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LAGOS Lawmaker, Hon. RASHEED SHABI Reveals
Few days ago, City People visited the Lagos State House of Assembly in Ikeja, Lagos. During our visit, we had an interview with Hon. Rasheed Shabi, former Chairman of Lagos Mainland LG who is presently a member of the 10th Assembly. He is representing Mainland Constituency II. The very experienced man has held quite a number of appointments in time past before giving it a shot by contesting to represent his constituency in the 2023 elections, during which he convincingly won the vote of the people. His wealth of experience is indeed useful in the house.
In this interview with City People reporters, Nifemi Kazeem and Jamiu Abubakar, Hon. Shabi revealed how his excellent performance in his days as Mainland Council boss worked for him during his quest for election into the 10th assembly. He also spoke at length about what he is doing in his constituency to improve the standards of living of the people. Below are excerpts of the interview.
Who is Hon. Rasheed Shabi?
Engineer Adebola Rasheed Shabi, represents the good people of Lagos Mainland Constituency II and the Chairman House Committee on Environment, Parastatals, I was the GM of LASEPA, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency for 9 years. I was a Special Advisor on Environment; cleaner Lagos for one year. I was a Local Government Chairman, 2003 to 2008, Lagos Mainland Yaba Local government. That’s me. I’m a chemical engineer with a Master’s degree.
I have a Masters degree in Environmental Management and I’m also doing my PhD in Environmental Management.
How did you merge all of these as a law maker in the 10th Assembly of Lagos state House ?
I was formerly Chairman and the longest-serving GM of Lagos Environmental Protection Agency. I was also a Special Adviser. I was an executive for almost 15 years. So I now decided to learn about Legislation. That’s why I came to the House of Assembly. Some people said, oh, that I was supposed to be in the House of Rep, and I told them, my job is to serve my people. Anywhere I can serve my people well. So being in Lagos State House of Assembly, I’m here to serve my people, to represent them, to move motions and bills that will add values to their lives.
You have worked meritoriously for the Executive arm of government, how is it like switching to the legislative side this time around?
You see, we have three tiers of government, the legislative, the judiciary and the executive. And the legislature is to make the laws for the lives and security of the people in the state. And also to do oversight on the executive so that we check and balance. The executive cannot just have free days all the time, the legislative is to check how they are doing their job. So I’ve been on that side, I’m here now, so there’s nothing anyone wants to tell me from the other side that I’ve not gone through. So but as I said, our oversight function is not to vent your anger on anybody, it is to, it’s a collective way to tell them, okay, you’re not getting this right, this is the right way to go. That’s it.
So how did you venture into politics? What inspired you?
I’m from a political home. In the first instance, my father was a politician in Lagos Mainland. I went to Federal Government College, Kano, from my high school and I got a scholarship to study Chemical Engineering in Romania. While I was in Romania, I was into student unionism. I got to the post of Vice President of Nigerian students in Romania. So you see that I have been a politician for a long time.
Can you tell us about your constituency and areas it covers?
I’m from Lagos Mainland Constituency II, where you have all the majority of the tertiary institutions in Lagos State. There you have the University of Lagos, you have Yaba Tech, Federal College of Education, Federal Technical College and School of Health Technology. So I have 5 tertiary institutions my under my constituency. And you know that it’s the local government that was the most cosmopolitan, you know, in those days, Yaba used to be the Ikoyi of Mainland, where you have the normal Ikoyi on the Island. Yaba is the Ikoyi of the Mainland, we have the educated ones, the educated ones that returned from abroad. That’s where they settled in Yaba. So we still have that. So there’s nothing else that they want other than quality representation. They don’t want anything less. They don’t want excuses. So that was why during the summer vacation, I did what they call summer coaching for the SS2 to SS3. And I had four centres and I promised when we started, the best student from each centre would be given an Ipad. And we did. And the best in each class was given that. And we gave them school bags, we gave them writing materials, exercise books and so on and so forth when they were returning back to school. And we’re planning to have tutorials for those going for JAMB in November, December, January and February.
What factors would you say helped you win at the last elections?
Luckily for me, what really made me win during the last election was what I did when I was the Local Government Chairman. Everywhere I went, people were saying to me that “Asele labowa ba”, meaning what I did as the local government boss worked for me. And you know we have many youths over there because of UNILAG, Yabatech and so on and so forth. And I continue telling the young ones that the future of this nation is in their hands and then you need to vote for experience. Because of the experience I have now. Look at what I’ve just brought to the local government now. The Onayade at Igbobi-Sabe. Their road is so bad and I have to bring public works to do the road for them. It’s because of my experience in the Executive that there’s no permanent secretary I don’t know in this state. I know all of them. I know, virtually, all the heads of parastatals in this state. So, I can welcome any one of them, I tell them things I need in my local government and I will get it.
What would you say is the utmost need of your people in Mainland and what are you doing in that regard?
I felt so bad this morning, when I went around some areas, I won’t mention names yet. I felt bad, I saw some young boys, smoking, drinking around 9.30, 10 o ‘clock in the morning, and I said to myself, is this life? Is this the way these guys want to live their lives? And I told some of their leaders, write their names. I will use my opportunity here to fix it. I might not be able to fix all of them, so I will tell them something. Everywhere I work, I fix people. When I was at the local government, I employed about 50 people. When I was at LASEPA, I employed almost 100 people there. When I was in LAWMA too, as Special Adviser on environment, some of the boys there were touts around. They were running, working in LAWMA, and they’re good boys now. You can’t say these were boys of those days. They are okay now. So, I’m going to use the opportunity, as the chairman of the House Committee on Environmental Parastatals. Any job opportunities, I will fix these guys.
Tell us a bit about your place of birth and formative years
I was born and bred in Ebute Metta. There’s nothing you want to tell me about Lagos Mainland that would be strange to me. I was born there, I grew up there, but I left there from high school. And from High School, I would say I was lucky there, one of the luckiest. Because I got a United Nations scholarship to study abroad. I was a teenager when I went. And I had my first birthday as I did in 2005. My first degree was at 23, my second degree was at 25. So I was a lucky guy.
In a short time that you’ve been elected, how well would you say you have represented the people?
I cannot say myself, but I know with the little I’ve been able to do, I have not done badly. For example now, when I was campaigning, I promised them at Sabo market. I did ask them what they wanted and they said they needed a bore hole. And I’ve already given them a borehole. I went to Iwaya beside the new Kabiesi of Iwaya Palace. And the people were shouting, oh, Shabi, come and give us bore holes because when I was at the local government, I did 65 bore holes. And some of them are still working as I’m talking with you now, they’re still running. And some of them said; Oh, you didn’t give us a bore hole at that time, come and do it for us. I gave them a bore hole. Before this year runs out, we are in October, before the end of this year, I’m going to put about four more bore holes, making this six. Before my first year ends, I would have sunk another 10 to 12 bore holes. Apart from bore holes, I’m going to give them solar lights and I mean in red zone areas because you know there’s nowhere in Lagos, you are definitely going to find red zones. I promised them in Alagomeji; I’m going to give them some solar lights. There’s still going to be more of that like the Back-To-School. it’s going to be a mega one but I’m not going to say more. I’m not going to expose myself yet, there’s going to be a mega one that will be a surprise to everyone in the state.
It appears you’ve settled into the assembly so fast how were you able to achieve this?
Yes, because we have a very eloquent Speaker. We have a very intelligent Speaker. The man is so dynamic that I will tell you, I call him a Teacher. When we came in he showed us; this is the way the assembly operates. So, by the time you get to that line, you’re not going to misbehave. He’s a very brilliant speaker and I will tell you now that I really give that to him. And he’s been able hold on to 40 members from different constituencies. He’s been able to achieve that with his experience. That’s why I say experience counts in everything you do in this world. Look at my PA, he is a Masters degree holder. Anytime he brings something to me, I still correct. That is experience. As I say to the youths, there’s a need for you guys to learn from the senior ones, experienced ones. Like it is said in the Bible, the book of Ecclesiastic Chapter 3 that there is time for everything. So, your own time will come.
What is your philosophy of politics. Can you tell us a bit about it?
My Philosophy of Politics is to be sincere to your Constituents. This is because I will tell you, at my age, I cannot lie to people anymore. I cannot lie. I will tell you the way it is. But I want to implore Nigerians now, the moment you see politicians, it’s not that you bring all your problems to them. And at the end of the day, you are the people that will go back and say, what have they done? In the house of assembly, we are getting salary and a running cost. So, the only way we can do things for the community is when we have our committee like this and ask, okay, do this for me, here and there.
But your people in the area will put all their problems on you. I have my Constituency Office there at number 2 Ajayi Street. Tomorrow I’m going to be there. I will sit with them, listen to them. I tell my people these days, don’t ask me for money. Ask me what I can do for you in your community. If you need a job, let me know, if there are job opportunities, I will give you people.
By giving you money, I’m not teaching you how to fish. I’m only giving you fish. So when you finish that money tomorrow, you come back again, I will say no.
If you want to go to school, I will encourage you to go to school. There are many people that I pay their school fees too. But I will tell you something, I don’t give the money to them, I pay to the schools. Because one day a lady told me, when I was in LASEPA, she said she wanted to pay her school fees in UNILAG and it was about 150 ,000 naira and I sent my PA to go with the money. When they got there, let me add that my PA was a pastor, she didn’t know. She said he should take 50, 000 from the money and give her the rest. My PA said no. And I decided at that time, I will pay to the school directly. Even to help people to grow, by giving them the money, you are not helping them to grow. You think you are helping them to grow, you are destroying them more and more. That is my philosophy. And I encourage them to go to school and also encourage them when they are done by giving them jobs.
Looking at the hardship in the country, what’s your advice to the people of the grassroots?
I beg all Nigerians; Let’s give support to the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Rome was not built in a day. Like I said, you cannot fix everything in a day. The moment we decide we won’t allow him work and concentrate on the job, we’re going to pay for it. Let’s give him more time to settle down. The country has been damaged so much that you don’t expect miracles within 6 months. It’s not possible. Yes, we have to do away with the subsidy because subsidy was only getting to the pockets of a few greedy Nigerians.
– Jamiu Abubakar
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