This write-up is coming on three premises and I will be quick to put them forward in order to situate this write-up in the appropriate contexts.
First and foremost I write this article against the background of a near impossibility that Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, the present Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria after a distinguished career in the Nigeria House of Representatives for five terms running up to twenty years, would have been six, were it not to be the choice of President Bola Tinubu GCFR to appoint him as his Chief of Staff.
Secondly, this article was motivated by the emergence of Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila’s successor to that seat from the APC primaries conducted last week in person of little-known Mr. Fuad Kayode Laguda. He is on journey to fill a seat that has been occupied by a legend for 20 years, a man who has a trajectory that is peculiar to him and has left a big-sized shoe to be worn. Be rest assured that you will be measured by this standard
Thirdly this article is coming right on the back of the projects commissioned by the former Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, and because it is the public domain, there are lessons to learn and commendations to use to “ginger” others coming or still in political positions, it is more than clear that Nigeria’s development will be on a retail model from the emerging spectacle. So I have my opinion.
Fourthly, because this write-up may be dripping eulogies and commendations, I am quick to say that, that it is not uninformed and not to patronise or curry favours in any form or manner. As some little minds may want to see, but I don’t care.
Fifthly, In the journey of my life, I have learnt a lot of lessons, particularly in Nigerian political space and for me, I have adopted the statement “Que Sera Sera” to life’s realities and also imbibed the attitude of Saint Paul, who said in one of his letters that no matter the situation, “he Paul has learnt to abase and abound..”
Sixthly, I must clearly say that even before now, I had a very chummy and fraternal relationship with Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, I never even saw him as my senior colleague even when we were in the 7th house of Representatives, he was our leader, the leader of the minority parties, so I called him Egbon and our leader.
He is one out of the nearly 20 persons that I used to bend and almost prostrate to greet back then on the account of his age, leadership and in agreement with my belief in the Yoruba Omoluabi ethos, that I fully subscribe to, the rest that I can remember are My Egbon, Honourables Faleke, Fakeye, Lasun Yusuf, Itula, Uncles Bashir Adamu, Mbadiwe, I cannot recall others readily now.
For Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, I recall that anytime I ran into him at the airport,at least thrice on trips back to Abuja from Lagos, I ran into him at the airport, I would struggle to carry his carry-on luggage, he would refuse until it would nearly degenerate into a stare, and he would let go, I will take his luggage with mine and stow it away in the over head lockers, on landing in Abuja I will fetch it and hand it over to him when I walk him to his car.
I had to say this so that this establishes a background of relationship somewhat, alongside other instances of closeness in the chamber, not less than two times as Minority leader, he would come over to my seat, and other times, he would beckon that I should come, particularly when opposition has a stand on an issue, and foot soldiers are expected to be on guard!!
Well at some point the relationship got strained, that was during his quest for Speakership I supported someone else, the Present Governor of Niger State.
Well, Egbon did not like that, and regardless he won, but certainly that strained the relationship, I kept away for the greater part of his tenure as Speaker and when I bumped into him at the Party office sometime, I tried to resolve that, but did not get the opportunity, because like I said, introspective moments and personal retreats allow people to undertake reflections and i did review that circumstance.
Every General is reminded of the battles and his roles or otherwise by the nature of scar from the wounds sustained if he survives, and if he survives, and as a survivor, he wears his pains with grace but the scar is an eternal reminder.
So in my political trajectory when things happen, I reflect upon issues a lot, and from that Speakership experience and realities therefrom also, I have deeply reflected upon it and I must say lessons have been learnt and henceforth, this alongside other experiences will make more circumspect in my choices and decisions. No hard feelings, but as the Instagram enigma [VDM] Very Dark Man often says at the end of his post “..and you will learn…and you will learn in a hard way..” Don’t Play!!!. I have learnt from that experience.
Therefore my write-up is against this background, my write up is devoid of any ulterior motive for good or for bad, to seek to be noticed or recognised, as I have said my life is etched in God’s palm, and my present and future is ensconced there, that has given me abiding relief.
So I am simply putting out my MOST RECENT review of the last pages of the last chapter in the book that chronicles the last link of Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila to the Green Chamber, the House of Representatives after 5 terms, from just another regular member who rose to the zenith as Speaker House of Representatives, the position from where he would part ways in physical terms as a member from now and certainly forever.
The moment has come to become a visitor in the abode that has been inhabited for twenty years interestingly without tar!. I feel a sense of nostalgia.
Now that the Background has been laid, please come with me on this long journey!!!
I was in Lagos for four days a penultimate week, for a number of reasons, one of which was the wedding of the daughter of my bosom brother Honourable Rotimi Makinde, we were in the 7th Assembly together, when Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila was our minority leader.
In the course of my stay, I saw the adverts on social media and TV of the three-day programme, the announcement of the commissioning of several projects that Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila as facilitated to Lagos State during his Speakership.
I waited with bated breath and was looking forward to the commissioning, and when the day came, the three-day commissioning ceremonies and events did NOT DISAPPOINT ME, Men! I was blown to smithereens! My jaw dropped. Men these are projects! No playing!
I can say without fear of any contradictions that no one, either as a Presiding or Principal officer in the National Assembly has done so much for their Constituencies or their States like Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila.
It made sense to me why the sitting Speaker Rt Honourable Tajudeen Abass declared that it would be difficult to match these records! [ well he should make these his benchmark to surpass in Kaduna State by the end of his tenure..he may need to borrow the part of the heart that propelled the then Speaker Gbajabiamila to do all these ]
Now let’s look at these projects:
1. New 484-bed Hall of Residence at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
2.Femi Gbajabiamila Conference Centre, Lagos State University, Ojo.
3. New General Hospital
4. Ultra modern Sports Pitch
Please take a look at these pictures and see for yourself.
No wonder the commissioning was appropriately titled “legacy projects”
Now questions?
1. How many of our leaders across political positions are consciously and intentionally LEGACY-MINDED? We remember Pa Obafemi Awolowo today in part because of legacy Projects, like Liberty Stadium, Obafemi Awolowo University formerly University of Ife, Cocoa House, Lafia Hotel etc
2. How many of our leaders of today think of the people and their concerns, their benefits in the long term like these? And opting to do tangible things that will tangibly impact their lives in an enduring way not flash in Pan, transactional projects?
3. Even how many former Presiding Officers or Principal officers of the National Assembly or even some State Governors have the people at heart, well enough to even be able to apply themselves to undertake these types of projects in the larger interest of the people, and not just as big-ticket transactions? Check out the qualities of these Projects.
How many public hospitals in States of Nigeria have MRI machines? The Femi Gbajabiamila Hospital has it!!!
In a nation where budgets for medical centres and equipment vanish without traces and consequences and the perfidious officers who fleece the funds walk free, the then Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila chose to be different!!!
I am not sure if these projects are to serve Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila and his family alone or Surulere people alone .. Impossible !!!
4. Yes, the nay-sayers can say, as it is our practice in Nigeria, Did he use his money to do it? I am quick to say No, but what if he had not decided to do these projects? Talking about purity of motives, depth of vision, and a heart truly for the people? The ones who did not what did you indolent people do? Nothing !!!
5. What if he had converted the funds earmarked for these projects to personal use and cheap lousy demeaning Constituency projects like giving out motorbikes, Keke Marwas or badly built school projects . What would you do? He made the right decision and did the right thing, a better motive.
I am deeply touched by these projects and I know millions of Nigerians will be the ultimate beneficiaries regardless of where they come from or their status in the society .
When God gave me the opportunity to build a 32-bed hospital as one of my legacy projects, just before I left the national assembly, mine was built from my pocket though, it took me three years to build, I started it 6 months after my inauguration and fully completed it with medical pieces of equipment in 2014, I also handed it over to Ekiti State Government, indeed, the second Male ward is named Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Male Ward 2!
He had not become President then and nothing was clear to suggest that he would become one.
My motive also was to leave a lasting “legacy” project, and to the glory of God I did and its being put into good use today to serve the good people of not only my constituency but the entire state as one ot their flagship medical outposts.
Today over 200 safe childbirths from that Joan Taiwo Daramola Memorial Hospital, named after my lovely Mum, we only lost one child painfully, and no maternal deaths.
We have conquered almost literally infant and maternal mortality in my village and environ, before then knife blades were still in use to cut the placenta! And of course that was a recipe for infection of mother and child!
Apart from that thousands have been admitted and treated, so many have come as walk-in patients from everywhere and accessed Medicare instead of being rushed to Ado Ekiti, the capital city.
This write-up is not about me but about Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila’s Superlative exit from the green chamber in a blaze of sparkling and very impactful projects.
I go back again, Now imagine if all those who had ever presided or were principal officers had done as much, let’s imagine the impact that would have had on Nigerians in those States.
That Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila could do this much surely means that they could have done so too, I know a few whose footprints are indelibly etched in their states but the majority of them have nothing of these quantum, quality and purpose to show for these positions they once held either as leaders of the National Assembly or as Ministers or even as Governors. I know one state, where the Governor scammed the people! He did not leave any project close to these or of this nature in the state.
I recall sending a text to my brother, Smart, one of the aides of Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila just before the curtains were drawn on the 10th assembly, the assembly where Gbajabiamila Presided as Speaker, telling him that I would like to see the Speaker.
When he replied, he asked me to discuss the reason why I wanted to see the Speaker, I considered that demeaning, so I let it go.
Now I can say, that what I had in mind to discuss with Speaker Gbajabiamila then was his legacy, as Speaker of Nigeria of South West extraction, that he should consider putting 6 Model Secondary Schools in the Six States in the South West of Nigeria, legacy Projects, and put one school each in the other Geopolitical zones plus primary health centres , all named after whoever he chooses but emphasised as “facilitated by FEMI GBAJABIAMILA.
Well, I did not have the chance to make that presentation.
Unknown to me the then Speaker Gbajabiamila already had his “legacy projects ” in his mind and today we can see.
Let us be sincere as much as we can, as commensurate with the quantum of honour and honesty in us if we have been blessed to have a third of our political leaders with this mindset, the one that informed Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila to undertake these projects in our leaders since 1999, would our nation not be three times better than what we have today with regard to public infrastructure like these? A lot more citizens would not have died cheaply from ill-equipped public hospitals for instance!
I salute Former Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila for these projects and the heart of accommodation for unknown Nigerians who will benefit from these projects for generations to come.
I believe his motive is pure, if otherwise we would just have moved on and never thought it could have been done because we have become a nation populated by indulgent, indolent, obscenely tolerant and carefree citizens where anyone can take advantage of us recklessly without recourse. And we have become a nation of God dey citizens and “God go judge” minions. I don’t want to say morons!
Speaker Gbajabiamila [ as he then was ] did not obtusely take advantage of this citizen’s mindless mindset as many had in the past and present, he had a choice, either to walk away too and bask in our commonwealth or to put to good use part of our commonwealth that he had access to. He chose the latter.
That’s a mark of honour secured right in our faces and we must acknowledge it, that’s a badge 🎖of honour that he has demonstrably earned.
I don’t give a freaking thus whatever anyone may say or the interpretation anyone may give to these effusive outpouring of commendation, now WE HAVE A BENCHMARK TO SPOTLIGHT OTHERS GOING FORWARD.. WE HAVE THE “GBAJA TRACK RECORD NOW” ! It’s splashed our faces.
Thank you Former Speaker, Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, for waking us up and not only to tell us but to show that with a heart for the people, a lot can still be done.
You have shown us that where there is a will, it can be done, you have shown that with a little bit of care and concern, we can have enough to spread tangibly to make life better for innocent Nigerians in whose stead and at whose behest and instances we hold power in trust.
You have demonstrated the immense “power of one” , you have shown how one person can impact millions when you truly care. Thank you.
Now you have spoken to Nigerians with your actions to demand more and not settle for less thank you former Speaker Gbajabiamila. It’s now up to us. If our Mumu never do.
It’s all about what is in the heart, that’s what you have done visibly.
Now on a general note, may I just add that, In what would pass as the climax of a glowing career in the Nigerian Parliament, what Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila did last week would appear like a pull-out parade from the job of representing the people at the Nigeria House of Representatives.
A place where he had put in twenty-four years, having been elected record six CONSECUTIVE times, BACK TO BACK !!! by the good people of Surulere [1], Federal Constituency of Lagos State.
I do not know of any other person who has been so elected, with such an unbroken electoral trajectory that lasted a record Six times in the Southwest, a journey and career that one can without fear say has been very eventful, characterised by different episodic moments of walking with a few people to the chambers and ended with members in huge numbers in tow, from the days of walking into the chamber as a solo member, to being heralded with the legislative chant of Mr Speeeaakeeerrr…indeed, he saw it all.
First elected as a regular member, a greenhorn, and legislative rookie in 2003, as an opposition representative from Lagos State, he was raised and grew under the tutelage of the political Generalissimo of opposition politics in Nigeria, now President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.
Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, from his first election to represent the good people of Surulere [1] Federal Constituency, was thereafter re-elected five more times, if he were to be in Medical Practice, he would have become a Super Consultant well sought after, if he were in the Army, he would have become a Full 4 Star General now, and if he were to be in the academia, by now he would have become a full Professor well looked for.
In a nation where there is high turnover of legislators , Gbajabiamila survived that infamy in our political system.
Contrary to the rule, the political system that discovered and sired Rt Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila also propelled and sustained his legislative career in the House of Representatives must be given a lot of commendation and credits because this is not a mean feat.
It is almost looking like a deliberate grooming trajectory, which typifies developed democracies, the contrary is our reality here, particularly in a society where in some states particularly in the southwest, the system is in a hurry to throw their Representatives under the bus even before the first tenure of four years is completed. Deliberately too.
It does not matter the quality of representation that could have been offered, you can be hacked down for any reason, and i mean any reason from the slimy to the sublime.
The reasons could vary from the infantile to the absurd, sometimes as ridiculous as hearsays about matters that have nothing to do with politics e.g first lady does not like you, or you not prostrating flat to greet the wife of the state Governor could be the end of your term in National Assembly after the first term regardless of the quality of the representation you gave your people while there.
But this was not the case with Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, the political system from where he emerged not only discovered the young bright Femi Gbajabiamila, nurtured him, and of course based on his demonstrated capacity and manifest capabilities, he went on to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives, having been minority leader and majority leader at different times and era.
NOBODY IN NIGERIA HISTORY HAS THAT TRAJECTORY IN THE PARLIAMENT TILL THIS DAY BEFORE HIM AND IT WILL ALMOST BE AN IMPOSSIBILITY TO RE-CREATE!! It’s a Femi Gbajabiamila destiny, pure and simple!
It is doubtful if anyone again in Nigeria will ever have such a chequered career in the Nigerian parliament, particularly the House of Representatives like Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila.
He was a vociferous minority leader when he was in the opposition party, as Minority leader of the then ACN and other smaller partied till we later transmuted to APC between [2011-2015]. I must say the foundation of today’s APC was held in place by the opposition party that he led!
He was our leader, who led from the front, and marshalled foot soldiers like us to give nightmares to the PDP, the then ruling party, the climax and most dramatic was when he had to in defence of our professed political ideology, beliefs and political survival as opposition members led us to climb and scale the fence of the National Assembly, when reactionary forces massed and moved against partisan interests masked as democracy, we stood up to them.. leader Gbajabiamila in his trade mark white shirt and tie made for the fence and many of us his footsoldiers followed suit.
From vociferous minority leader, he sturdily and steadily went up to become very accommodating if not the super tolerant majority leader of the ruling party, well in the spirit of “Nah our own” party day power.
To further lend credence to this loaded career, he toward the end of his Speakership founded the Legislative Mentorship Initiative,[LMI] Yet again a “Legacy Project” of some sort, which is aimed at raising a new Corp of leaders from across Nigeria.
This obviously is with a view to opening up, sharing and allowing access to his legislative repository, undoubtedly a rich repertoire, so again I ask, how is it that NONE of the former Presiding Officers of Nigeria ever deemed it fit to leave something like this behind? Leaders bequeath legacies to inspire greatness. Former Gbajabiamila did.
In what would appear like a good understanding of that Yoruba axiom, that says “Whichever cult that refuses to initiate the young ones apparently as a feedstock or successor generation will ultimately self destruct” , well I believe again Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila got this right here, and I saw the mentorship class on Instagram and I believe this is another bull’s eye 👁 shot!
Again Why didn’t the ones before him undertake this project? because they do not want to impart knowledge?
They do not want to invest in the youth touted as the future of this nation. So of what use will all the years in the National Assembly be without passing it on? Common!!
I recall that I suggested and put a proposal together for a Presiding officer for institutional mentorship direction one time and he derided the idea, I struggled to let him know that great societies are built consciously and by people who are intentionally, to offer a reflection of what their minds hold and not in their mouths, and their actions validating it..Well, he kept posting me and thought I just wanted his money.
I left him, today the memories of his position is fading fast.
Today, i think among the ranks of contemporary leaders in Nigeria’s political stratosphere, i can say without equivocation that Former Speaker Gbajabiamila has evidently shown without doubt that he is different not by what he says but by what he has done.
At least everyone can see, it is visible to the blind and audible to the deaf, the worth of a man is proved in the choices he makes and made.
It is clear that the former Speaker has made consistent right choices thereby consolidating his leadership values, essence and worth, and the future will tell.
It does not matter whether we are on speaking terms or not personally, and I may not have even agreed with him on everything that he may have done, but I simply cannot deny what I have seen, what he has done that others in the same position before him did not grant the same opportunity.
I only venerate those whose good works i obviously agree with and whose good actions depict what is in their hearts, the heart is the oven where all good and bad works are baked, either of them that anyone may choose is validated by two indices, what the implications and consequences of those actions on the people, and the consistency and frequency they person commits to doing so.
No great society emerges from mouthing good stuff perennially or touting fantasies, the abdication of responsibility or supra selfishness, rather from ample dosages of legacy mindedness, a bit of care and concern for others, these are the aggregate of what Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has done with these projects and its shows.
This is my valedictory commentary of the Rt Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila’s voyage through the vortex of Nigeria’s legislature, particularly the Green Chamber.
So long Legislative General..Best wishes For the Future.
#Congressman #Bimbo #Daramola #bimboEkiti.
