationship between conflict and development. More recently, he investigated “How travel costs on BRT have made an impact on the disposable income of neigbhbourhoods around BRT stations in comparable cities to Lagos.”
This was towards his Executive M.Sc in Cities from LSE, where he undertook courses such as Governing Cities in an Urban Age, Cities and Society, Cities and the Economy, Cities and the Environment, Urban Infrastructure and Strategic Planning among others. Oba Lawal further heightened his Psychological Perception of Man and Process, learning all the critical factors in human developments when he took Certificate Courses in the following:
•Housing Finance in a changing Global Environment, (International Housing Finance Programme) at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (June 2018)
•Housing Finance for Sub-Saharan Africa at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (October 2017)
•PPP Financing, Projects and Contract, Johannesburg South Africa (August 2017)
•Wharton Advanced Management Programme (AMP): The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (July 2015)
•Strategies for Managing Public-Private Partnership: European Centre of Advanced & Professional Studies (ECAPS), Cambridge (Nov 2011)
•Jobs for a Globalising World: World Bank Labour Market Policy Global Course: World Bank Institute, Washington DC (April 2010)
•Programme for Senior Executives in National and International Security: Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (September 200?)
•International Security and Counter-Terrorism: International Security Academy, Tel-Aviv, Israel (July 2005)
•Advanced Detective Course: Nigeria Police Staff College, Jos (September 2000)
From what we can see, the Iru kingdom may be about to witness one of the most unprecedented developments directly under a monarch. Many theories of development have affirmed that Development thrives on Ideas, but more important is the fact that Ideas are not self-applying, individuals will have to drive them. To be able to do this, such individuals (the drivers of development) must first be refined and possess key indicators that they also have internalised the process at a personal level. For a monarch of Oba Lawai’s pedigree, a personal limit has been set for what can be said to be acceptable standard and Value for Human development. Over the years, the Oba has attended conferences and workshops to put him in good stead to bring more development to Iru Kingdom. Some of such training, included, but not limited to the following:
•Lagos State Security Summit (April 2018)
•Workshop on Building an End-to-End Ecosystem for Affordable Housing, Lagos (2017)
•Nigeria Real Estate Summit and Expo 2017
•West Africa Property Investment Summit, Lagos (Nov. 2017)
•Real Estate Investment Seminar (REIT), Lagos (2017)
•Young Achievers Summit,2017 Workshop for Judicial Officers on the Nigeria Housing Finance Program (Sept
2017)
•African Property Investment Summit, J2ohannesburg, South Africa (August 017)
•African Union Housing Finance (AUHF) Conference, Abuja (Sept. 2016)
•Institute of Directors Conference, Lagos (July 2016)
•7th Global Housing Finance Conference, World Bank Institute, Washington DC, USA (May 2016)
•Resource Person at World Bank Learning Forum for the Niger Delta States: Abuja, Nigeria (December 2009)
•World Bank Learning forum on Social Protection Responses to the Three Waves of Crisis viz Finance, Food & Fuel: Cairo, Egypt (June 2009)
Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal has also had a very impressive work history. He started on Oct. 1992 to Sept. 1993, when he participated in the mandatory one-year NYSC at Federal Capital Development Authority, Abuja (NYSC). That was soon to be followed by his employment at the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology from July 1994 to July 1996. He later enlisted in the Nigeria Police Force from August 1996 to April 1998, when he was commissioned as Assistant Superintendent of Police and by October 2008, he had retired as Superintendent of Police. His police assignment was an expose to the people and societies of the Nigerian state as he moved around the country in carrying out his duty to the nation. Oba Lawal’s journey into veridical of public office, however, started in June 1999, when he was Aide de Camp (ADC)/Escort Commander to the Governor of Lagos State. He carried out his assignments with dispatch until 2007 when his designated goal of Chief Security Officer to the Governor came to an end with the completion of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinibu’s tenure as governor.
He was later appointed Senior Special Assistant (Special Projects) to the succeeding Governor Fashola from December 2008 through July 2011. Oba Lawal is a three-time Honorable Commissioner in Lagos. A seasoned Security and development practitioner, with a deep grasp of the political economy of development especially in low-and middle-income economies. He served as Commissioner for Agriculture & Cooperatives from July 2011-May 2015, Commissioner for Housing from October 2015 to May 2019, and Commissioner for Agriculture, August 2019 till June 4, 2020. Oba Abdul-Wasiu Omogbolahan Lawal became the 15th Oniru on June 7, 2020. All of these experiences will definitely be useful in his new job as the 15th Oniru.
–Additional information called from his coronation commemorative.
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