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17 Years Ago In LAGOS
Popular Lagos Elderstatesman, Chief Tunde Fanimokun, who is called Agba Akin is currently celebrating his 80th birthday. He is an Economist, a seasoned Public Service Technocrat, a businessman, politician and elderstatesman who has paid his dues on all fronts.
Many will recall that he joined the Lagos Guber Race in 2007, quite reluctantly, after many traditional rulers & stakeholders in Lagos mounted intense pressure on him to contest. After consulting widely then, he decided to accept the offer to run for governorship. But he opted out after it was clear that he would not behave like the typical politician who could be remote-controlled by a few players.
By nature, he is a straight forward person. He is highly principled and would not compromise his stand on key issues that affect the larger majority in society. All he told everyone then, was that he was coming in to serve the people of Lagos. He told them that his life has been about Service to the People.
At that time, everyone wanted him to run. All the Elders wanted him. They spoke highly about his public service profile. Will Chief Tunde Fanimokun run for Lagos Governorship come 2007 was the big question then. That was the big question on the lips of very many political watchers in Lagos at that time, as the rumour mill was very thick with the gist that he was under pressure from his Isale-Eko Constituency to run for Lagos Governorship come 2007. Indications that the Chief was up to something became clear when his daughter’s wedding was turned into a big political carnival by not only top Lagos politicians who stormed the function. That the wedding which went on for about 5 days was so elaborate, sugested to many that the Chief may have made a political statement with the wedding, moreso with the Lagos Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in attendance at virtually all the various stages of the wedding.
What we gathered was that Fanimokun’s friends put pressure on him to run and if you know how extensive his social network is, then you’ll realise how serious the issue was. He is a key member of virtually all the Social Clubs in Lagos from the Island Club to the Yoruba Tennis Club to even the Eko Club. What many say stands him in good stead for the job is his wealth of experience as a seasoned Administrator and Technocrat in the Lagos Civil Service. While he was in the Civil Service, he was something fo a super Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office during the regime of Alhaji Lateef Jakande in the Second Republic. He retired from the Civil Service to take up an appointment as the Executive Director (Projects) of the Yinka Folawiyo Group of Companies.
But before then, very many prominent people had wanted him to come and work for them like a very close Uncle of his, G.K. Animashaun, who is also a successful businessman who gave him a similar offer like that of Alhaji Folawiyo. Then came Chief Ernest Shonekan, who after hearing about his leaving the service, made serious efforts to reach him that he wanted him to come and join the UAC Group. He was to turn down these offers. Since then, he has remained with Chief Folawiyo. But he does other things. He once told City People during an exclusive interview that after a few years, he had another offer from the Oniru Chieftaincy family. He explained that it was because of their old connection and what he has done in government that made them request that he should come and assist with the transformation of their Estate into a modern one. “I rejected it the first time, but I had to accept eventually”. Reason, he had assisted the family in his official capacity when he was in government. “In the cause of this, I got to know a lot about the circumstances and history of their Estate. And the argument is that if you know so much, why not come and assist us,” he told City People recently and added “they showed me what I could not resist. They showed me a handwritten request so to speak, advice so to speak opinion so to speak, of their then lawyer, late Shogbesan who said: “I learnt Tunde Fanimokun is out of Lagos State Government, that is the best man for you to assist you with your Estate”. Ordinarily they didn’t think much of what he said until he died a few weeks after. He was ill. He suffered from Asthma. He was on his way abroad, flown out and died there. So, it was after all of these that they asked me to come over for discussion. It was while I was resisting that they then showed me that handwritten note that they were respecting the wishes of their Lawyer. So, I took that note and went to Chief Folawiyo and the old man showed understanding and said I gladly release you partly to help them. So, after two or three years working with Chief Folawiyo, with the blessing of Baba himself, I designed a means of working partly for Alhaji Folawiyo and partly for the Oniru’s. It is a long time now and over the last 13 years, we have been able to turn what was a simple area into the thriving estate that you see.”
He was still doing this when his former boss, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, was appointed as the Honourable Minister for Works and Housing during the Abacha regime and he had a very gigantic Housing Scheme in mind. So, he came to Alhaji Folawiyo and between the two of them, they negotiated to share Fanimokun’s time. So, from 1993, he was sharing his time between the Folawiyo conglomerate, Oniru Estate and Banana Island. As some of Chief Folawiyo’s children came on board an things began to ease, Fanimokun was to approach, the Chief to allow him engage in other Consultancy Service and he agreed. He gave his blessing and prayers. With the effect that today, Chief Fanimokun has a lot on his place.
–Culled from City People Magazine.
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