•LAGOS Lawmaker, Hon. DESMOND ELLIOT
The death of the late Lagos lawmaker, Hon. Olawale Olayiwola Sobur aka OMITITI, is still very fresh in the minds of his family, friends and colleagues at the Lagos House of Assembly. The amiable lawmaker representing Mushin constituency 2 passed on a couple of weeks ago while attending an APC rally in Jos. His untimely death came as a rude shock to his colleagues, particularly to those who still saw him or spoke with him few hours before his death. One of those who still saw him less than 24 hours before his death was Hon. Desmond Elliot, a colleague at the Lagos House of Assembly who was quite close to the late Omititi while he was alive.
When City People visited Hon. Desmond Elliot in his office two weeks ago, he was still visibly pained by the demise of his colleague. He spoke to City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) about how he first got to know about Omititi’s death and why he and his colleagues at the Lagos Assembly will miss him dearly.
Our condolences once again on the passing of your colleague, someone we know was close to a lot of his colleagues because he was such a likeable fellow. How did the news of his passing hit you? How were you able to come to terms with the fact that Hon. Olawale Omititi was no more?
Firstly, it hit us really bad. I was on my way to a conference in Egypt. I was on my way to the airport when I opened my phone and I just saw, may his soul rest in peace and I was like what? This was someone I saw 24 hours ago and everything about him looked okay, o what could’ve happened? Of course it was a rude shock to us. The trip was cancelled immediately and we went straight to the Speaker’s house as the head of the institution and someone who was close to the Honourable member. From the Speaker’s house, we all converged and then headed to his house. It hit us really badly. At the end of the day, what can we say but to Him we shall all return and pay the ultimate price. I think his came rather suddenly but there is nothing we can do.
Did anyone know for a fact that he was managing any health condition because people think it was strange that he just suddenly slumped and died?
Yeah, well, we had a beehive of activities for some time now but I wouldn’t say that is the reason or cause of his death. We were also at a conference where we were doing budget analysis and stuff and I remember we checked our BP the day before. I was feeling too okay so I went to the small medical spot designated for Honourable members at the conference venue and checked my BP. It was nor mal and he checked his as well and there was no cause for alarm, it was okay. So, if he did that 24 hours before he passed away, then one can’t really what happened to him. I can tell you for sure that if there was any illness at all, it didn’t look like an illness that one could’ve taken at face value. Unfortunately, this could’ve happened to anybody. It could’ve been exhaustion. It could’ve been anything, nobody knows. He was someone who had strong faith in God. We can only say thank you God and believe in God that all will be well. We pray God gives the family the fortitude to bear the loss. You don’t know the right words to tell someone who is bereaved, especially for serving member who is also a colleague, it is most painful. Honourable is someone who, at all times he’s there. He supports his friends, he supports his colleagues, he is ever ready to serve his party, he was even the president of his secondary school alumni association and he was there for everyone. He will be largely missed by all of us.
I know for a fact that you both were quite close. On a number of occasions in his office on the phone, I was privileged to hear him giving glowing recommendations about you to some persons who needed your intervention on something. What would you say were your fondest memories of him?
Ah! He calls me his neighbor. He calls me his neighbor because he is Mushin 2 and I’m in Surulere 2, we share the same boundary at Idiaraba and his wife and my wife are best of friends. In fact, like the 24 hours prior to his death, I was in my room, I had a splitting headache. I had body pains all over so I had to get some sleep. By the time I woke up at about 7.30 or so, his call woke me up actually. He asked me where I was and I told him I was in my room and he asked me to join him on the second floor which was the lounge. So, on my way down I was on the phone with my wife and by the time I got to him on the second floor, he was speaking to his wife. And my wife had told he was on the phone with his wife when he called her. So, we exchanged phones and I exchanged pleasantries with his wife and he spoke to my wife as well which would be the last time he would actually speak with her. And we chilled till about two hours or thereabout before we both said our goodbye and retired inside. That was the last time I would see him unfortunately. So, we were quite close. We had mutual respect for each other. Sometimes when he had political meetings, he used my home in Surulere. We were always usually together when we go for party meetings. If you check my instagram page you will find me always posting pictures of both of us together. He will be very missed, it’s very hurtful. On the valedictory service, we were all in tears, I couldn’t speak. It’s so hard to say goodbye, but hey, this is something that’s going to hit everybody at some point so we have to brace up and prepare for that day.
It was heartwarming to see how everyone has rallied round the family. The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, has been leading from the front, Asiwaju has also been to see the family. Are you impressed with how the Assembly has responded to the situation so far? Are there some other things you would like to see done in terms of supporting the family this critical time?
Okay, so, I don’t want to sound political, or trying to praise anybody, but the fact is that is who the person of Hon. Mudashiru Obasa is. He’s not a man of so many words at all, but his actions will speak for him. I mean, we swung into action, made sure the body came down, it’s the least you can do for somebody who has been loyal, someone who was dependable, someone who was reliable, someone with whom you had nothing but good memories. I also want to thank the House, the entire members, most importantly the wives of Honourable members. From the little I saw, they have done amazingly well. From Madam Speaker and all the other wives, I think they did remarkably well. And I won’t forget government functionaries, starting with the governor who had to postpone his trip to attend his burial. Same with the deputy governor, he was there. Everyone showed commitment and a deep sense of loss. Members of the Executive Council, state executive council, ministers and our presidential hopeful, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu not only came but also went to the house. Everyone did exceedingly well and this simply acknowledges was not just a serving member but an ardent party faithful, very loyal to the cause, and died on active service. Even mentioning, ‘died’ still sounds weird to me two weeks after his death. It is something that we feel terrible about but what can we do, it is what it is.
Are there plans in the offing to support the children, the family on some capacity or the other?
Well, that will be left to Mr. Speaker and the principal officers and hopefully state government. I am almost certain the family will not be left to bear his loss alone, we will do the needful as a government.
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